Dynamic Island on an iPhone hides the TrueDepth camera. Apple could be updating the TrueDepth Camera in the iPhone 17 Pro Max, with a reconfiguration rumored to make the size of it and the Dynamic Island much smaller. The front-facing camera on the iPhone is actually multiple elements in a row, which led to the wide design of the notch and the Dynamic Island. However, in a continuing bid to shrink down its hardware, Apple is apparently planning something new for the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
In a Thursday Weibo post by serial leaker "Digital Chat Station," it is claimed that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will have a "metal meta-lens." It is a component described as integrating both the receiver and transmitter required for Face ID depth mapping, so it uses one smaller aperture instead of two. The upshot to the change is that there will be fewer elements that need to see through the display, and so requires a smaller gap than is used in the iPhone 16 generation. To match the smaller hole, the Dynamic Island UI elements used to disguise the aperture can be made smaller and be less intrusive to users.
The TrueDepth Camera changes is only a step on Apple's journey to hiding the Face ID system completely under the display. The Weibo post insists it could be "several generations" before that happens. Digital Chat Station is a well-known rumor source, and has been accurate with rumors in the past. However, the rumor goes against insights from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in January. At the time, Kuo expected the Dynamic Island size to "remain largely unchanged across the 2H25 iPhone 17 series.".
Kuo's words offer some leeway for the Pro Max claim to be true, as adjusting it for one model will still keep the majority of devices at the existing Dynamic Island size. While the iPhone 17 Pro Max is described as getting the feature in the Weibo post, it seems that it will be the only iPhone model of that generation to get it. However, the same system is also expected to be included in a future iPad Pro as well as the long-rumored folding iPad.
Limiting a feature to only the most expensive model isn't entirely new to Apple. In the iPhone 15 generation, the iPhone 15 Pro Max was the only model to gain a new Tetraprism lens, enabling higher levels of optical zoom for users. Apple's changes to the front camera to make the Dynamic Island smaller could easily be viewed as being in the same sort of advantageous benefit it could include in the Pro Max model. Doing so gives Apple the opportunity to increase sales of its most expensive iPhone model in the collection.
Other rumored changes arriving in the iPhone 17 generation include a 48MP telephoto camera on the Pro models, a new iPhone 17 Air model with a very thin profile, improved cooling, and an upgraded 24MP front-facing camera. Based in South Wales, Malcolm Owen has written about tech since 2012, and previously wrote for Electronista and MacNN. In his downtime, he pursues photography, has an interest in magic tricks, and is bothered by his c...
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