The iPhone 18 Pro’s Dynamic Island could get the first-ever redesign

Ever since Apple launched the iPhone X in 2017, customers have been wondering when they will finally have access to the full screen.

At first there was an ugly notch cut into the top. This notch shrank in 2021, then was replaced the following year with the Dynamic Island, which housed the cameras and front-facing sensors in a truly functional pill-shaped cutout. The Dynamic Island is definitely an improvement over the notch, but it’s still a hindrance: turn the phone sideways to watch a movie, and you’ll have to live with a black bar blocking a small portion of the screen.

One day Apple will release a truly all-screen phone by hiding all the sensors and cameras under the screen, but we’re pretty sure that day won’t come anytime soon. But while the technology remains expensive and difficult to deliver without weakening screen quality, we could get the next best thing: another shrinkage and potentially a bold new look, with the iPhone 18 Pro now set to receive a redesigned, smaller version of Dynamic Island.

New support for this theory came in the briefest of throwaway comments in an article from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman this week. While discussing a scoop about Dynamic Island coming to the MacBook Pro (something we’ve covered elsewhere), Gurman drops a single sentence indicating his agreement for the same screen element to change size on the iPhone.

“Apple is also planning a redesigned Dynamic Island for the smaller iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max this year,” he writes.

Such a simple claim would not normally be particularly convincing, even though Gurman is one of the most knowledgeable leakers on the circuit. But this is not a new idea. In December, a Chinese social media account claimed that Apple was testing “a micro-transparent glass panel” that would allow it to place front-facing sensors under the screen and thus shrink the dynamic island or even reduce it to a tiny, barely perceptible perforated circle. And something similar was proposed later that month by The Information.

So this should be seen as corroboration of an existing theory rather than something new, and when multiple sources say the same thing it’s worth listening to. This is starting to look convincing.

Nonetheless, we’re still more than six months away from launch, so anything we hear should be taken with some skepticism. There will be a lot of rumors coming; To follow it all, don’t forget to bookmark our iPhone 18 superguide. And to be blown away by the (possible) major upgrades, take a look at 5 iPhone 18 rumors that will make you hate the phone you currently own.