The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max were launched by Apple with a new look. Now, the classic rectangular notch has given way to the so-called Dynamic Island – or Dynamic Island, in free translation.
The new notch mixes hardware and software to bring a more interactive user experience. But how does it work in the larger family version? After our Detective TC explained part of it, it’s time for us to see the details in practice here at TechSmart, in partnership with HDBlog.
Right off the bat, we need to consider the visual change that is quite evident. After so many years used to the conventional and giant layout, seeing a notch in a pill on an iPhone has an inevitable impact.
The element in this format makes it look nicer and more modern, despite still being bigger than the well-known holes in Android phones. And it could not be different. Remember that Apple does not adopt fingerprint biometrics, which forces its iPhones to have more 3D facial recognition sensors, to ensure maximum security and accuracy.
A little use is all it takes to appreciate the fluidity and interactivity that Dynamic Island has with the entire system. But calm down, the integration is not yet complete. For now, only Apple’s system and applications, in addition to most multimedia players, are able to exploit the feature.
The other third-party apps will have to wait until the Cupertino giant releases the development kit, so they can integrate their tools with the Dynamic Island of iPhones. Something that we might see with the future arrival of iOS 16.1.
In other words, the aesthetics please, but the added value is still not fully exploited. This will be a process that may take some time, until we see the full potential of the resource.
The Dynamic Island is positioned right in the center of the screen, to maintain the location without major changes from what was already the conventional notch. Modifying it to the side would make the aesthetic more awkward for the user.
But of course, when you play some multimedia content in full screen, the notch size doesn’t help at all. You will have that big and intrusive distraction during video or photos.
Another important point is that very dark backgrounds at the top of the screen are not recommended. That’s because the animation is lost within the equally black background, which makes the notch effect less impactful.
We have one more detail here. We were able to observe the part of the software that joins the two holes of the Dynamic Island. That’s right. They are two parts joined by a black complement, to look like a single block. But rest assured, this break will not be visible under most conditions.
As we said, we still can’t get a sense of the full potential of Dynamic Island. However, we can already know a good part of the types of use that we can explore this new feature.
First of all, it’s possible to have two apps with actions to manage in it, with the ease of seeing the icon of whatever’s open there, even without having to expand the entire tile.
One of the examples of using Dynamic Island is when a song is being played on Spotify. You can open the preview to see the name of the song and who’s singing it, as well as some controls to pause, rewind or fast forward the track.
YouTube also manages to be sent to the iPhone notch. Thus, the media will continue to be played. But you won’t be able to see the video, and only the audio part of it will appear. Like YouTube Music, which is also compatible with Dynamic Island.
You can even run Maps and integrate a GPS route into the notch. In other words, you can get the indication whether you need to turn right or left, as well as see the name of the street you should turn on and how far it is to the action.
And if you don’t want to forget something you need to do, it’s still possible to set a timer and insert it in one of the spaces. It will appear as a kind of circular clock which, when expanded, will show the time remaining until it gives the expected time.
We can also add the visualization of a call in progress, or even the virtual “Apple” wallet. The animated notch is also capable of housing AirPods connectivity in addition to charging status.
To send compatible tools to Dynamic Island, there’s no secret. Simply minimize an app, which automatically continues running in the notch, rather than going fully into the background.
After all, not only Dynamic Island lives the screen of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, is it? Apple has put a 6.7-inch OLED display in its most advanced model, which aims to raise the standard of quality of its top-of-the-line device.
Speaking specifically about brightness, there is a peak of 2,000 nits, for good visibility even on sunny days. Not to mention the software features and automatic light adjustment. In other words, the quality does not lag behind any competitor.
Here we still have the maintenance of the 120 Hz refresh rate, with technology that allows frequency dynamism, as required by the open application. This is mainly to help save battery.
You can also customize the lock screen and select from the background image to the clock style. You can choose a widget to have a shortcut at the top, next to the notch.
You can only integrate the Dynamic Island into the smartphone panel, thanks to the ability of the new A16 Bionic mobile platform, which allows this interaction in a very fluid way and with little energy consumption.
Even the hardware is a differentiator only from the Pro series models. This means that it will not be possible to implement any novelty of the type in the two most basic versions of the family, in an eventual future update, as they rely on the last generation chip, the A15 Bionic.
Apart from the presence of the notch still in the classic rectangular version on the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus, which would not be so visually pleasing if it were to implement some interactive solution, such as Dynamic Island.
Already between the iPhone 14 Pro and the Pro Max, the differences are mainly in the dimensions and the size of the screen. Remembering that the smaller variant has a 6.1-inch display, but is not behind in any feature that Dynamic Island offers. That is, you will have in them all the interactive features of the new Apple notch.
At this first moment, what we can assess is that Dynamic Island is an interesting and very promising novelty. It has the ability to bring more dynamism to the experience and new types of interaction with applications, as well as modernizing the image of iPhones.
But her best is yet to come. It is clear that it has enormous potential to be explored by developers in the future, and only when that happens, will we know how Dynamic Island will evolve in the user experience.
Apple could forgo the traditional notch just to follow the example of competitors in the Android world. But not. It preferred to innovate with an interactive solution, which could even inspire something similar in competitors for the future. Let’s wait for news on this.
For now, that’s what we have to show you. The details of the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, not only on the system, but also on the quality of the cameras, multitasking performance, battery life and much more, we will only know in our full review.
So, did you like Dynamic Island? Do you plan to buy an iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max because of her? Feel free to comment in the space below!
The Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max is not yet available in Europeian stores. To be notified when it arrives click here.
