All of 2017's flagship phones have glaring compromises. Here’s what they tell us about design.

On September 12th, Tim Cook unveiled the iPhone X. The 10-year anniversary iPhone sports a “bezel-less” 5.8 inch screen in a beautiful new design. It features a new facial recognition technology called Face ID, which uses 3D imaging and infrared, meaning it can be used in the dark and is more accurate than fingerprint scanning (unless you’re a twin). Apple claims it to be the future of the smartphone.

There is a problem, though. iPhone X has a design compromise staring right at us. The “bezel-less” screen of the iPhone X runs from rounded edge to edge, but has a prominent notch—a cutout—right at the top of the screen. The notch houses the imaging system required to carry out Face ID authentication.

This top notch design breaks the otherwise seamless, beautiful screen. It seems like an odd design choice — a concession from Apple that it cannot achieve the accuracy of its new Face ID without sacrificing its screen. Even worse, the notch makes for awkward interfaces when the phone is used in landscape: