iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max Will Have an Always-On Display for the First Time
In a first for iOS devices, the new feature will keep the time and a dimmed background visible even when the phone is idle.
- 2022 Eddie Award for a single article in consumer technology
The always-on display is just one of many screen hardware and software upgrades in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.
When the iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max is locked, you won't just see the dark, blank screen of an idle phone. With the new always-on display feature, the phone will show you the time, a hint of the lock screen background and information from widgets and a new live activities feature.
The announcement came at Apple's "Far Out" product event Wednesday, when the company revealed the new iPhone 14 line. The feature is the result of upgrades to display materials behind the screen and to the iPhone's new operating system, iOS 16. The upshot is that you won't have to touch or lift your phone just to see what time it is.
"This keeps essential information available for the moments where all you need is just a glance," Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said in the prerecorded video played at the event.
The concept will be familiar to many Android or Apple Watch users, including those with Samsung phones, who can already see some information at a glance even when screens aren't in use.
Hints that the feature was coming to iPhones showed up in iOS 16 code in June. The new phones have a lock screen that can keep displaying images without sucking up battery life, a previous barrier to an always-on feature.
This has been made possible with specialized display materials that operate more efficiently. This tech includes low temperature polycrystalline oxide, more commonly called LPTO. The result is that phones can alter how much power screens use based on whether the device is showing dynamic graphics like videos or simpler visuals like text.