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The iPhone 14 Pro models have long been rumored to include a notch replacement that consists of a pill-shaped cutout and a separate hole-punch cutout for the Face ID system, but pre-event rumors this morning suggested that the cutouts will be combined into one wider cutout using software.

iPhone-14-Pro-Lineup-Feature-Purple.jpg

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has now confirmed that this is true, and he says that the two separate cutouts will look like "one wide pill shaped cutout" as distinct cutouts would "look odd" when the iPhone is in use.


Apple is expected to combine the pill and hole cutouts into one single cutout for a more streamlined visual experience. The new pill-shaped cutout will not connect to the top of the device, but it will, as a result, look similar to the notch. Apple will deactivate the pixels in the dead space between the two cutouts to emulate a unified cutout.

The original source of the rumor that we shared this morning has also claimed that Apple will expand the blacked-out areas around the cutouts for content purposes. Apple might, for example, make the area wider to fit status icons on the left and right sides, or extend it downward into a large square for certain notifications.

It is only the iPhone 14 Pro models that are getting the new pill-shaped cutout, as the standard iPhone 14 models will continue to use a notch.

Article Link: Gurman: iPhone 14 Pro Cutouts Will Indeed Look Like 'One Wide Pill'
 
It is only the iPhone 14 Pro models that are getting the new pill-shaped cutout, as the standard iPhone 14 models will continue to use a notch.

How did I not catch this in any prior coverage? Crazy.
 
Maybe the pixel disabling was decided after the hardware was already finalized.
I think your right. Just like reverse wireless charging that was never enabled with the 11, high refresh rate not enabled on the 12, satellite connectivity never enabled on the 13. Seems as if Apple likes to finalize the hardware and figure out the experience later.
 
They must have some cool idea from a UI perspective to do this. Otherwise it makes no sense. In direct sunlight you will see the separation. Also making two holes into the display sounds more expensive then just one pill shape cutout. I doubt that Apple makes such last minute decisions like hiding this in software. This was probably in development for a few years and they would've decided then and do it in hardware.
 
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