The face ID under the screen has been postponed, and the Dynamic Island has been fighting for another two years
Apple has always been a leader in technological innovation, and has repeatedly reached new heights in smartphone design. Even the tech giant has been hampered by its push for cutting-edge technology. The latest example is that Apple's efforts to adopt under-display Face ID technology for the first time on the iPhone 17 Pro have once again stalled.
According to a number of authoritative media reports, Apple originally hoped to achieve a true full-screen no-hole design by embedding various sensors under the screen, and used this technology for the first time on the iPhone 17 Pro series launched in 2024. However, due to the technical difficulties that were far greater than expected, this plan had to be postponed.
The main reason why Face ID is so difficult is that it has to embed a variety of precision sensors, including infrared cameras, dot projectors, infrared emitting tubes, etc., in an extremely limited space, while also ensuring that their performance is not compromised. This is undoubtedly an unprecedented engineering challenge.
It is understood that Apple began to develop this technology as early as a few years ago and applied for a number of related patents. However, progress has been well behind the expected timeline due to technical difficulties. Even Apple, with its top engineering team and unlimited funding, is struggling in this area.
Trade-offs under the decision to postpone
Faced with the blockage of the advancement of the under-display Face ID technology, Apple had to make a difficult choice. On the one hand, they could force this immature technology on the iPhone 17 Pro, but this could affect the user experience and negatively impact the company's reputation. On the other hand, postponing the release date again will undoubtedly disappoint long-awaited consumers.
Apple has opted for a more cautious approach. According to multiple media reports, the under-display Face ID technology will be delayed until the iPhone 18 Pro series debut in 2026, and non-Pro models may not get this feature until the iPhone 19 in 2027.
This decision means that Apple's iconic "Dynamic Island" design will need to be used in the next two generations of flagship models. The Dynamic Island was originally introduced on the iPhone X in 2017 to accommodate elements such as a front-facing camera, an infrared camera, and a small space on the display.
Although the Dynamic Island design has been criticized by some for undermining the aesthetics of the full screen, it has become an iconic element of the iPhone over the past 6 years. Now it seems that this small "gap" will continue to exist in the next two years.
The road to innovation is tortuous and arduous
The postponement of the under-display Face ID technology once again confirms that the road to promoting scientific and technological innovation is often full of thorns. Even tech giants like Apple, with unlimited money and top talent, struggle to push forward with cutting-edge technological innovation exactly as planned.
When it comes to smartphone design, Apple is not in this dilemma. As early as 2017, the company planned to adopt under-display fingerprint recognition technology on the iPhone X released that year, but was forced to abandon due to the lack of maturity of the technology and instead integrated a fingerprint recognition module on the side of the fuselage.
In 2019, Apple had planned to use 5G network technology for the first time on the new model of that year, but this plan was also postponed to the following year due to poor control of the supply chain of 5G baseband chips.
On the road to smartphone design, every innovation comes with a difficult process of exploration. On-screen fingerprint, 5G network, and under-display Face ID, these cutting-edge technologies require long-term efforts and a lot of resources from conception to actual implementation.
The further postponement of under-display Face ID technology reflects the obstacles that even tech giant Apple faces when it comes to advancing cutting-edge innovation. The difficulty of this technology is grossly underestimated, and embedding multiple precision sensors in an extremely confined space without compromising their performance is an unprecedented engineering challenge.
Faced with this dilemma, Apple had to make a difficult trade-off, and finally chose a more cautious approach, delaying the launch of the under-display Face ID to the iPhone 18 Pro series in 2026. This decision means that the iconic Dynamic Island design will need to be used over the next two years.