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How the iPhone 14 Pro's New 'Dynamic Island' Works

skari said:
I don't see any reason it wouldn't work with the notch just as well
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It won't because then they won't have a clar differentiator between ALL the old models and the new iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. I suspect this kind of features will only be available on the higher end models and the old ones will remain with the traditional notch.

People hated the notch so bad all this years, that now Apple gave a clear reason to upgrade to a Pro model. New notch with improvements.

Every way I see this, it is brilliant. UI/UX, marketing, psychologically, hardware/software integration. And this will sell like crazy.
 
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At first blush this seems pretty neat, but personally I feel that a pervasive and very distracting black hole of varying sizes will soon become tiresome. I fully appreciate many will disagree but I for one prefer the notch.

My summary: a clever solution to a problem they deliberately created. Think Different never meant make things more complicated for the sake of it.
 
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Sergiu. said:
It won't because then they won't have a clar differentiator between ALL the old models and the new iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. I suspect this kind of features will only be available on the higher end models and the old ones will remain with the traditional notch.

People hated the notch so bad all this years, that now Apple gave a clear reason to upgrade to a Pro model. New notch with improvements.

Every way I see this, it is brilliant. UI/UX, marketing, psychologically, hardware/software integration. And this will sell like crazy.
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U are right but just saying there is no real reason other than marketing and I personally would like a smal notch rater than a island that has no real benefit and creates a area above it that can't be utilised
 
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bejib66000 said:
in what regard faceid is superior to (underscreen) fingerprint sensors on a phone?
in design? no, notches, pills, etc look uglier.
screen real estate? no.
cost? no, it costs more.
size it takes inside such a small device like a phone? no, fingerprint sensors are smaller, the spare space could be used for bigger battery e.g.

There are just too many tradeoffs when using a face recognition system on a phone.

P.S. If you claim that faceid is better than touchid, then why it's not used in any mac? TouchID is used instead in imac and apple (XDR) monitor + mac studio.
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The components necessary are cheaper for Touch ID. Better profit margin for Apple. Plus it's difficult to fit the tech in a laptop.
 
ric22 said:
The components necessary are cheaper for Touch ID. Better profit margin for Apple. Plus it's difficult to fit the tech in a laptop.
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I wrote nothing about laptops. I meant desktops in particular. There is nothing difficult to put it inside iMac or apple's extra expensive 5000$ xdr or regular 1500$ monitor.
 
I'm usually quick to knock Apple for adding a feature 5+ years old on Android, but in this case, their implementation of the cutout is outstanding. -Yes, I know--- the FaceID camera couldn't be smaller...
 
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bejib66000 said:
I wrote nothing about laptops. I meant desktops in particular. There is nothing difficult to put it inside iMac or apple's extra expensive 5000$ xdr or regular 1500$ monitor.
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I agree with you. Completely. They're saving maybe 10 bucks on each device. I mentioned laptops only because unless they get Face ID too it creates a divided ecosystem- I noticed you chose to omit them.
 
I think what’s really funny is that at no point did anyone acknowledge, ‘hey, we know the notch something less than ideal, so let’s design an option kind of hides it.” I think if they would have said that during the event, they would’ve endeared themselves as being realists.

I mean, come on. You know those exact words are said behind closed doors.
 
Can it be set to simply be a black background menu bar across the entire top of my phone, just like my MBP? AKA, like TopNotch software? Or, like I've done it by simply setting the entire screen's background as black?
 
sideshowuniqueuser said:
Can it be set to simply be a black background menu bar across the entire top of my phone, just like my MBP? AKA, like TopNotch software? Or, like I've done it by simply setting the entire screen's background as black?
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You might be able to add a background image with a big black bar at the top, but before you do try it out for a while and see if it really bothers you. Most people that were concerned about the notch when they got Macbook Pros soon got to the point where they don’t notice the notch. It turns out that your visual system has a habit of ignoring visual elements that don’t change. that is why you don’t notice the visual space taken up by your nose until you close one and eye really look for your nose. It’s there but your brain just edits it out.
 
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I'd rather have a slim forehead than a bloody notch or cutout. This cutout in particular causes more dead space than the whole forehead would...
 
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Spaceboi Scaphandre said:
Such a great new feature, that I will unfortunately never be able to use. Well I'm sure those getting future iPhone Pros will enjoy it greatly.
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Sad to hear you will never buy a future iPhone model that has the feature, and that you will be stuck with a constant peninsula or even an iPhone SE forever. Sad.
 
