Apple patents display holes that let cameras see through the screen
Apple describes a screen design where specific pixels are modified to create tiny, transparent windows. By removing the control components from these pixels and using clear materials for the light-emitting parts, the screen allows light to pass through without creating a visible dark spot. This setup enables a camera or sensor to operate directly behind the display.
In the filing’s own words
An electronic device may include a camera or other sensor that operates through a display. The display may include an array of pixels, and each pixel may include an emissive subpixel and a thin-film transistor (TFT) subpixel that drives the emissive subpixel of that pixel. To minimize interference with the light that passes through the display, the display may be modified to have one or more holes/windows. The hole(s) may be formed by removing the TFT subpixel of one or more pixels in the display, while retaining the emissive subpixel(s) of the one or more pixels. Anodes of the emissive subpixel(s) may be formed from transparent material to improve the transparency of the hole. In this way, light may pass through the hole, but the hole may maintain the uniformity of the display.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An electronic device, comprising: a plurality of pixels arranged in a light-emitting area, wherein each one of the plurality of pixels includes an emissive subpixel and a thin-film transistor subpixel that controls the emissive subpixel of that pixel; a hole in the plurality of pixels that includes a subset of the emissive subpixels, including anodes of the subset of the emissive subpixels, and that is free of thin-film transistor subpixels, wherein a central one of the emissive subpixels in the hole comprises a central anode at a center of the hole, and surrounding emissive subpixels of the emissive subpixels in the hole comprise surrounding anodes that are shifted away from the center of the hole; and an optical sensor that operates through the hole in the plurality of pixels.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- Displays with Pinhole Openings
- Publication number
- US20260282567A1
- Application number
- 19530185
- Filed
- Feb 4, 2026
- Published
- Sep 17, 2026
- Inventors
- 12
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H10F 39/103 Electricity & electronicsH10H 29/8321 Electricity & electronicsH10H 29/8323 Electricity & electronicsMore from Apple in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.