Verdict

The iPhone 14 is a very good phone for the money, offering improved cameras, a faster A15 Bionic chip and fun Action mode for video capture. But at this price, we’d like to see a telephoto zoom and 120Hz display. Some may want to get the iPhone 14 Plus instead for its larger screen and bigger battery.

Pros

• +Excellent cameras
• +Vibrant display
• +Fast A15 Bionic performance
• +Impressive Action mode video

Cons

• -Still just 60Hz refresh rate
• -No optical zoom
• -Lack of SIM card slot will annoy some

Whether you already own one, or are considering upgrading to an older, cheaper iPhone, the iPhone 14 is a strong pick even a year and a half after it first launched.

Some may prefer the bigger iPhone 14 Plus if you want a larger screen and longer battery life. And the iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max, plus the latest iPhone 15 series, offer more exciting features like an always-on display, Dynamic Island, 120Hz refresh rate and telephoto zoom.

>>>A2850 Battery for Apple iPhone 14 Plus

But the iPhone 14 still features welcome updates like a revised design and improved display, camera and performance. My iPhone 14 review breaks down all the pros and cons so you can decide if this is the right handset for your needs.

iPhone 14 specs

Row 0 – Cell 0	Row 0 – Cell 1
Price	from $799
Display	6.1 inches (2532 x 1170 pixels, 60Hz)
CPU	A15 Bionic
Storage	128GB, 256GB, 512GB
Cameras	12MP wide (f/1.5), 12MP ultrawide (f/2.4), 12MP front f/1.9
Water resistance	IP68
Colors	Midnight, Purple, Starlight, Product Red, Blue
Battery life	9 hours 28 minutes (5G web surfing)
Size	5.78 x 2.82 x 0.31 inches
Weight	6.07 ounces

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iPhone 14 review: Design and colors

The iPhone 14 design is not what I’d call fresh. It’s basically a carbon copy of the iPhone 13, complete with the notch.

Don’t get me wrong, the aluminum and glass body is solid and fairly attractive — and you get the same tough (removable) Ceramic Shield front and tough glass back, along with IP68 water resistance. But you’ll probably be jealous when you see the iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island, which replaces the notch with a smaller and interactive cutout for alerts and live activities.

The iPhone 14 colors are Midnight, Starlight, Blue, Purple, Red and Yellow. We tested the paler blue model, which is an attractive cornflower blue shade. Apple announced the iPhone 14 in yellow on March 7.

The iPhone 14 remains compact and fairly light, weighing 6.07 ounces and measuring 5.78 x 2.82 x 0.31 inches. That’s actually a bit lighter than the iPhone 13’s 6.17 ounces, although that model was a slightly thinner 0.30 inches.

In a somewhat controversial move, Apple removed the SIM Card slot from the iPhone 14, relying on eSIMs only. Fortunately, it’s easy to add a line of service in the Settings app, and you can have up to eight 8 SIMs on your phone with two active at any given time (say one for personal and one for business). There are some smaller and international carriers that don’t yet support eSIM, but the technology is gaining traction.

iPhone 14 review: Cameras

The iPhone 14’s main camera doesn’t get the bump to 48MP that the iPhone 14 Pro series does, but it does feature enhanced cameras in its own way. The main 12MP wide camera has a larger sensor than the one in the iPhone 13, with 1.9 micrometer pixels and a faster f/1.7 aperture. As a result, you should expect better action shots and low-light performance.

The iPhone 14 also packs an ultrawide camera that’s rated to capture 4x more of a scene and deliver 2x better low-light performance. And the TrueDepth camera offers autofocus for the first time along with a faster f/1.9 aperture. To help capture brighter images across the board, there’s a new computational photography feature called Photonic Engine.

iPhone 14 review: iOS 16

The iPhone 14 runs iOS 16 by default, and there’s a lot to like in this new software update. You can customize the lock screen with widgets, photos and more. Other highlights include the ability to unsend texts and edit them, a replacement for passwords called Passkeys, a new Fitness app and (finally) the return of the battery percentage indicator.As of fall 2024, the iPhone 14 series is able to update to iOS 17, and iOS 18 once it’s out of beta. Unfortunately, no iPhone 14 models are capable of using Apple Intelligence once it’s available.

iPhone 14 review: Emergency SOS via satellite and crash detection

Apple will launched two key safety features for the iPhone 14. The first is Emergency SOS via satellite, which combines new antennas and software to connect to satellites when you can’t get a cellular or Wi-Fi signal. You’ll then get help from emergency services to your location, or can send your location to a contact. This is available for free for three years after the phone’s activated, meaning that you’ll at least make it to 2025 before needing to pay for this service.

During a demo, the iPhone 14 locked onto a satellite quickly, and the phone walks you through a series of questions so Apple can tell dispatchers everything they know about your condition and exact location.

