We’re less than three weeks away from the announcement of Apple’s iPhone 14 lineup. We expect the iPhone 14 to be introduced in September of 2022, and rumors suggest we could see a redesign, the biggest camera update in years, and more. Head below as we round up all of the iPhone 14 rumors so far.
Table of contents
What will the iPhone 14 be called?
Given that the iPhone introduced in 2021 was indeed branded as the iPhone 13, we expect the 2022 iPhone to be the iPhone 14. Whether or not Apple ever returns to the “S” branding remains to be seen, but rumors indicate the 2022 iPhone will be a big enough upgrade to warrant a new number altogether.
There’s also the possibility that Apple abandons numbers on the iPhone line altogether, and new iPhones are designated simply by their size, “Pro” or non-Pro, and year. This would match what Apple has done to the iPad lineup over the past several years.
Apple marketing names stay under wraps until the last minute. This means we’ll have to wait until 2022 to learn more about what that year’s release will be officially called.
iPhone 14: No notch, but…
The biggest change that we currently expect with the 2022 iPhone is the removal of the notch cutout. The notch design was first introduced with the iPhone X, and it has stayed the same since then. The notch is where Apple houses its sensors for things like Face ID.
Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports that Apple will drop the notch in 2022, starting with the high-end iPhone 14 Pro. Instead of the notch, the iPhone 14 will use a new “pill hole” design. Rather than a simply hole-punch cutout used by many Android phones, Apple will use a combination of the hole punch cutout and a pill-shaped cutout.
This will allow Apple to squeeze the front-facing camera and Face ID hardware in, while also increasing the amount of available screen real estate. In March, 9to5Mac exclusively reported that the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will have slightly larger screens. This was also corroborated by analyst Ross Young.
- iPhone 13 Pro – 6.06″
- iPhone 14 Pro – 6.12″
- iPhone 13 Pro Max – 6.68″
- iPhone 14 Pro Max – 6.69″
Here’s the technology currently located in the iPhone’s notch:
- Infrared camera
- Flood illuminator
- Proximity sensor
- Ambient light sensor
- Speaker
- Microphone
- Front camera
- Dot projector
In a report, Young explained:
We now believe Apple will have a hole + pill design on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models. The smaller hole will not be invisible…The two hole concept will be unique to Apple, like the notch, not similar to all the pill models from Huawei.
The pill hole design might not be as ambitious as some had hoped, but it’s the next step in the process of making the iPhone truly all-screen, without any cutouts at all.
No Touch ID
While early iPhone 14 rumors indicated that Apple would bring under-display Touch ID to the iPhone, this no longer appears to be the case. More recent reporting from Ming-Chi Kuo suggests that Apple has been forced to delay under-display Touch ID to 2023 instead.
According to Kuo, Apple has faced “lower than expected development progress” on its work to integrate Touch ID into the iPhone’s display. It’s also possible Apple takes a less ambitious approach and integrates Touch ID into the iPhone’s power button, similar to the iPad Air and iPad mini. But ultimately, Touch ID is not expected to be an iPhone 14 feature this year.
iPhone 14 to offer biggest camera updates in years
The iPhone 14 will also include dramatic improvements to the front-facing camera, according to Kuo. The biggest change will be upgrades to the front-facing camera’s auto-focus features. More details here are unclear, but the front-facing iPhone camera has a way to go to catch up to the rear camera.
In terms of the rear camera, Kuo says the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be upgraded to 48 megapixels, an increase from the 12-megapixel sensor in iPhone 12.
Although the sensor is 48 megapixels, it is possible that output images from the iPhone will still be 12-megapixels in resolution. Similar to some Android phones, Apple could use a smart scaling algorithm that takes the raw 48-megapixel data and creates a 12-megapixel output image with more detail and less noise.
Kuo believes the video camera system will also be upgraded for the iPhone 14, supporting 8K recording for the first time.
