Apple iPhone 14 Pro tipped again to get always-on display

Apple may be working on rolling the feature out with iOS 16, which will allow the top-end iPhone 14 Pro to show a few things on the display when it is locked.

Apple may finally include an always-on display on its more expensive iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, which are rumoured to arrive later this year. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said Apple is working on rolling the feature out with iOS 16, which will allow the top-end iPhone 14 Pro to show a few things on the display when it is locked. His intel corroborates what we have heard about the iPhone 14 Pro, and considering Gurman is a credible source, an always-on display could finally arrive on the iPhone.

According to Gurman, the always-on display mode on the iPhone will work the same way as it does on the Apple Watch Series 5 and higher models. In other words, the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max will lower the frame rate of the screen when the always-on mode is enabled, allowing them to consume less battery. This is more or less the same as how always-on mode works on current Android phones. The key ingredient required for this is the low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) display, which Apple has been using on the Watch since Series 5. The LTPO displays drop frame rates so low, it ends up using a very little amount of power while the always-on mode is activated.

Gurman's report corroborates what several analysts predicted last year. According to these analysts, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will get an LTPO display, which enables the always-on mode. But it is only these more expensive iPhone 14 models that are likely to get the feature. The remaining two - iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max - may still end up having a display the same as before. But this is not a new feature. Several Android devices have supported always-on display for years.

The always-on mode is likely to be a part of iOS 16, which Apple will likely announce at the upcoming WWDC. According to Gurman, the next iPhone software aka iOS 16 will bring new functionalities, such as wallpapers with widget-like capabilities. He also said there could be more features that will be exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. It falls in line with previous reports that suggested Apple might limit the use of its brand-new A16 chip to just the high-end iPhone models this time, while those on the lower side of the price ladder would use a tweaked version of the A15.

We might find out about the always-on mode and other new features coming to the iPhone at the Apple WWDC 2022, which kicks off on June 6.