Imagining a “bezel-less” Apple Watch

Apple Watch wee bezels

Yesterday, I imagined a thinner Apple Watch, engineering constraints be damned.

Today, another exercise in ignoring technical limitations! The market is trending towards “all-screen” smartphones; what would happen if Apple slimmed down the Watch’s bezels, too?

Some notes on the image above:

  • In shifting pixels closer to the Watch’s edge, the design above suffers for lack of white space (or, rather, “black space”). watchOS was engineered with wide black bezels in mind; because the UI’s default background is also black, the bezels read as “on-screen” margins and give the content some breathing room. Even if the hardware were bezel-less, the OS might still recreate these margins in software. But that wouldn’t have been a very rewarding Photoshop hack job.
  • In a few spots, I’ve taken advantage of the larger screen by adding content. For example, the modular face sports a few more complication slots, and the workout app adds an onscreen altitude metric. For the home screen, I’ve blown up the UI instead of adding more apps; I’ve always thought those icons could stand to be a bit bigger.
  • In order to maintain a rectangular screen shape, I’ve shrunk down the curve radius on each of the four corners. Admittedly, the end result feels a little too “blocky.” ■

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