The time has finally come – Apple has revealed the iPhone 14 – the latest version of its smartphone. And as expected, there are four models to choose from, but not the same four models as in recent years). The iPhone mini is no more (RIP), but we have the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone Pro Max




The event this evening revealed that the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are, arguably, a very incremental upgrade from the iPhone 13, with minor improvements to the battery and camera. And then Apple revealed the iPhone 14 Pro, and that's where things get more interesting.

The new iPhone Pro is available in four colours – black, silver, gold and a new deep purple. First impression is that it looks beautiful, with a stainless steel frame and Ceramic Shield display. And, yes, you are seeing it right – the notch is gone. Instead, it has a new pill-shaped cutout on screen called 'Dynamic Island' (inspired, huh?). Read on for the full design details and tech specs for the iPhone 14.

iPhone 14: Design

Apple has revealed four models of the iPhone 14, or you might prefer to think of it as two models that each come in two sizes. The iPhone mini is no more. As Apple says, you now have "big or bigger". The entry-level iPhone retains its 6.1in screen size and there's a new addition to the family, the iPhone 14 Plus. Measuring 6.7in, it's basically the iPhone 14 but bigger.

Not a lot has changed with the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus in design terms. They look basically the same as the iPhone 13, with the same rear camera module with a diagonal layout and the same slim notch as the iPhone 13. They both come in five colours: Midnight, Starlight, Blue, Purple, and PRODUCT(RED).



Then there are the Pros: the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, again at 6.1in and 6.7in respectively. In a way, this simplifies the product range, giving us an entry-level pair and a high-end pair of phones each available in the same two sizes. The Pros come in black, silver, gold and a new deep purple.


A lot of the rumours we heard about the Pros have turned out to be completely on the ball. A lot of people will be happy to learn that the iPhone 14 Pro has dropped the much-maligned selfie-camera notch. That doesn't mean it's a completely flawless screen, but instead we have the pill-shaped cutout 'Dynamic Island'. This fancy-sounding solution can expand to show alerts and background activity.

The other big change with the screen is that the iPhone 14 Pro had an always-on display. The bezels have also been slimmed down, but the rest of the design looks largely the same as the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, with flat, stainless steel edges.

Display-:




The iPhone 14 will feature the same OLED Super Retina XDR display as its predecessor; equipped with Dolby Vision and unfortunately retaining the 60Hz refresh rate. ProMotion is remaining as a Pro model exclusive once again, although the iPhone 13 was an admirable performer in the screen department so this isn't necessarily a drawback on the iPhone 14.

Apple says that the iPhone 14 will reach 1200 nits peak brightness and feature a claimed contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1. It will be covered with the ceramic shield layer  for enhanced protection against drops and scratches. 

Camera and Battery life-:

You have a total of three cameras on Apple's iPhone 14, the 12MP wide and the 12MP ultrawide on the back, and the 12MP TrueDepth camera on the front.

Apple said it upgraded the main camera with a larger ƒ/1.5 aperture and larger 1.9 µm pixels for better low-light performance. The 12MP wide-angle appears unchanged. However, the TrueDepth camera on the front now supports autofocus.



Though I only had a few moments in the demo room, I did shoot with all the lenses and thought the images looked good, but I need more time with them. I will say that I saw the TrueDepth camera's new autofocus in action and can see how that'll be useful.

There are also some new camera modes. Cinematic Mode can now shoot in 4K at 30 fps and 4K at 24 fps. There's also a brand new Action Mode, a sort of electronic gimbal that takes bumpy video and smooths it out by essentially smart-cropping on the fly. Neat idea, though I think you lose quite a bit of the video surrounding your subject.

Apple never talks about battery size, but it did say the iPhone 14 has the best battery life ever on an iPhone. We'll have to assume that means at least 15 hours but could mean a day or more of video playback. Obviously, I'd need to test these claims.

The phone still supports MagSafe wireless charging but did not, it seems, get any sort of fast-charging bump.

Performance and Software-:

The iPhone 14 is running Apple's one-year-old A15 Bionic. It's a bit frustrating to not see the latest silicon here, but even now, the A15 Bionic is the industry-leading mobile CPU. The 6-core CPU and 5-core GPU are no slouch when it comes to performance across a wide range of tasks. I got to watch a bit of gaming on the iPhone 14 and, naturally, it looked smooth.

Apple has introduced a better thermal system in the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus, which may lead to some battery and performance gains, but I'll withhold conclusions until I benchmark.



There are a couple of intriguing new features in the iPhone 14 line that, yes, are included in the base iPhone 14: emergency satellite communications and crash detection. 

The satellite communication capabilities are built into the phone. As Apple described it, they use the phone's existing antennas and some powerful algorithms to manage what is often a very low-bandwidth connection (you have to be outside and have a clear view of the sky). It squeezes text messages down and also offers some easy-to-use boilerplate communications to ensure you can communicate the essentials when necessary. The service starts as a free trial, but eventually, you'll have to pay for it. No word, though, on how much.

Crash detection, which was also introduced on the Apple Watch 8, knows when your car is in a crash and can quickly communicate the situation. I'm sure we'll see people trying to fool the detection in short order.

Obviously, we have no idea how well these features work and may struggle to simulate a crash and a situation where we need satellite communication (though the satellite comms can also work in Find My scenarios).



What we have a firmer grasp on, though, is what the software and interface will be like. Many of us have been running the ios 16 public beta for months and, while no one will have any trouble recognizing iOS trademark design flourishes, it does feature several significant updates.

Chief among them is the new Lock screen. As the first thing you see when you wake up your phone (well, it was before the always-on display), the Lock Screen is like the iPhone's calling card, announcing to you and the world its intentions.

Thanks to new fonts and sizes, it has a bold new look, and the image segmentation that can put a portion of your image on top of the time is a stunning effect. There's also more utility in the lock screen thanks to customizable widgets.

New iPhone 14 owners will find redesigned notifications (no more crowding the lock screen) and the ability to use multiple lock screens with specific focus modes assigned to each one.

They'll be setting multi-stop directions on the new maps, editing and retrieving text messages after they sent them, and grabbing image subjects straight out of photos, and dropping them into apps and messages.



There's a lot to explore in the new platform, all of which could fundamentally change how you use and feel about the iPhone 14. On the unit we played with the new Lock Screen looked quite nice.

The entire iPhone 14 line is, by the way, 5G and launching into a world where solid 5G coverage is far more ubiquitous.

iphone 14 series : Early verdict



The iPhone 14 is the anticipated upgrade that looks to be doing everything as expected; better cameras, new size option and fresh new colours. It may not be Apple's latest and greatest, with the 14 Pro series immediately taking the spotlight, but these iPhones are still the dependable devices we've come to expect from Apple's non-Pro range. 

With a display that looks to be lifted from the 13, and no word on upgraded speakers, we expect the 14 to be a relatively similar experience to the 13 overall - its the 14 Plus that's really caught our attention and looks to be the most exciting out of the two devices. 

Keep your eyes pealed for a fully featured review coming soon where we can put the iPhone 14 through its paces using our thorough testing methods to see if this iPhone is worth the hype - or the inflated price tag.