Apple has announced its brand new products to the iPhone lineup at its “Far Out” today – iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max, taking technology to the next level. The new iPhone 14 Pro series features the next-generation A16 Bionic chip, capable of handling up to 17 trillion operations in a second.
Here’s what you need to know about the iPhone 14 Pro & iPhone 14 Pro Max:
Display & Design:
The iPhone 14 Pro comes with a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR Display with a 2556‑by‑1179-pixel resolution at 460 ppi, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max comes with a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR Display with a 2796‑by‑1290-pixel resolution at 458 ppi. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max offer up to 1000 nits of Brightness (typical) and the number bumps up to 1600 nits while watching HDR content.
When you’re in an outdoor environment, the Brightness can go up to an astonishing 2000 nits. They have a contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1. The display on these new models also has Ceramic Sheild, introduced with the iPhone 12 Series in 2020, and the chassis features the same squared-off edges with a frosted Glass Back. Both these newly announced iPhones have an IP68 water resistance of a maximum depth of 6 meters up to 30 minutes.
This time, Apple has removed the notch and added a “pill-shaped” cutout for the components of the TrueDepth Camera System, which means that users get to enjoy much more screen area. This cutout has been named “Dynamic Island”. As the name suggests, the cutout will dynamically adjust with the content on your screen and will display content from Live Activities, a feature introduced with iOS 16.
On the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, Live Activities can be displayed constantly irrespective of whether a user is on the Home Screen or on an App. The “Dynamic Island” is also used to display the Camera & Microphone Privacy indicators and is 31% smaller than the previous TrueDepth Camera System featured in the iPhone 13 series and the Non-Pro iPhone 14 series.
The long-awaited and long-rumored feature, Always-on-Display has finally made its way to the iPhone 14 Pro series. Several references had been found in the betas of iOS 16 which proved that Apple had been working on this feature.
Always-On-Display uses very little power on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro Max as they can now bring the refresh rate down to as low as 1Hz for Always-On-Display. Everything apart from the Always-On-Display will continue to use the Adaptive Refresh Rate of 10Hz to 120Hz.
Not only does the Always-On-Display show the Date and Time, but also everything else on the Lock Screen including the Wallpaper. Apple Watch uses the same LTPO Display Technology that is featured on these brand new iPhones to support Always-On-Display.
Older iPhones with OLED Panels could have supported this feature, although it would have consumed more power than these new models. Last year’s iPhone 13 Pro’s Refresh Rate can go down to 10Hz, which technically still can consume less power. Let’s hope for this feature to come to older devices as well.
Performance & Battery:
The iPhone 14 Pro & the iPhone 14 Pro Max are powered by the performance beast, the A16 Bionic Chip. The 4nm A16 Bionic chip has a new 6-Core CPU, out of which 2 are high-performance cores, and the other 4 are high-efficiency cores. It has nearly 16 billion transistors and features the new 16-core Neural Engine which can perform 17 trillion operations in a second.
Apple says that the 2 high-performance cores consume 20% less power when compared to the A15 Bionic. they’ve increased the CPU performance of the Machine Learning Accelerator used by functions like Advance Text-to-Speech, Siri, and On-Device Processing of Directions in Maps. Apple claims that the A15 Bionic is the fastest chip in any smartphone ever, offering up to 50% faster CPU than the competition. With an accelerated 5-core GPU with 50 percent more memory bandwidth, Graphically-intensive apps and games will run much smoother.
Apple claims that these new iPhones offer “All-day Battery Life” even with all these new advancements. The new Display Engine in the A16 Bionic enables the 1Hz Refresh Rate for the Display to accommodate for Always-On-Display, Higher Peak Brightness, and Anti-Aliasing for Dynamic Island. The iPhone 14 Pro offers up to 23 Hours of Video Streaming, which is 1 Hour longer than its predecessor.
The iPhone 14 Pro offers up to 29 hours of Video Streaming, which is also 1 Hour longer than its predecessor. Do note that actual Battery Life might vary depending upon the usage. This is a win-win situation for the Always-on-Display because it is not only getting an efficient display but also an efficient chip to accommodate itself. Users will not notice any battery drain due to this feature.
Image: Apple
Camera:
The iPhone 14 Pro & iPhone 14 Pro Max offer a Triple Camera System, with a Wide, Ultra-Wide, and Telephoto lens coupled with a LiDAR Scanner.
Wide: The new 24mm 48 MP Wide Camera now has a 2.44μm sensor, the largest ever on an iPhone, making low-light photography even better. The wide camera now has an f/1.78 aperture and is capable of shooting photos in any lighting condition. Apple has upgraded the Wide Camera to feature second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization.
According to Apple, “For the first time ever, the Pro lineup features a new 48MP Main camera with a quad-pixel sensor that adapts to the photo being captured and features second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization. For most photos, the quad-pixel sensor combines every four pixels into one large quad pixel equivalent to 2.44 µm, resulting in amazing low-light capture and keeping photo size at a practical 12MP.“
Ultra Wide: The new 13mm Ultra-Wide Camera now has a 1.4 μm sensor, offering sharper images with better macro photography. With an ƒ/2.2 aperture and a new autofocus system, the results from the Ultra-Wide Camera are stunning. This new lens can focus at just 2cm, meaning that Macro Photography is now possible.
Telephoto: The new 77 mm 12MP Telephoto camera has an ƒ/2.8 aperture and allows users to get 3x optical zoom. A 12MP 2x Telephoto option has been enabled by the quad-pixel sensor which is 48 mm with an ƒ/1.78 aperture, featuring second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization.
