Love it or hate it, the iPhone’s dynamic island was Apple’s solution to finally start getting rid of the iconic notch the company introduced with the iPhone X in 2017. Like its previous iteration , however, the camera island on the iPhone 14 Pro models remained controversial, while Apple is still a long way from the ideal, clean display when it comes to its phones. On that note, the tech giant has been granted a new patent that may well hint at Apple’s plans with Face ID and the future of Dynamic Island. . (via PatentlyApple)
As for Face ID, the patent describes a variety of sensors that can be integrated into the screen, including those for Touch ID (hooray, Touch ID might be coming back to the iPhone). Keep in mind, though, that we’re talking about a patent here, so we might not see this new approach to Face ID implemented.
Other sensors mentioned by the patent can be integrated into the screen, including pressure sensors, magnetic sensors such as compass sensors, gyroscopes, accelerometer sensors for measuring non-contact three-dimensional gestures (“gestures aerials”), health sensors, etc.
As for Dynamic Island, the patent says its position can be made adjustable via transparent windows whose size and positioning can be moved around the screen while different pixels are selectively turned on and off.
The transparent windows may be offset by a random amount in a random direction relative to a point defining the grid and/or may be randomly rotated to increase non-periodicity. A transparency gradient can be formed between the transparent windows and the surrounding opaque portion of the display. Transparent windows can be defined by non-linear edges.
According to Apple, most of its devices have screens with a total of 13 layers, which is a lot of light to pass through. In Apple’s case, up to 80% of light is blocked. That’s why the company plans to remove some of these layers if the aforementioned sensors end up being integrated into the display in the future.
What’s more interesting here, however, is that the patent talks about an approach that would distribute these areas in such a way that they become invisible to our eyes, without affecting the overall performance of the screen itself. On top of all that, neighboring pixels would be able to selectively turn off to let in more light.
