Without Face ID, smartphones today would only have one display design. It’s a hole-punch screen like the one found on Galaxy S24 smartphones and other Android devices. But the iPhone’s superior biometric system, which is one of the things I love most about it, forced Apple to move from a notch display to a dynamic island.
When the iPhone 17 series arrives, Apple may offer an even better version of the dynamic island display (above) it introduced in 2022. The pill-shaped notch could be made smaller thanks to an upgrade to Face ID camera technology called MetaLens.
When Apple introduced the full-screen Face ID design, the notch took up most of the top section of the display. The 2017 iPhone X featured a massive TrueDepth camera system that could quickly perform a 3D scan of a user’s face for authentication purposes.
Apple has since reduced the size of the notch, and the iPhone 13 has a significantly smaller cutout. The iPhone 14 Pro then adopted the Dynamic Island, a whole pill shape that is also featured in today’s iPhone 16 models. The Dynamic Island consists of two display cutouts connected by a small section of OLED display that is permanently turned off to create the island shape.
Apple added a software feature around Dynamic Island, and this design compromise made headlines when the iPhone 14 series was launched.
What I’m saying is that Apple is continually updating the TrueDepth camera design, and the goal is clear. Eventually the hole in the screen will disappear. The Face ID component and selfie camera are placed at the bottom of the screen.
The evolution of the Face ID camera may continue with the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Analyst Jeff Pugh said: The analyst stated this in a research report. mcroomers The iPhone 17 Pro Max’s dynamic island will be “significantly narrower.” This will be the only model of the four iPhone 17 variants to be upgraded.
Apple regularly introduces new features with the iPhone Pro Max models, which will be introduced to all other versions in the coming years. If the metalens rumors are correct, the same thing will happen with this new Dynamic Island design. It’s unclear why Apple would only do it with the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Mass production of metalens units is probably too expensive and difficult.
That said, the technology is exciting. A metalens is a lens made using different materials etched into a thin flat lens. These particles allow the lens to focus light without the need for curvature. Here is a description of this technology from an MIT report from early 2021:
Now, MIT engineers have created a tunable “metalens” that can focus on objects at multiple depths without changing their physical location or shape. Rather than solid glass, the lens is made of a transparent “phase change” material that, after being heated, can rearrange its atomic structure, thereby changing the way the material interacts with light.
If Pu’s information is correct, Apple may be ready to bring the technology to the iPhone. The same analyst made a similar claim about the iPhone 17 Pro Max earlier this year.
