Apple have finally lifted the lid off of the new iPhone 14 Series last night during their Fall Keynote. These include the iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. The new iPhones come with features that are both new and familiar, especially to existing iPhone users.
iPhone 14 and 14 Plus
The new iPhone 14 and 14 Plus comes in two sizes; 6.1-inches and 6.7-inches respectively with a Super Retina XDR OLED display. The display supports 1200 nits of peak HDR brightness, a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and Dolby Vision though it clocks out at just a 60Hz refresh rate. The chipset used by both devices is the same Bionic A15 processor found on last year’s iPhone 13 Series but with a slight difference.
The A15 chip used here comes with a 5-core GPU, the same one used in last year’s iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max. Even though it might be considered “old tech” to some, the processing power the Bionic A15 chip offers is still leaps and bounds better than the competition. The A15 not only offers great graphical performance but also provides good battery life with the iPhone 14 Plus rated for 26 hours of video playtime and the iPhone 14 for 20 hours.
As for the cameras, both the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus still sports a 12MP main sensor. It does utilise a larger sensor though which can capture about 49% more light when compared to the iPhone 13. The cameras also come with a feature called Photonic Engine which takes much improved low-light photos. There’s also an Action Mode that essentially turns the iPhone into an action cam and the return of the Cinematic Mode.
The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus still uses the notch that houses the 12MP TrueDepth selfie camera. This time around, the selfie camera features autofocus which is a first for the iPhone series. The selfie camera is also capable of taking in 39% more light than before allowing for better pictures, particularly in low-light environments.
Connectivity-wise, both the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus feature 5G connectivity and are very much eSIM only, at least for those in the United States. Other markets will still offer non-eSIM versions of the smartphones.
Another thing of note is that both iPhones offer Emergency SOS via satellite. This means that users can send an emergency notification even if they’re out of cell range. It’ll take up to 15 seconds to transmit users’ SOS under clear skies but if they’re in a more secluded area then it’ll take a few minutes. The service will launch in the US and Canada first in November this year. The new iPhones also feature Crash Detection which can detect forces of up to 256Gs.
iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max
The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max come with a lot of new features and several upgrades from the last generation of iPhones. The most noteworthy change is the evolved form of the now synonymous notch which has now become a pill-shaped punch hole camera. Christened the “Dynamic Island” by Apple, the most interesting part about this feature is how the punch hole is integrated with iOS 16.
Through some creative solutions on Apple’s part, Dynamic Island is smartly hidden somewhat through dynamic effects that integrate the punch hole with things such as its notification animation and others. Dynamic Island remains active to allow users to access controls with a simple tap-and-hold gesture.
Continuous background activities such as Maps, Music, or a timer remain visible and interactive, and third-party apps in iOS 16 that provide information such as sports scores and ride-sharing with Live Activities can benefit from Dynamic Island. Furthermore, In addition, the TrueDepth camera has been redesigned to take up less display space. It is 30% smaller than the previous generation.
Talking about cameras, the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max come equipped with a 48MP Main camera with a quad-pixel sensor. Something that’s totally new in the iPhone series but rather old if you’re an Android user. The camera system also features a new 12MP ultrawide camera as well as a telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom.
The quad-pixel sensor also allows for a 2x Telephoto mode, which uses the sensor’s middle 12 megapixels for full-resolution photos and 4K videos with no digital zoom. This provides optical quality at a familiar focal length, making it ideal for features such as Portrait mode. iPhone now shoots ProRAW at 48MP thanks to a new machine learning model designed specifically for the quad-pixel sensor.
The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max tout a 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display respectively, similar to the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus. The displays on the Pro models are brighter though at up to 2,000 nits peak HDR brightness with support for refresh rates as low as 1Hz and as high as 120Hz. Always On display is also available for the first time on an iPhone.
Under the hood is a new Bionic A16 chipset that’s capable of high graphics and processing performance, improved camera performance and greater battery life. With two high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, the new 6-core CPU is up to 40% faster than the competition. A16 Bionic includes a new 16-core Neural Engine capable of nearly 17 trillion operations per second and an accelerated 5-core GPU with 50% more memory bandwidth.
As with the 14 and 14 Plus, the Pro models come with Emergency SOS via satellite and Crash Detection. The smartphones are also eSIM only but only if you’re in the US.
Price and availability
The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus are set to release in Malaysia this 23rd of September and will be available in midnight, blue, starlight, purple, and (PRODUCT)RED. The new iPhones can be purchased through the Apple Store. The prices are as below:
- iPhone 14
– 128GB – RM4,199
– 256GB – RM4,699
– 512GB – RM5,699 - iPhone 14 Plus
– 128GB – RM4,699
– 256GB – RM5,199
– 512GB – RM6,199
As for the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, the devices will also be available in Malaysia beginning 23rd of September and will be available in deep purple, silver, gold, and space black. The new iPhones can be purchased through the Apple Store. The prices are as below:
- iPhone 14
– 128GB – RM5,299
– 256GB – RM5,799
– 512GB – RM6,799
– 1TB – RM7,799 - iPhone 14 Plus
– 128GB – RM5,799
– 256GB – RM6,299
– 512GB – RM7,299
– 1TB – RM8,299
