With billions of iPhones sold, you might think we know everything about Apple's smartphone. But people are still just noticing a quirky 'optical illusion' in the phone's design. It's there on most iPhones since iPhone 7, but have you spotted it?
I think that describing it as an optical illusion is actually a little generous. It's basically just a redundant design feature that's used to make the phone look more symmetrical, but its still causing surprise (see our guide to the best iPhone 14 prices if you need to upgrade).
The 'optical illusion' iPhone design was introduced in iPhone y and remains in the iPhone 14 (above) (Image credit: Apple)
If you look at the bottom of your iPhone, you'll probably see two speaker grilles, one on either side of the charging port. But it's a design trick. Only the grille on the right side actually covers a speaker. The other one is mainly just for looks (you can try covering each grille as your play music to test it).
The extra grille isn't entirely obsolete in all iPhone designs, however. In recent iPhones, the holes nearest to the charging port in both grilles house the microphones that capture your voice when you're on a call.
Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
