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Apple wasted no time during its Surprise and Shine event on Sept. 9 to introduce the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, the most advanced smartphones the company has ever released (until the potential foldable iPhone, that is). One of the big new features for Apple’s powerful flat phones is an upgraded Dynamic Island to help you keep track of more things at once.
Dynamic Island debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro back in 2023 as a clever way to hide the notch for the front-facing cameras and sensors, displaying app and notification previews in a space that grows and shrinks depending on what it shows. Dynamic Island displays the highest-priority thing at the top of your screen, like live directions and sports scores, and in recent iPhones, was able to show two of these at once.
Previously, the Dynamic Island only allowed previews of two apps.Screenshot by CNET/AppleWith the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, the new Dynamic Island can expand to show up to three live activities simultaneously. No, the Island won’t stretch all the way to the edges of the screen to fit them all — it seems like the main activity will take up the lion’s share of the feature’s space, with smaller circular icons on either side. In practice, these smaller icons probably won’t serve up much information, but they do function as shortcuts to open those apps, offering faster access than manually switching. We’ll have to see how this works when we get our hands on the phone.
Apple has already announced plenty of iPhone 18 Pro features during its event, from variable aperture in its main rear camera to a larger liquid-cooling vapor chamber to better battery life and faster charging.
David Lumb
Managing Editor, Mobile
David Lumb is a managing editor for the mobile team, covering mobile and gaming spaces. Before CNET, he covered tech, gaming, and culture for TechRadar, Engadget, Popular Mechanics, NBC Asian America, Increment, Fast Company and others. As a true Californian, he lives for coffee, beaches and burritos. See full bio
