The short version

With nothing running, the iPhone 18 Pro Max island is about 24 percent narrower than the iPhone 17 Pro island. That is a width, measured in one photo of both phones.
The 18 Pro Max showed three things at once: directions, music and a timer. The 17 Pro showed two.
Press and hold still opens the full music player on both phones.
Apple calls the island smaller and gives no number. A report in March said 35 percent.

I put the two phones next to each other on the same evening I unboxed the 18 Pro Max and finished transferring my data to the new iPhone. The 17 Pro is the dark blue one, in a clear case for most of these photos. The 18 Pro Max is the silver one with no case.

iPhone 17 Pro in a clear case and a silver iPhone 18 Pro Max lying side by side on a dark wood desk, both showing 10:00 and an empty Dynamic Island — The photo I measured. iPhone 17 Pro on the left, iPhone 18 Pro Max on the right, flat on the desk, shot from straight above with nothing running.

How much smaller is the iPhone 18 Pro Max Dynamic Island?

About a quarter narrower. I laid both phones flat on my desk with nothing playing and no timer running, and took one photo from straight above. At full size, the island on the 17 Pro is 430 pixels wide in that photo. The island on the 18 Pro Max is 326 pixels wide. That works out to 24.2 percent narrower.

A photo like that only counts if it is true to scale, so I checked it against something known. The two screens measure 1,414 and 1,548 pixels across in the same frame, a ratio of 1.095. Apple lists the displays as 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches, and 6.9 divided by 6.3 is also 1.095. Neither phone is cheating by sitting closer to the lens.

Two strips cut from the same photo, iPhone 17 Pro above and iPhone 18 Pro Max below, each with a yellow bar under its empty Dynamic Island, labeled 430 px and 326 px — Both strips come from the one photo at the same scale. The yellow bars mark what I measured, 430 pixels against 326.

Three limits on that number. It is a width, so it says nothing about height or area. It comes from one photo. And it is my measurement, not Apple's. Apple's launch announcement says both Pro models have "a smaller and even more useful Dynamic Island" and gives no figure for how much smaller.

Back in March we covered a report that Apple would shrink the Dynamic Island by 35 percent. My width measurement comes to about 24 percent.

iPhone 17 Pro in a clear case and iPhone 18 Pro Max standing side by side in front of a monitor with a green and blue wallpaper, both showing 10:04 and an empty Dynamic Island — The same pair standing up, four minutes later by their clocks. The 24 percent figure comes only from the flat photo above.

iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 18 Pro Max Dynamic Island in numbers

Measure	iPhone 17 Pro	iPhone 18 Pro Max
Island width in my photo, nothing running	430 pixels	326 pixels (24.2 percent narrower)
Screen width in the same photo	1,414 pixels	1,548 pixels
Island as a share of screen width	About 30 percent	About 21 percent
Things shown at once in my test	2 (music, timer)	3 (directions, music, timer)
Display size, per Apple	6.3 inches	6.9 inches

The third row is worth a second look. The 18 Pro Max is the bigger phone with the smaller island, so the island spans about 21 percent of the screen's width in my photo, against about 30 percent on the 17 Pro.

Two close photos side by side, the top of the iPhone 17 Pro screen on the left and the top of the iPhone 18 Pro Max screen on the right, both showing 10:05 and an empty Dynamic Island — Each phone photographed on its own, then cropped so the two screens are the same width. Read this one for how much of the screen the island takes up, not for its real size.

Why the smaller island shows best when nothing is running

My own note on it was short: the Dynamic Island is indeed smaller, but it shows best when no activity is on. The photos bear that out. Idle, each island is a plain black pill, and the two are easy to compare. Start something and the island stretches to hold it, so the resting size is no longer what you are looking at.

Silver iPhone 18 Pro Max held in one hand, the screen showing 10:08 and an empty Dynamic Island, with a monitor and a plant out of focus behind it — The iPhone 18 Pro Max on its own with nothing running. The island sits well clear of the clock and the status icons.

And here is the 17 Pro on its own, a minute earlier by its clock.

iPhone 17 Pro in a clear case held in one hand in front of a slatted wood wall, the screen showing 10:07 and an empty Dynamic Island — The iPhone 17 Pro with nothing running. Same wallpaper, same idle state, wider island.

