iPhone 14 Pro Always-On Display: How it Works, What It Looks Like, Impact on Battery Life, and More

[MacRumors]

The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max feature an always-on display for the first time on iPhone, which lets users glance at their phone to see key information, including the time, their wallpaper, and iOS 16 Lock Screen widgets and Live Activities.

Since the iPhone 14 Pro is the first iPhone to include an always-on display, there are several unknowns about how the feature will work, what it will look like, whether it will be customizable, and how it will impact battery life. We answer those questions and more below about the new feature of Apple's highest-end iPhone.

How Does it Work?

To enable the always-on display, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max feature a more advanced OLED panel with a more variable refresh rate. Whereas the previous-generation iPhone 13 Pro has a variable refresh rate of between 10Hz and 120Hz, the new OLED panel in the ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ can go as low as 1Hz to enable a new Low Power mode, which preserves battery life with the always-on display.

What Does It Look Like?

The always-on display on the iPhone 14 Pro is heavily inspired by the iOS 16 Lock Screen. When the always-on display is activated, iOS intelligently darkens the wallpaper and shows the time, widgets, and, if any are active, Live Activities. Other visual elements of the Lock Screen, including information in the status bar and the flashlight and camera shortcuts, are not shown.

Can You Customize the Always-On Display?

Given that the new iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max have not shipped to customers yet, we don't know what customization features Apple will provide for the always-on display. It remains likely, however, that the always-on display will not be directly customizable but will instead adapt to your customized ‌iOS 16‌ Lock Screen.

Will Older iPhones Get the Always-On Display?

No. The always-on display on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max is enabled thanks to the more advanced display hardware. As a result, it won't be coming to older iPhones, including last year's iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. Last year's iPhone, however, will benefit from the redesigned iOS 16 Lock Screen from which the iPhone 14 Pro's always-on display design stems.

Will It Impact My Battery Life?

Apple says that thanks to the new display technology, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are power efficient. The new display is paired with the A16 Bionic chip with a new Display Engine to run the always-on display, which will help control and manage power efficiency.

In terms of actual battery life promises, Apple says the iPhone 14 Pro‌ Max lasts for up to 29 hours when watching videos (up from 28 hours on the previous iPhone 13 Pro Max), up to 25 hours for streaming video (no improvement), and up to 95 hours for audio playback (no improvement).

It's also possible that the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max feature physically larger batteries to compensate for the possible increased energy consumption caused by the always-on display, but we'll have to wait for a teardown to know for sure.

Article Link: iPhone 14 Pro Always-On Display: How it Works, What It Looks Like, Impact on Battery Life, and More

 

[e1me5]

What about burn in? Also that 2000nits for outdoor use, how long does it take to dim it down due to overheating?

 

[FasterQuieter]

Not to be a misery guts, but I’ll be turning that off as soon as I get the phone.

 

[ps3zocker]

What about burn in? Also that 2000nits for outdoor use, how long does it take to dim it down due to overheating?

The rumors before indicated that they'll do pixel shifting to avoid this. Most likely it will be the same as on the Apple Watch, which did not suffer from burn in from what I experienced.

 

[icanhazapple]

Not to be a misery guts, but I’ll be turning that off as soon as I get the phone.

Likewise.

 

[Craiger]

Will it be on all night while charging? Haven’t found this info anywhere.

 

[seezar]

In terms of actual battery life promises, Apple says the largest iPhone 14 Pro‌ Max lasts for up to 29 hours when watching videos (up from 28 hours on the previous iPhone 13 Pro Max), up to 25 hours for streaming video (no improvement), and up to 95 hours for audio playback (no improvement).

I find it interesting that the 14 doesnt improve on video streaming battery life. I wonder if they did end up using the x65 modem since it's supposed to be more power efficient than the x60 in the 13s. If they did I would have expected that to improve.

 

[phillypharm]

Hopefully we can actually turn it all the way off. Don’t need a nightlight while sleeping.

 

[redscull]

Hopefully we can actually turn it all the way off. Don’t need a nightlight while sleeping.

Yeah, on my Watch 7, I have to toggle on the little theater masks icon at night. I like sleeping with the watch on, but not the always-on display. Maybe the new phones will get that icon in the lock screen for quick toggling.

