Apple iPhone 14 Pro Review

Design

If you spotted the iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max laying on the table, you may mistake it for the iPhone 13 Pro. That’s how close the designs are. The iPhone 14 Pro has the same steep design as its forerunner, as well as a shining stainless-steel antenna band.

All four iPhones released this year have excellent build quality. Externally, there are just two distinctions. First, there is no indication of where the SIM card tray used to be. Also, in addition to keeping over silver and gold from the previous Pro phones, this year’s Pro phones add Space Black and Purple Haze, a dark yet appealing hue that can appear gray in some light but glistens in others.

When you turn the phone on, it’s clear that this is a new phone. Rather than the former notch, a tiny pill-shaped cut—not quite large enough to be called a notch, but certainly not as intrusive as it was—provides room for the front camera lenses.

While the iPhone 14 Pro series seems identical to previous year’s versions, the dimensions are somewhat changed and necessitate the purchase of a new cover. However, the variations are so few that you’d never notice them when holding the handsets. Even with the bigger Max, the sensation in your palm remains manageable, comparable to last year’s versions.

Display

The latest iPhones boast brighter screens and slimmer bezels. The new display is much brighter—up to 2,000 nits of ambient peak brightness—so you can see your screen even under the California sun. In addition, the screen features a greater intensity for HDR content.

Apple also upgraded its ProMotion dynamic display, which debuted with the iPhone 13 Pro. The ProMotion adjustable refresh rates now range from 1Hz to 120Hz, providing smooth but energy-saving performance. Going a step further, Apple was able to offer its first always-on display by reaching the ultra-low, battery-saving 1Hz refresh rate.

The inclusion of an always-on display is a significant improvement. No more tapping the phone to see the time. It, along with alerts and other modifications, is always displayed. All of this is displayed in a consistent yet subdued manner, resulting in a stunning always-on display in regular use.

Performance

The new lock screen, which is available on all iPhones running iOS 16, is all about customization and is just one of the notable software updates. Add widgets, select favourite photographs, alter the colour of the clock numbers, and more. If you select a focus mode, you can deactivate notifications. Adding new lock screens and switching between them is as easy as changing the faces on the Apple Watch. Although Apple was late to the personalization game, its execution was intriguing.

More notable is the addition of Dynamic Island, which is only accessible on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. Dynamic Island skillfully conceals the capsule-shaped cut that houses the front cameras. Dynamic Island shows alerts and app interactions more fluidly and helpfully than standard notifications.

Battery

The A16 Bionic CPU is new to the iPhone 14 Pro, as opposed to the A15 Bionic chip, which was first seen in the iPhone 13 Pro. Everything you’re doing, the A16 is lightning quick, and it contributes to everything that helps the iPhone14 Pro and Pro Max stand out, from seamless video and gameplay to the always-on screen, from stunning photos to the eye-catching Dynamic Island. Benchmarks consistently place Apple’s iPhone processors ahead of competitors, and this new CPU is significant enough to maintain that trend.

Battery life is excellent on both versions, however, it is unsurprisingly longer on the bigger Pro Max, which has a larger battery. In everyday usage, Apple boasts that the iPhone Pro Max has nearly the same battery life as the iPhone 14 Plus (yet to be announced), which has the greatest battery life in an iPhone. Nonetheless, both are more than adequate for a full day.

Camera

The wide camera on the iPhone 14 Pro receives the most significant boost, increasing from 12 to 48 megapixels. The sensor on the camera is 65% larger than the one on the iPhone 13 Pro.

The iPhone 14 Pro, like other smartphone cameras, uses pixel binning, in which neighbouring pixel sites act as one. The iPhone Pro 14 combines four pixels to optimize sensitivity in low light, resulting in 12-megapixel photographs with improved clarity and less photo noise.

The cameras here are exceptional, easily handling low-light scenarios and ultimately winning in brighter circumstances. The cameras handled it nicely and produced excellent shots, in my opinion.

Price

The iPhone 14 Pro, as of last year, starts at £1,099.00 for the 128GB variant. The 256GB model costs £1,209.00, the 512GB model costs £1,429.00, and the 1TB model costs £1,649.00. With all of the video features, you might desire the extra capacity – the ProRes video maximum of 1080p for the 128GB version remains. The iPhone 14 Pro Max is available for presale on September 9 and will be released on September 16. It costs $1,099 / £1,199 / AU$1,899 for the 128GB variant, but it can be upgraded to 1TB of storage.

Summary

Apart from the magnificent Dynamic Island and always-on screen characteristics, the new iPhone 14 Pro series phones appear and perform similarly to last year’s versions. The cameras are a significant improvement, putting Apple—once again—ahead in terms of excellent photography.

While they are not inexpensive phones, they are still a good purchase for the features and capabilities they provide.