Apple has announced the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, the most advanced Pro lineup ever, featuring the Dynamic Island — a new design that the company says introduces an intuitive way to experience the iPhone — and the Always-On display. They run iOS 16, which will be available for all iPhone users on Monday, Sept. 12.
Powered by A16 Bionic, purportedly the fastest chip ever in a smartphone, the iPhone 14 Pro introduces a new class of pro camera system, with the first-ever 48MP Main camera on an Apple smartphone featuring a quad-pixel sensor, and Photonic Engine, an enhanced image pipeline that improves low-light photos. There are also features such as Emergency SOS via satellite and Crash Detection.
The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be available in four new finishes: deep purple, silver, gold, and space black. Pre-orders begin Friday, September 9, with availability beginning Friday, September 16.
Advanced Display
The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max feature a surgical-grade stainless steel and textured matte glass design in four colors. Available in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch sizes, both models include a new Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion that features the Always-On display for the first time ever on iPhone, enabled by a new 1Hz refresh rate and multiple power-efficient technologies.
Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing., says this makes the new Lock Screen even more useful, keeping the time, widgets, and Live Activities available at a glance. The advanced display also brings the same peak HDR brightness level as Pro Display XDR, and the highest outdoor peak brightness in a smartphone: up to 2000 nits, which is twice as bright as iPhone 13 Pro.
Both models also feature Apple’s Ceramic Shield front cover. The tech giant says this is tougher than any other smartphone glass.
Dynamic Island
The Dynamic Island features a design “that blends the line between hardware and software, adapting in real time to show important alerts, notifications, and activities.” With the introduction of the Dynamic Island, the TrueDepth camera has been redesigned to take up less of the display area.
Without impeding content on the screen, the Dynamic Island maintains an active state to allow users easier access to controls with a simple tap-and-hold, according to Joswiak. Ongoing background activities like Maps, Music, or a timer remain visible and interactive, and third-party apps in iOS 16 that provide information like sports scores and ride-sharing with Live Activities can take advantage of the Dynamic Island.
The Pro Camera System
Apple says the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max takes computational photography even further with Photonic Engine, “offering a giant leap for mid- to low-light performance in photos across all cameras through a deep integration of hardware and software”: up to 2x on the Main camera, up to 3x on the Ultra Wide camera, up to 2x on the Telephoto camera, and up to 2x on the TrueDepth camera.
Photonic Engine enables this increase in quality by applying Deep Fusion earlier in the imaging process to deliver detail, preserve subtle textures, provide better color, and maintain more information in a photo.
For the first time ever, the Pro lineup features a new 48MP Main camera with a quad-pixel sensor that adapts to the photo being captured, and features second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization. For most photos, the quad-pixel sensor combines every four pixels into one large quad pixel equivalent to 2.44 µm.
Apple says this results in amazing low-light capture and keeps photo size at a “practical” 12MP. The quad-pixel sensor also enables a 2x Telephoto option that uses the middle 12 megapixels of the sensor for full-resolution photos and 4K videos with no digital zoom.
This delivers optical quality at a familiar focal length, which should be great for features like Portrait mode. The quad-pixel sensor also brings benefits to pro workflows, optimizing for detail in ProRAW. And with a new machine learning model designed specifically for the quad-pixel sensor, iPhone now shoots ProRAW at 48MP with, per Apple, “an unprecedented level of detail, enabling new creative workflows for pro users.” Additional pro camera system upgrades and features 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.
Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via Satellite
The entire iPhone 14 lineup introduces safety capabilities that can provide emergency assistance when it matters most. With a new dual-core accelerometer capable of detecting G-force measurements of up to 256Gs and a new high dynamic range gyroscope, Crash Detection on iPhone can now detect a severe car crash and automatically dial emergency services when a user is unconscious or unable to reach their iPhone.
These capabilities build on existing components, like the barometer, which can now detect cabin pressure changes, the GPS for additional input for speed changes, and the microphone, which can recognize loud noises typified by severe car crashes.
Apple-designed motion algorithms trained with over a million hours of real-world driving and crash record data provide even better accuracy, per Joswiak. When combined with Apple Watch, Crash Detection leverages the unique strength of both devices to get users help efficiently.
When a severe crash is detected, the emergency services call interface will appear on Apple Watch, as it is most likely to be in closer proximity to the user, while the call is placed through iPhone if it is in range for the best possible connection.
The iPhone 14 lineup also introduces Emergency SOS via satellite, which combines custom components deeply integrated with software to allow antennas to connect directly to a satellite, enabling messaging with emergency services when outside of cellular or Wi-Fi coverage. Satellites are moving targets with low bandwidth, and it can take minutes for messages to get through. Since every second counts, with Emergency SOS via satellite, iPhone front-loads a few vital questions to assess the user’s situation, and shows them where to point their phone to connect to a satellite.
The initial questionnaire and follow-up messages are then relayed to centers staffed by Apple‑trained specialists who can call for help on the user’s behalf. This technology also allows users to manually share their location over satellite with Find My when there is no cellular or Wi-Fi connection. Emergency SOS via satellite will be available to users in the US and Canada in November, and the service will be free for two years.
Pricing and availability
- iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be available in deep purple, silver, gold, and space black in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage capacities.
- Customers in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, the UAE, the UK, the US, and 30 other countries and regions will be able to pre-order iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max beginning at 5 a.m. PDT on Friday, September 9, with availability beginning Friday, September 16.
- iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be available in Malaysia, Turkey, and 20 other countries and regions beginning Friday, September 23.
- Emergency SOS via satellite will be available starting in the US and Canada in November, and the service will be included for free for two years with the activation of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
- Customers can get iPhone 14 Pro for $41.62 (US) a month for 24 months or $999 (US) before trade-in, and iPhone 14 Pro Max for $45.79 (US) a month for 24 months or $1,099 (US) before trade-in from apple.com/store, in the Apple Store app, and at Apple Store locations. iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are also available through Apple Authorized Resellers and select carriers.12
- Customers can save up to $1,000 (US) on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max with trade-in directly from apple.com/store or at an Apple Store when they activate it with select US carriers. Terms apply. For eligibility requirements and more details, see apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/carrier-offers.
- Customers in the US can get ready for iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max pre-orders until 10 p.m. PDT on Thursday, September 8, by visiting apple.com/store or using the Apple Store app. They can choose to pay monthly or in full, add a trade-in credit toward their new product, or upgrade through the iPhone Upgrade Program.
