iPhone 17 Pro Max Again Rumored to Feature Smaller Dynamic Island Due to Face ID Change

The high-end iPhone 17 Pro Max launching next year will feature a smaller Dynamic Island, according to technology analyst Jeff Pu, who has a fairly good track record with Apple rumors. This reiterates information that he first shared in May.

iPhone 17 Pro Max Smaller Notch Feature
In a research note with investment bank Haitong International earlier this month, obtained by MacRumors, Pu said the iPhone 17 Pro Max will adopt a "metalens" for Face ID that results in a "much narrowed" Dynamic Island on the device. He does not expect this change to apply to the smaller iPhone 17 Pro, or any other iPhone 17 models.

While a traditional iPhone camera has curved lenses that redirect light towards the image sensor, a metalens is a thin and flat lens with microscopic patterns etched onto it that can focus light more precisely. In his research note this month, Pu did not provide any specific details about how Apple plans to use a metalens for the Face ID system, nor did he explain how the change would result in a narrower Dynamic Island.

Apple introduced the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pro models in 2022, and it is also available on all iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 series next September, and more details about this metalens may surface over the coming months.

Related Roundup: iPhone 17
Tag: Jeff Pu

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Top Rated Comments

Cheruman Avatar
3 weeks ago
The Dynamic Islet
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Belisama Avatar
3 weeks ago
Brace for the Amazing Dynamic Island Mini Pro.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
relmz Avatar
3 weeks ago
iPhone 17 Ultra?

* Smaller Dynamic Island
* Upgraded cooling system with vapor chamber technology and graphite sheets
* 12 GB of RAM

All of this is rumored to be exclusive to the Pro Max and not the Pro. I think there's never been so much differentiation between the two Pro models.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BelgianChoklit Avatar
3 weeks ago
Still can't believe how people just ate the marketing bullkrap of the dynamic island with the 14 pro. It wasn't and never was a feature. Nothing of how Apple uses it where they blend in the pixelless area in those notification bubbles is awesome. All it is is they put more black space around it, that's it. But the amount of people who just went nuts about how awesome it was still shocks me to this day.

The only thing I like about it on my 15 Pro is that it looks more modern, that's it.

I wonder how they're going to market it getting smaller.
"Now more of the black space in notification bubbles are pixels"?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
krull1015 Avatar
3 weeks ago
Apple Innovation ?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MedRed Avatar
3 weeks ago
I'm ready for Apple to get back to innovating instead of being just another tech company. I hope the slower than expected iPhone 16 sales are a wakeup call.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)