Here’s what we could have on the always-on screen of an iPhone 13. Last week we saw the resurrection of a rumor that had appeared sporadically before: The possibility of an always-on display in the next iPhone. That is a screen that would never turn off completely, as we can already see in the Apple Watch Series 5 and 6. It is something increasingly common in Android phones.
The always-on screen is expected from the iPhone 13
Thanks to intelligent management of the screen refresh, which could even be only 1 fps, the battery would hardly suffer. The miracle would be worked by a new generation of LTPO displays with variable frequency and would allow us to view key data without even having to move the phone. So the question now is: What data could we display?
Let’s look at the Apple Watch as a possible example. When their displays are in “sleep” mode, the brightness is reduced and some elements such as the fill colors of the dial elements become black (black pixels on an OLED display do not consume power).
Translating that to the iPhone, we could see some sort of tailored wallpaper that is more discreet when the display is not in use. Or, for the sake of greater autonomy, the background could disappear completely, as is the case with some Android models whose screen is always on.
Let’s also think about the information we could see. The phone continues to work in the background even when locked, so an idle screen could show us the time, battery level, and coverage; The information of some widgets such as weather, calendar, or bag … we could also see some messaging notifications that we select in our preferences. The screen would turn on completely for calls, to continue to attract our attention.
The access buttons to some basic functions such as the flashlight or the camera could also be present on that screen at rest, although it would have to be seen how they behave if before pressing them we move the phone and the sensors turn it on.
Anything else? Apple could offer some extra flexibility, such as the possibility of integrating Siri shortcuts on that same screen. For example, to send a message to a particular contact directly from the locked screen, using Face ID or Touch ID (remember that there are rumors of its return) to authenticate us.
The always-on screen would require an iOS 15 to completely redesign the lock screen.
But all these additional features already make us think of another implication: We will have to see changes to the iOS lock screen for this to be possible. If we’re going to see an always-on screen in the next iPhone, iOS 15 may show us a completely new lock screen as one of its major new features.
We’ll see what finally comes true because let’s remember: We’re talking about rumors. The new iPhones are scheduled to be unveiled in early fall, at an event that some optimists are already hoping to see with the partial return of the public at the Steve Jobs Theater.
