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

[Jamo12]

Found it in the press release.

Looks like Apple should update their product page then? Unless it goes down to 1 Hz only for the AOD and not for regular use.

 

[lcs101]

As others have stated - will turn it off immediately. If I can't then probably wouldn't buy this version of iPHone

I can't imagine a world where Apple would have made the decision to not let this feature be turned off.

 

[lcs101]

Looks like Apple should update their product page then? Unless it goes down to 1 Hz only for the AOD and not for regular use.

That is my understanding.

 

[phillypharm]

Looks like Apple should update their product page then? Unless it goes down to 1 Hz only for the AOD and not for regular use.

That’s right, I believe.

 

[EeZeEpEe]

Of course, older phones won't get it because there would be even less of a reason for the upgrade. They are more than capable of handling that, but they need to differentiate the older phones from the newer phones. It should be up to the user to decide if the battery impact, which is minimal, is worth it or not.

 

[Nozuka]

my old samsung phones S5-S8 were able to do it but somehow my Iphone 10 and 13 pro max can’t come now

They only showed small things like the time and message icon etc.
This shows pretty much the whole lockscreen, including wallpaper. This NEEDs improved tech to not empty the battery too fast.

This actually deserves the name Always on Display... the other one was an "Always on Clock"

Personally would prefer to not show any wallpaper and save more battery though. But i'm sure others will appreciate this.
Or at least a different wallpaper for AoD and i will just take a black one.

 

[SenorWhyMe]

They only showed small things like the time and message icon etc.
This shows pretty much the whole lockscreen, including wallpaper. This NEEDs improved tech to not empty the battery too fast.

This actually deserves the name Always on Display... the other one was an "Always on Clock"

Personally would prefer to not show any wallpaper and save more battery though. But i'm sure others will appreciate this.
Or at least a different wallpaper for AoD and i will just take a black one.

i always used my aod on s8 for notifications at the time

 

[3530025]

The biggest question is: does the AOD on iPhone show notifications permanently? Or at least some icon for unread notifications? If not, it's quite useless and it misses the whole point of this feature.

I doubt majority needs AOD for the wallpaper and clock... AOD usefulness is in having unread/missed notifications always visible on screen. If the notifications disappear after 10 seconds then there's no advantage in this AOD implementation compared to classic 10 second notification display on standard lock screen. Am I wrong?

 

[_Spinn_]

One more feature to check off on my 2024 iPhone Pro Max wishlist.

✅ ProMotion
✅ Always on display
Periscope lens
USB-C

 

[noSpeed]

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.

I’m with you on this. I was envisioning a display that was all black (so pixels off for maximum battery life) with just the time and maybe a few notifications.

 

[HornOfAbraxas]

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.

Are you seriously asking why people want things to be easier?

 

[talosman]

BLACK WALLPAPER - you can pick any colors as a solid lock screen background color in iOS16, and then you can swipe across to pick different effects, so a solid version without any gradient can be achieve.

 

[criticasm]

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.

A wallpaper that's pure black #000000 would do the trick. Some have that as the background as switched off pixels between icons is the most efficient.

 

[compwiz1202]

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

<0.0001s in the sun

 

[compwiz1202]

One thing I'm wondering about:

Will it have "pocket detection" to shut down the display entirely when stores in a pocket, bag, or car console for an extended period of time? I can see wanting it on when sitting on my desk, visible in the open, but would prefer the battery gains (even if they're minimal) from having it shut down entirely overnight, or when it's in my pocket.

I just read in pockets or bags or upside down AoD will disable

 

[techfreak23]

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

Same. I turn it off on my watch too. Raise to Wake is also turned off on my phone. There aren't any significant use cases for me, so I try to squeeze out as much battery life as I can.

 

[compwiz1202]

The biggest question is: does the AOD on iPhone show notifications permanently? Or at least some icon for unread notifications? If not, it's quite useless and it misses the whole point of this feature.

I doubt majority needs AOD for the wallpaper and clock... AOD usefulness is in having unread/missed notifications always visible on screen. If the notifications disappear after 10 seconds then there's no advantage in this AOD implementation compared to classic 10 second notification display on standard lock screen. Am I wrong?

I'd like to see time and possibly widget and definitely missed calls, messages, emails

 

[B-Mc-C]

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.

Maybe the modem power draw is not the majority of energy usage for playing a video, compared to screen, CPU, etc. I am hoping for the X65.

 

[B-Mc-C]

I wonder if placing the phone face down will turn off the display.

 

[TKSX]

I used to miss the always on display a lot when I switched from P20 Pro (loved this feature since LG G3) to iphone 12. I stopped worrying about it after 2 months. FF 1.5 years later, this always on display feature is not important to me anymore. With the purchase of an apple watch, this feature suddenly becomes "less needed". As many said, I probably turn it off as soon as I get a 14 (if I choose to upgrade from a 13 that is).

 

[hans1972]

Likewise.

Ditto.

 

[hans1972]

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

You're asking if something called always-on isn't always on?

 

[hans1972]

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.

So "always on display" is as describing as "right to repair"?

It contains a lot of associated baggage which has nothing to do with the name?

 

[MTD's Mac]

I wonder if placing the phone face down will turn off the display.

You're asking if something called always-on isn't always on?

I had the same question, and many were quick to point out that some documentation suggests that the AOD will turn off when the phone is face down, in a pocket, or in sleep focus mode. So "always-on" really means "usually on."

 

[willchris]

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.

No one asked for this version that just dims your wallpaper (if they really don't let us customize it).
AOD is incredibly useful when implemented right - clock and notification icons on a black background. That way you can see important things at a glance while not having to touch your phone which could be seen as rude and unprofessional in many work environments.