Notchless ‘new iPhone’ spotted in Ted Lasso episode

Would Apple really leak the iPhone 13 in Ted Lasso (its most-buzzed about show), just as a joke, or to attract more eyes? Yes, we know Apple really wants people to watch Apple TV Plus shows, but this latest bit of news has us scratching our heads and throwing a pinch of doubt on the situation. 

Let’s get the facts out of the way. At around 14 minutes into episode 6 of Ted Lasso season 2 (The Signal), a character is checking her phone for a message. This being an Apple TV Plus show, it’s no surprise that she’s got an iPhone (product placement is a hallmark of Apple’s shows). But it doesn’t look like the latest iPhones; it looks more like one Apple could announce at its Sept. event. 

What’s so different about this iPhone? It’s in the bottom-left corner if you don’t see it.

Well, if you can’t see in the above photo, we’ve got a freeze-frame closeup so you can see for yourself. It doesn’t appear to have that ‘notch,’ the black bar at the top of the modern iPhones (starting with the iPhone X), where the front-facing cameras and sensors live.

And if you don’t have an iPhone near you, here’s an iPhone 12. So, look right there, and see for yourself. Something’s up right?

This is likely not really an iPhone 13 leak because Apple is practically the most secretive company on Earth. We doubt they’d let something like this slip so casually. 

Plus, we don’t expect a notch-free iPhone 13. There is no rumor that the iPhone 13 will eradicate the notch completely, just slim it down by about 25%. So, we at Tom’s Guide think this is more likely to be someone in the post-production department going a bit too far. Maybe Apple didn’t want the notch to look so prominent? They also may be doing this multiple times, as eagle-eyed Twitter user Paul Bailey noticed.

And that would not be surprising for Ted Lasso to be playing with visual tricks. It’s not hard to notice that some CGI is being used when watching the scenes taking place in the fictional AFC Richmond soccer stadium. There’s an extensive breakdown of this over at The Mary Sue.