From design changes to new features, we look ahead to what you can expect when the iPhone 14 arrives next month.
Apple’s yearly iPhone launch is the biggest date in the company’s calendar, and expectations are high for the iPhone 14 in the fall of 2022.
In this article we round up the latest leaks and rumors concerning Apple’s next flagship iPhone launch, including the iPhone 14’s release date, tech specs, design changes, new features, pricing and more. The latest news is that all iPhone 14 models are expected to get an upgraded front camera with autofocus and an f/1.9 aperture, while a controversial hole + pill design is set to replace the notch on the Pro models and the handset could gain an always-on display. Pro models will further differentiate themselves with a 48-megapixel rear camera and A16 processor.
While we wait for the new phones to arrive, you can pick up a bargain on the current range with our roundup of the best iPhone deals.
Update 8/10/22: Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimates that the ASP (average sale price) of the iPhone 14 is expected to be 15% higher than iPhone 13. This is due in part to the new “Max” variant of the standard model, and expected higher sales of Pro models.
iPhone 14 release date: When will the iPhone 14 launch?
We expect the iPhone 14 to be announced in mid-September 2022. Preorders will likely begin the Friday of the announcement week, with availability a week later.
Apple nearly always debuts its new iPhones in September each year, with COVID-19 causing one notable exception in 2020. It’s possible there will be similar delays this year–while the iPhone 14 Pro entered test production on schedule, the non-Pro models appear to have been delayed slightly–but we’d be surprised if Apple wasn’t able to get a handle on these issues in time for the fall. Mark September 2022 on your calendar for the coming of the new models.
Here’s when the last few generations arrived:
- iPhone 13: September 24, 2021
- iPhone 12: October 23, 2020
- iPhone 11: September 20, 2019
- iPhone XS: September 21, 2018
(Note that one iPhone has arrived already in 2022: the iPhone SE 3 was announced at Apple’s spring event on March 8. But the flagship launch will wait until the fall.)
iPhone 14 design: Will the iPhone 14 have a new design?
What will the iPhone look like in 2022? We expect significant design changes. Here are the latest rumors concerning the iPhone 14’s external appearance and physical chassis.
A bigger camera bump, and slightly thicker body
A recent series of photos on Twitter compares an iPhone 14 Pro mock device with an iPhone 13 Pro. The shots really make it clear just how much further the camera bump will protrude from the back of the iPhone 14 Pro–likely necessary to house the new 48-megapixel wide camera, if other rumors are to be believed. If you look closely, it appears the body itself is just slightly thicker as well. This could be good news for those hoping for better battery life–thicker phones usually means bigger batteries.
Of course, this isn’t an official iPhone 14 Pro, just a dummy “mock” device built from leaked specifications.
New sizes: Goodbye mini, hello Max
The most basic and obvious design attribute is size, and most pundits agree that Apple is about to drop a big (or rather small) bombshell in that regard. All the signs suggest that the 5.4-inch iPhone mini line is going to be discontinued: Ming-Chi Kuo, for example, has predicted that Apple will kill off the mini to introduce the Max in 2022.
What that means in practice is that we’ll still get four models, but instead of these being split into one small, two medium and one large, it will be two medium and two large.
In other words, this lineup:
- iPhone 13 mini (with a 5.4-inch screen)
- iPhone 13 (6.1-inch screen)
- iPhone 13 Pro (6.1-inch screen)
- iPhone 13 Pro Max (6.7-inch screen)
will be replaced by this one:
- iPhone 14 (6.1-inch screen)
- iPhone 14 Max (6.7-inch screen)
- iPhone 14 Pro (6.1-inch screen)
- iPhone 14 Pro Max (6.7-inch screen)
Leaked images of case molds–used to design iPhone cases of the correct dimensions–illustrate these long-rumored size changes. Knowledgable Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman supports this theory, adding that Apple “will have to get more dramatic with [2022]’s overhaul, especially as competition mounts.”
Not everyone will be glad to see the back of the mini form factor, as we explain in our article about why we mourn the iPhone mini. It’s likely that some customers will choose not to upgrade this year because of the lack of a mini model; Jason Snell is one of them. But after reportedly disappointing sales of the 12 mini and 13 mini, Apple must have calculated that their numbers will be sufficiently small that it makes sense to change to the new size strategy.
While we’re on the subject of sales, incidentally, there have been reports of Apple “cutting orders” for the iPhone 14, which some have taken as an indication of soft demand. But as the Macalope explains, that doesn’t make a lot of sense: the demand is anticipated to be as high as ever, but there seems to be supply-chain disruption. There might not be quite enough iPhone 14 handsets to go around when the launch is announced, but that’s nothing new for Apple.
Bigger displays: More screen space (slightly)
Note that these screens won’t be exactly the same size as their direct predecessors; nor will they exactly match the size of the non-Pro models. Slimmer bezels around the screen mean the Pro iPhones will gain a fraction of an inch in diagonal measurement, according to the reliable display analyst Ross Young.
