This article was published on February 15, 2021

The next iPhone could sport an always-on screen — and it’s about time


The next iPhone could sport an always-on screen — and it’s about time

What’s a smartphone’s prime function? Taking photos? Making calls? Surfing the internet? Nah, all wrong. It’s to tell you the time. You could tell me it’s bullshit, but ask a bunch of people, “What’s the time?” and watch them pull out their devices to check. That’s just how a lot of people rely on their phones lately.

I often tap my phone’s screen when it’s on a table to see what time it is. But if the rumors are true, I won’t need to do that with the next iPhone. But if rumors are true, I wouldn’t need to do that with the next iPhone. Over the weekend, TipsterMax Weinbach and YouTube channel EverythingApplePro posted a video claiming to have a lot of exclusive information about the upcoming iPhone; one of the notable features mentioned was an always-on display.

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The video notes that the iPhone 13 will have a 120Hz LTPO (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) display which will show you information such as time, battery level, and weather in the always-on mode.

Android phones have been doing this for a while, and Apple also did this with its Apple Watch 5 series. Because of OLED displays on iPhones, Apple could activate certain pixels while keeping the rest of the screen dimmed to display information.

The Samsung Galaxy S7’s always-on display

I’m personally excited about this because I have this habit of tapping my iPhone display to look at the time or to see if I’ve received any notifications. With an always-on display, I wouldn’t need to do that and can avoid using the phone if I haven’t got any important alerts.

I really hope this feature makes it to the final version of the phone. Get to work, Tim Apple.

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