iPhone 18 Pro leak suggests Apple could copy Nothing with this key design choice

The iPhone 17 series is roughly two months old, but we’ve already heard several iPhone 18 series rumors. Now, a trusted leaker has suggested that the iPhone 18 Pro line could get a design feature seen on devices like the Nothing Phone series.

Digital Chat Station on Weibo has claimed that the iPhone 18 Pro line will get a back cover with a “transparent design.” This comes a few weeks after the leaker claimed that the iPhone 18 Pro series would have “slightly transparent” back cover glass.

It’s unclear how this transparent rear cover would actually look, and whether it would reveal any internal circuitry (real or otherwise). If Apple does go the whole hog with a transparent back, it would be following in the footsteps of Android manufacturers like Nothing, HTC, and Xiaomi in offering a phone with a transparent or translucent design.

Nothing is the most recent company to offer a transparent design with its flagship and budget phones, but the HTC U12 Plus (seen below) and Xiaomi Explorer Edition phones also offered similar designs in the late 2010s. However, the Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition was criticized for offering dummy parts under the transparent cover rather than functional components.

In any event, Digital Chat Station also reports that Apple is testing a punch-hole cutout design as opposed to the Dynamic Island notch. Furthermore, Apple is said to be testing a variable aperture main camera (as seen on older Samsung, HUAWEI, and Xiaomi flagships), while the Pro Max model might use a “steel-cased” battery design.

Nevertheless, a transparent or translucent iPhone 18 Pro line would be a return to form for Apple. After all, the company’s translucent Macs were iconic products in the 1990s. So I’m keen to see what these new iPhones look like if they embrace a see-through design.