It's only five days to go until Apple launches the iPhone 14 family but we've been treated with another, unexpected leak. MacRumors were sent intel via an anonymous tipster, saying that the discrete pill and hole cutouts won’t be visually separated on the iPhone 14 when the display is powered on – instead appearing as one contiguous, longer pill shape.
It would be easy to dismiss this rumor had it not been corroborated by Bloomberg’s highly-respected Mark Gurman, via Twitter, who said: “Having that separation would look odd during use.”
This is true. It looks like one wide pill shaped cutout. Having that separation would look odd during use. https://t.co/SrAtYQsENxAugust 31, 2022
Assuming the leak is true, it means that Apple will use software to make the two new display cutouts appear as one seamless cutout, essentially blacking out the area between the two cutouts.
According to 9to5Mac’s “source with knowledge of Apple’s plans”, Apple is doing this because the space between the two cutouts will be used to show privacy indicators for the microphone and camera. They also added that the design change will also help with a redesign for the Camera app itself.
This fits with Gurman’s comment that “it looks like one wide pill-shaped cutout.” The fact that the space between the two cutouts will be anything but dead space, instead housing privacy indicators for the camera and microphone more visible does indeed smack of Apple design. If this is true, it’ll be a move away from the current tiny orange dot in the upper-right corner of the display which appears when an application is using your iPhone’s microphone, and the green dot that appears when an app is using your iPhone’s camera – the indicators will be much more visible and allow both dots to be seen at the same time when both the camera and microphone are both in use (currently only the green dot shows if an app is accessing both the camera and microphone).
It is also rumored that tapping on these indicators will allow iPhone 14 users to see a list of which applications are using the microphone and the camera.
Has Apple redesigned the Camera app?
9to5Mac’s source also said that we will see a redesign to the Camera app from Apple and that most of the controls have been moved to the top portion of the screen.
Apparently, controls including the flash button and Live Photo button are now positioned in the status bar, with other less used photo and video settings directly below the display cutouts. As a result, users will benefit from a larger view of the camera preview.
As always leaks and camera rumors should be treated as such and the source is cited as saying the Camera redesign in particular is still not entirely final. Less than a week to find out!
These are our picks of the best camera phones and the best phone for video recording. If money is tight, check out the best budget camera phone.