The second safety feature is Crash Detection, which leverages the iPhone 14’s improved accelerometer and gyroscope to detect whether you’re in a car crash. From there, it can automatically dial emergency services, as well as notify your emergency contacts you designate.

In one iPhone 14 Crash Detection test by a YouTuber, the feature worked well during simulated crashes using a remote-controlled vehicle. Both times, the iPhone began its countdown to automatically call emergency services before being canceled.

iPhone 14 review: Verdict

The iPhone 14 is the best iPhone for most people, but despite that, it’s not that exciting. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max get the biggest upgrades this year, including always-on displays, a clever replacement for the notch and a 48MP main camera.

The iPhone 14 delivers fantastic-looking photos and video; the display is stellar; and you get performance that still beats the best Android phones — except for the new Galaxy S23. Action mode is another plus if you’re looking for super smooth video. Plus Apple may be offering easier access to repairs for this generation, giving the iPhone 14 a surprise advantage over the iPhone 13.

If you’re not wedded to iOS, Samsung’s Galaxy S22 is better in some ways, as it offers both a telephoto zoom lens and 120Hz display — two features Apple reserves for its Pro models. But the S22’s cameras and performance aren’t quite as good as the iPhone 14. You can check out our detailed comparison between the phones in our iPhone 14 vs Samsung Galaxy S22 face-off.

If you want longer battery life and a bigger display, you might want to wait for iPhone 14 Plus, but overall the iPhone 14 is a great — yet safe — choice.

>>>A2850 Battery for Apple iPhone 14 Plus

Here are all the most significant upgrades between the 2022 and 2024 iPhone flagships

The launch of a brand new iPhone is always a very big deal, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max will be no exception. But those of you rocking an iPhone 14 Pro Max might be paying the most attention, especially if you’re on a 2-year phone plan that’s coming to an end. However, whether you should upgrade or potentially hold off a little longer depends on what the iPhone 16 Pro Max offers and whether it’ll be worth the money.

We know that the iPhone 16 series will be officially announced at Apple’s Glowtime event on September 9, so we don’t have long to wait to see what Apple has in store for us. Thankfully, for those of you who don’t want to wait to start making that decision, we have heard plenty of rumors about what the iPhone 16 Pro Max could offer.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max is expected to come with a new Capture Button for photography, a larger 6.9-inch display, a larger primary camera sensor and a bigger battery than its predecessors. Not to mention the processing power to handle Apple Intelligence’s on-device AI features. That’s all on top of upgrades that debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, like USB-C, the Action Button and the tetraprism telephoto lens with 5x optical magnification.

>>>A2830 Battery for Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

Here are all the biggest rumored upgrades to expect on the iPhone 16 Pro Max compared to the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

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iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 14 Pro Max: Price and availability

The iPhone 14 Pro Max started at $1,099 when it was released in 2022. That price got you 128GB of storage, though you could pay extra for as much as 1TB of space. The Apple Store and website stopped selling the iPhone 14 Pro Max after the launch of the iPhone 15 Pro Max last year, but it is still available from many retailers. However, the options aren’t as plentiful as when the phone was new.

It’s unclear exactly how much the iPhone 16 Pro Max might cost this year, but we’re hoping that Apple will leave well alone and stick with the same $1,199 starting price as the iPhone 15 Pro Max. That’s $100 more than it cost to buy the iPhone 14 Pro Max, but the added benefit is that the cheapest model came with 256GB of storage rather than 128GB.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max will likely start with 256GB of storage, and rumors suggest we may see a 2TB storage option for the first time. As for an official release, Apple typically opens pre-orders the Friday after launch, which would be September 13. The official release happens a week later, meaning the phone could be in our hands on September 20.

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 14 Pro Max: Design and display

The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch display complete with an LTPO panel that offers a 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate. It’s also one of the last phones to come with a Lightning port and lacks any additional buttons or features around the side.

On the other hand, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is expected to come with a larger 6.9-inch display, making it the biggest iPhone Apple has ever made. The fact that this new size seems to have been confirmed by dummy units means that it’s pretty likely this size upgrade is on the way. Other rumors claim that we could see the bezels around the screen shrink to 1.15mm, meaning more screen space without necessarily making the iPhone 16 Pro Max too unwieldy for people who don’t have huge hands.

Other rumors suggest that the remaining Face ID sensors could be hidden under the phone’s display, shrinking Dynamic Island’s pill to a more typical hole-punch design. A solid-state “Capture Button” could also be included at the bottom right side of the phone to help open and activate the camera more quickly.

Naturally, the 16 Pro Max is expected to have an Action Button, a titanium frame and a USB-C port, three things that the iPhone 14 Pro Max lacks.

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 14 Pro Max: Cameras

The iPhone 14 Pro Max was one of the best camera phones at the time of release. Its triple-lens main camera system included a 48MP main lens, a 12MP ultrawide-angle lens and a 12MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. Up front, there was a 12MP selfie camera.

