It won't be completely stable, when used without a case. The geometry is such that on the side of the lens it's the lens that is touching the surface where you put it, not the bar-shaped bump. Meaning, it won't sit on the long edge of the bar.

I've got an iPhone XR with a chunky (highly protective) Speck Presidio case that's comfortably thicker than the camera protrusion and therefore lays 100% flat.

Gotta say it would drive me nuts to have a phone that didn't lay flat and couldn't therefore be put down safely on the edge of the sink etc.

Apple is always one step back, two steps forwards.

If it runs all day like they claim that probably won't be a big seller.

But hey, at least the battery is (partially) replaceable that way.

I don't want/need the whole thing to be flat but I do prefer it to be stable. For instance if the plateau were a bit thicker so that the camera lens was flush with the surface (even just an extra bar sort of inside the plateau) it would mean that when I put it down it would never rock back and forth when I'm tapping at it on a table.

The problem with the one-sided camera bump is that the phone is unstable. It wobbles when you touch it, making using it while lying “flat” on the table incredibly annoying.

No, it wobbles and doesn’t rest on the lower chin. Look at the Verge hands-on video on YouTube.

> My iPhone 16 Pro with a case doesn't shit flat. I don't see why this is a problem.

That would definitely be a problem.