Apple iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max swap the notch for a 'Dynamic Island'
We knew that it was going to be the iPhone 14 Pro that delivered the lion’s share of new features when it was announced today at Apple’s 'Far Out' event, and the Cupertino-based company certainly didn’t disappoint.
The iPhone 13 Pro didn’t make any massive advances on the iPhone 12 Pro, so Apple needed to up the ante this year, which it did with a raft of new features including Dynamic Island, a cool new way of displaying notifications and activities, an Always-On display, a 48MP camera, and much more.
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Powered by A16 Bionic, which Apple of course claims is "the fastest chip ever in a smartphone", iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max introduce a new camera system which includes a 48MP main camera with a quad-pixel sensor, and Photonic Engine, which dramatically improves low-light photos.
Camera system highlights include:
- A new 12MP Ultra Wide camera with 1.4 µm pixels, which delivers sharper images with more detail, improving already powerful macro photography capabilities.
- An improved Telephoto camera that offers 3x optical zoom.
- 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 Adaptive True Tone flash that has been completely redesigned with an array of nine LEDs that change pattern based on the chosen focal length.
- Powerful computational photography benefits like Night mode, Smart HDR 4, Portrait mode with Portrait Lighting, Night mode Portrait photos, Photographic Styles to personalize the look of every photo, and Apple ProRAW.
- 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.
- Cinematic mode, now available in 4K at 30 fps and 4K at 24 fps.
- Pro-level workflows for video, including ProRes3 and end-to-end Dolby Vision HDR.
For a change, it's not all about the cameras though.
The new Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion introduces a handy Always-On display which lets you see the lock screen at all times (it cleverly dims the wallpaper). This is enabled by a new 1Hz refresh rate which won’t interfere with the touted "all-day" battery life.
The Dynamic Island, which replaces the notch we’re used to, expands and contracts (and even bubbles off) to show important alerts, notifications, and activities. Apple says it "blurs the line between hardware and software" and from what we saw that definitely looks to be the case.
New safety features include Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via Satellite. The phone can detect if you’ve been in a bad car accident and automatically dial emergency services, while Emergency SOS via satellite lets you contact emergency services when out of range of cellular or Wi-Fi coverage.
"Our customers count on their iPhone every day, and with iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, we’re delivering more advancements than any other iPhone. iPhone 14 Pro introduces a camera system that empowers every user -- from the casual user to the professional -- to take their best photos and video, and innovative new technologies like the Always-On display and the Dynamic Island, which offers new interactions for notifications and activities," said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Groundbreaking safety capabilities bring users even more security, offering help when they need it most. And with the incredibly powerful and efficient A16 Bionic chip and all-day battery life, this is the best iPhone yet."
iPhone 14 Pro Max is available in four new finishes -- deep purple, silver, gold, and space black. It comes in a range of capacities -- 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max begin Friday, September 9, with availability from Friday, September 16.
Pricing starts at $999, although if you want that 1TB model it leaps to $1499.