The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models will begin arriving to customers and launch in stores this Friday, September 16, and ahead of time, the first reviews of the devices have now been shared by select media publications and YouTube channels.
Key new features of the iPhone 14 Pro model include an always-on display with a new Dynamic Island, upgraded camera with a 48-megapixel main lens, satellite connectivity for car accident detection and emergencies, A16 Bionic chip for faster performance, and new deep Purple and space black color options. Emergency SOS via satellite isn’t launching until November, so the feature wasn’t available for review yet.
The differences between the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max relate to their respective 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch display sizes, battery life and weight of the devices, as the Pro and Pro Max again have the same camera system. year
We’ve rounded up both written and video reviews of the iPhone 14 Pro models below, complete with a feature-by-feature breakdown.
Dynamic Island
Exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro model, the Dynamic Island replaces the traditional notch found on all iPhone 13 models. With software, the cutout transforms into different shapes and sizes for things like incoming phone calls, alerts, notifications, Face ID authentication, timers, turn-by-turn navigation, live activities, and more.
While Dynamic Island is certainly more effective than the previous iPhone’s notch, the edgeIts Niloy Patel says the feature’s potential is yet to be fully realized, as it currently only supports third-party apps that use the Now Playing or CallKit APIs.
“Right now, Dynamic Island looks like one of those things that needs a year of refinement and developer attention before we really know how important it is,” Patel said.
Always-on display
roadIts Jacob Kroll says the iPhone 14 Pro’s new always-on display didn’t have a noticeable impact on battery life during his tests:
And from my testing so far, using the always-on display doesn’t negatively affect battery life or the overall runtime of the 14 Pro or 14 Pro Max. I still managed to get a full day of moderate use on the 14 Pro, with the larger — and possibly battery capacity — 14 Pro Max lasting a day and a half of the same use. Apple specifically touts some enhancements in the new A16 Bionic whose cores are designed to be efficient operators of the display.
48-megapixel camera
inputIts Raymond Wong put the iPhone’s new 48-megapixel main lens to the test and was impressed with the 48-megapixel ProRAW photos, but said he could barely notice the difference for pixel-binned 12-megapixel photos in daylight.
I’ve tested more than my share of Android phones with high-megapixel camera sensors, and they’ve always underwhelmed in one way or another. Apple’s ProRAW DNG was a bit disappointing for the iPhone 13 Pro and 12 Pro; There is barely more detail to be had from a 12-megapixel RAW than a 12-megapixel JPEG. Not so with 48-megapixel ProRAW files; These images are huge (often between 70-80MB) and the amount of detail you can get is borderline nuts for a phone.
Wong’s review includes numerous photos taken on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Deep purple and space black colors
Wong also shared his thoughts on the new Deep Purple and Space Black color options:
My iPhone 14 Pro review unit is Space Black. i love it The glass back and stainless steel frame are noticeably darker than the graphite gray iPhone 13 Pro; Like a mix between black and jet black iPhone 7. My iPhone 14 Pro Max review unit is deep purple; It is a dark purple that sometimes looks gray or black. Both look sleek; Both are still fingerprint magnets. You can also get them in silver and gold.
A16 bionic chip
Wang shared Geekbench 5 results for the iPhone 14 Pro model, revealing up to a 16% increase in multi-core performance compared to the 13 Pro:
– iPhone 12 Pro: (A14 Bionic): 1,586 single-core / 3,937 multi-core
– iPhone 13 Pro: (A15 Bionic): 1,725 / 4,722
– iPhone 14 Pro: (A16 Bionic): 1,875 / 5,495
Battery life
The Wall Street JournalIts Joanna Stern says the iPhone 14 Pro models don’t get significantly longer battery life than the iPhone 13 Pro models:
As far as battery life goes, none of the iPhone 14 or 14 Pro models I tried lasted significantly longer than their predecessors. The story may be different with the step-up model, the iPhone 14 Plus. Apple says it’s “our longest battery life ever” – I’ll test that claim when it arrives
More reviews
– wiredIts Julian Chokkattu
– TechCrunchIts Matthew Panzarino
– Pocket-lintIts Britta O’Boyle
– CNBCof Sophia Peet
– TechRadarIts Lance Ulanoff
– Mobile syrupIts Patrick O’Rourke
