iPhone 14 Pro review

The iPhone 14 Professional is the iPhone that most individuals ought to this 12 months. Not as a result of it appears to be like considerably completely different to its predecessor – in truth, on the floor, the 2 look near-identical – however due to the raft of upgrades on supply from Apple’s Professional iPhone vary this 12 months, additional separating them from the usual, cheaper iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus.

With headline options together with Apple’s distinctive Dynamic Island, new always-on show performance, the primary 48Mp digital camera in an iPhone and Apple’s top-end A16 Bionic chipset, Apple has its sights set comfortably on the high-end Android competitors.

The query is, with a major value hike (within the UK not less than) does Apple’s newest and best nonetheless supply good worth for cash?

Design & construct

While you first have a look at the iPhone 14 Professional, it’s arduous to identify the variations between it and final 12 months’s iPhone 13 Professional – till you flip the show on, that’s.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

General, the iPhone 14 Professional is near-identical to its predecessor – however that’s no unhealthy factor. Apple’s industrial, angular design language and mixture of a chrome steel body and glass entrance and rear appears to be like and feels premium, with new Area Black and Deep Purple finishes becoming a member of the Silver and Gold of final 12 months’s vary.

Whereas the brushed glass rear appears to be like comparable, sporting the identical three-camera cut-out, the cameras themselves are a smidge thicker than on the 13 Professional – although that’s no shock with such an upgraded digital camera providing.

In reality, it’s an analogous story with the general construct. The iPhone 14 Professional is barely taller and fatter this time round at 71.5 x 147.5 x 7.85mm and 206g respectively, although it’s troublesome to note.

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The aspect button, quantity controls and silence swap are all in the identical spots, as are the microphone ports, speaker grilles and the Lightning port. Sure, one other 12 months passes with out Apple making the soar to USB-C because it has with the iPad Air and iPad Professional, however rumours recommend that might lastly change subsequent 12 months.

It’s additionally nonetheless as mud and waterproof as ever, boasting IP68 safety that ought to defend it from a dunk within the water.

The one notable change within the iPhone 14 Professional’s design is the SIM tray, or lack of it. Whereas it’s nonetheless current on fashions offered within the UK, Europe and most areas, Apple has determined to go all-in on e-SIM know-how within the US, the place there’s no SIM tray on fashions offered there. It actually provides to Apple’s clear aesthetic, nevertheless it’ll be attention-grabbing to see how US customers will react to the change. They’ll must switch their cellphone quantity to eSIM upon set-up.

Show & audio

The iPhone 14 Professional sports activities Apple’s 6.1in Tremendous Retina XDR show that, whereas not noticeably greater decision than its predecessor at 2556 x 1179, affords one large improve. In reality, it’s the largest shift in Apple iconography because the iPhone X.

All of it comes down to at least one huge addition: the Dynamic Island. The oblong-shaped cut-out fully replaces the enduring Face ID notch, floating millimetres from the highest of the show and, in spectacular Apple vogue, it does one thing no different smartphone digital camera cut-out available on the market does proper now; it adjustments form.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

The Dynamic Island cut-out not solely adjustments form however provides performance relying on what’s taking place on-screen, seemingly increasing and shrinking at will. In fact, that is only a trick comprised of each {hardware} and software program because the bodily cut-out itself isn’t altering, nevertheless it’s seamless and only a bit magical.

Look slightly nearer and also you’ll see that the cut-out is definitely comprised of an rectangular cut-out, a round cut-out, after which black energetic show pixels between them giving the phantasm of a single cut-out. The Face ID tech hidden inside has shrunk, and Apple managed to place the depth sensor behind the show to compact it additional.

The top result’s a digital camera cut-out that’ll dynamically change form and performance relying on what you’re doing and what app you’re in, displaying a Face ID icon when scanning your face, ongoing timers, battery indicators for AirPods, music controls and extra. You too can tap-and-hold the cut-out to entry further controls, permitting you to skip a music, reply a name or cancel a timer with out leaving the app you’re in. Tapping it as soon as takes you to the app in query.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

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Apple has taken one thing that’s historically an annoyance and turned it into one thing new and genuinely helpful.

It’s not the one improve within the show division both; the ProMotion adaptive show know-how has additionally been enhanced, now in a position to dynamically shift from 120Hz to as little as 1Hz. That means that you can benefit from the buttery-smooth 120Hz refresh price when gaming and scrolling whereas not saving battery life when on a static display, just like the Dwelling display, the place the refresh price can drop.

