The first analyzes of the iPhone 14 Pro coincide, already from an empirical point of view, that Dynamic Island has become the best graphical interface that we have seen from Apple in a long time. What was first thought to be just a hole that would reduce the notch It ended up becoming a complete user experience that even motivates buyers to consider an iPhone 14 Pro instead of an iPhone 14.
And although it seems that the idea is very reserved for devices with the “pill hole”, there are already concepts and ideas that show that we could see it in other terminals such as the iPad. but I think Dynamic Island could be the start of something much bigger.
A change in macOS that would reorient multitasking forever
It’s not just that Dynamic Island makes really good use of what is initially an obstacle. Seeing how all kinds of activities are indicated there, even from various applications, we could face a possible basis for radically changing multitasking in macOS.
In Apple’s desktop operating system, we have the Dock and menu bar that take care of this multitasking. And although there have been aesthetic changes, the operation of these elements has been practically the same for more than twenty years. I dare say that right now in Apple Park there may be a team of people who have been tasked with changing that by building on the foundations of Dynamic Island.
An expanded form of Dynamic Island could remake the multitasking experience on iOS
Let’s think: the most recent generations of the MacBook line have a notch on the screen that forced designers to “fatten” the menu bar and even split those menus if an application required it. It’s not something the user community liked. What if future generations of these MacBooks followed the iPhone 14 Pro and continued to have this dynamic island?
In this case, adapting the menu bar to the pill-shaped hole is already a much more difficult task. So much so that Apple might just get rid of it altogether and adopt extended dynamic island to control the multitasking of this system. And like in the iPhone 14 Pro, every app opened in macOS would be displayed dynamically providing data. Reading indicators, integrated notifications, being able to invoke menus from other open applications… If we add to this integration with shortcuts and other system elements, we sing bingo.
The only “but” to this would be find a way to reintegrate menus or into the application windows themselves, or somewhere in the interface of this extended dynamic island. But that’s a challenge I leave to design fans or the macOS design team itself. It would be one of the biggest changes in use and we would have to readjust to a part that we consider basic of the system, but the possibilities of the interface born with Dynamic Island may be worth it.
Remember I’m not basing it on rumours, it’s just an exercise in the imagination. And if something at least similar were to become a reality, it would in the long run, it’s not something that can be fixed by macOS in 2023.
