Less than three months to go until we announce Apple’s iPhone 14 lineup. We expect the iPhone 14 to be introduced in September 2022, and rumors suggest we could see a redesign, the biggest camera update in years, and more. Head to the bottom as we round up all the iPhone 14 rumors so far.
What will the iPhone 14 be called?
Given that the iPhone introduced in 2021 is indeed branded as iPhone 13, we expect the 2022 iPhone to be the iPhone 14. Whether Apple ever reverts to the “S” branding remains to be seen, but rumors suggest the iPhone 2022 will be a big enough upgrade to warrant some brand new ones.
It’s also possible that Apple removed the numbers on the iPhone lineup altogether, and the new iPhones are simply designated by their size, “Pro” or non-Pro, and year. This is in line with what Apple has done with the iPad line over the past few years.
Apple’s marketing names remained secret until the last minute. This means we’ll have to wait until 2022 to find out more about the official name of that year’s release.
iPhone 14: No notch, but…
The biggest change we’re expecting now with the iPhone 2022 is the removal of the notch cutout. The notch design was first introduced with the iPhone X and it has remained the same ever since. The notch is where Apple houses its sensors for things like Face ID.
Trusted Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, reports that Apple will remove the notch in 2022, starting with the high-end iPhone 14 Pro. Instead of a notch, the iPhone 14 will use a new “pill hole” design. Instead of simply a cutout used by many Android phones, Apple will use a combination of a cutout and a pill shape.
This will allow Apple to enhance the hardware of the front camera and Face ID, while increasing the amount of screen available. March, 9to5Mac exclusively reported that the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will have slightly larger screens. This has also been corroborated by analyst Ross Young.
- iPhone 13 Pro – 6.06
- iPhone 14 Pro – 6.12
- iPhone 13 Pro Max – 6.68 yen
- iPhone 14 Pro Max – 6.69″
Here’s the technology currently in the iPhone’s notch:
- Infrared camera
- Flood lights
- Proximity sensor
- Ambient light sensor
- Loudspeaker
- The checkered microphone
- Front camera
- Dot projector
In a report, Young explained:
Now, we believe Apple will have a hole + pill design on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models. The smaller hole won’t be visible… The dual-hole concept will be unique to Apple, like the notch, unlike all Huawei tablet models.
The pill-shaped hole design might not be as ambitious as some had hoped, but it’s the next step in the process of making the iPhone truly full-screen, without any cutouts.
No Touch ID
While the iPhone 14 rumors initially indicated that Apple would bring Touch ID under the display to the iPhone, this no longer seems to be the case. A more recent report from Ming-Chi Kuo suggests that Apple was forced to delay Touch ID under the display to 2023.
According to Kuo, Apple has faced “lower-than-expected development progress” in its work on integrating Touch ID into the iPhone’s display. It’s also possible that Apple took a less ambitious approach and integrated Touch ID into the iPhone’s power button, similar to the iPad Air and iPad mini. But ultimately, Touch ID is not expected to be a feature of this year’s iPhone 14.
iPhone 14 offers biggest camera update in years
According to Kuo, the iPhone 14 will also have significant improvements to the front-facing camera. The biggest change will be an upgrade to the autofocus features of the front-facing camera. The other details here are still unclear, but the iPhone’s front camera has a way of catching up with the rear camera.
Regarding the rear camera, Kuo said that the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be upgraded to 48 megapixels, up from the 12-megapixel sensor on the iPhone 12.
Although the sensor is 48 megapixels, it is possible that the image output from the iPhone will still be at 12 megapixel resolution. Similar to some Android phones, Apple can use a smart scaling algorithm that takes the raw 48-megapixel data and produces a 12-megapixel output image with more detail and less noise.
Kuo believes that the video camera system will also be upgraded for the iPhone 14, supporting 8K video recording for the first time.
The camera bump is here to stay
While initial reports indicated that some iPhone 14 models will not have a front camera, this is no longer believed to be the case. In fact, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are expected to have bigger collision camera compared to its predecessor.
Kuo gives a reason for this, stating that the wide camera upgrade is to blame:
The main reason why the 14 Pro / Pro Max’s rear camera is bigger and more prominent is the upgrade of the wide camera to 48MP (compared to 12MP of the 13 Pro / Pro Max). The diagonal length of 48MP CIS will increase by 25-35%, and the height of 48MP’s 7P lens will increase by 5-10%.
iPhone 14 uses Lightning
For several years, reports have suggested that Apple could introduce a portless iPhone. This iPhone will not have a Lightning port – instead, it will be completely wireless. This was once rumored to happen in 2021, but that didn’t happen.
The rumored portless iPhone is something Apple is still experimenting with, but it will be several years away at this point. In fact, Apple is expected to switch to USB-C in 2023. But this year’s upcoming iPhone 14 will still use Lightning.
However, Apple is expected to increase Lightning to USB 3.0 data transfer speeds starting with the iPhone 14 Pro this fall. USB 2.0 supports transfer rates of 480 Mbps, while USB 3.0 supports speeds up to 5 Gbps. With 8K video recording, faster data transfer speeds are a necessity.
Although some rumors had predicted that the iPhone 14 could use a new chip manufactured using 3-nanometer technology, that is no longer the case. Currently, Apple’s chip partner TSMC is expected to use an enhanced 5nm manufacturing process for the chip in the iPhone 14, possibly called A16.
Best iPhone charging accessories:
iPhone 14 Performance: A Big Change
The iPhone 14 lineup is expected to herald a major shift to the strategy of distinguishing between “Pro” and non-Pro models.
For the first time, Apple is expected to upgrade only the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max to its latest processors. These two models are expected to be upgraded to the A16 chip, while the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max will keep the A15 chip inside the current iPhone 13 series.
The A16 chip inside the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be manufactured with the same 5-nanometer process as the A15, as well as the A14. This limits performance improvement year over year, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see it not at all improvements.
Release date: When will iPhone 14 launch?
With the exception of the iPhone 12 which is delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, new flagship iPhones are usually announced and released in September. According to Kuo, the iPhone 14 will be released around the second half of 2022. Therefore, The iPhone 14 lineup is likely to be announced in September 2022.
Kuo also predicts that the iPhone 14 Max, or whatever it will eventually be called, will cost less than $900.
What do you think of the iPhone 14 rumors so far? Are you planning to upgrade? Let us know in the comments section!
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