iPhone 14 Pro review: the dynamic island of the future
There is no doubt that the iPhone 14 Pro is the best that Apple has to offer. Aside from the larger screen and extra battery performance of the Pro Max, this device packs a lot of high end hardware and quality software features into a nicely designed package. That being said, a lot of what you can expect to see is very similar to what you might have found in its predecessor, with the updates to this model being very specific, seemingly setting up future devices and features we can expect to see from Apple.
I am writing this review after having used the phone as my daily driver for about 2 weeks, allowing me to make use of and test all the new features. I have had a good amount of time to test out the new camera sensors, battery life, and get used the the new Dynamic Island camera cutout, something I’ve really grown to enjoy using. I definitely have a few thoughts about some things that I’ve liked and some things that I was left wishing I had. So let’s get into it!
TL;DR
Yet again Apple have delivered a high end, beautifully designed flagship smartphone with some good features that set them apart from the rest of the competition.
There are some nice advancements in the camera department, enhanced further by the arrival of a new chipset. As of writing this the battery life unfortunately doesn’t seem to have gotten any better but the screen looks as great as ever with the return of ProMotion, the ability to peak at 2,000 nits outdoors and a new AlwaysOn display setting. The Dynamic island brings a fun new software feature to the pro tier phones, and Crash Detection helps you call for help in an emergency, though (hopefully) you will never need to use this. Still no USB-C though, so you’ll have to wait another year at least to have an all in 1 charging solution!
If you have something like a 12 or 13 Pro I’d probably consider the specs a bit harder before upgrading because you might not be getting a whole lot more for your money!
14 Pro Design, Specs and pricing
To kick us off, this year the iPhone 14 Pro comes in 4 different colours. Silver, Gold, a refreshed Space Black replacing Graphite, and the new signature colour Deep Purple. For my own device I opted for the Space Black colour and while it is easily one of the most sleek looking phones from current years it definitely still attracts a TONNE of fingerprints on the stainless steel sides!
Aside from the colours, the Pro model phones look pretty much the same as their predecessors! The already huge camera array on the back of the phone has gotten ever so slightly bigger, making room for them larger sensors and adding a little extra weight in the process. The size increases year on year are leaving me wondering how much bigger they can possibly make it, because when you place this device face up on a table you really do notice how much it rocks back and forth as you tap around the screen.
The biggest and most noticeable change is to the front facing camera and sensors that surround it. Apple has ditched the famous notch for a pill shape and circular cutout that blends together in software forming the Dynamic Island!
This is all possible due to a 31% smaller TrueDepth camera and a re-engineered proximity sensor that can now detect light from behind the screen. The 2 separate cutouts are then blended together through the use of clever software imagery to make it appear as though there is one large pill shaped cutout at the top of your screen. It’s actually pretty convincing when using your device in normal environments. That isn’t to say however that it wont become quite noticeable when in direct sunlight or under bright lights.
The last noticeable change is probably the new A16 Bionic chip. This chip only made its way to the Pro model phones this time around and it’s likely due to on chip enhancements specifically for the dynamic island and camera features. In day to day tasks you probably won’t notice all that much of a performance boost, and it certainly doesn’t seem to be doing anything for battery life as of yet. Instead this chip is working away behind the scenes to enhance image output in the Photonic Engine when taking high quality images and for making the software experience feel buttery smooth when interacting with the Dynamic Island.
The 14 Pro starts at £1099 here in the UK for the 128GB model and is also available in 256Gb, 512GB and a 1TB model each with their own price increases.
You can check out a full list of specs and compare devices directly on Apple’s website by clicking here!
Display and all new Dynamic Island
The display on the 14 Pro is once again great to look at. At 6.1 inches with super slim bezels, watching videos or scrolling socials on this is a great experience. It is super bright and super responsive and the colours are bright and accurate, it’s kind of everything you’d want in a display you’re probably going to be glued to for most of the day.
The new Dynamic Island is the star of the show. The pill shaped camera cutout can expand and contract back down to its original size to show live actions such as Music, Alarms and incoming Calls. This is one of them features that Apple has decided to give a name to and you know what I’m totally here for it because it sounds cool!
Essentially it displays all the basic status notifications in a much nicer and lively way than before. wether connecting your AirPods, screen recording, popping your hotspot on or airdropping things between devices the Dynamic Island will react and show you what is going on with the option to tap and hold for more information.
