iPhone 14 Pro Rumored to Feature Always-On Display Mode

[daveathall]

I would have thought that it would be pretty easy to turn off. Those that don't want it, just do that. Those that do want it, just keep it on, I don't see why some people here are so against something that they don't need to use, if the facility is not included then it can never be used, there must be lots and lots of things that people dont use, thats no reason to take them from the device.

 

[boyarka]

You can literally just tap it

You've made my point from earlier though.

A lot of this just helps ever strengthen a direct and constant tether to the device and it's hold on attention and awareness in all situations.

"check time...oh an email...notification came in...pick it up and use it again..." rinse, repeat, etc

You don't have a clue of what you are speaking of, aren't you? Always On does not mean flashing lights or whatever else you just conjured up. On most (if not all) android devices it means: time, date, and unread messages/missed calls/warnings are shown (or not! If they are turned off) at all times when display is "off". So that the user DOES NOT HAVE TO use the phone - just glance over it and see if ot not something requires attention.

Apple fanboyism is some kind of obsessive-compulsive fanaticism: literally anything apple makes or does is literally the hand of God reaching down to the anointed plebs, to bless them with *insert some function or policy here*.
Everything else - even established, proven concepts in actual use but NOT by apple are looked upon with complete distain.

Apple sabotaged third party repair - yes, of cource, only Apple should fix things. Apple starts supporting third party repair - of course everyone should reoair their stuff.
Apple delayed proper widgets for years - nobody needs widgets anyway. Apple now has widgets - wow, how innovative, <3 Apple.
Apple did NOT have an App Store, Cydia was first. Gee, who needs lame stores anyway? Apple launches AppStore as a 100% monopoly - how innovative, a store for apps!

The amount of orewellian doublethink you people do, and the depts to which you plunge your tongue up Apples rear end never ceases to amaze me!

 

[boyarka]

and even Nokia ones around in 2008... or at least 2010 (N8 etc.)

Come to think of it the old plain monochrome displays allowed just that - almost zero power use always on functionality. Why? Because it's convinient to see what's going on without some precursive action.

 

[SactoGuy18]

I hope that Apple allows you to turn off the always-on display on the iPhone 14 Pro models.

 

[djcgeez2189]

still holding hope for a better keyboard with a number row and better usability features...

 

[CodeSpyder]

My Apple Watch has that "always on" feature. But it still has to wake up from its stupor before it does anything.

 

[CarlJ]

If it does arrive I hope “we” includes those with devices capable of it and not just the latest models.

Apple almost always finds some reason to withhold features from previous models regardless of capabilities though so I won’t hold my breath.

Apple generally has a more nuanced and restrictive view of "what devices are capable", and are often adding new hardware to support such features, which many of the people who complain "they're withholding this on purpose!" simply gloss over. In this case, it appears that some existing iPhones can run the screen refresh rate down as low as 10 Hz, while the new screens may be able to run as low as 1 Hz (some other manufacturers have made phones with such screens).

I'm quite sure there will be people after the annual event(s) next fall loudly complaining "they're not supporting this in the old phones in order to force you to buy a new one!", when, in fact, the actual answer will be, no, they only added it to the new ones because the old ones would take ten times as much power to get the same effect, and Apple doesn't like putting in a bunch of work to implement what they think is a flawed solution. (I'm not saying everything they do is perfect - far from it - but they've shown a history of not wanting to start down a path they see as fundamentally flawed.)

Could they make a feature on the old phones that works sorta kinda like the one on the new phones? Yes, very likely so. And then people would complain about the battery life on the old phones dropping rapidly, "for no reason".

 

[Tagbert]

If it does arrive I hope “we” includes those with devices capable of it and not just the latest models.

Apple almost always finds some reason to withhold features from previous models regardless of capabilities though so I won’t hold my breath.

Current iPhone screens have a refresh rate range from 10Hz-120Hz For Pro models. Regular iPhones have a fixed 60Hz refresh rate.

To do always on displays without draining the battery, they need a screen than can go as low as 1Hz. This will require new hardware. Sorry.

 

[Tagbert]

I hope that Apple allows you to turn off the always-on display on the iPhone 14 Pro models.

They already have the feature and on option to turn it off in the Watch series 7, so I’m sure you can on the phone, too.

 

[mjs916]

Current iPhone screens have a refresh rate range from 10Hz-120Hz For Pro models. Regular iPhones have a fixed 60Hz refresh rate.

To do always on displays without draining the battery, they need a screen than can go as low as 1Hz. This will require new hardware. Sorry.

I figured they could just change the UI to wake only the time with a tap, unless I pick up the phone or double-tap then it shows my wallpaper and other UI elements. Why would that require 1Hz refresh rate? I can change my Lock Screen wallpaper for a similar effect, I just like having a nice wallpaper to look at except for at in bed at night when I tap my phone to see the time.

This seems like something that could go to any iPhone that supports tap/raise to wake and has an OLED screen.

True Always-On doesn’t really matter to me that much. If I’m not looking at it, why should it be on?

 

[mjs916]

Apple generally has a more nuanced and restrictive view of "what devices are capable", and are often adding new hardware to support such features, which many of the people who complain "they're withholding this on purpose!" simply gloss over. In this case, it appears that some existing iPhones can run the screen refresh rate down as low as 10 Hz, while the new screens may be able to run as low as 1 Hz (some other manufacturers have made phones with such screens).

