The iPhone 14 Pro will feature unique behavior on the Lock Screen and significant changes to the status bar thanks to its always-on display, according to a source that spoke to MacRumors.
The source behind the latest wave of information was responsible for the bombshell leak earlier this week that claimed the iPhone 14 Pro's display cutouts will appear to have a single, unified "pill" at the top of the display, rather than two distinct cutouts.
According to new information from the source shared exclusively with MacRumors, iOS 16's Lock Screen will directly interact with the iPhone 14 Pro's always-on display, featuring integration with notifications and the depth effect and colors of wallpapers.
The iPhone 14 Pro's status bar will also purportedly see changes as a result of the increased amount of usable space at the top of the display, moving the cellular signal indictor to the left and re-implementing the full-width battery status bar on the Lock Screen and notification center when the device is locked.
The source shared several graphics allegedly based on information from Apple that illustrate some of the iPhone 14 Pro's software changes on the MacRumors forums and has since provided further information. The iPhone 14 Pro will apparently feature the following features and specific changes:
- The background of Lock Screen wallpapers with a depth effect will be removed and fully darkened when the display is in its always-on mode, while the foreground will be dimmed. In addition, the foreground will be tinted with color and feature edge highlights depending on user customization.
- Widgets will be visible on the always-on display but will fade in and out at set intervals, unnoticeable to the user, to prevent OLED burn-in.
- Content shown on the always-on Lock Screen and the full-illuminated Lock Screen must be configured in the same way and cannot be separated, meaning that they have to share the same wallpaper, color choices, fonts, and widgets. The core visual elements of the always-on display itself can be independently customized.
- Notifications will be part of the iPhone 14 Pro's always-on display experience, and like on the normal Lock Screen, notifications will roll in from the bottom one at a time and remain subtly visible for 10 seconds. Once the display is woken up, the notifications will animate from the bottom and proceed to the user-defined setting of how notifications are presented on the Lock Screen (such as count, stack, or list).
- Apple may also allow users to enable a notification counter at the bottom of the always-on display.
Apple is also said to be planning to release an update, such as iOS 16.0.1 or 16.1, soon after the launch of the iPhone 14 Pro that will include fixes for issues with the device’s always-on display and wallpapers. While the company is now in the feature’s final stages of development, it is reportedly still encountering bugs and is scrambling software engineers from different teams, including the Apple Watch, to finish the always-on display experience before launch.
The iPhone 14 Pro lineup is expected to be revealed at the Apple's "Far out" event on Wednesday, September 7. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro are likely to be available for pre-order on Friday, September 9, and start arriving to customers on Friday, September 16.
