Apple’s Dynamic Island has been around long enough that most people have made their peace with it or forgotten it’s there. In fact, I’ve seen people associating the pill-shaped notch with newer iPhone models (released in the last 3 years). Now, a fresh leak suggests that the notch replacement is about to shrink, not just on the expensive models.
What did the leaker actually say?
The tip comes from Ice Universe’s Weibo account (via 9To5Mac). The tipster believes that the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 18 lineup is getting slimmer. It’s the thickness of the Dynamic Island — from left to right — that’s being talked about.
While the thickness of the bezels might remain the same, the pill-shaped cutout at the top of the screen could get smaller across the board. “The iPhone 18 series retains the same bezel design, except for a smaller central island,” reads the Google-translated version of the tipster’s Weibo post.
That’s a notable departure from how this story has been developing so far. Every credible whisper about a reduced or removed Dynamic Island pointed exclusively at the Pro variants.
The launch timeline complicates things a bit
The iPhone 18 getting the same design upgrade as the iPhone 18 Pro models could mark a genuine shift in Apple’s usual Pro-first approach to improvements. In a follow-up post on X, the tipster mentions that “all three iPhone 18” models will get the smaller Dynamic Island.
While Ice Universe has a good track record, I’m a bit skeptical about this development. The Dynamic Island first debuted on the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max, while the regular models in the lineup were stuck with the gigantic notch up top. It was only the next year that the revamped notch came to the regular iPhone 15.
Hence, I’m a bit inclined toward believing that the smaller Dynamic Island could be an iPhone 18 Pro exclusive. But then there’s the delayed iPhone 18 launch consensus, which holds that Apple will likely launch the regular iPhone 18 in the first quarter of 2027, likely in March.
This would leave a gap of around six months between the smartphones. And if that happens, launching the iPhone 18 with a smaller Dynamic Island makes sense.