You read that right: the Pro Max model is gaining precisely one hundredth of an inch of diagonal screen size. Needless to say, these microscopic changes in screen dimension are unlikely to be proclaimed in Apple’s marketing materials, which will continue to round to the nearest tenth of an inch.
No notch: Meet the “hole + pill” camera cutout
The iPhone 13 range saw a small decrease in the size of the infamous notch on the front display. But in 2022 it’s set to be replaced by something different, at least on the Pro models.
Instead of a notch cut out of the top of the screen, we now understand that the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max will have a pair of smaller apertures for the front-facing camera and other sensors: both a pinhole camera and a notch, as we first heard back in October. Here’s what that might look like, based on an image showcasing the “hole + pill” design that was posted on Chinese social media in February 2022:
Another leak in May gave us another glimpse of the twin-hole design, and a direct comparison between the pilled-up Pro models and their notch-based equivalents. In this image (sourced from Weibo, via Twitter), we can clearly see the slight difference in bezel thickness which will mean more screen space on the costlier models.
Other sources have argued that the iPhone 14 Pro will have just a single pinhole aperture, and we investigate whether the iPhone 14 will have a notch in depth in a separate article. But at this point the twin-aperture theory seems by far the most likely, especially following the alleged leak of a new advert for Apple Pay that seems to confirm the new design. Doubts remain over whether this is legit, but it’s yet another point in favour of pin + hole.
Touch ID: The return of Touch ID
One way for Apple to make it easier to remove the notch would be to reinstate Touch ID on the next iPhone. This can be done in one of two ways, both of which have been heavily rumored for some time now.
The first is to introduce an under-display fingerprint sensor for Touch ID, as suggested by Ming-Chi Kuo to MacRumors, while the other is for Apple to use the same Touch ID sensor in the power button that it currently deploys in the iPad Air (2020) and new iPad mini (2021).
But is Apple prepared to countenance such an obvious backwards step? Touch ID was dropped from the flagship iPhones as long ago as 2017, with its ongoing confinement to more budget-focused models an implicit assertion that face recognition is better than fingerprint.
Our suspicion is that Apple will only restore Touch ID to its top-tier phones when it’s able to offer it alongside Face ID. And that doesn’t help whatsoever with the removal of the notch.
iPhone 14 colors: What color options will the iPhone 14 have?
Every year when Apple introduces a new iPhone it changes the color variants somewhat. Here’s what the color options have been for the past few years:
2021 iPhone 13 & mini: green, pink, blue, Midnight, Starlight, red
2021 iPhone 13 Pro & Max: Alpine Green, Silver, Gold, Graphite, Sierra Blue
2020 iPhone 12 & mini: purple, blue, green, black, white, red
2020 iPhone 12 Pro & Max: Pacific Blue, Silver, Gold, Graphite
2019 iPhone 11: purple, yellow, green, black, white, red
2019 iPhone 11 Pro Max: Midnight Blue, Silver, Gold, Space Gray
Each year the team at Apple comes up with new colors and new names for those colors. In the past the company has said that it takes inspiration from the colors that are deemed fashionable that season. The Pantone colors for Fall 2022 appear to be bold shades of orange, red, pink, yellow and green, so perhaps this seasons crop of Apple phones will be bold and brightly colored.
iPhone 14 price: How much will the iPhone 14 cost?
Price-wise, we expect the standard iPhone 14 model to start at around $800, with the iPhone 14 Pro model somewhere between $1,000 and $1,100 (or more if you want to add extra storage).
For a rough comparison, here are the current starting prices on the iPhone 13 series, as detailed in our iPhone buying guide. Note that these will drop in price when the 14-series handsets appear (or disappear from sale entirely).
- iPhone 13 mini: $699/£679
- iPhone 13: $799/£779
- iPhone 13 Pro: $999/£949
- iPhone 13 Pro Max: $1,099/£1,049
But expect the pricing structure for the iPhone 14 models to be a little different from the current range, for the simple reason that there isn’t expected to be a 5.4-inch mini version, but rather a lower-cost 6.7-inch Max size that Ming-Chi Kuo has said could come in at under $900. With that in mind, we expect the starting lineup to range from roughly $800-$1,000 in price, depending on model and size.
The new larger model could also shake up the Pro prices. LeaksApple Pro on Twitter reported that Apple “is currently considering” bumping the prices of the Pro iPhones by $100 apiece, pushing the iPhone 14 Pro to $1,099 and the iPhone 14 Pro Max to $1,199. The account cites increasing production costs and the need to provide more than a $100 difference between the 14 Max and the 14 Pro. A report in June also claimed Apple will up the price of the Pro models by $100 in 2022, with the iPhone 14 Pro could start at $1,099 and the Pro Max starting at $1,199. With the expected removal of the mini model, the low-end model will likely start at $799, while the iPhone 14 Max model will slide in at $899.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimates that iPhone ASP (that’s average sale price) is expected to rise by 15% in the iPhone 14 generation. Simply the removal of the $700 “mini” variant, replaced by a $900+ “iPhone 14 Max” model, would account for a large portion of this. It is also estimated that the Pro models, which cost more, will be big sellers this year, which raises the ASP.
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