The 1Hz refresh price is a very helpful addition because it enable the iPhone to have an always-on show tech for the primary time ever. It would’ve taken some time to make an look, nevertheless it’s secure to say that Apple has outdone many of the competitors with its implementation.

Quite than merely displaying a black display with fundamental time and notification info like most Android options, you get the total iOS Lock Display screen expertise. The tech routinely prompts when the iPhone goes to sleep, and whereas it does drain the show of most color and brightness, you’ll be able to nonetheless get pleasure from your wallpaper, see the present time, and entry your widgets, notifications, and music controls at a look.

It’s a function I didn’t know I wanted, however now I’ve used it, it’ll be arduous to make use of an iPhone with out it (you’ll be able to flip if off in settings, although).

The show can also be extremely brilliant, with Apple boasting a baseline brightness of 1000 nits, although that jumps as much as a formidable 1600 nits when watching Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR content material and, once you’re in direct daylight, the show can increase to an eye-melting 2000 nits. I by no means struggled to see the iPhone’s show in any lighting circumstances, and I doubt anyone else will both.

In the case of audio, anticipate the identical stereo speaker setup as earlier fashions, full with assist for Dolby Atmos spatial audio that offers reveals like Stranger Issues added depth – although you’re nonetheless higher off utilizing a pair of headphones the place you’ll be able to.

Options & efficiency

Not like the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus nonetheless rocking final 12 months’s A15 Bionic, the iPhone 14 Professional and its Professional Max sibling sport Apple’s newest and best A16 Bionic. The 4nm chipset, down from 5nm of the A15 Bionic, affords not solely a ten% increase to general efficiency however higher effectivity too, with Apple claiming each that it’s 20% extra environment friendly and that its effectivity cores use one-third the ability of the unnamed Android competitors.

As you would possibly anticipate, that interprets to blisteringly quick on a regular basis use with not a touch of lag or stutter to be seen, even when taking part in AAA video games like Genshin Affect with excessive graphical settings and scrolling by way of a media-heavy Twitter feed. It’s not simply on a regular basis use both; the A16 Bionic means that you can edit Apple ProRes movies on the fly inside the Pictures app, permitting you to crop, add filters and trim the video with an export time of simply seconds.

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That’s largely mirrored in our benchmark outcomes that see the iPhone 14 Professional not solely beat the iPhone 13 Professional however the Android competitors too – particularly within the CPU division the place Apple’s good points over Qualcomm and MediaTek are most obvious.

Although some Android rivals get greater body charges in GFXBench assessments, that’s because of the 60fps body price cap on the iOS app. Hopefully, that’ll be up to date quickly, and we are able to re-run our assessments for a extra correct graphical comparability.

That every one stated, the iPhone 14 Professional doesn’t really feel markedly sooner than the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely in on a regular basis use.

By way of storage choices, you’ve obtained 4 to select from, starting from 128GB all the best way as much as 1TB, although with such good integration with iCloud, it’s arduous to suggest the top-end mannequin to anybody that doesn’t shoot in ProRes and ProRAW.

In the case of connectivity, there’s 5G, Wi-Fi 6 with 2×2 MIMO assist, Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC for funds with Apple Pay. It additionally sports activities Apple’s proprietary U1 Extremely-Wideband chip that can assist you find AirTags with precision discovering.

Normal connectivity options apart, the iPhone 14 vary is among the many first on the planet to supply built-in emergency satellite tv for pc communications. They will hook up with Globalstar’s low-Earth orbit satellite tv for pc fleet when in clear view of the sky, permitting you to get involved with emergency providers even when there’s no mobile sign.

When you can’t speak instantly with EMS responders, the on-screen assistant asks you questions that’ll assist talk your standing. This info is beamed to satellites, that are related to Apple’s personal relay station, who then contacts EMS in your behalf. The tech can be used to ship textual content messages in round 15 seconds, and you may as well use it to replace your Discover My location if needed.

It’s not energetic simply but so I’ve not been in a position to take a look at this for myself, although it’ll be accessible to these within the US and Canada in November, and it’ll hopefully roll out to different areas quickly after.  

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

One other new function is automobile crash detection, permitting the iPhone to detect once you’re in a automobile crash and, if needed, contact first responders in your behalf. It’s additionally accessible on the Apple Watch Sequence 8, with the 2 working collectively to confirm {that a} crash has taken place, including peace of thoughts for those who journey in rural areas.

