Updated July 2 with more information on why the change is reported to be happening and what it will look like.
Apple puts its logo on the back of the iPhone, but you know that, and you can almost certainly call to mind exactly where it sits even without looking. If the latest leak is right, it’s on the move. And since the first leak, another tipster with exceptional track record has weighed in, and responses have been dramatic. What’s more, a new report shows exactly why the change may be necessary. More on all that below.
The logo has sat in the same place since the iPhone 11 saw it move a little south compared to the position on the iPhone Xs and earlier. There was a good technical reason for the move: the wireless charging ring required precise placement to work, and the logo was moved to sit in the center, to provide a visual assist.
A year later, with iPhone 12, this became clearer still with the introduction of MagSafe, with a ring of magnets in the phone and in MagSafe cases, to show exactly where to plonk the phone.
Now, according to serial tipster Majin Bu, it will move further down on the iPhone 17 Pro. The report shows images of what it will look like and while there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with it being a bit lower, I find it surprising.
Not from an aesthetic point of view, but because the report suggests that the MagSafe ring won’t be moving, meaning that the Apple logo will no longer sit centrally in the magnets.
This seems counter-intuitive to me, and will, Majin Bu says, have a knock-on effect in terms of the MagSafe imagery that appears, for example, on a transparent case with MagSafe magnets. Instead of the Apple logo sitting dead-center in the circle, the suggestion is that a partial circle will be deployed, so as not to bang into the logo.
The report shows an image of this and (may I be frank?) it looks terrible. I’m not alone in this. Michael Burkhardt at 9to5Mac uses the word “bizarrely” to describe Majin Bu’s comments about the cases, though he also points out there is precedent to the claim.
“Frankly, I’m not sure whether or not I believe this. It could make sense with the entire top of the phone now being a single camera bar, but at the same time it’s incredibly odd. That said, the centered logo placement of iPhone 11 also leaked through case manufacturers having to design around it, so there’s a bit of precedent to the leak,” Burkhardt says.
My gut tells me that the lower logo will correspond with a repositioned MagSafe coil. As time passes, more case manufacturers will need to make decisions about this, so more leaks may emerge.
Since Majin Bu’s report, respected tipster Sonny Dickson has chimed in, posting on X. “Apple’s shifting the logo lower on the iPhone 17, most likely to align it with the MagSafe charging coil,” Dickson says.
All very well, and Majin Bu has now commented on Dickson’s post. “This solution is exactly what the company I work with is working on,” they say.
The fact that both leakers have fastened on this is intriguing, though it doesn’t make it any less challenging. If you’re used to quietly noting where the Apple logo is before you snap it to the MagSafe charger, trying to remember that the apple now sits on the bottom edge of the circle could be confusing.
If, on the other hand, MagSafe placement is now a matter of muscle memory and you don’t even look at where the Apple logo sits, then maybe it will work just fine.
In a new intervention, Majin Bu has posted to X again, with a visual designed to show exactly what’s going on. “Here’s what the new Apple logo looks like on an iPhone 17 Pro with an older MagSafe case, explaining why a repositioning is necessary,” the post reads, and it’s accompanied by an image of an iPhone 17 Pro dummy in a case with the MagSafe cut-out designed to suit an Apple logo in its current, higher-up position.
The case shows that something’s got to change with MagSafe if the logo moves lower, though for me it’s not yet compelling evidence that the logo will shift. And it raises another question: in the image, the MagSafe magnets seem to be sitting very close to the camera module, which makes me ask whether a current MagSafe charging pad would even fit properly.
What is clear is that if the logo moves down, the MagSafe circle will likely need to be replaced with an incomplete circle to offer any kind of visual harmony. Even so, I still believe the MagSafe coil could potentially also occupy a different position in the iPhone or at the very least, the visuals of this would have been front-and-center in Apple’s engineers’ minds from the beginning.
It would mean that for the first time, the Apple logo would be in different relevant positions on different models of iPhone.
However, the aesthetic of placing the logo where it looks best in the new design is important, of course. The proposed new design where an incomplete circle frames the logo could work, but I still need persuading.
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