Camera bump is here to stay
While early reports indicated that some models of the iPhone 14 will not feature a camera bump, this is no longer believed to be the case. In fact, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are expected to have bigger camera bumps than their predecessors.
Kuo offered reasoning for this, saying that the wide camera upgrade is to blame:
The main reason for the larger and more prominent rear-camera bump of the 14 Pro/Pro Max is upgrading the wide camera to 48MP (vs. 13 Pro/Pro Max’s 12MP). The diagonal length of 48MP CIS will increase by 25-35%, and the height of 48MP’s 7P lens will increase by 5-10%.
iPhone 14 to use Lightning
For several years, reports have suggested that Apple could introduce a port-less iPhone. This iPhone would not feature a Lightning port – instead, it would be completely wireless. This was once rumored to come in 2021, but that did not happen.
The port-less iPhone is rumored to be something Apple is still testing, but it’s several years away at this point. In fact, Apple is expected to switch to USB-C in 2023, but the iPhone 14 coming this year will still use Lightning.
Apple is rumored to boost Lightning data transfer rates to USB 3.0 starting with the iPhone 14 Pro this fall, though. USB 2.0 supports transfer speeds of 480 Mbps, while USB 3.0 supports speeds of up to 5 Gbps. With 8K video recording on the way, faster data transfer speeds are a necessity.
While some rumors had anticipated that the iPhone 14 might use a new chip produced using 3-nanometer technology, that is no longer expected to be the case. Currently, Apple’s chip partner TSMC is expected to use an enhanced 5nm manufacturing process for the chip in the iPhone 14, likely referred to as the A16.
Best iPhone charging accessories:
- Native Union Drop 10W Qi Charger
- Anker 30W USB-C wall charger
- USB-C to Lightning cable
- Lightning to 3.5mm headphone adapter or cable
iPhone 14 performance: A major change
The iPhone 14 lineup is expected to herald a major change to differentiation strategy between the “Pro” models and the non-Pro models.
For the first time ever, Apple is expected to only upgrade the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max to its newest processor. These two models are expected to upgraded to the A16 chip, while the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max will retain the same A15 chip inside the current iPhone 13 lineup.
The A16 chip inside the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be manufactured with the same 5-nanometer process as the A15, which is also the same as the A14. This limits the year-over-year performance improvements, but it doesn’t mean we won’t see any improvements.
Release date: When will iPhone 14 come out?
With the exception of the iPhone 12, which was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, new flagship iPhones are generally announced and released in September – that trend is expected to continue this year with the iPhone 14.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is currently planning to hold its September special event on September 7, as a virtual event. From there, the report expects the iPhone 14 will be available for pre-order on September 9, with the first orders arriving to customers and retail stores on September 16.
iPhone 14 Pro price increase
One of the most recent iPhone 14 rumors to emerge is that Apple will increase the price of the Pro and Pro Max models by around $100. This means the iPhone 14 Pro will start at $1099, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max will start at $1199. Apple is, however, reportedly planning to double the base storage amount from 128GB to 256GB to help offset that price hike.
On the flip side, Kuo also predicts that the iPhone 14 Max, will be priced at under $900 USD. This makes it Apple’s cheapest ever 6.7-inch iPhone. It’s likely to be a very popular option for that reason.
9to5Mac’s Take
The iPhone 14 is shaping up to be a big update, particularly for the Pro and Pro Max models. With a redesigned hole + pill shaped cutout and some of the biggest camera updates in years, it’ll be a big upgrade for many buyers.
On the flip side, the iPhone 14 Max is a major shift in Apple’s strategy. The change comes at the cost of the “mini” model, but it’s clearly not selling as well as Apple had hoped. The iPhone 14 Max brings the popular larger form factor to a lower price point, allowing buyers to get that large display without shelling out for the $1000+ model.
What do you think of the iPhone 14 rumors so far? Are you planning to upgrade? Let us know down in the comments!
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