iPhone 17e may get Dynamic Island instead of a notch

It feels like we have been waiting for the death of the notch for an eternity. Even the iPhone 16e, which only hit shelves earlier in 2025, held onto that dated design while its pricier siblings moved on.

But if the latest leaks out of Chinese publication MyDrivers is to be believed, the iPhone 17e is finally ready to scrub that black bar from Apple’s phone lineup entirely.

An iPhone 17-style design, minus the extra camera lens

We are reportedly looking at a complete transition to the Dynamic Island. That means every handset Apple sells in 2026 would share the same unified look from the front. You wouldn’t be able to spot the “cheap” one at a glance anymore. The screen itself is rumoured to stay at 6.1 inches, matching the standard model’s size perfectly.

That said, reports suggest the display will stick with a 60Hz refresh rate. That feels positively ancient for a piece of tech launching next year, but Apple clearly needs to keep some distance between this and the Pro models.

Flip it over and you spot the real difference. The renders show a single rear camera rather than the vertical island or diagonal setup we are used to seeing. This lens is expected to be a 48-megapixel wide camera. As for the front, you’ll likely get an upgraded 18-megapixel sensor with Center Stage support.

Internal specs point to an A19 chip, likely with fewer GPU cores to manage costs. We might also see Apple finally debuting its in-house N1 wireless chip and C1 modem here to boost efficiency.

From the above specs, the handset is shaping up to be an upgrade for those still stuck on older iPhone models like the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12, basically those who want a reliable upgrade on a budget.

The price tag is expected to sit at the same $599 mark and the expected release date is early in 2026, potentially alongside a new entry-level MacBook.