The iPhone 14 line included more differences between the phones than normal, as while the standard iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Plus used the old-school iPhone style complete with a notch, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max ditched the notch and replaced it with a Dynamic Island.
So you might be wondering whether that will be repeated again this year, whether all four models will have a Dynamic Island, or whether something else is in the works.
While we don’t know the answer for sure yet, we have a fairly good idea, thanks to a large number of leaks and rumors. So below, we’ll look at which iPhone 15 models are likely to get a Dynamic Island. But before that, you’ll find an explanation of what the Dynamic Island actually is.
What is the Dynamic Island?
The Dynamic Island is Apple’s name for the cut-out in the screen on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, which houses the front-facing camera and the Face ID components.
This replaces the notch found on most other iPhones, and it brings the design a bit closer to many Android phones – though the cut-out here is larger, as it’s housing those aforementioned facial recognition sensors, as well as a camera.
However, Apple has cleverly made this a part of the interface, hence the Dynamic Island name. Rather than just being a static black cut-out, it can expand and contract to house alerts and notifications; just take a look at the images below.
If you’re listening to music for example, it might house a little image of the album art and a visualization of sound waves. With timers, you would be able to see the timer itself counting down. When an alarm goes off, you will see an alarm bell shake the Dynamic Island.
Incoming calls, voice memos, and many other things can also appear in the Dynamic Island, with the size of the island shifting based on what it needs to display, or the Island splitting in two to display things from two different apps.
A tap on the island will open the app for whatever’s currently being housed there, and a long press will expand the island further to provide more information or controls. For example, if a song is playing then a long press would deliver playback controls.
Will the iPhone 15 have a Dynamic Island?
So far nothing about the iPhone 15 has been confirmed – all we have to go on are leaks and rumors. But those leaks and rumors strongly point in the direction of it having a Dynamic Island.
For example, back in January, Mark Gurman (who has a great track record for Apple leaks) claimed that the iPhone 15 will have a Dynamic Island. Another similarly reputable source has also since said that every iPhone 15 model will have a Dynamic Island.
We’ve even seen a leak purporting to show the glass front panel of the iPhone 15, and this includes a Dynamic Island. Then there are also iPhone 15 dummy units with a Dynamic Island.
On top of all that, no sources have said that the iPhone 15 won’t have a Dynamic Island, so with a number of reputable reports saying it will be included and no dissenting voices, we think it’s very likely that the iPhone 15 will have a Dynamic Island, and won’t therefore have a notch.
What about the iPhone 15 Plus?
The leaks above that talk about the iPhone 15 having a Dynamic Island mostly specify that all four upcoming iPhones would have one, meaning the iPhone 15 Plus would do too.
There are also some leaks talking specifically about the iPhone 15 Plus, such as some leaked schematics that 9to5Mac got hold of and used to make some unofficial iPhone 15 Plus renders – complete with a Dynamic Island. You can see one of these above.
As well as that, no leakers have said the iPhone 15 Plus won’t have a Dynamic Island, and it would be very odd for Apple to give the iPhone 15 a Dynamic Island but not the iPhone 15 Plus (given that the Plus model is basically just a larger version of the standard one).
So in other words, either both of these phones will have a Dynamic Island or neither will, but we’ll probably see them both have this feature included.
Will the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max still have one?
The iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max (or the iPhone 15 Ultra, as there’s a small chance it will be called) are even more likely to have a Dynamic Island. After all, their predecessors do, so while it’s possible Apple will change up the design again already, that seems unlikely, as the company usually keeps design elements for at least a couple of years.
On top of that, the various leaks we’ve seen also point to a Dynamic Island being included. Many of these are mentioned or linked above, but there are also multiple sets of iPhone 15 Pro leaked renders showing the feature, one of which can be seen above.
So we’d be extremely surprised if the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max don’t have a Dynamic Island, but for all of these phones we’ll probably find out for sure in September, as that’s when Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 15 line.