The iPhone 13 announced by Apple this week is quite feature-packed, but some of the rumored features for its debut never materialized. The biggest miss for me was the rumor that Apple would include an always-on display (AOD) option on the new phone.

Obviously, that never materialized. Apple did not talk about an always-on screen in the keynote, and it seems to me that such a productivity feature would at least be mentioned. I expected to hear about it when Apple started talking about display improvements, especially the 120Hz ProMotion screen on the iPhone 13 Pro model.

As with the sound of the new phone, I am quite disappointed in the lack of standard features for Android phones. It wouldn't be hard for Apple to implement an always-on display option; the iPhone13 (and the 12 before it) use OLED panels, and AOD is technically possible.

That puts iPhone users at a disadvantage; AOD is a major passive productivity feature that allows users to see the time, battery percentage, weather, calendar events, and pending notifications at a glance. Frankly, I am very disappointed that the iPhone 13 lags behind in this regard.

I understand that sometimes it takes time to adopt new features as Apple tries to put its own stamp on them. But at this point, it is puzzling that AOD has been on Android for years and not on the iPhone; I would have thought that once the iPhone had an OLED display, it would have AOD.

That's why I wonder: Apple, where is the option for those who want always-on display? This feature could be an option, as in Android. Also, based on our experience with the AOD feature on Android devices, there is no noticeable impact on battery life.

Frankly, we can think of no legitimate reason for Apple not to copy this feature from Android other than pride.

It is also possible that Apple will introduce AOD in a future update like iOS 16. I sincerely hope that Apple realizes how useful Always On Display is and how it could improve the iPhone 13 user experience.