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The yearly iPhone release, and indeed most smartphone releases, have become boring: The latest model is a little faster, the camera’s better, maybe there’s some stand-out gimmick that will feature in all the ads but won’t really improve the way you use your phone. In general, there’s not a lot to talk about.
This year, with the iPhone 14 Pro there is something interesting to talk about. Naturally, the iPhone 14 is a little faster and yes, the camera is indeed better. But there are two other new features this year, exclusive to the Pro models, that actually change the way you use your iPhone for the better: the always-on display and Dynamic Island.
Apple is late to deliver an alwayson display, but its implementation is excellent and, combined with software features of iOS 16, allows you to ‘use’ your iPhone without even picking it up far more often than you might think. When you do pick it up, the Dynamic Island (Apple’s name for a new interface built around the camera cut-out at the top of the display) is an absolute revelation. It is Apple’s interface design at its best and sure to be copied by it’s rivals. It’s such a great idea, executed so well, that it may come to define the iPhone user experience for years to come.
THAT DELIGHTFUL DYNAMIC ISLAND
We like to drag Apple when it makes bad interfaces mistakes, like the disastrous macOS Ventura settings or that whole iOS 7 thing. But when Apple brings its A-game, it can bring to market interface experiences that set the trend for years. The Dynamic Island is perhaps Apple’s best interface in years.
To make the Dynamic Island, Apple took the notch that holds all the Face ID sensors and frontfacing camera, shrunk it, and moved it down into a little pill-shaped cutout (technically two cutouts, with the OLED display set black inbetween to join them). That’s alone is not a new idea, but what Apple has done with it is. This cutout will grow and change in lively ways to show you alerts and data. Connect your AirPods and the little island extends for a few seconds to show the connection message. Use Face ID and, instead of a bubble in the middle of your screen, the island extends downward to show the Face ID alert. Follow a sporting event
