The wait is over: the iPhone 14 series is here. Apple unveiled its latest and greatest iPhones at its “Far Out” hardware event on September 7. It turns out that most of the leaks we discussed in the previous post, were true: the phones offer some major updates, along with some minor tweaks that should offer a better overall experience.
Let’s get the most important ones out of the way: all iPhone models have an improved camera and come in attractive new colors. The iPhone Mini is gone, and in its place, Apple has introduced the new iPhone 14 Plus, which is the same size as the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Speaking of Pro, both Pro models now have cutouts in favor of a notch, giving you a bit more screen real estate, while still offering Face ID and a great front-facing camera.
These are the highlights, but there’s a lot more in the announcements as well. Here’s everything you need to know about the new iPhone 14 series, which includes the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
iPhone 14 Design
Apple introduced a relatively large redesign for the iPhone 12 and normally, the company keeps the designs for three cycles. In other words, as expected, Apple has not completely redesigned the iPhone for the iPhone 14 series. That doesn’t mean there are no tweaks to the devices, but the overall look and shape remain the same.
The standard iPhone 14 looks quite a bit like the standard iPhone 13. It has the flat-edged design and the camera lenses aligned diagonally across the back. Perhaps the biggest difference is the color selection: the iPhone 14 is available in a new blue and purple color, along with Midnight and Starlight models. In addition, there is a Product(RED) model, as in previous years.
The iPhone 14 Plus, of course, is a new device, but the actual design is nothing new. The phone is basically a larger version of the iPhone 14, with the same colors and the same cameras. It has a 6.7-inch display, making it perfect for those who want a large screen experience without having to buy an iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max offer perhaps the biggest design tweaks. The phones offer perforated cutouts in place of the notch, and Apple has added some functionality in that area. The cutouts interact with software in a way that allows Apple to display things like timers, music playback and more. That information can be pulled from Apple’s new Live Activity notification system. Apple calls this area the “Dynamic Island.”
The Pro models also have new color options. The devices are available in deep purple, gold, silver and space black.
iPhone 14 Display
The display on the Pro models has been upgraded, but not on the standard models. The standard iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus offer the same displays as last year. It’s not a big deal, but it would have been nice if Apple brought ProMotion to the standard models. Hopefully that will come in the next few years.
But the Pro models finally offer an always-on display. According to Apple, this screen is basically a dimmed version of the device’s lock screen, which will display information such as the time, widgets and live notifications. This always-on screen can refresh at 1 Hz, which is once per second. This helps ensure that it does not drain the battery.
The screen can also be brighter. On the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, you’ll get a maximum HDR brightness of 2,000 nits, which is double that of the iPhone 13 Pro. This should make for a much more realistic experience when viewing HDR content.
Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pro
One standout feature is the so-called “Dynamic Island” of the iPhone 14 Pro. The silliness of the name aside, the feature is a brilliant way to focus on the notch and turn it into a design highlight. The notch has been redesigned on the Pro models to be a cutout instead, and that cutout can grow or shrink (within reason, and using software) depending on notifications, audio playback, etc. For example, it can grow to show the Face ID icon, or show the album art for the music you’re listening to.
iPhone 14 specifications
It turns out that the rumors were true: Apple is going to keep the standard iPhone 14 model devices with the A15 Bionic processor, giving only the iPhone 14 Pro models the new A16 Bionic chip. This is a bit disappointing, as it means that, unlike previous years, you’ll have to opt for the Pro models to get the best performance. The phones will likely still have excellent performance, but not as good as the high-end iPhone 14 Pro models.
The A16 Bionic offers a modest performance improvement over last year’s A15 Bionic and, according to Apple, is 40 percent faster than “the competition,” which we can only assume is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. It powers a number of new camera functions and new features like Dynamic Island and Crash Detection, which uses the iPhone’s sensors to detect a car accident and alert emergency services. Crash Detection, thankfully, is also available on non-Pro models.
iPhone 14 Camera
The iPhone camera systems have received an upgrade, but the biggest improvements, as expected, come to the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.
The standard iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus have a dual camera system with a new 12-megapixel main camera and an Ultra Wide camera. The main camera now has a larger f/1.5 aperture, which helps improve low-light performance. It also offers optical image stabilization with sensor-shift. Even the front camera is back, thanks to a new f/1.9 aperture that again improves low-light performance. Plus, it now has autofocus for sharper front-facing images.
The iPhone 14 Pro models offer even more improvements. The devices have a new 48-megapixel main camera with a quad-pixel sensor that enables excellent low-light performance. The four-pixel technology means that the image output will still be 12 megapixels. In addition, the technology means that the main sensor can be used for a 2x telephoto option in the camera app, using the center 12 megapixels for full-resolution images. Speaking of telephoto, the device has a new 3x optical zoom camera.
There are also new software features. The new camera system enables a new Action Mode that can stabilize action shots for smoother video. And, Cinema Mode is now available in 4K at 30 frames per second, or 24 frames per second.
iPhone 14 satellite connectivity
As rumored, the iPhone 14 series features a new satellite connectivity feature called Emergency SOS. This is an emergency feature that allows the device to connect directly to a satellite in an emergency situation. The feature will guide you to point the camera in the right direction to send a message, and the software will ask users for information that could help emergency services assess the situation the user is in.
However, this feature will only be available to users in the United States and Canada, at least for the time being.
Price of the iPhone 14
The standard iPhone 14 costs 1009 euros. The iPhone 14 Plus costs 1,159 euros. The iPhone 14 Pro costs 1,319 euros. And, the iPhone 14 Pro Max costs 1,469 euros.