Of course, being two years old, it’s since been knocked off our list of the best camera phones, thanks to an explosion of improvements from various other phone companies—Apple included. That means the difference in camera performance from the iPhone 14 Pro Max to the iPhone 16 Pro Max could be pretty large.

We don’t know much about the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s camera setup yet, but we have heard a bunch of different rumors about how the cameras could be improved compared to the previous two generations. The main one is that the main camera lens could feature a large 1/1.4-inch sensor, which would allow the camera to capture more light, improving performance and quality, especially in low-light conditions.

We’ve also heard rumors of a 48MP ultrawide-angle lens, up from 12MP, and a telephoto lens that increases the focal length to 300mm—more than double the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s, which was, in turn, significantly larger than the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s.

That telephoto lens may also be thinner to improve magnification, but no matter what happens, we’re expected to see the tetra prism lens make a comeback with at least 5x optical zoom. That’s still a big improvement over the 3x optical magnification on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 14 Pro Max: Performance
The iPhone 14 Pro Max was powered by an A16 Bionic chipset and 6GB of RAM. While benchmarking tests at the time indicated that this was one of the most powerful phones on the market at launch, things changed. The least of which is the A17 Pro, which utilizes a 3nm process that makes chips smaller, more efficient and potentially more powerful.

Rumors claim that all iPhone 16 series phones will have some kind of A18 chipset, but that doesn’t mean the iPhone 16 Pro Max (and iPhone 16 Pro) won’t have a better chip than its non-Pro counterparts. We may see the A18 available on standard models, with a more powerful A18 Pro on the Pro and Pro Max — offering superior performance. And odds are this extra performance will be greatly beneficial to Apple Intelligence and on-device AI.

Leaked benchmarks even speculate that the Pro chips could outperform Apple’s M-series on single-core tests. Hopefully, the TSMC’s 3nm process has been a bit more refined this year, aiding that performance and boosting efficiency.

It’s unclear whether we’ll get more RAM on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. We know Apple needs at least 8GB of memory to run Apple Intelligence on-device, which is still 2GB more than the iPhone 14 Pro Max offers. Still, it’s possible that Apple may avoid going down the same route as Google and offering a chunk of extra RAM—even if it is for AI.

Don’t expect the Qualcomm modems to go anywhere this year, either. The Apple-made modem keeps getting delayed, and now Qualcomm seems to have signed an agreement with Apple to provide modems until at least 2026. But we may see Wi-Fi 7 debut on iPhone 16 Pro Max, for those of you that have the newest Wi-Fi standard available.

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 14 Pro Max: Software
While both iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be compatible with iOS 18, the iPhone 16 Pro Max will be able to do a lot more. Whether Apple will announce any exclusive features isn’t known right now, but we do know that the 14 Pro Max doesn’t have what it takes to run Apple Intelligence. This means Apple’s all-new AI features will be limited to newer models like the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

So while both phones can enjoy extra-customizable home screens, a redesigned Control Center, an all-new Photos app and other general iOS 18 upgrades, AI will be firmly off-limits to the 14 Pro Max. This means anyone with the older handset can’t use native ChatGPT integration, the smarter version of Siri, image generation and editing tools, and everything else Apple Intelligence will have to offer.

Depending on your priorities, that may be worth the upgrade.

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 14 Pro Max: Battery
Battery life has exploded in recent years, cleanly knocking the iPhone 14 Pro Max off our list of the best phone battery life — despite it holding one of the top spots in the ranking. That’s not to say that 13 hours and 39 minutes in our custom battery test is insufficient. However, the iPhone 15 Pro Max performed a lot better.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max is expected to extend battery life even further, not just in terms of extra efficiency but also thanks to rumors that the phone’s battery could increase to 4,676 mAh. This may be simply down to adding a larger battery pack, with extra space provided by the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s slightly larger design, but there have been reports that Apple could increase the density of its batteries.

That means there’s more power capacity in the same space, though the trade-off is that this can increase heat production. It’s good that Apple is also reportedly looking at ways to boost heat dissipation and thermal management across its phones.

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 14 Pro Max: Outlook
When it first launched, the iPhone 14 Pro Max had a lot to offer, and it still does. The only thing that’s changed is that a bunch of newer and better phones have been released that make the 2022 iPhone seem less impressive by comparison. But this doesn’t change the fact that it still offers great performance, solid 13+ hours of battery life, and takes some great photos—not to mention the fact that it’s due an upgrade to iOS 18 later this year.

However, a lot has changed over the past few years, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max will be a considerable upgrade. It may not offer quite as big of a leap as the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but combining all the upgrades that debuted last year with what’s supposedly coming at the Glowtime event, you have a very large pool of upgrades to choose from.

Apple Intelligence alone might be reason enough to upgrade from the iPhone 14 Pro Max, let alone all the expected improvements to performance, photography and battery life. Then again, considering the iPhone 15 Pro Max will be getting all those shiny new AI features, it offers a solid alternative — especially if the price drops between now and the end of the year