iPhone 14: New Apple software seems to confirm new phone’s big feature

Andrew Griffin
Wednesday 08 June 2022 19:40 BST
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The rumoured big feature of the upcoming iPhone 14 Pro may have been confirmed in Apple’s new software update.

iOS 16, which was released this week, includes a range of references to always-on displays, according to Apple blog 9to5mac. The new software was announced earlier this week, and is now available to developers, allowing people to pick through the code found inside.

The software has a range of different frameworks that are used to manage how bright the display of the phone is. And they include references to phones with an always-on display, the site claimed.

They do not appear to be references to the Apple Watch, which already has an always-on display.

The feature has already been much-rumoured for the iPhone 14 Pro, which is expected to arrive in September. It is likely to be limited to the more expensive Pro version, not the normal iPhone 14, as a result of the extra display technology required to keep the screen on without using excessive battery.

But actually bringing the feature to the phone will require the hardware to be ready, too. Apple was rumoured to planning to bring an always-on display to the iPhone earlier – and may have been held back by manufacturing problems, which have become worse in the wake of the pandemic.

Those ongoing manufacturing problems have already been rumoured to be pushing back the release date of this year’s iPhone, though there has been no official or even firm indication that is the case.

Even without those more explicit mentions of an always-on display, iOS 16 has clearly been designed with a keen focus on the Lock Screen. The new update allows it to be customised in more ways than ever before, including with new widgets that can show live information – which would presumably be much more useful with a display that was always showing that information.

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