iPhone 18 Pro With Under-Screen Face ID Now Rumored to Feature Smaller Dynamic Island

Counterpoint Research VP Ross Young today cast doubt on the 20th-anniversary iPhone featuring a truly all-screen design, but he still expects Apple to make some progress towards that ambitious goal over the next few iPhone generations.

iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island
In a post on X today, Young reiterated that at least some new iPhones launching in 2026 will be equipped with under-screen Face ID. While he did not mention any specific models, he is very likely referring to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.

Despite the move to under-screen Face ID, Young said that the 2026 iPhone models will still have some visible Face ID elements, and for this reason he believes that the devices will still have a "notch" (aka the Dynamic Island), but he said that it will be "smaller" compared to the one on the iPhone 14 Pro through iPhone 16 models.

Young's information seems to conflict with a report last month from The Information's Wayne Ma that said the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max would have "only a small hole cutout in the top-left corner to accommodate the front-facing camera." This wording suggested that the devices might not have a Dynamic Island at all, but Young has implied that there will still be a smaller Dynamic Island, which would still be an improvement.

In his Power On newsletter over the weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also said that Apple would shrink the size of the Dynamic Island on at least some iPhone models launching next year, so there are now multiple sources who believe that iPhone 18 models will still have a smaller Dynamic Island rather than only a front camera hole.

Young said he is unsure if the front camera hole will nonetheless be moved to the top-left corner of the iPhone 18 screen, or if it will remain more centered.

Young does expect all Face ID elements to eventually be moved under the screen, but he now believes that change will not happen until 2028.

Related Roundup: iPhone 18
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
apple oct 2024 mac tease

Apple Expected to Announce These Two to Three Products 'This Week'

Sunday October 12, 2025 7:05 am PDT by
Apple plans to announce new products "this week," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple's "Mac Your Calendars" teaser last October In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the products set to be updated this week include the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and "likely" the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, with all three likely to receive a spec bump with Apple's next-generation M5 chip. Gurman...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
joz macbook tease

Apple Teases Upcoming M5 MacBook Pro Launch: 'Something Powerful is Coming'

Tuesday October 14, 2025 11:59 am PDT by
Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak today teased the launch of an upcoming product, saying "something powerful is coming" on social media. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. A short animation accompanying Joswiak's teaser reveals a brief glimpse of a MacBook Pro along with the words "coming soon." The shape of the MacBook Pro is a V, which is the Roman numeral...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....

Top Rated Comments

joshwithachance Avatar
17 weeks ago
A smaller Dynamic Island will make absolutely ZERO difference in the end user experience.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Mac Daz Avatar
17 weeks ago
Didn’t they say the 17 Pro’s were originally getting a smaller Dynamic Island
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
17 weeks ago
Don’t shrink the island, pack it with more features than ever before seen in a Dynamic Island.

I’m waiting on the best Dynamic Island we’ve ever created: dynamic Pangaea ultima



Attachment Image
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thiscatisfat Avatar
17 weeks ago
Apple is so boring nowadays. Had Apple kept it's momentum they gained in the first years of iPhone, some dynamic island or any visible sensors/cameras let alone some punch hole camera wouldn't even be on the table by now.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xgman Avatar
17 weeks ago
it's always the one after the next one somehow.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CharlesShaw Avatar
17 weeks ago
If my beloved 13 mini holds up long enough, I might be able to bypass Dynamic Island altogether.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)