Samsung's flagship phones will reportedly maintain one key advantage over iPhone for the foreseeable

Apple's iPhone 17 Pro models could lack something the best Samsung phones have boasted for a couple of years, according to a new report.

It is claimed that Apple has cancelled plans to introduce an anti-glare, scratch resistant screen this year, leaving Samsung's flagships ahead in that specific area.

According to MacRumors, the technical process of adding an anti-reflective coating to the glass has proved too slow for the entire production run. Apple couldn't find a way to scale up the process in time, although there's a possibility it could find a better solution in time for the iPhone 18 Pro in 2026.

Apple uses nano-texture technology on its MacBooks and iPap Pro models, which reduces glare and gives the display a slightly paper-like feel, but seemingly that couldn't be applied to the millions of iPhones currently being manufactured.

Samsung's alternative comes as part of the Gorilla Glass Armor panels it adopts for both the Galaxy S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra. Both handsets offer debatably better contrast and viewing angles in bright lighting conditions, such as outside on a sunny day.

Where does the rumour come from?

MacRumors claims that it received the information from a source with "reliable information" but has not published a name.

It comes after a renowned leaker (Instant Digital) posted on Weibo that Apple was working on a new display layer that provided better scratch protection and anti-reflectivity. However, a month is a long time in the tech world, especially when it comes to Apple rumours.

We'll undoubtedly hear a lot more in the coming months, as Apple prepares to launch its latest iPhone family. That'll most likely be in September, as is traditional. Although we will get to hear more on the software driving them, when it details iOS 19 at WWDC 2025 in June.