If you’ve never been a fan of Apple’s notch (the space that houses your camera lens and speaker at the top of your screen), then you might be excited about the iPhone 14 Pro. Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro models have a smaller notch that makes the space a bit more useful.
On the new iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max phones announced Wednesday, the notch is reimagined as a pill-shaped cutout that can become part of other things you naturally do as you use the phone. Apple calls this the Dynamic Island. (Yes, Apple was also the focus of early jokes about the feature’s name.)
In addition to the always-on display of the iPhone 14 Pro and Max, the Dynamic Island is one of two new display features exclusive to the more expensive, higher-powered models of the iPhone 14 series. The new Dynamic Island around the static cutout turns a seemingly dead space in a tiny notification center with distinct animations for whatever you’re doing on your phone, whether you’re charging the battery, making a call, or listening to music.
If you’re thinking about buying a new iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max — pre-orders start September 9, with a September 16 release date — or just curious about Apple’s updated take on the really bad notch, here’s everything what you need to know
iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island cutout: What does it do?
Dynamic Island is a new feature on the top of the iPhone 14 Pro models that replicates the notch as a cutout. It changes shape and size to show notifications and timely information about current actions and ongoing activities in the background, depending on what you’re doing on your phone.
Here are some things that Apple said the Dynamic Island will display as a kind of notification or information display at the top of the iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max screen:
Arrival time for ridesharing services like Lyft Turn-by-turn navigation with Apple Maps Contact details and call duration for telephone calls Battery percentage when iPhone or AirPods are charging Cover when playing songs from Apple Music Payments by transit card Sports results Flight information Timer length Payments with Face ID Files sent with AirDrop Mute icon
We’ll continue to update this list with more features as we learn more, especially as we get a chance to play with the Dynamic Island feature on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max ourselves.
What if you do two things on iPhone 14 Pro at the same time?
If you have two things going on in the background, such as a phone call and a timer, Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max will split into two to show you information about both of your activities, for example, a timer and a phone call.
Apple Event: Full coverage
Can you step on Dynamic Island? Yes!
On the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, if you press and hold the Dynamic Island while it’s showing information, it can expand to show even more.
For example, if you tap on the clip when playing a song in Apple Music, you can check the song title and artist name and control the music (pause, play, rewind and fast forward). If you tap on the cutout when your departure time is displayed for a flight, it can also show locations, baggage details, possible delays and more.
If you tap on Dynamic Island, you will be redirected to the app that is currently displaying information in the cutout.
What apps and services will the new iPhone 14 Pro notch work with?
You can expect Dynamic Island to work with most Apple features, services and apps, as well as some third-party apps like Lyft.
Live Activities, which is a new iOS 16 widget on the lock screen that displays interactive and up-to-date notifications, will work seamlessly with Dynamic Island to display information from third-party apps on both the lock screen and home screen. We expect more app makers to join in the future.
So does Dynamic Island completely replace the notch?
Yes, the Dynamic Island pill-shaped notch replaces the larger notch found on previous iPhone models, such as the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12. However, a smaller notch is still present, hidden beneath the Dynamic Island, which houses the camera, the speaker and Face ID details. While the Dynamic Island changes in size, it can never completely disappear due to the notch — it’s like a disguise.
Will other iPhones get Dynamic Island?
Dynamic Island is currently only available on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Both models will be released on September 16, but you can pre-order both phones starting this Friday, September 9. We can’t say for sure if Apple will bring Dynamic Island to future iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch models, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on how the feature works and if it lives up to its promise. For more details, here’s a recap of everything Apple announced, including the new AirPods Pro 2 with updated noise cancellation and three different Apple Watch 8 series watches.
