The Dynamic Island won't be removed in favour of under-display Face ID on the iPhone 18 Pro, after all, it's claimed.
According to the latest sources, the Face ID module will change a little, but Apple's trademark "notch" will remain.
There has been chatter recently about the next iPhone models and one of the rumours I wrote about recently had me feeling a little glum. There was a report that Apple might put Face ID under the display for its forthcoming iPhone 18 Pro models, leading to speculation that the Dynamic Island will be ditched.
Well, it turns out there may have been a translation issue, and while the Face ID sensors may still move to beneath the display, this may not lead to a huge external redesign, after all.
Crucially, the Dynamic Island may be staying, which is music to my ears.
How under-display Face ID and the Dynamic Island could co-exist
A report on MacRumors cites a Weibo-leaker going under the same Instant Digital. The source shared details on the Chinese social platform Weibo which clarifies some of the miscommunication surrounding Face ID and the Dynamic Island.
The leaker shared an image of the Face ID sensor assembly, which includes three modules. There is a infrared floodlight illuminator positioned on the left, an infrared camera on the right, and a dot projector in between.
According to Instant Digital and MacRumors, the flood illuminator is likely to be the only element that is placed under the display and potentially in the top left corner.
It’s suggested the dot projector and infrared camera would remain in the centre of the screen where they are now, but housed within a reduced pill-shaped Dynamic Island, where the selfie camera should also remain.
The rumour of a top-left corner selfie camera was suggested by The Information, but now seems to be incorrect. And the setup mentioned by Instant Digital has been supported by both leaker ShrimpApplePro and display analyst Ross Young.
Of course, we are several months away from the launch of the new iPhone 18 Pro models so plenty could change in this time. I for one am much more happy about this rumour than the previous one, though.
Dynamic Island is one of my favourite features to have launched on iPhone over the last couple of years, followed closely by the front-facing camera of the latest iPhone 17 models. I would be devastated to see it removed.