Later this year with iOS16 Apple will be releasing their new Live Activities API which is designed to allow even more apps integrate with the island and lock screen widgets to show you things like flight information, uber driver status or food delivery progress. The idea is to give you as much information as you need without having to dive into an App and again this is really cool! It kinda works in the real world environment too. I have actually found myself tapping and holding to expand the island and switch between music tracks or cancel a timer which has all been far quicker than opening the app.
The only issue I have with it right now is that tapping on the island just opens the app that its currently displaying instead of opening the island view. Now I do kind of understand the intention but holding down feels slower than a quick tap to change and get back to what I was doing on my current app. It would be nice to see this as an option in settings maybe with a future update but saying this it might just be one of those things to get used to.
We see the return of the ProMotion display that was introduced on last years Pro Devices, bringing over buttery smooth animations that look and feel great, and the new A16 chip and refined software helps to make it feel even a little bit smoother.
Every time I tell people about the wonders of a high refresh rate display I am always met with the same “yeah, but does it matter’ response. In my opinion it really does! but it is definitely something that you’ve got to see to understand. I’ve been using a high refresh rate device for a while now and if I go back to use my partners phone with a lower refresh rate I can really tell, and the whole experience feels sub par! The whole experience is just better with ProMotion.
Apple also decided to add an Always On Display to the pro model devices this year. It is a long awaited feature from Android that plenty of people have been requesting over the years. Of course Apple have taken their own twist on it and I must say the colour accuracy at dim light and at a 1Hz refresh rate are surprisingly accurate and reflective of your phones wallpaper in normal use. I still however can’t help but feel as though my display is still… on! I know that’s literally the idea but it almost feels too bright and leaves me on edge a little. I did decide to run this for a few days for testing before turning it back off again and wether this was because I was paying attention or just using the device more I did actually seem to to notice the battery draining slightly quicker than usual. Not by a lot at all but just so it was noticeable.
14 Pro Cameras
The big change this year for the camera array is the change to a 48-megapixel main sensor, up from the previous 12-megapixel one. Apple are a few years behind the competition here as Samsung have been using a 108-megapixel sensor since 2020 and Google is up there with a 50-megapixel sensor on their Pixel 6 Pro but what does this all mean for the photos you can expect to shoot.
Despite having a new 48-megapixel sensor the 14 pro will still generally shoot 12-megapixel images. This is due to a process called Pixel Binning, where the sensor groups or ‘bins’ together adjacent pixels to make one large pixel, reducing the amount of noise. This is great for capturing images in low light conditions which is where you will see the main improvements. The 14 pro is using a 2x2 array which means it’s cutting the pixel count by a quarter hence the 12-megapixel images.
You can now however with a larger sensor shoot 48-megapixel images in ProRaw which provides a tonne of detail and room to edit your images how you like. This is great if you’re hitting the streets as a pro photographer with your iPhone but is probably not recommended for the average user. It’s just nice to know it’s there.
The larger sensor also allows for higher detailed cropping in zoom modes. There is now a 2x "‘optical’ zoom available in the camera settings. What this setting is really doing is just cropping the middle 12 from the 48-megapixel sensor. This is great and offers some additional benefits but of course now you’re down to the 12 megapixels you won’t be able to take use of pixel binning at this zoom level so just something to consider when zooming in.
Largely you will not notice any real difference in day to day use from the 13 pro to the 14 pro but knowing that you can shoot more comfortably in low light due to the larger sensor is nice even if you do have to zoom in and look for it.
The bottom line
The iPhone 14 Pro is a great phone there is no denying. This years phone however feels a lot like we are getting the same things we know and love with a couple of little upgrades and seeds for the future sprinkled here and there, and its left me wondering if that’s really enough to consider wanting to upgrade from something like a 13 pro.
The Dynamic Island seems a lot like a test on the Pro version phones before they likely release it across the whole range next year with the 15. Its always tricky with features like this because while Apple clearly dominates the App market with a lot of developers prioritising iOS, there is still going to be some time to wait until Apps adopt the Live Activities API and we start seeing the cool ideas we are promised.
The other small changes like the larger camera sensor and safety features like Emergency SOS and Crash detection add some upgrades but nothing too major. it all adds up to a filler year while Apple figure out some larger upgrades and decide on a direction to take with future devices.
If you are really wanting to be on the edge of the latest tech then this would be the device for you. But if you’re happy to miss out on a feature that may or may not become something more in a year’s time then I’d probably sit tight and see what the 15 brings.
