iPhone 14 Pro is widely expected to have a new pill and punch-hole (notchless) design while also supporting an always-on display mode. Previous iOS 16 betas had references to an always-on ddisplay, the latest beta even has the iOS 16 wallpapers updated for this new technology.
Filipe Espósito for 9to5Mac:
An always-on display… allows the system to keep showing some information on the screen like the clock while consuming very little battery power. Some Android smartphones already feature always-on displays, while Apple Watch Series 5 and later also have the same technology.
Based on the internal files of iOS 16 beta 4, 9to5Mac has found that the system wallpapers are now ready for this new always-on display mode. As we previously explained, iOS 16 no longer uses static images as wallpapers. Instead, the new wallpapers are multi-layered vectors rendered in real time.
Now, in addition to the regular vectors, the native wallpapers (such as the default one and the recently added clown fish wallpaper) also have a new state labeled “Sleep,” which has very dark and faded elements. Wallpapers in this state are quite similar to the Apple Watch faces with always-on enabled.
Basically, it seems that Apple will replicate the same effect from the Apple Watch on the iPhone 14 Pro. This means that users will still see their wallpapers in some way even when the screen is turned off. The wallpaper will be displayed at full brightness once the user taps the screen or presses the Power button.