iPhone 14, Plus, Pro, Pro Max: Everything You Need to Know

Apple’s wasting no time at its Far Out, Sept. 7 event, and has already introduced three Apple Watches and new AirPods. But now, we’re taking an in-depth look at the iPhone and specifically, the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 and the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus. 

We’re also unpacking the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max with the Dynamic Island and a serious camera upgrade.

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How to Preorder the iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max

Apple’s iPhone 14 family — the 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max — will all be up for order on Sept. 9. But they’ll have two different ship dates — the 14, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max arrive on Sept. 16, while the 14 Plus will be delayed until Oct. 7.

The iPhone 14 is $799, the 14 Plus is $899, the 14 Pro is $1,099, and the 14 Pro Max is $1,199. Apple  (AAPL)  is promising carrier deals including up to $800 off a 14 or 14 Plus with trade-in, and $1,000 off the 14 Pro or 14 Pro Max.

Orders will start Friday, Sept 9 at 8 a.m. Eastern and we’ll be breaking it all out. And if you’re considering the upgrade, we’d highly recommend locking in a trade-in price for your current phone through Decluttr. In the meantime read on for all the details on the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus: What You Need to Know

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Yes, it’s the return of the Plus and end of the Mini. Both of these are OLED displays — 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch — with up to 1,200 nits of brightness and close to bezel-less design. Apple is promising all-day battery life with both, and the longest battery life on an iPhone with the 14 Plus.

In terms of performance, both the 14 and 14 Plus will feature an A15 Bionic Chip with a five-core GPU, six-core CPU, and a 16-core neural engine. This is the same as the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, but should deliver an incredibly smooth experience for nearly any task. It also brings the more advanced image signal processor to the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus.

Camera Improvements Are Front and Center

The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus sport a 12-megapixel main camera with a larger sensor and 1.9-micron pixels and, critically, a faster aperture with optical image stabilization. Apple is stating it’s a 49% improvement for low-light capture and letting you capture night-mode photos faster. It still keeps a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens.

But on the front, baked into the Face ID notch, there’s a new front camera with autofocus to let you clearly snap that perfect selfie. It’s a hybrid system that can quickly adjust to lighting conditions and capture details. Apple is promising some big improvements with low-light and Deep Fusion shots on both the front and rear lenses. And Deep Fusion is being applied earlier when you take a shot to help deliver brighter colors in low-light shots. And Apple’s named this “Photonic Engine” which is an upgraded image pipeline.

In terms of video, there’s a new Action Mode which seems to be a big improvement for smooth video, no matter the conditions, without the need for an accessory like a gimbal or tripod. You’ll still be capped at 4K recording and it does support recording in Dolby Vision.

iPhone 14 and 14 Plus Connectivity

Yes, the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus still support 5G, but Apple is getting rid of the SIM tray. You’ll just use e-SIM which lets you skip the visit to a store and just transfer your plan digitally, start a new one, or put two phones on the same iPhone. Apple also called out that it’s more secure than a physical SIM.

Apple is also bringing Crash Detection to the iPhone 14 through a new gyroscope and accelerometer to accurately detect these crashes — just like the new Apple Watches. That’s not all though, Apple’s second new safety feature for the iPhone gives you connectivity when it’s not easy to get Wi-Fi or 5G. The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus can connect when you’re off the grid through satellites. It’s called “Emergency SOS with Satellite” and it lets your iPhone connect to a satellite, specifically, communication satellites that are high above the earth and moving.

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And rather than attach another bulky antenna, Apple built these antennas into the iPhone. It’s using software and hardware to tell you where to point your phone, to stay connected and get emergency help. This is a pretty major technological breakthrough and Apple’s been working on this for a while. You can also tap the satellite network through FindMy for easy location sharing. Apple is providing this feature for free for two years with the purchase of an iPhone 14 and it will arrive in November.

Is it Worth Buying the iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Plus?

While the design of these is pretty similar to that of the iPhone 13 and 12, Apple is making some key improvements with cameras and processing power. I’ll also call out that in my brief hands-on time, the lavender shade looks absolutely wonderful.

Both the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus will be available for order this Friday at $799 and $899 respectively. We’ll be finding the best deals, but Apple is promising up to 800 off from carriers via trade-in. The iPhone 14 will begin arriving on Sept. 16, while the iPhone 14 Plus is a bit further out on Oct. 7. You can choose from five colors as well: midnight, blue, starlight, purple, and (PRODUCT)RED.

iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max

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And like clockwork, we’re getting the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max in Space Black, Starlight, Gold and a gorgeous deep purple. And the big change is a new True Depth Camera that tosses the proximity sensor behind the screen and allows the notch to be built into the user interface — and one that can adapt for different alerts.

Apple’s calling this “Dynamic Island” and it’s pretty aptly named, as it can morph from a round ovular line into a square and really adapt to whatever you might need. The music app for instance will stay visible at the top, morph into a square for Face Id or let you easily control a call without leaving an app. It will adjust in real-time for what notifications are critical and what you can’t miss. We’re really eager to try this out further and in our brief hands-on it was really impressive.

Display and Brightness

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With two models, there are two display sizes — 6.1-inches or 6.7-inches — with a higher peak brightness of 2,000-nits and slimmer bezels all around. That level of brightness beats out the iPhone 13 family as well as other flagship smartphones. 

The 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max finally introduced an Always-On Display which is tailor made for the new Lock Screen with iOS 16. And unlike other Always-On iterations, this will keep everything on the display visible, just make it dimmer.

Powering all of this will be the A16 Bionic chip which features nearly 16-billion transistors and built-on a four-nanometer process. It’s made from a six-core CPU, a 16-core neural engine, and a five-core GPU. There’s a dedicated display engine here which powers the always-on and Dynamic Island features.

Camera Upgrades

And the cameras are getting a serious upgrade — specifically a 48-megapixel main sensor with quad-pixel technology, and an even larger sensor. This will greatly improve image quality as well. Apple describes it as a lens that will adjust to the type of image you’re shooting and it groups every four pixels together into a quad pixel image. It’s up to two times improvement in low-light photos when compared to the iPhone 13 Pro, which was already the leader of the pack.

Additionally, there’s a new 12-megapixel Telephoto lens for a 2x zoom option, in addition to 0.5x, 1x, and 3x. The 12-megapixel ultra wide lens sports a larger sensor and a redesign lens for wide shots and a big improvement with the Macro mode.

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Connectivity

The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max additionally support the satellite connectivity, action mode with video, and all the other features of the 14 and 14 Plus. That also means the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max lose a physical SIM slot and are exclusively just E-Sim. Apple is still promising all-day battery life for both of these.

Is it Worth Buying the iPhone 14 Pro or 14 Pro Max?

In comparison to the standard 14 and 14 Plus, the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max offer a bit more. From a serious camera upgrade with the first megapixel increase for the wide camera in recent history to the Dynamic Island Face ID setup. It’s also noticeably faster for most tasks.

The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max starts at $999 and $1,099, but you can get up to $1,000 off with a trade-in. Both of these are up for order on Friday, and will ship on Sept. 16. Once again it comes in two new shades — Deep Purple and Space Black — along with Silver and Gold. 

Prices are accurate and items in stock at time of publishing.