SoldOnApple said:
What happens to Dynamic Island after Apple invents the tech to keep cameras and sensors under the display?
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I think this is useful enough that they might keep it going, at least in some way. In the meantime, as they decrease the size of the camera cutouts, they can increase the utility of the dynamic island by reducing the empty black space. I think it will be a while before they can remove it entirely, and this allows them to shrink it with noticeable improvements each time. Also, it allows some options going forward for different ways of allowing light through the camera that might otherwise decrease image quality in that area.
 
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Jimmy Bubbles said:
Does that dynamic island go Landscape? Sadly hardware can’t be “dynamic”.
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Given the dynamic island is just software that is using that area to display information in a pill / bubble that expands, then of course Apple could have that "dynamic island" appear anywhere it wants, on any device.

There is no reason why it couldn't appear on iPads, the iPhone SE, heck even the notched versions could have a version thereof if Apple wanted to - it's just software, after all.

Hardware can be dynamic given it is powered by software.
 
alexonline said:
Given the dynamic island is just software that is using that area to display information in a pill / bubble that expands, then of course Apple could have that "dynamic island" appear anywhere it wants, on any device.

There is no reason why it couldn't appear on iPads, the iPhone SE, heck even the notched versions could have a version thereof if Apple wanted to - it's just software, after all.

Hardware can be dynamic given it is powered by software.
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No, I believe you’re missing my point. When in landscape, that pill shape will still be there, even if the software version of the dynamic island moved based on orientation.

I am completely aware of the relationship between hardware and software, and the glue that holds them together - firmware.
 
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dwsolberg said:
camera

Interesting point, although the phone can't actually show content in the camera area, so I think this might not be a real issue.
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That's a very good point. I've had other people say "oh, you'll put smudges on the camera"... well, so what? clean the screen, and yes, there's no content above the camera anyway except what looks like a black area, so you'll probably not touch it that often anyway.

People dream up the most inane reasons why something "won't work"... laughable, really, but I guess they get some minor points for "trying" to find a negative.

One of the few times in recent memory that being negative was incredibly positive was when your COVID PCR test came back negative.
 
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I'm glad people are excited for this. I don't personally get what the fuss is about. It seems to me that this is just using the screen for notifications and other glanceable information, in a way that uses a lot of real estate. The cutout is still a cutout.
 
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TheSapient said:
I'm glad people are excited for this. I don't personally get what the fuss is about. It seems to me that this is just using the screen for notifications and other glanceable information, in a way that uses a lot of real estate. The cutout is still a cutout.
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The fuss about this is exactly the same fuss about lots of other things over here... Some people never gets satisfied with whatever solution is offered, every implementation is always "evil" and with the solely purpose of correcting/hiding non assumed mistakes, and every feature is so bad that everybody could've made something better out of the box.
That's the sad reality about some people.

Now, back to the Dynamic Island... one thing I didn't understand yet because Apple haven't explicitly shown it and nobody got the new iPhone yet, is how is iOS dealing with standard app notifications coming from the top of the screen? Probably just the same way as before, but I'm wondering...
 
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Jimmy Bubbles said:
No, I believe you’re missing my point. When in landscape, that pill shape will still be there, even if the software version of the dynamic island moved based on orientation.

I am completely aware of the relationship between hardware and software, and the glue that holds them together - firmware.
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Ah, yes, I see what you mean now. Apologies. Well, it will be there, unless you're looking at a black screen.

In a few generations we'll have pixels that can emit light and capture it too, though some kind of technological advance that is currently beyond us, and before then, under screen displays, but for now, this is the compromise.

If only we could have had a small bezel at the top to accomodate the 30% smaller Face ID and camera, we really would have had an uninterrupted display, and we still could have had the island interface.

I'm keen to see how Netflix or other apps will look when choosing to "shrink" the image so it is not impeded by the pill shape. Presumably the video playback area will be smaller than it is now, given the pill shape seems to be lower than where the previous notch ended.
TheSapient said:
I'm glad people are excited for this. I don't personally get what the fuss is about. It seems to me that this is just using the screen for notifications and other glanceable information, in a way that uses a lot of real estate. The cutout is still a cutout.
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It does help to "hide" the cutout by making it a place that has other information, so it is more than just a cut out.

I mean if you need a cutout there, then it's worth doing something interesting with it, rather than just ignoring it.

I remember when some Android makers started with the punch hole cameras, Samsung or others let you have circles of colour around the punch hole to notify you of this or that, or to notify that you had successful unlocked the screen.

I don't think it ever really took off, though, and I don't think Samsung or other Android phone developers had the foresight to think of a dynamic island-style scenario.

No doubt they'll be all over it now and Android 14 and Color OS and One UI 5.0 and whatnot will suddenly discover a treasure island in their futures, too.

But yes, the cutout is still a cut out. Hopefully cutouts are well and truly eliminated by 2030, if not earlier.
 
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