In response to the newest rumors, you’ll be capable of purchase the iPhone 14 sooner than ever this yr. As a substitute of its conventional date in the course of the second week of September, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg has reported that Apple’s first occasion of the autumn will probably be held on Wednesday, September 7, the earliest it’s been since Apple began launching iPhones in September.
However that’s not the one factor about this yr’s launch that’s completely different. The entire latest rumors say Apple will differentiate the iPhone 14 lineup like by no means earlier than, with an unprecedented splitting of the Professional and non-Professional fashions and a better emphasis on high-end options. Right here’s how the brand new technique will probably be an enormous threat:
Costs are going method up
Over the previous a number of years, Apple has made a degree of holding iPhone costs regular. The iPhone X price $999 when it launched in 2017 and the iPhone 13 Professional prices the identical $999 5 years later. Equally, the iPhone XS Max price $1,099 when it arrived in 2018 and Apple hasn’t elevated the worth of that mannequin both regardless of including a much bigger display screen and additional digicam.
However this yr, rumors say the iPhone 14 Professional fashions are going to leap by $100 throughout the board, which means the Professional will begin at $1,099 and the Professional Max at $1,199. That’s roughly 10 % greater and a fairly large year-over-year bounce. In the meantime, the non-Professional line could have a better beginning worth as properly, with the $699 mini going away and an $899 Max mannequin taking its place.
Threat components: Will individuals be keen to spend $100 or extra on a brand new iPhone? Will the upper beginning worth for the Max mannequin flip off upgraders?
The iPhone 14 could have non-notch envy
The iPhone’s notch may need been a polarizing characteristic again in 2017, but it surely’s turn into the handset’s most recognizable attribute. And it could be going away—no less than on the Professional fashions. Rumors say that as a substitute of a notch the iPhone 14 Professional and Professional Max could have a gap + tablet digicam cutout design that’s not dissimilar to higher-end Android telephones.
Whereas notch-haters will definitely recognize the brand new look, informal Apple followers may not be as eager on it. For one, it’s a bit generic; for an additional, the iPhone 14 Professional could have a special look than the iPhone 14. Individuals are used to iPhone fashions being barely completely different, however altering the notch on one line and leaving it on one other is a dramatic change.
Threat components: Will the iPhone 14 appear to be much less of an improve? Will individuals embrace the brand new cutout design?
For the primary time, the iPhone 14 Professional received’t have the identical notch because the iPhone 15.
Michael Simon/IDG
The iPhone 14 could have an previous chip
Maybe the most important change with the iPhone 14 is with the processor. For the reason that very first iPhone, all fashions launched in the identical yr have had the most recent processor—together with the iPhone SE—however rumors say Apple will break from that pattern. Whereas the iPhone 14 Professional fashions will get the brand new A16 chip, the iPhone 14 will reportedly have the older A15 chip that’s within the iPhone 13 Professional. Apple will certainly tout efficiency enhancements, however for the primary time, the iPhone 14 will probably be considerably slower than the iPhone 14 Professional.
Threat components: Does processor pace matter to patrons? Will patrons query whether or not they really need the ability that the iPhone 14 Professional delivers?
The iPhone 14 Professional nonetheless received’t have an honest zoom lens
If there’s one knock on the iPhone over the previous few updates, it’s the dearth of a correct zoom lens. In response to rumors, that’s not going to vary with the iPhone 14. Whereas there will definitely be digicam enhancements—most notably a 48MP lens on the Professional fashions—optical zoom will doubtless stay restricted to 3X, which is sort of underwhelming in 2022. A number of Android telephones have 5X and 10X optical zoom and digital capabilities as much as 100X, whereas the iPhone nonetheless tops out at 15X and struggles mightily to get there.
Threat components: Will patrons care extra about picture high quality than closeness? Will the digicam on the non-Professional fashions provide any motive to improve?
The iPhone 14 will doubtless have a really comparable look to the iPhone 12 (left) and 13 (proper).
Michael Simon/IDG
The iPhone 14 could have a 2-year-old design
Apple sometimes redesigns its handsets each different yr, but it surely seems just like the iPhone 14 could have the identical design because the iPhone 13, which had the identical design because the iPhone 12. That might be the primary time ever that Apple recycled an iPhone design for greater than a era:
- iPhone
- iPhone 3G, 3GS
- iPhone 4, 4S
- iPhone 5, 5S
- iPhone 6, 6S
- iPhone 7, 8
- iPhone X, XS
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 12, 13, 14
It’s not that the iPhone 13 is an unsightly telephone, in fact, however we’ve grown accustomed to new designs each different yr. And folks heading to the shop to see the brand new iPhone design will discover that it seems very comparable.
Threat components: Will individuals even acknowledge that there’s a brand new iPhone? Will iPhone 12 customers wait one other yr to improve?