According to Apple, “The quad-pixel sensor also enables a 2x Telephoto option that uses the middle 12 megapixels of the sensor for full-resolution photos and 4K videos with no digital zoom. This delivers optical quality at a familiar focal length, which is great for features like Portrait mode. The quad-pixel sensor also brings benefits to pro workflows, optimizing for detail in ProRAW.“
Some additional changes include:
- A new front TrueDepth camera with an ƒ/1.9 aperture that enables better low-light performance for photos and video. Using autofocus for the first time, it can focus even faster in low light and capture group shots from farther away.
- A new Adaptive True Tone flash that has been completely redesigned with an array of nine LEDs that change pattern based on the chosen focal length.
- Powerful computational photography benefits like Night mode, Smart HDR 4, Portrait mode with Portrait Lighting, Night mode Portrait photos, Photographic Styles to personalize the look of every photo, and Apple ProRAW.
- A new Action mode for incredibly smooth-looking video that adjusts to significant shakes, motion, and vibrations, even when the video is being captured in the middle of the action.
- Cinematic Mode is now available in 4K at 30 fps and 4K at 24 fps.
- Pro-level workflows for video, including ProRes and end-to-end Dolby Vision HDR.
The CPU, GPU, Neural Engine, and image signal processor of the A16 Bionic chip can seamlessly work together to support this new advanced camera hardware and is capable of performing up to 4 trillion operations per photo.
According to Apple, “And with a new machine learning model designed specifically for the quad-pixel sensor, iPhone now shoots ProRAW at 48MP with an unprecedented level of detail, enabling new creative workflows for pro users.
iPhone 14 Pro takes computational photography even further with Photonic Engine, offering a giant leap for mid- to low-light performance in photos across all cameras through a deep integration of hardware and software: up to 2x on the Main camera, up to 3x on the Ultra Wide camera, up to 2x on the Telephoto camera, and up to 2x on the TrueDepth camera.
Photonic Engine enables this dramatic increase in quality by applying Deep Fusion earlier in the imaging process to deliver extraordinary detail, and preserve subtle textures, provide better color, and maintain more information in a photo.”
Connectivity:
The iPhone 14 Pro & iPhone 14 Pro Max offer superfast 5G Connectivity with mmWave Technology (mmWave only in select regions). It offers 25 sub‑6 GHz bands and 3 mmWave bands on the U.S Models because of the customized hardware design.
The previous iPhone 13 offered 21 sub‑6 GHz bands, so the additional 4 bands will help in even better & wider 5G Coverage throughout the globe. The iPhone 14 series will also feature “Smart Data Mode” which will switch between 5G and 4G/LTE to preserve battery life. iPhone will automatically switch to the 5G Network when required.
The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max features dual-frequency GPS for better location accuracy operating on both the L1 and L5 frequencies. This is the same technology used in the new Apple Watch Ultra. Apple has also Emergency SOS over Satellite with the iPhone 14 series, allowing users to make emergency calls and text over Satellite.
This way, users will be able to contact emergency services and send texts even if there’s no cellular coverage. This will be useful for people who stay or travel to areas with low/no cellular coverage. This feature will only be available to users in the U.S. and Canada and will be available in November with a software update to iOS 16.
Image: Apple
U.S. Models of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus will be available without a physical sim tray and will run on Dual eSIM.
There are two advantages of this new change:
- Better Water Resistance: Fewer Open spaces on the iPhone will lead to better Water Resistance as there will be lower chances of Liquid seeping into your iPhone.
- Protection: If the iPhone ever gets lost or stolen, the eSIM cannot be removed, whereas the Physical Sim can be removed.
Pricing, Colors & Availability:
The new Pro models will be available in four elegant finishes – Deep Purple, Gold, Silver, and Space Black. The iPhone 14 Pro starts at $999 for the 128GB variant, $1,099 for the 256GB variant, $1,299 for the 512GB variant, $1,499 for the 1TB variant. The iPhone 14 Pro will be available starting September 16th.
The larger Pro Max starts at $1,099 for the 128GB variant, $1,199 for the 256GB variant, $1,399 for the 512GB variant, and $1,599 for the 1TB variant. The iPhone 14 Pro Max will be available starting September 16th.
Image: Apple
Environment:
Apple claims that the iPhone 14 series has been designed to minimize its impact on the environment, including antenna lines that now use upcycled plastic water bottles, chemically transformed into a stronger, high-performance material.
The iPhone 13 series uses 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in magnets like the ones used in MagSafe, 100 percent recycled tungsten in the Taptic Engine, and 100 percent recycled tin in the solder of multiple printed circuit boards. Both models also use 100 percent recycled gold in the plating of multiple printed circuit boards and in the wire in the front camera and rear cameras.
Apple has also eliminated the outer plastic wrap and redesigned the packaging, ultimately bringing Apple closer to its goal of completely removing plastic from all packaging by 2025.
Image: Apple
The iPhone 14 Pro series is a step forward in terms of mobile technology and Apple will continue to improve its iPhone lineup every year. Stay updated with the latest Apple news at Appleosophy and follow our Telegram News Channel here. Join the Appleosophy Community on Telegram here. Will you get any of the iPhone 14 models this year? Let us know by tweeting us at @appleosophy.
Author: Pururaj Dutta
Pururaj is the Vice President of Appleosophy and Silicon Report, in addition to being the Manager of popular Redfruit Media platforms such as TechPod Social and Apple Summit. His seasoned experience plays a pivotal role in the success of Redfruit Media, contributing significantly to shaping the ever-evolving tech landscape. As a tech aficionado, he enjoys exploring & reviewing new products, and sharing his insights with the community. With an unwavering passion for technology, Pururaj is committed to delivering accurate and insightful information to his readers.