Cameras & pictures

Although the rear-facing digital camera setup could not look that completely different at a look, all three of the iPhone 14 Professional’s rear cameras have had upgrades.

The headline is undoubtedly the principle digital camera, which has a 48Mp sensor for the primary time within the iPhone’s historical past.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Like Android telephones with high-res sensors, Apple makes use of a 4-in-1 ‘pixel-binning’ approach that mixes 4 pixels into one bigger pixel to enhance low-light efficiency and element in a closing 12Mp picture. As you would possibly anticipate, these photos really excel, with nice color accuracy, lightning-fast focus and spectacular element, a lot in order that I might see particular person hairs on a photograph of my cat Alan.

You’ve additionally obtained the selection of taking pictures a full decision 48Mp RAW uncompressed picture with extra information, permitting you to tweak lighting, distinction and increase shadows in software program like Lightroom or the Pictures app. That is helpful as, regardless of enhancements with Apple’s new Photonic Engine picture processing tech, the iPhone nonetheless tends to crunch shadows down slightly an excessive amount of in routinely processed photos.

It’s night-time pictures the place the 48Mp f/1.8 snapper really excels, with Apple’s 64% bigger sensor and a pair of.44-micron pixel dimension claiming 2x enchancment to low-light pictures largely ring true to life.

The iPhone 14 Professional is ready to seize refined particulars even in low-light circumstances, and somewhat than attempting to artificially brighten the scene like some (not all) Android rivals do, it gives a fairly true-to-life look. Significantly brilliant spots nonetheless blow out however low-light photos actually look higher this time round.

Check out some pattern photographs taken with the iPhone 14 Professional under:

Although the ultra-wide lens stays at 12Mp, the bigger sensor and f/2.2 aperture enable for improved low-light photographs. Apple claims it’s 2x simpler in low-light circumstances, although it’s nonetheless removed from what the principle lens can seize. The 120-degree ultra-wide angle is right for capturing open air landscapes, with Apple’s improved anti-distortion tech stopping topics close to the sting from curving.

The bigger 1.4-micron pixels and a brand new lens additionally enhance macro pictures, which whereas nonetheless pretty area of interest, has the flexibility to take impressively detailed photographs from as much as 2cm away.

Although the 12Mp 3x telephoto zoom remains to be lacklustre in comparison with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely’s 10x optical zoom, the tight angle is right for portrait pictures and, like the remainder of the vary, affords a slight increase in low-light efficiency – although it’s not fairly as detailed as the opposite lenses.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

The 48Mp sensor additionally permits Apple to do digital camera trickery – basically crop into the central 12Mp picture – to supply a 2x zoom, supplying you with 4 ranges of zoom with solely three cameras for extra versatility.

Video efficiency has additionally had a lift, with the iPhone 14 Professional now in a position to shoot at 4K@60fps in Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR, up from 30fps on the previous-gen, and there’s additionally a brand new Motion Mode that additional helps scale back the shake from the digital camera, although outcomes are sometimes noisier than customary movies even in good mild.  

Battery life

Whereas most producers proudly tout the battery capability of smartphones as one among their essential options, the identical can’t be stated for Apple. The corporate by no means publicly discloses the battery capability in milliampere hours (mAh), as a substitute giving obscure battery life guarantees linked to video playback.

To that finish, Apple claims the iPhone 14 Professional can muster 23 hours of video playback on a single cost, up from 22 hours on the 13 Professional. The only-hour enhance suggests the battery isn’t any greater than final 12 months, and the additional effectivity comes as a substitute from the 4nm A16 Bionic chipset and the brand new adaptive show tech.

Must you truly anticipate to get 23 hours of video playback from a single cost? Not in my expertise. Within the first few days of utilizing the iPhone 14 Professional, I discovered it barely lasted a single day – although I put that right down to background indexing of knowledge, a course of that takes place once you arrange or restore a brand new iPhone.

It improved as the times went on, managing sufficient juice for TikTok scrolling, texting, gaming and the occasional chat on the cellphone with out hitting 10% earlier than mattress, nevertheless it’s actually not near Apple’s claimed 23 hours.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

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In my expertise, I are likely to get round 10 hours of use (break up between display on and display off) per day earlier than the battery indicator turns purple and indignant and I search frantically for a charger.