 

[th1nk]

Yeah, on my Watch 7, I have to toggle on the little theater masks icon at night. I like sleeping with the watch on, but not the always-on display. Maybe the new phones will get that icon in the lock screen for quick toggling.

Set up a bedtime sleep schedule and the apple watch will automatically switch off at night.

 

[marchrose2011]

This is one of the features I am most excited for. I do wonder though how it will work at night when charging too though. Maybe there will be a night time mode or something that turns the display off when you put it on the charge or when you are in sleep focus mode like the apple watch does.

 

[Return Zero]

What about burn in? Also that 2000nits for outdoor use, how long does it take to dim it down due to overheating?

Overheating depends on ambient conditions too. I've noticed with my 13 Pro it can go peak nits for a decent length of time when it's cool out and not in direct sunlight. If it's hot out and getting slammed by direct solar noon irradiance, it dims fairly quickly.

In my car mount which is on my AC vent, it can max the brightness indefinitely (seemingly) due to the "active cooling"

 

[florida man]

Having the always-on display enabled will absolutely impact battery life, the question is by how much. We will have to wait for the reviews to find out for sure.

 

[Saturn1217]

Anyone else wish/hope you can have a version with just the clock and widgets but no wallpaper?

Always on display is supposed to be minimally distracting. So you can have it on in a dark room without feeling like your phone screen is on. That’s how it’s worked on every Android phone I’ve ever tried. I’m don’t like the look of this AoD that is just a dimmer version of your regular Lock Screen. That is kind of missing the point.

Oh well. Not a major concern (I’d probably just leave it off) but I personally find it a curious design decision that reeks of doing something different just to be different when android has figured out the right way to do this over many iterations.

 

[dapa0s]

Horrible gimmick that will never get used by most, and Android had it already on the S7 edge years ago.

 

[Rychiar]

Not to be a misery guts, but I’ll be turning that off as soon as I get the phone.

Then why buy the phone…

 

[Mr. Dee]

A feature I would very likely turn off.

 

[redbeard331]

Anyone else wish/hope you can have a version with just the clock and widgets but no wallpaper?

Always on display is supposed to be minimally distracting. So you can have it on in a dark room without feeling like your phone screen is on. That’s how it’s worked on every Android phone I’ve ever tried. I’m don’t like the look of this AoD that is just a dimmer version of your regular Lock Screen. That is kind of missing the point.

Oh well. Not a major concern (I’d probably just leave it off) but I personally find it a curious design decision that reeks of doing something different just to be different when android has figured out the right way to do this over many iterations.

Totally agree, in fact I don’t even see how they can call this AOD when all they are doing is leaving the lock screen on all the time but in a dimmed state. Totally misses the point, this is nothing like the true AOD seen on Android phones, swing and a miss.

 

[Mailia]

If there's an option to only enable it while the phone is charging, then I might have it on as a nightstand clock. Otherwise I'll just disable it outright, as my Apple Watch tells the time and notifications anyways.

(I don't sleep with a watch on)

 

[jayducharme]

I guess as an alarm clock, it might be useful. But since I almost always have my phone in my pocket, the display automatically comes on when I pull out the phone anyway. And the display lights up if a notification comes in. So I’m not sure what the use case is for an always-on display.

 

[ikir]

Horrible gimmick that will never get used by most, and Android had it already on the S7 edge years ago.

Not the same thing

 

[nathan_reilly]

Then why buy the phone…

maybe for other features?

 

[Saturn1217]

Then why buy the phone…

Maybe for all the other new features in the iPhone 14 pro?

 

[lcs101]

Horrible gimmick that will never get used by most, and Android had it already on the S7 edge years ago.

While it may not be for everybody (which is why you'll be able to turn it off), I disagree about it being a gimmick, as it is something I have found quite useful on my Android phones. Maybe not you, but I think there will be a number of people who will be surprised at how much they end up liking it. I do agree with the poster above about the wallpaper though. I'd rather have it just be black with clock and notifications visible.

 

[MrMichaelJames]

I'm curious as to the reasoning for this feature. I can't seem to figure out why anyone would want this. Is it simply so you can just look at your phone without touching it? How hard is a double tap on the screen to wake it for a few seconds or lift it? Basically we are going from the user requesting the phone to be visible to the phone dictating when it is visible itself. So now everyone with these models will be in locations with their phones lit up simply because it never turns off? Seems incredibly annoying in my mind.