Apple launches much-awaited iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus

Tech giant Apple launched the much-awaited new iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14, Pro Max, with significant improvements over the iPhone 13 Pro models from the previous year. New features include always-on displays, a new pill-shaped notch that moves and animates, a quicker A16 Bionic CPU, and even a better 48-megapixel camera.  

The latest iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max have a significant resemblance to the previous iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max until the user examines the display in more detail. The notch is kind of erased as the new pill-shaped cutout has been introduced by Apple. The new pill-shaped notch is called “Dynamic Island” by Apple.

Meet iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra, and AirPods Pro. All that and more from the #AppleEvent

— Apple (@Apple) September 7, 2022

Apple is employing this feature for live activity widgets, as well as when users swipe up to shift background activities like music playback to the island, to adjust and move notifications and alerts around the pill-shaped cutout. A significant update to the iPhone 14 Pro is Dynamic Island, whose shape-shifting appears to be a creative approach to maximizing the space in the cutout.

Here's everything Apple just announced at its iPhone 14 event

Apple today introduced iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, featuring two sizes — 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches — in a sophisticated design with impressive camera upgrades and groundbreaking new safety capabilities. iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus take stunning photos and video with a powerful camera system featuring new Main and front TrueDepth cameras, the Ultra Wide camera for unique perspectives, and Photonic Engine — an enhanced image pipeline. Both models include the A15 Bionic chip with a 5-core GPU, which offers incredible performance and efficiency for demanding workloads, and is designed with privacy and security built in. iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus introduce critical safety capabilities such as Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via satellite, a first in the industry. And with amazing battery life, industry-leading durability features, and super-fast 5G, this iPhone lineup is more advanced than ever before. iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus will be available in midnight, blue, starlight, purple, and (PRODUCT)RED1 finishes. Pre-orders begin Friday, September 9, with availability for iPhone 14 beginning Friday, September 16, and availability for iPhone 14 Plus beginning Friday, October 7.

“Our customers rely on their iPhone every day, and iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus introduce groundbreaking new technologies and important safety capabilities. With the new, larger 6.7-inch display on iPhone 14 Plus, users can enjoy more content onscreen when browsing the web and even more text,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Both phones have a powerful new Main camera with a huge leap in low-light performance, advanced connectivity capabilities with 5G and eSIM, and the incredible performance of A15 Bionic, which helps enable even better battery life. All of this, tightly integrated with iOS 16, makes iPhone more essential than ever.”  

A Beautiful and Durable Design with Amazing Battery Life

Available in the popular 6.1-inch size and a stunning new 6.7-inch size,2 iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus feature a durable and sleek aerospace-grade aluminum design in five beautiful finishes. The larger display of iPhone 14 Plus is great for streaming movies and playing games, and iPhone 14 Plus boasts the best battery life ever in an iPhone.3 Both models have an updated internal design for better thermal performance, gorgeous Super Retina XDR displays with OLED technology that supports 1200 nits of peak HDR brightness, a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and Dolby Vision.

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus also feature the durable Ceramic Shield front cover — exclusive to iPhone and tougher than any other smartphone glass — and are protected from common spills and accidents with water and dust resistance.4

Powerful Camera Upgrades Enabled by Photonic Engine

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus introduce a new standard for photo and video capture with a new 12MP Main camera featuring a larger sensor and larger pixels, a new front TrueDepth camera, the Ultra Wide camera to capture more of a scene, and Photonic Engine for a giant leap in low-light performance.

Through a deep integration of hardware and software, Photonic Engine improves mid- to low-light performance for photos across all cameras: up to 2x on the Ultra Wide camera, 2x on the TrueDepth camera, and an impressive 2.5x on the new Main camera. Photonic Engine enables this dramatic increase in quality by applying the computational benefits of Deep Fusion earlier in the imaging process to deliver extraordinary detail, and preserve subtle textures, provide better color, and maintain more information in a photo.

Dual-camera system upgrades and features include:

A new Main camera with a larger ƒ/1.5 aperture and 1.9 µm pixels, enabling photo and video improvements in all lighting scenarios for better detail and motion freezing, less noise, faster exposure times, and sensor-shift optical image stabilization.

A new front TrueDepth camera with an ƒ/1.9 aperture that enables better low-light performance for photos and video. Using autofocus for the first time, it can focus even faster in low light and capture group shots from farther away.

A new Action mode for incredibly smooth-looking video that adjusts to significant shakes, motion, and vibrations, even when video is being captured in the middle of the action.

The Ultra Wide camera, offering a unique perspective for wider shots and improvements to low-light photos with Photonic Engine.
An improved True Tone flash that is 10 percent brighter and has better uniformity for more consistent lighting.

Cinematic mode, now available in 4K at 30 fps and 4K at 24 fps. End-to-end Dolby Vision HDR, available only on iPhone.

Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via Satellite

The entire iPhone 14 lineup introduces groundbreaking safety capabilities that can provide emergency assistance when it matters most. With a new dual-core accelerometer capable of detecting G-force measurements of up to 256Gs and a new high dynamic range gyroscope, Crash Detection on iPhone can now detect a severe car crash and automatically dial emergency services when a user is unconscious or unable to reach their iPhone. These capabilities build on existing components, like the barometer, which can now detect cabin pressure changes, the GPS for additional input for speed changes, and the microphone,5 which can recognize loud noises typified by severe car crashes. Advanced Apple-designed motion algorithms trained with over a million hours of real-world driving and crash record data provide even better accuracy. When combined with Apple Watch, Crash Detection seamlessly leverages the unique strength of both devices to get users help efficiently. When a severe crash is detected, the emergency services call interface will appear on Apple Watch, as it is most likely to be in closer proximity to the user, while the call is placed through iPhone if it is in range for the best possible connection.6

The iPhone 14 lineup also introduces Emergency SOS via satellite, which combines custom components deeply integrated with software to allow antennas to connect directly to a satellite, enabling messaging with emergency services when outside of cellular or Wi-Fi coverage. Satellites are moving targets with low bandwidth, and it can take minutes for messages to get through. Since every second counts, with Emergency SOS via satellite, iPhone front-loads a few vital questions to assess the user’s situation, and shows them where to point their phone to connect to a satellite. The initial questionnaire and follow-up messages are then relayed to centers staffed by Apple‑trained specialists who can call for help on the user’s behalf. This breakthrough technology also allows users to manually share their location over satellite with Find My when there is no cellular or Wi-Fi connection, providing a sense of security when hiking or camping off the grid. Emergency SOS via satellite will be available to users in the US and Canada in November, and the service will be free for two years.7
An iPhone screen reading “Emergency SOS via Satellite” instructs the user to be outside to get a connection, cautions that messages will take longer to send, and prompts users to answer questions to help get a faster response.
An Emergency SOS screen on iPhone asks a viewer “What’s the emergency?” and allows the viewer to choose between “vehicle issue,” “sickness or injury,” “crime,” “lost or trapped,” or “fire.” The Emergency SOS screen on iPhone prompts the user where to point their phone to connect with a satellite.

Find My shows a user’s satellite location.

A15 Bionic: A Powerhouse with a 5-Core GPU

A15 Bionic brings incredible performance to iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. Still faster than all the competition at any price, the 5-core GPU enables even smoother graphics for video apps and high-performance gaming, and powers incredible camera features like Photonic Engine and Cinematic mode, all while delivering impressive battery life, and protecting privacy and security with the Secure Enclave. The 6-core CPU handles demanding tasks smoothly and efficiently, and the 16-core Neural Engine is capable of 15.8 trillion operations per second, enabling even faster machine learning computations for features in iOS 16 and third-party app experiences. 

Powerful Connection Capabilities

iPhone offers users super-fast downloads and uploads, better streaming, and real-time connectivity with 5G to help them stay in touch, share, and enjoy content.8 Support for 5G on iPhone now extends to over 250 carrier partners in over 70 markets around the world, with expanded support for standalone networks. eSIM allows users to easily connect or quickly transfer their existing plans digitally, is a more secure alternative to a physical SIM card, and allows for multiple cellular plans on a single device. iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus remove the SIM tray for US models, enabling users to more quickly and easily set up their devices.

Apple Fitness+ for All iPhone Users

Later this fall, for the first time ever, Apple Fitness+ will be available for all iPhone users to subscribe to and enjoy in the 21 countries it is offered in, even if they don’t have an Apple Watch. iPhone users will have access to the entire service featuring over 3,000 studio-style workouts and meditations, all led by a diverse and inclusive team of trainers. Fitness+ users will see onscreen trainer guidance and interval timing, and estimated calories burned will be used to make progress on their Move ring. Fitness+ will be fully integrated with the Fitness app coming with iOS 16 and located in the middle tab, where users can stay motivated to close their Move ring through awards, activity sharing, and more. Users only need an iPhone to sign up, and can then experience Fitness+ on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.

Featuring iOS 16

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus feature iOS 16, offering a reimagined Lock Screen along with new communication, sharing, and intelligence features that together change the way users experience iPhone. The Lock Screen is more personal, beautiful, and helpful than ever with a multilayered effect that artfully sets subjects of photos in front of the time, and newly designed widgets that offer information at a glance. For Lock Screen inspiration, the wallpaper gallery offers a range of options, including Apple collections, a Weather wallpaper to see live weather conditions as they change throughout the day, an Astronomy wallpaper for views of the Earth, moon, and solar system, and many more. With Messages, users can now edit or recall recently sent messages, and mark conversations as unread to revisit them later.9 iCloud Shared Photo Library makes it even easier to share a collection of photos with family.10 Live Text gets more powerful with the ability to recognize text in video and quickly convert currency, translate text, and more, and Visual Look Up adds a new feature that allows users to tap and hold on the subject of an image to lift it from the background and place it in apps like Messages.11

The reimagined Lock Screen in iOS 16 is shown.

Notifications are shown rolling up from the bottom of a user’s iPhone screen in iOS 16.

The Live Text function is shown on iPhone.
 

iPhone and the Environment

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are designed to minimize their impact on the environment, including antenna lines that use upcycled plastic water bottles that have been chemically transformed into a stronger, higher-performance material. iPhone 14 models also use 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets, including those used in MagSafe, and 100 percent recycled tungsten in the Taptic Engine. Both models also include 100 percent recycled tin in the solder of multiple printed circuit boards, and 100 percent recycled gold in the plating of multiple printed circuit boards and in the wire of all cameras. Fiber-based packaging does not use outer plastic wrap, bringing Apple closer to its goal of completely removing plastic from all packaging by 2025.
Today, Apple is carbon neutral for global corporate operations, and by 2030, plans to be 100 percent carbon neutral across its entire manufacturing supply chain and all product life cycles. This means that every Apple device sold, from component manufacturing, assembly, transport, customer use, charging, all the way through recycling and material recovery, will have net-zero climate impact.