Apple considered various notch and Dynamic Island designs for iPhones

Before settling on the innovative Dynamic Island feature introduced in the iPhone 14 Pro models in 2022, the company explored a number of alternative ideas for the screen notch design.

Among the designs explored by Apple was a popover menu concept positioned on the right side of the screen, resembling a secondary notch. This menu would offer quick access to essential information such as time, signal strength, and battery level, disappearing when not in use.

Another idea was to hide the notch with an all-black status bar, using OLED display technology to save battery life by turning off individual pixels.

However, Apple ultimately opted for Dynamic Island, a versatile space around the front camera and Face ID sensors that can dynamically change and expand to display various system alerts and information. Initial designs featured a permanently elongated Dynamic Island, but Apple later refined it to resize as needed, minimizing its impact on the screen.

The exploration also included concepts for displaying volume controls, system shortcuts, and layouts for ongoing phone calls within the Dynamic Island.

While the dynamic island has become a major feature of the iPhone 15 models, Apple continues to offer earlier models with a traditional notch. Despite rumors of integrating the iPhone's front camera and Face ID sensors under the display in future iterations, such a transition is not expected until at least next year.

As Apple continues to push the boundaries of smartphone innovation, users can expect further enhancements and improvements in future iterations of the iPhone