The iPhones that Apple Inc. will bring to market in the next few years may be much different than today’s models.

According to a Bloomberg report this morning, the company is developing two new technologies for its smartphone that could significantly change the user experience. The first is support for touchless control, which the sources who leaked the project said will let consumers carry out some tasks by performing gestures above the screen without touching it.

The feature shares similarities with the Air Gestures capability that Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. introduced with the Galaxy S4. But one of the sources who spoke with Bloomberg said that Apple’s implementation will rely on technology built directly into the screen, rather than a motion sensor in the bezel as Air Gestures does.

The person added that the capability would take into account the proximity of the user’s finger to the screen. Potentially, this might be meant to serve a similar purpose as the 3D Touch feature that Apple has been including in iPhones since 2015. The latter technology enables developers to customize how their apps responds to a gesture based on the amount of pressure a user applies to the screen.

Bloomberg’s source said touchless control will most likely take at least two years to become available for consumers. This is more or less the same time frame the tipsters provided for the other new technology that they said Apple is developing: a curved screen.

The display will reportedly curve inward from top to bottom rather than down at the edges like Samsung’s latest Galaxy devices. If a separate leak from last month is to be believed, Apple is pursuing the project in parallel with a initiative to develop screens based on so-called MicroLED technology, which is touted as brighter, thinner and more power-efficient than current displays.

In the more foreseeable future, Bloomberg’s sources said that Apple plans to expand its use of the OLED technology powering the iPhone X. The company reportedly plans to release an updated version of the device and a separate, larger model with a 6.5-inch screen later this year.

Photo: Apple