Apple patents new under-screen Face ID and Dynamic Island tech

The U.S. Patent Office has granted Apple a new patent that talks about an under-screen Face ID that features more sensors than we’ve seen in the previous iPhone screens. The patent also describes a new way to use the ‘Dynamic Island.’

The iPhone 14 Pro features two cutouts in the display that are known as the island-shaped Dynamic Island. Unlike most Android cutouts, Apple’s is part of its user interface, and you can see what song is playing and other contextual information in the cutout. However, if this patent is accurate, Apple would rather have the display be one slab of glass and place the camera and Trudepth sensors below the glass.

Patently Apple spotted a patent that uses the Dynamic Island in interesting ways. The first allows for sensors that Apple can place into the display, including a sensor for air gestures, pressure sensors for detecting position, orientation, and motion, accelerometers, magnetic sensors and more. It’s worth noting that I’ve reviewed the LG G8 and Pixel 4 XL, which both offered a version of Air Gestures, and I’d love if Apple added the functionality to a future iPhone and did the feature some justice.

The second allows the Dynamic Island to vary in size and position. Apple would do this by using a series of tiny transparent windows and, effectively, selectively activating or deactivating different pixels, allowing the island to move in random directions and even rotate.

According to 9to5Mac, Apple’s displays consist of 13 layers, and light transmission through these areas is reduced by a lot and would need to lower the number of layers for areas with sensors. However, this patent would fix this issue by making these areas invisible to the eye and allowing neighbouring pixels to be turned off to increase light transmission.