The iPhone 14 Pro will apparently use a software “trick” to make the two new screen cutouts look like a single cutout.
Apple will essentially darken the area between the two cutouts. This will give the illusion that it is “a single wide pill-shaped cutout”according to Bloomberg.
Apparently, the space between the two cutouts will be used to display microphone and camera privacy indicators. The change will also involve a redesign of the Camera app.
Currently, Apple places a small orange dot in the upper-right corner of the screen when an app is using the iPhone’s microphone and a Green Point when an app is using your iPhone’s camera. In the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple will move these indicators and make them much more visible.
Apple’s goal is to make the experience more similar to that of a MacBook, which features an always-on green LED when the camera is in use.
This will also allow Apple to display the green and orange dots at the same time when the camera and microphone are in use.. Apple currently only shows the green dot, even if an app is accessing the camera and microphone.
Additionally, Apple plans to allow users to tap these indicators to see a clear list of which apps are using (and perhaps have recently used) the microphone and camera.
What the cutout will look like on screen
Finally, the source adds that Apple is also planning a redesign of the Camera app in which most of the controls are moved to the top of the screen.
Controls like the flash button and Live Photo button are now located in the status bar, while more settings for photos and videos are directly below the screen cutouts. This change will give users a broader view of the camera preview by moving the controls up and moving some of them to the status bar.
