The time to buy a new iPhone is here, as Apple has unveiled the iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max in its ‘Far Out’ event, and like the previous rumours have claimed, the mini iPhone is no more and Apple has instead added a larger iPhone 14 Plus to the default iPhone series while powered by last year’s A15 Bionic chip, the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max gets the major upgrades with a new screen that features a functional small notch known as the ‘Dynamic Island’, powered by a new A16 Bionic chip and features a new 48MP primary camera.
The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus feature 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch OLED displays respectively that has a peak brightness of 1200 nits, they look essentially identical to the iPhone 13 that’s made with aerospace-grade aluminium while having a dual camera system on the back, Apple has as usual increased the sensor size of the 12MP main camera with a f/1.5 aperture and 1.9μm pixels, a new front facing TrueDepth camera with autofocus has an f/1.9 aperture that should also see improvement in wide selfies, and with a new Photonic Engine, mid to low light performance are improved across all cameras to preserve details.
In terms of video capabilities, the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus’ camera now support a new Action Mode that stabilises videos when doing extreme actions such as running, it essentially crops into a 4K frame and records in 1080p to stabilise the video, which has been a feature on some Android phones, the Cinematic mode now records in 4K resolution at either 30 fps or 24 fps.
As for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, you now get an always on display that takes advantage of the new lock screens on iOS 16, screen sizes are still at 6.1-inches for the Pro and 6.7-inches for the Pro Max, while they refresh at 120Hz adaptively, the also sport a peak brightness of 2000 nits.
The ‘Dynamic Island’ pill-shaped notch basically serves as an interactive notification area, apart from being able to inform users of device activities, it also shows background activities such as Maps, Music or a remaining timer, even Live Activities can take advantage of it to show information while you are on the home screen, which developers can update their apps to support it.
As for the cameras, the main 48MP sensor takes a quad-binned shot in the normal still mode that captures more light and detail in low light shots by combining 4 pixels, the full sensor can be unleashed when shot it ProRAW mode, it also serves as a 2X telephoto sensor that uses the middle 12-megapixels of the sensor for full-resolution photos and 4K videos with no digital zoom.
A new 12MP ultrawide camera with 1.4μm pixels complements the main sensor in taking more detailed shots and improved macro photography capabilities, while an improved 12MP telephoto camera gets close to objects with a 3x optical zoom, there’s even a redesigned Adaptive True Tone flash with an array of nine LEDs that change pattern based on the chosen focal length, the front TrueDepth selfie camera is similar to the iPhone 14.
One thing that’s new and universal to the iPhone 14 line up is the ability to detect car crashes similar to the new Apple Watch and support for Emergency SOS over Satellite, which the latter will be made available to US and Canada customers starting November this year, it will allow the user to send messages over satellite when outside of cellular or Wi-Fi coverage, when connected to the satellite the phone will ask several vital questions that can be relayed to centers staffed by Apple-trained specialist that can call for help on the user’s behalf, the service will initially be offered free for two years.
The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus will retail from RM4,199 and RM4,699 respectively in Malaysia, it will be available in color options of Blue, Purple, Midnight, Starlight, and (PRODUCT) RED, a 512GB storage option is available on top of the regular 128GB and 256GB storage options.
The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max will retail from RM5,299 and RM5,799 respectively, it will be available in color options of Deep Purple, Gold, Silver and Space Black, storage options are available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 11 has been officially removed from Apple’s store, the iPhone 12 and 3rd Gen iPhone SE remains the only entry option for customers which will start at RM3,199 and RM2,249 respectively.