I'm quite sure there will be people after the annual event(s) next fall loudly complaining "they're not supporting this in the old phones in order to force you to buy a new one!", when, in fact, the actual answer will be, no, they only added it to the new ones because the old ones would take ten times as much power to get the same effect, and Apple doesn't like putting in a bunch of work to implement what they think is a flawed solution. (I'm not saying everything they do is perfect - far from it - but they've shown a history of not wanting to start down a path they see as fundamentally flawed.)

Could they make a feature on the old phones that works sorta kinda like the one on the new phones? Yes, very likely so. And then people would complain about the battery life on the old phones dropping rapidly, "for no reason".

I had forgotten that always on needs that super low Hz to work but in my other post I mentioned what I really want. I don’t think it needs that but I have no idea really.

 

[CarlJ]

I had forgotten that always on needs that super low Hz to work but in my other post I mentioned what I really want. I don’t think it needs that but I have no idea really.

If you're thinking of something they could add for for current phones... tap to wake would require constantly supplying power to the screen's touchscreen. It's not at all clear to me that they could do this without supplying power to the screen as well - yes, probably not very much power if the screen is mostly dark (and OLED), but it'll still be some. It's a question of what capabilities were built into the screen/touchscreen. If nobody thought they'd need to run them separately, they probably didn't build in that capability (because it could be more complicated and costly).

Again, it comes down to nuanced details of the hardware that most of the people who yell about "they deliberately don't support this feature that they totally could, to make you buy a new phone" don't really think about (or don't care to, because doing so would remove their chance to complain).

 

[turbineseaplane]

Again, it comes down to nuanced details of the hardware that most of the people who yell about "they deliberately don't support this feature that they totally could, to make you buy a new phone" don't really think about (or don't care to, because doing so would remove their chance to complain).

The counter argument here is that Apple designs phones years in advance.

We'll see, but if the 14 "update" is pretty minor and this is one of the "new features", it's very justifiable to accuse them (and be mostly correct) of holding back features just to create something to have for a "new" version this year.

I for one wish they'd get off the strictly annual cadence and go to 18-24 months (and not even be consistent with it necessarily) and really do big/great upgrades..

It'd be especially nice to at least get iOS off the annual cycle. By the time they iron things out and fix a lot of the bugs, they start all over again with a new version each year. It's maddening. Right when iOS XX gets good, they roll out a major new version with just enough change to cause headaches all over again.

A lot of what Apple does now could be classified, somewhat uncharitably, as "change for the sake of change". Not all of it - no way -- but too much of it.

 

[Tagbert]

I figured they could just change the UI to wake only the time with a tap, unless I pick up the phone or double-tap then it shows my wallpaper and other UI elements. Why would that require 1Hz refresh rate? I can change my Lock Screen wallpaper for a similar effect, I just like having a nice wallpaper to look at except for at in bed at night when I tap my phone to see the time.

This seems like something that could go to any iPhone that supports tap/raise to wake and has an OLED screen.

True Always-On doesn’t really matter to me that much. If I’m not looking at it, why should it be on?

Displaying any image, even static, requires doing a screen refresh. That takes some power, the faster you refresh the more power it takes. that is why the Apple Watch screen goes into a 1Hz mode (once per second) when it is in always on mode.

 

[Tagbert]

If you're thinking of something they could add for for current phones... tap to wake would require constantly supplying power to the screen's touchscreen. It's not at all clear to me that they could do this without supplying power to the screen as well - yes, probably not very much power if the screen is mostly dark (and OLED), but it'll still be some. It's a question of what capabilities were built into the screen/touchscreen. If nobody thought they'd need to run them separately, they probably didn't build in that capability (because it could be more complicated and costly).

Again, it comes down to nuanced details of the hardware that most of the people who yell about "they deliberately don't support this feature that they totally could, to make you buy a new phone" don't really think about (or don't care to, because doing so would remove their chance to complain).

Current phones support tap-to-wake for the whole screen and that is not too power hungry. Without specific hardware support that is likely as close as older phones will get.

 

[frownface]

If it does arrive I hope “we” includes those with devices capable of it and not just the latest models.

Apple almost always finds some reason to withhold features from previous models regardless of capabilities though so I won’t hold my breath.

They'll probably claim it needs some dedicated core out of the latest A16 bionic for the function to be possible.

 

[turbineseaplane]

They'll probably claim it needs some dedicated core out of the latest A16 bionic for the function to be possible.

An all new “Neural Engine” to control the always on ….. clock

Sure Tim…sure

 

[Ramboxman]

So true, Apple purposefully delays features their competitors have had for 5 years so they can make every new iPhone seem like a decent update. It is so obvious at this point. Lots of complaints I used Apple and Android and never had issues with battery. For travel folks like myself always on was great at hotels. This can easy be turned off. If they don’t bring it to 13 pro I will really think hard my next upgrade to Samsung.

 

[ericwn]

An all new “Neural Engine” to control the always on ….. clock

Sure Tim…sure

Or just the super low refresh rate screens as mentioned a few times here. But sure, a bit of daily TC hate.

 

[ericwn]

So true, Apple purposefully delays features their competitors have had for 5 years so they can make every new iPhone seem like a decent update. It is so obvious at this point. Lots of complaints I used Apple and Android and never had issues with battery. For travel folks like myself always on was great at hotels. This can easy be turned off. If they don’t bring it to 13 pro I will really think hard my next upgrade to Samsung.

Apple also has to plan years in advance and needs parts on a much larger scale than some of its competitors who might sell a fraction of their numbers. They will introduce a technology not just when it’s mature enough but also when they have enough of the components at hand for the price point they want.