The iPhone 14 will not be released until September 2022, but rumors are already growing about future Apple smartphones. Design, sizes and technical characteristics… Numerama helps you see things more clearly.
The iPhone 13 and 13 Pro have barely a few months of life that everyone is already interested in the iPhone 14. The line of phones that Apple should present in September 2022 already feeds many rumors and indiscretions.
We have gathered here all the leaks and hypotheses on the iPhone 14 and its possible variations (iPhone 14 Max, Pro and Pro Max). This article will be regularly updated based on new information published – keep in mind, however, that we are talking about rumors here, and that each piece of information should be read very carefully while waiting for Apple to become official in several month. It is possible that some “leaks” will be proven but will materialize only in a few years, and not from 2022.
To wait before the release of this new model, do not hesitate to consult our guide to the best Apple smartphone to choose in 2021 (iPhone 13 Pro? Mini? SE?) To make the most informed choice possible.
Notch or bubble in the screen? All the rumors about the iPhone 14
4 iPhone versions
In 2022, Apple would still market four different versions of its iPhone. However, for the first time since 2020 there would be no mini version. Instead, Apple would offer a Max version of the iPhone 14 aimed at those who don’t want to go for the more expensive model. The catalog would consist of the following:
- iPhone 14 (6.1 inch)
- iPhone 14 Max (6.7 inch)
- iPhone 14 Pro (6.1 inch)
- iPhone 14 Pro Max (6.7 inch)
Two diagonals would therefore be proposed, 6.1 and 6.7 inches. Users would only have to choose between the standard models and the premium versions, with better materials and exclusive functions.
Why would the mini disappear?
Obviously, sales of the iPhone 12 mini were not satisfactory (to the point where the production lines would have been stopped). For more than a year, all the rumors have agreed on the end of the most compact iPhone in 2022. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, reputed to be very knowledgeable about Apple, has been announcing for several months that the iPhone 13 mini will be the last of its kind. No offense to fans of this format, the 5.4-inch iPhone is not expected to return in 2022.
A double punch on the “Pro” models?
What if the iPhone 14 no longer had a notch? This is the big rumor that spread in September 2021 and has continued to gain momentum since. It is the influencer Jon Prosser who is at the origin. In a video, he said he learned that Apple was planning to replace the notch on its iPhones with a punch, as on some Android smartphones. This rumor has since been reinforced thanks to information from certain media such as The Elec who also claim that the punch will appear on the iPhone 14 Pro.
In January 2021, analyst Ross Young, who specializes in screens, announced that Apple was indeed preparing to eliminate the notch. However, it delivers much more accurate information than its predecessors. This novelty would be reserved for the Pro and Pro Max models and, above all, would see the introduction of a double punch. The front camera would be hidden in a small circle while the Face ID system would be housed in a pill. There would therefore be no total elimination of the notch.
A “new design” for the iPhone 14
According to Mark Gurman, the journalist who edits the newsletter (Power On) at Bloomberg and whose information is often found to be correct, the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro could inaugurate ” a total redesign ”Compared to previous generations.
According to Gurman, “ minor changes that have been made [entre l’iPhone 12 et le 13, ndlr] mean Apple engineers are working behind the scenes on things that are much more important, and that take longer. It is true that between the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 13, the differences are not the most obvious, even if at the level of the Pro, the technical improvements are really substantial, especially at the level of the video. The influencer Jon Prosser says for his part that the iPhone 14 will take the forms of the iPhone 4.
A flat photo module?
The other potential novelty in terms of design would concern the back of the phone: the square area that currently surrounds the photo sensors on the back of the device could completely disappear. Today on the iPhone 12 and 13 for example, the sensors protrude a few millimeters from the rest of the back of the smartphone. To prevent these small circles from being all alone in relief (which could weaken them), Apple integrates them into a square, which then protrudes itself.
But this protrusion also allows more lenses to be crammed in front of the sensor, which can improve photo quality. It is therefore questionable whether Apple will really succeed.
48 megapixels to shoot in 8K?
What if the iPhone Pro sensor went from 12 megapixels to… 48 megapixels (since 2015 and the iPhone 6s, Apple has always used 12 Mpix sensors)? It is the same Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities who addressed the possibility in his brief in September 2021. A note obtained by MacRumors in December 2021 seems to confirm this switch towards a more defined sensor. This would allow the iPhone 14 Pro to shoot in 8K, like high-end Android smartphones. The standard models on the other hand should not take advantage of these pixels in addition.
The telephoto lens dedicated to zoom and the ultra-wide-angle module would remain on 12 Mpix sensors.
8 GB RAM
Still according to information relayed by MacRumors, the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max could be equipped with 8 GB of RAM, against 6 today on the 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max. This greater amount of RAM could be dedicated to augmented reality even if Apple is unlikely to communicate on it. The brand has never publicly said the amount of RAM in its smartphones.
Still no Touch ID under the screen
Apple is currently still selling a smartphone model with a round button that links to the home screen and allows Touch ID to work: the iPhone SE. Touch ID technology allows the phone to recognize one or more fingerprints, which is used in particular to unlock the smartphone.
Since the iPhone X and the arrival of Face ID, Touch ID no longer exists on new models (because there is no longer a physical button on the front of the device). We have heard for several years that Apple plans to remedy this with a fingerprint sensor under the screen but, according to Ming-Chi Kuo, this advance would not arrive before 2023. It will surely be necessary to be satisfied with facial recognition with iPhone 14.
Always the lightning port
Despite the advances made by the European Union on the subject of the universal charger, the iPhone 14 should not yet trade its Lightning port for a USB-C port. The rule won’t come into effect until the new models are released, and Apple’s future is very likely more on the wireless charging side.
A titanium iPhone 14 Pro?
Part of the iPhone 14’s chassis may be made of a titanium alloy, a note from JP Morgan Chase, released in July 2021, suggested. uses these materials for the moment only on certain models of Apple Watch (and for… its bank card, the Apple Card).
When will the iPhone 14 be released?
If we follow Apple’s usual schedule and the company keeps its pace, the iPhone 14 range should be presented in September 2022, for the devices to be marketed a few days later. The iPhone 13, for example, was introduced on September 14, 2021, and sold as of September 24. Until then, the rumors should continue to multiply.