That’s high-quality for most individuals, and lighter use might most likely prolong it to 2 days with no cost, however should you’re a little bit of a battery hog like I’m, both Apple’s iPhone 14 Plus or iPhone 14 Professional Max ought to higher serve your battery wants.

Although there’s no official increase in cost speeds for the iPhone 14 Professional, however it will probably assist as much as 25W in line with unofficial studies. In my expertise, the cellphone can cost to 29% in quarter-hour, 57% in half-hour, and a completely in simply over an hour utilizing a (majorly overpowered) 66W charging brick, although with no charger within the field, you’ll must supply that individually. It’s nonetheless miles behind Android’s fast-charging capabilities, however with first rate battery life general, it’s arguably not a lot of a problem.

There’s additionally 7.5W Qi wi-fi charging and sooner 15W MagSafe charging, however there’s no signal of reverse wi-fi charging to cost different units with the iPhone.

Software program & updates

The iPhone 14 Professional runs iOS 16, however so does nearly each iPhone from the iPhone 8 onwards.

Software program assist and longevity are key to Apple’s success, and whereas the Android competitors is catching up with multi-year OS improve guarantees, nobody comes near Apple’s regimented replace system. All supported iPhones get the massive upgrades on the identical day, not months aside like with Android releases, and telephones will get updates for for much longer than the Android competitors.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

iOS 16 introduces a handful of cool new options to the iPhone expertise. The most important and most instantly noticeable is the customisable Lock Display screen, which lets you use interactive wallpapers and widgets, customise the format and alter the time’s font. Coupled with a brand new notification system that brings in notifications from the underside of the display, it looks like an enormous refresh for iOS.

That’s not all; iOS 16 additionally has helpful options like the flexibility to edit and unsend texts in iMessage, the flexibility to chop out topics from pictures with a single faucet, haptic keyboard suggestions, and extra. There are additionally a bunch of software program options particular to the Dynamic Island of the iPhone 14 Professional.

Finally, for iOS, it’s enterprise as ordinary, however there could also be a slight studying curve should you’re coming over from Android.

Pricing & availability

The iPhone 14 Professional prices from $999 within the US, matching the worth of final 12 months’s iPhone 13 Professional. The spectacular upgrades make it a really tempting possibility.

Within the UK, nevertheless, it’s slightly more durable to suggest at £1,099, a large £150 enhance on final 12 months’s mannequin, the identical value as final 12 months’s top-end iPhone 13 Professional Max.

When you’re tempted, the iPhone 14 Professional is available for purchase from the Apple Store together with third-party retailers like Finest Purchase within the US and Amazon within the UK. We cowl the place to purchase the iPhone 14 vary in additional element individually, together with contract choices, should you’re .

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Verdict

The iPhone 14 Professional is undoubtedly the very best iPhone you should purchase, with vital upgrades over the iPhone 13 Professional.

The Dynamic Island is the standout function, bringing what’s normally a frustration of contemporary smartphones and making it part of the core expertise with a formidable mix of {hardware} and software program. The always-on show is one other good contact, offering full entry to your wallpaper, widgets and notifications at any time. It’ll actually make it troublesome to return to an iPhone with out it.

The 48Mp rear digital camera sensor is one other strong addition to this 12 months’s Professional line-up, not solely providing vital good points in low-light environments however added element and even 2x zoom with no devoted 2x telephoto lens. The 3x telephoto has you coated for nearer photographs, however Android options can zoom additional.

Throw in further options just like the top-end A16 Bionic, automobile crash detection, satellite tv for pc connectivity and a very premium construct and also you’ve obtained one of the crucial succesful smartphones accessible. The one causes to go for the Professional Max are the bigger show and longer battery life, because the latter can nonetheless depart one thing to be desired on the common 14 Professional regardless of year-on-year enhancements.

Specs

• 147.5 x 71.5 x 7.85mm
• 206g
• 6.1in Tremendous Retina XDR show (2556 x 1179)
• Dynamic Island
• All the time-on show
• IP68 mud and water resistance
• A16 Bionic
• Foremost 48Mp digital camera, f/1.78, sensor-shift OIS
• 120-degree 12Mp ultrawide, f/2.2
• 12Mp 2x telephoto, f/2.8
• 4K@60fps with Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR assist
• 12Mp f/1.9 front-facing digital camera with autofocus
• Bluetooth 4.3
• Wi-Fi 6 with 2xMIMO
• NFC
• Satellite tv for pc connectivity
• Automobile Crash detection