Apple has introduced the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus, retaining much of the design of the iPhone 13 – including a notch for the phone’s selfie camera and Face ID sensors.
This is in line with rumors that indicated that only the 14 Pro models would lose the tier. Either way, the 14 looks a lot like the 13 at first glance, with the same flat screen and rails.
US iPhone 14 models also ditch the physical SIM tray, going all-in on the eSIM. The iPhone 14 has a 6.1-inch (15.4 cm) display, while the 14 Plus offers a large 6.7-inch (17 cm) display.
The 14 Plus model claims to offer the best battery life of any iPhone.
Both models continue to offer last year’s A15 Bionic chip – a big change for Apple, which has typically introduced a new processor to be used by its entire iPhone portfolio each year.
On the camera front, there’s an ultra-wide camera and a new 12-megapixel primary camera with f/1.5 aperture and sensor-based stabilization.
Apple claims a 49% improvement in low-light image quality and that Night Mode is now twice as fast.
There’s also a new 12-megapixel TrueDepth camera with autofocus on the front.
Apple says it will also apply Deep Fusion image processing earlier in the imaging lineup, improving low-light performance and color rendering, calling the technology a “Photonic Engine.”
Video recording also gets a new stabilization mode called Action Mode that uses the entire sensor for such stability.
The debut of the iPhone 14 comes at a unique time: inflation is driving up the price of absolutely everything — including consumer technology — and household budgets are stretched thin.
Google has launched a public shaming campaign asking Apple to adopt its open messaging standard.
And the company has to face the fact that people in the US just don’t want a small iPhone, despite its efforts to sell one over the past two years.
It all comes down to an unusual amount of pressure as Apple hosts its annual iPhone unveiling from its glitzy Silicon Valley campus.