iPhone 14 Pro's Large Pill-Shaped Cutout Will Display Camera and Microphone Privacy Indicators

[MacRumors]

The large pill-shaped combination cutout that's planned for the iPhone 14 Pro models will display privacy indicators for the microphone and the camera, according to a source that shared details on the MacRumors forums.

Apple is planning to replace the notch on the iPhone 14 Pro models with two separate pill-shaped and hole-punch cutouts that will house the TrueDepth camera system hardware for Face ID, but as we learned today, the cutouts will be combined together using software, appearing as a single long, pill-shaped cutout when the iPhone is in use.

The space between the two cutouts will apparently be used to show the orange and green dots that indicate when the camera or the microphone has been activated by an app. At the current time, these indicators are shown to the right of the notch when the hardware is actively engaged, but putting them front and center on the iPhone's display will make it more apparent when the camera and the microphone are in use.

Having the green dot front and center when the camera is active will make the experience of using an iPhone similar to using a Mac. On a Mac, when the webcam is in use, there is a green indicator light that cannot be disabled, with the light located right next to the camera.

Apple will apparently let users tap on the green and orange dots to receive more information about what apps are using the iPhone's hardware. Right now, that data is provided in Control Center, with Apple listing apps that have recently used the camera, microphone, and location.

The forums source claims that Apple will also redesign the Camera app, moving most of the controls to the top of the display to provide users with a larger view of the camera preview, but this change is "still not entirely locked in."

When the privacy indicators are not engaged, the space between the two cutouts on the iPhone 14 Pro models will be blacked out so that it appears as a single cutout. iPhone 14 models will use a standard notch and will therefore likely continue to feature the same hardware indicators that are available on the iPhone 13 models.

Article Link: iPhone 14 Pro's Large Pill-Shaped Cutout Will Display Camera and Microphone Privacy Indicators

 

[cmChimera]

Dope. Good ideas.

 

[joshuabeg]

Sweet! Great idea and way to utilize the space.

 

[profets]

Now that is a smart use of that space.

But damn, these fun little tidbits I'd like to be surprised with at the keynote or hands on after. My fault for being on MR.

 

[zakarhino]

Another MacRumors used called it on one of the previous pill threads. Makes a lot of sense. Now we just have to see how the pill will shape shift for additional information.

@ahmedreda spot on!

EDIT: Woah, looks like 9to5's source actually posted on MacRumors using a burner account several hours before any news sites picked up on it:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/the-new-pill-exclusive.2356478/

 

[Crow_Servo]

Digging some of these rumors. C’mon, let it be next Wednesday already.

 

[Benjamin Nabulsi]

Smart! that makes way more sense!
what about location icon, it's creepy everytime it pops up

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Woah! these indicators look so cool. I hope Apple makes it bright enough that we can see it with the naked eye. It's these little details... that is why I love Apple and an iPhone.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Getting more and more excited for this release. Originally I thought no way am I going for this. But lately, I think I’ll pre order day one. My 11 Pro Max is starting to show its age in terms of design and other hardware feature (5g, MagSafe).

 

[doboy]

Now, this makes me want to buy one. NOT!

 

[jclardy]

The single shape thing seemed obvious to me, Apple wouldn’t have an ugly, sideways “i” on its flagship device. These indicators are a surprise though, and actually a really awesome use of the dead space that has extra display available.

 

[A MacBook lover]

Woah! these indicators look so cool. I hope Apple makes it bright enough where we can see it with the naked eye.

I hope they make one so you can see with the fully clothed eye

 

[mavis]

Great idea! Now the two-hole cutout makes more sense; seems like a great use of a handful of pixels. 👍🏻

 

[DarkCole]

This is great! Looking forward to it and much preferred over the pill shape and dot.

 

[JonathanLevine]

Why do I seem like I’m the only person who actually really liked the look of the hole + pill shaped cutout? I think one long pill-shaped cutout looks terrible, at least the other design looked somewhat unique compared to most of the other Android camera cutout designs. They might as well keep the notch if they’re gonna go this route, it’s not like it’s much different anyway.

I hope there’s a way to turn off the black space in between the Face ID sensors and the camera so we can actually see the screen in between them.

 

[BarredOwl]

I love this.

 

[richinaus]

this does make sense to me and looks far better than the disjointed dot and dash.

 

[Deadman64]

Love this. I figured Apple would have some clever software tweaks that make use of the new screen real estate!

 

[johnyslats]

Looks like it’s the same source that posted it on this very site a few hours ago

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/the-new-pill-exclusive.2356478/

 

[kirk.vino]

Finally, some sane design ideas LOL

 

[Havalo]

iPhone 15 - same indicator to be used for notification. Revolutionary...

 

[bassexpander]

Good grief. By launch date, it'll be like this, and we’ll call it Apple’s Natch:

 

[zakarhino]

The picture also shows how the camera app will be redesigned (according to the article). I'm not sure I agree with putting so many of the controls up there because won't that impact one handed ease of use? Unless those controls are moving to make way for new camera software features at the bottom 🤔 Maybe they need more viewfinder space for the rumored 3:2 aspect ratio (I still believe native film emulation is coming at some point)

That's what I love about the iPhone events, even if we know what the device will look like and rough camera specs we never truly know what kind of camera *software* tricks are coming.

 

[Anaxarxes]

Why do I seem like I’m the only person who actually really liked the look of the hole + pill shaped cutout? I think one long pill-shaped cutout looks terrible, at least the other design looked somewhat unique compared to most of the other Android camera cutout designs. They might as well keep the notch if they’re gonna go this route, it’s not like it’s much different anyway.

I hope there’s a way to turn off the black space in between the Face ID sensors and the camera so we can actually see the screen in between them.

So... What will happen when you see bunch of pixels lighting up for no reason whatsoever?

 

[narenh]

I hope they don't move essential camera controls to the top of the screen! Apple seems to finally be understanding that the top is harder to reach than the bottom (Safari in iOS 15, Notifications in iOS 16, etc)