There have been reports in the past that Apple will be bringing always-on displays to its upcoming iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max phones. And now, there appears to be growing evidence to back up such reports. According to reports, iOS 16's code has evidence for always-on display capability, which could be limited to the rumoured iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max phones.
While Apple did not mention anything about Always-On-Displays at WWDC where it announced iOS 16, speculation is rife that the feature will find a place on next year's flagship Apple phones and will work as it does on the recent Apple Watch models. This new feature is expected to tie in with some big changes coming to the operating system, including a completely redesigned Lock Screen. With iOS 16, users can now customize their iPhone’s Lock Screen with different widgets, fonts, dynamic wallpapers, and more.
According to reports, the first developer beta for iOS 16 hides multiple references that confirm the OS includes support for an always-on display. These include frameworks that have been added that relate to the backlight management of the iPhone’s display. Backlight management is a key aspect of enabling an always-on feature. Additionally, these frameworks include references to an always-on display capability. Further, there are also multiple references to an always-on display within the Springboard of the OS.
And that's not all. There are also hidden flags within iOS 16 that Apple engineers can use to enable always-on capabilities even on unsupported devices. This is very interesting, as it could mean Apple is already testing this feature internally on the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max ahead of the feature coming to the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max officially later this year.