How I tested three live activities at once

The test was simple. I started a timer and played music on both phones. On the 18 Pro Max I also had directions running.

iPhone 18 Pro Max in front and iPhone 17 Pro in a clear case behind it, both showing 8:40, the 18 Pro Max island showing an arrow, a music pill and a timer ring, the 17 Pro island showing a music pill and a timer ring — Both phones at 8:40 by their clocks. iPhone 18 Pro Max in front, iPhone 17 Pro behind it in the clear case.

On the 18 Pro Max the island split into three parts. On the left, a round bubble with a blue arrow for the directions. In the middle, a pill for the music, with the album art at one end and a small waveform at the other. On the right, a ring counting down the timer.

Silver iPhone 18 Pro Max held up in front of a slatted wood wall at 8:42, its Dynamic Island showing a blue arrow bubble, a music pill and an orange timer ring in a row — Three at once on the iPhone 18 Pro Max: directions, music and the timer, left to right.

Closer in, the three sit in a row between the clock on the left and the Wi-Fi and battery icons on the right.

Close view of the top of a silver iPhone 18 Pro Max at 8:43, showing a blue arrow in a round bubble, a dark pill with album art and a waveform, and an orange ring, next to the Wi-Fi and battery icons — The same three a minute later. The arrow bubble and the timer ring are separate from the music pill, not tucked inside it.

The 17 Pro, with music and a timer running, showed two: the music pill and the timer ring.

Close view of the top of a dark blue iPhone 17 Pro at 8:44, its Dynamic Island showing a pill with album art and a separate orange timer ring — Two at once on the iPhone 17 Pro, out of its case for this shot: music in the pill, the timer in the ring.

One thing to be straight about. Directions never appear on the 17 Pro in my footage. So what I filmed is the 17 Pro holding two things and the 18 Pro Max holding three, not the 17 Pro turning a third one away. The limit itself is Apple's. Two at once is how Apple has documented the island on earlier iPhones, and its iPhone User Guide now says that on iPhone 18 Pro models the Dynamic Island "can show up to three Live Activities at the same time."

Top edges of an iPhone 17 Pro and an iPhone 18 Pro Max in one frame at 8:45, with labels under each part of the Dynamic Island, Music and Timer on the 17 Pro, Directions, Music and Timer on the 18 Pro Max — Both phones in one frame from the clip, with labels identifying the activities. The camera was moving, so compare the count, not the sizes.

Here is the comparison in motion: the idle islands first, then two against three, then both opening into the player.

What does press and hold do on the Dynamic Island?

The same thing it did before. Press and hold the music pill on either phone and it opens into the full player, with the song title and artist, a progress bar, and buttons for back, pause and forward.

iPhone 18 Pro Max on the left and iPhone 17 Pro in a clear case on the right, each with the Dynamic Island expanded into a music player showing a song title, a progress bar and playback buttons — Both islands opened into the player after a press and hold. iPhone 18 Pro Max on the left, iPhone 17 Pro on the right.

Apple's guide lists two more gestures. Swipe the expanded activity up to collapse it. And on iPhone 18 Pro models, swipe across the island to move between activities. I am passing those along as Apple describes them.

How to try three activities on an iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max

My footage shows a timer, music and directions running together. Apple lists directions from Maps as a Live Activity, so you can try the following.

1.In the Clock app, tap Timers, set a duration and tap Start.
2.Play a song.
3.Start directions in Maps.
4.Go back to the Home Screen and look at the top of the display.
5.Press and hold the music pill to open the player.

Apple says iPhone 18 Pro models can show up to three Live Activities at the same time. My footage shows directions, music and a timer together on the Pro Max. Not sure which model you are holding? Here is how to know what iPhone you have.

What I did not test

This was a hands-on check with my own two phones, in the same spirit as my OLED burn-in test. A few things fall outside it.

Height and area. I measured width only, in one photo.
Directions on the 17 Pro. They never appear on it in my footage.
Other combinations. The footage covers one combination: a timer, music and directions.
The regular iPhone 18 Pro. Apple says both Pro models get the new island. Mine is the Pro Max.
Face ID, and what the smaller island is like to live with over weeks. I filmed all of this on the day I unboxed the phone.

Our launch-day story was about the variable aperture camera. The island is a smaller change, but it is the part of the phone you look at all day.

More from my iPhone 18 Pro Max testing

This product was provided to Technobezz for review. We independently select what we review. The manufacturer had no input on this article and did not see it before publication. All opinions are our own.