Other Pixels Above the Pill on iPhone 14 Pro/Max - useful for what?

[smoking monkey]

Will the space above the pill be useful or will it improve user experience? I wonder if it will be distracting if you're watching a movie or playing a game?
I can't think of any useful reason to have those pixels there. Maybe it will make it more immersive. Maybe it will make the pill less intrusive? I'm not sure. Anybody here use a phone with a pill on it? How's that feel with pixels above the pill?

But surely Apple have done testing and found that it is actually better to have those pixel than to have them blacked out. Is the pill going to be narrower and higher up the phone than the notch? IF so, then it's a resounding improvement not matter what the pixels above the pill achieve.

It definitely seems like dead space at the moment though. It will be interesting to see people's take on the pill. Personally I dislike the notch on the phones but give Zero Fs about on my MBP as it never gets in the way of content or my daily use as opposed to the notch on the phone constantly being a PITA. I have a black background on my MPB and don't even know there is a notch on it. It just looks like the menu bar.

 

[JPack]

Anything from the name of the carrier, to the date, to the title of the soundtrack/media being played.

There are a million ways to to use it. Having more display area is always better than having less.

 

[John981]

Maybe it's just a matter of me unconsciously trying to make myself feel better about my purchase of the 13 Pro last year, but with this change I honestly don't see the point.

Generally I agree that more screen real estate is better, but if the mock ups are accurate, the pill will be further down than the notch as well. So you don't seem to be gaining a significant amount of screen space, it's just the notch area moved downwards with a few pixels above it. Maybe it's a bit more immersive, but beyond that what are we really gaining?

Granted, this opinion might be invalidated once we receive the official images, I could see it being a benefit if the cut-out is smaller than the one that appeared in the mock ups. I welcome any changes to the notch situation since it's obviously a design compromise, but I'm not really convinced of any tangible benefits with this pill-shaped cut-out.

 

[smoking monkey]

Anything from the name of the carrier, to the date, to the title of the soundtrack/media being played.

There are a million ways to to use it. Having more display area is always better than having less.

Good ideas. But will Apple do that? Is the area big enough for them to do that I guess is the real question.

 

[Brooke795]

Maybe it's just a matter of me unconsciously trying to make myself feel better about my purchase of the 13 Pro last year, but with this change I honestly don't see the point.

Generally I agree that more screen real estate is better, but if the mock ups are accurate, the pill will be further down than the notch as well. So you don't seem to be gaining a significant amount of screen space, it's just the notch area moved downwards with a few pixels above it. Maybe it's a bit more immersive, but beyond that what are we really gaining?

Granted, this opinion might be invalidated once we receive the official images, I could see it being a benefit if the cut-out is smaller than the one that appeared in the mock ups. I welcome any changes to the notch situation since it's obviously a design compromise, but I'm not really convinced of any tangible benefits with this pill-shaped cut-out.

I kinda see your point. If there’s a notch at least it’s close to the top and darkened out. For the camera Face ID etc. the pill imo idk how I feel yet because I haven’t seen it but I feel like it’s be weird to have some random hole in the front of the screen with pixels around it. I don’t think there’s a “perfect “ solution short of just removing the front face camera and Face ID etc. because in order to put it on the screen you’ll have to have an interruption in the usable screen to accommodate it. Unless we go back to bezels circa iPhone 8 and below..

Notch has never bothered me.. but idk how I’d feel about the “pill”.

 

[5105973]

Aesthetically it contributes to a more wide open look. I had it on one of my Samsungs. Functionally, it didn’t make any difference on the Samsung. Some people were bothered by it. Most seemed to ignore it. I ignored it. What I’ve never liked about the notch is the effect it had on me to make me feel like I was 12 again, peeking out at the world from under my bangs ( or “fringe” for our UK friends).