A key iPhone 17 feature has just been leaked again, and it hints at an intriguing change

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Changes coming to the island

Dynamic Island on an orange background
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
  • A leaker has claimed the iPhone 17 will get a new Dynamic Island
  • This could feature a smaller, narrower design
  • However, not every leaker agrees that the Dynamic Island will change

The Dynamic Island in the iPhone 16 is a handy little area that stores information about your apps, such as timer durations and scores for your favorite football team, so that you can keep an eye on important information. With the iPhone 17 just a couple of months away, however, there could be significant changes coming to the Dynamic Island.

We’ve gleaned this information from leaker Digital Chat Station on Chinese social media site Weibo. There, the poster claimed that the iPhone 17 series “has a new smart island UI,” according to a machine translation.

Digital Chat Station didn’t share any more details about the Dynamic Island this time, but they’ve previously stated that it will be the smallest-ever iteration in the iPhone 17 series. That smaller design could also come to a foldable iPad and future iPad Pro, the leaker said, suggesting a much wider rollout in future Apple products.

However, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has offered an alternative possibility, stating in January that the Dynamic Island will “remain largely unchanged across the 2H25 iPhone 17 series.” Who will be correct is anyone’s guess.

Island life

iPhone 14 Pro Max review Dynamic Island timer large

(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

Since upgrading from my iPhone 12 Pro – with a solid, static notch at the top of the screen – to an iPhone 16 Pro, I’ve become a big fan of the Dynamic Island. I love how flexible it is and how it makes multitasking far easier than it was on my old phone, all without hindering my experience or adding any unnecessary complexity.

Its size doesn’t bother me, as I value its utility more than its appearance. But if Apple can shrink it down without losing any of the functionality, that’s a winning situation in my mind. It wouldn’t be enough on its own to tempt me to upgrade to the iPhone 17 series, but anyone experiencing it will likely be pleased with the result.

The Dynamic Island was not the only subject of Digital Chat Station’s post. The leaker also hinted that the Pro models in the iPhone 17 series will feature a “horizontal large matrix new design” (presumably referring to the rumored horizontal camera bar) and a “5X High-Pixel Periscope” zoom lens.

All will become clear when the iPhone 17 series arrives in September, and we’ll finally get a glimpse of the new (or not) Dynamic Island. That will settle the question of whether it’s been shrunk down to ever-smaller proportions or remains exactly as it currently is.

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Alex Blake
Alex Blake
Freelance Contributor

Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he's learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That's all his brain can hold. As well as TechRadar, Alex writes for iMore, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.

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