Just like every year, this September will be the month to introduce the new iPhones. Apple today officially announced the first fall “iPhone” keynote. It will take place on Wednesday, September 7. The unveiling of the iPhone 14 family is practically a certainty, next Tim Cook and his team will probably show the Apple Watch Series 8, the 10th generation iPad, and maybe the next generation AirPods Pro will be coming. But the biggest expectations are, of course, the iPhones. What do we already know about them?
As in previous years, the iPhone 14 series will bring four models. The base iPhone 14 should again offer a 6.1″ display, as will the iPhone 14 Pro. There will also be an iPhone 14 Pro with a 6.7″ display. However, there will also be more significant changes. After years, Apple will indeed cancel the mini model, which will be replaced by another large model, apparently named the iPhone 14 Max, which will also offer a 6.7″ display, following the example of its more “professional” brother.
So it looks like earlier speculation that predicted the cancellation of the smallest 5.4-inch iPhone long in advance due to weaker sales figures will be confirmed. But the visual changes also affect the Pro models. For the first time ever, the iPhones will do away with the cutout, which this time will be replaced by a more subtle cutout for the selfie camera and Face ID.
As a result, the phones will offer more screen space and won’t have to cut off the top icon bar as much as before. However, the hole will be double, in the shape of the letter “i” turned on the left. However, the base iPhone 14 models will still stick with the cutout. What we won’t see in the display again, however, is the fingerprint reader, which has long been standard in competitors’ displays. However, Apple is not counting on it again this year.
The biggest camera change in years – new camera iPhone 14
Although every year the iPhone manages to push the boundaries of camera quality, speculation has it that we’re in for an even more massive leap this year. The most significant change is said to be an increase in sensor resolution from the traditional 12 to 48 MPx. In addition, the higher sensor resolution will also allow the iPhone to shoot 8K video for the first time.
Very likely, however, forget about the 48Mpx resolution for photos, as like other competitors, the phones will stack 4 pixels into 1, so the output will probably still remain at 12 MP resolution, but with better details. So the output will at least correspond with the remaining lenses on the Pro models, which will remain at 12 MPx at base. But Apple has certainly prepared some improvements here as well, and LiDAR must not be missing either. The base 14 iPhones will still only offer two lenses and are expected to retain 12MP sensors. What applies to all models, however, is the unfortunately still retained camera module protrusion, which will be even more pronounced, especially in the Pro series. The projection in the display also means a change in the front-facing camera, which could bring better quality.
Changes in equipment of iPhone 14
What will be a very controversial new feature this year will be the breakdown of models by trim. While in the past we’ve seen Apple use more RAM in the Pro series, which is expected to be the case this year as well, for the first time ever, the processors will be different. While the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max are getting a brand new Apple A16 chip, which will again be more powerful and efficient, the base 14 models will have to make do with last year’s Apple A15 Bionic chip.
However, 5G connectivity will be faster again. The phones will get Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X65 modem, which is the first 10-gigabit 5G modem on the market. The same modem is also used today by Android phones using Snapdragon 8/8+ Gen 1 processors, for example. However, there is talk of introducing a new satellite communication that the iPhone will be able to use for emergency messaging in places without cellular signal.
The not-so-positive news in terms of connectivity will be the retained Lightning port. In fact, the company still hasn’t decided to switch to USB-C even this year, but that could happen as early as next year. So this year will at least catch up with the old rest, with Apple finally offering a faster version of Lightning for the “why” lineup, matching the faster USB 3.0 specification with speeds up to 5 Gbps that it’s been using for years on the iPad Pro. It never brought that to the iPhone, and all iPhones conform to the USB 2.0 specification with a maximum transfer rate of 480 Mbps, which is limiting for wired transfer of longer 4K videos.
Battery life is unlikely to change for this year’s Apple phones. At most, only cosmetically by a few minutes to an hour due to better processor or system efficiency. According to speculations, battery capacities should be very similar to last year’s, with negligibly higher capacities in some models and lower capacities in others. The exception will be the iPhone 14 Max, which will be in the portfolio for the first time.
iPhone 14: 3 279 mAh (last year it was 3 227 mAh)
iPhone 14 Max: 4 325 mAh
iPhone 14 Pro: 3 200 mAh (last year 3 095 mAh)
iPhone 14 Pro Max: 4,323 mAh (4,352 mAh last year)
New colour and higher prices of iPhone 14
In terms of displays, we can again expect OLED panels to be used in all models, and in the case of the Pro models it will be LTPO OLED, so there will be a 120Hz refresh rate available, which will change dynamically as needed. Unfortunately, the base models will probably not see the higher frequency again. The higher end range will have an added benefit this year, in the support of the Always-On feature, where it will be possible to have some status information displayed on the off screen.
As mentioned in the introduction, the new iPhones are expected to be unveiled as early as September 7, with the new iPhones going on sale on September 16. The question is also what colors Apple will show this year. After all, it’s been several years since there’s been a specific shade for a color. For the 11 Pro series it was midnight green, for the 12 Pro it was Pacific blue, and for the 13 Pro it was mountain blue. For the 14 Pro series, there’s speculation that purple will be coming. The base 14 iPhones will then again be available in a wide range of different colours.
According to speculation, this year’s iPhones are likely to become up to 15% more expensive.
But unfortunately, there’s also speculation of a price hike. Due to component price increases due to both inflation and manufacturing issues, it’s expected that the price of the base iPhone 14 could start at $799, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max model would go up to $1,099. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is even talking about a possible 15% increase in price, which would mean possibly even higher prices. However, we’ll know more after the unveiling.