The latest episode of the brilliant Apple TV Plus sitcom Ted Lasso may have offered a glimpse at the future of the company’s iPhone handset, minus the annoying notch.
The show, which features an eccentric American college football coach (played by Jason Sudeikis) in charge of a fictional English football team called AFC Richmond, often depicts characters using Apple products. We quite often see not-so-subtle product placement of iPhones and Macs, as well as software like FaceTime on show.
However, in the episode that debuted on Friday, a character appeared to be wielding an iPhone without the notch that houses the Face ID sensors and front-facing camera.
The more observant Ted Lasso fans noticed this particular iPhone did not have a notch, while the handset features the iPhone 12 camera array and the iOS 14 wallpaper.
While it’s highly unlikely Apple has decided to reveal that handset within one of its flagship original series, it is a strange anomaly.
The iPhone 13, due next month, is expected to have a slimmer notch and a slightly different Face ID sensor, but a completely notch-free design isn’t expected this time around. A recent report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has said that’s the eventual goal for Apple, but it isn’t expected to arrive until at least 2022.
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As Gizmodo suggests, it’s possible this is the work of CGI, which is used quite heavily in the show to depict the crowd during the actual football scenes (of which there have been very few this season).
When you consider the series wrapped shooting back in June, when prototypes phones might have been available, it is plausible this handset could have been on set. While it isn’t out of the realms of possibility, it isn’t that likely Apple (either on purpose or by accident) has shown its hand here.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
