iPhone 14 Always-on-Display: What is it and how does it work- EXPLAINED

Apple is speculated to bring an always-on display for iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Know how it will work.

iPhone 14 Pro models to come with always-on display! (FrontPageTech)

Always-On Display, or AoD, one of the much anticipated features is likely coming to select models of iPhone 14 later this year. While those who have been using iPhones will be new to this feature, Android users already have an Always On Display and this has been so for years. Apple too has this feature but on Watch Series 5 and iPhones will be getting this feature later this year. While everyone is talking about this Always-On Display feature, know what it actually is and how it works? Why did Apple not enable the feature all these years and which iPhone models will get this feature? Here's everything you need to know about it.

What is Always-On Display and how does it work?

Always-On Display allows users to view the time, date, notifications, missed calls, and more even when the screen is turned off. The feature was rolled out on Android years ago on phones like the Motorola Moto X series and Samsung Galaxy phones. When AoD is enabled, the majority of the phone's screen remains off, without using any power, only lights up to show notifications. The feature doesn't have a huge impact on the phone's battery, despite it being on all day.

Apple is bringing the feature to iPhones whose display panels have OLED (organic light emitting diode) and LTPO (low temperature polycrystalline oxide).

What are OLED and LTPO panels?

The OLED display panel is made up of many tiny pixels which have their own lighting source, using organic compounds to light up at various intensity levels depending on the current passed through it. Hence, OLED panels offer more minute customisation pixel-to-pixel which means every pixel in an OLED panel can be configured to be turned on or off.

On the other hand, an LTPO panel allows a display to switch between very low and very high refresh rates based on the content. An LTPO panel can drop the refresh rate below the usual 60Hz (as low as 1Hz on the newer LTPO 2.0 panels), saving battery significantly. Hence, Apple likely wants to add AoD only to phones which have both an OLED as well as an LTPO displays. This will help in low power consumption and therefore, ensure least battery drain.

Which iPhone models will get this AoD feature?

Apple made the OLED display panels mandatory from iPhone 12 series whereas the iPhone 11 series only had OLED panels on the Pro-models. However, Apple is likely to bring Always-On Display only to iPhones which have both OLED + LTPO panels. Thus we can expect iPhone 14 ‘Pro' models to get this feature. Two of Apple's current iPhones - iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max could also get AoD with an update in the future.