Kuo: iPhone 14 Models Likely to Feature Upgraded Front Camera With Autofocus

[ian87w]

If the iPhone 14 really does not have the updated design AND does not have the A16 chip AND does not have the updated rear cameras...I can't imagine how they will actually spin this as a new phone. If anything they should lower the price on it by $100. But you know Apple won't do that.

That's where the iPhone 14 Max comes in. The "upgrade" will be the max size. It will also be the hero model.

Personally I still think all models will get the A16. The non Pro model might get the lesser (binned down) chips, but they will still be variations of the A16.

As for lowering price, well, this is Tim's Apple. It's all about raising the ASP. I would expect the Pro models to get a price increase this year.

 

[EugW]

That's where the iPhone 14 Max comes in. The "upgrade" will be the max size. It will also be the hero model.

Personally I still think all models will get the A16. The non Pro model might get the lesser (binned down) chips, but they will still be variations of the A16.

As for lowering price, well, this is Tim's Apple. It's all about raising the ASP. I would expect the Pro models to get a price increase this year.

I don't think Apple has ever binned iPhone chips before (aside from raising the clock speed in iPads), have they?

 

[ian87w]

I don't think Apple has ever binned iPhone chips before (aside from raising the clock speed in iPads), have they?

The A15 in the iphone 13 has 1 less GPU core than the A15 in the 13 pro.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I don't think Apple has ever binned iPhone chips before (aside from raising the clock speed in iPads), have they?

They have.
Even in the current lineup.
The 13 and 13 Mini have 4 GPU cores, the Pro and Pro Max have 5

 

[Coochie Boogs]

I will for sure upgrade, I like the front if this is ultimately what they do. Any chance we get a rear camera system that is more flush with the device? I'm not optimistic, but I can dream.

 

[EugW]

The A15 in the iphone 13 has 1 less GPU core than the A15 in the 13 pro.

They have.
Even in the current lineup.
The 13 and 13 Mini have 4 GPU cores, the Pro and Pro Max have 5

I missed that one. Interesting.

Anyhow, I think it makes perfect sense for the iPhone 14 non-Pro models to go with A15. However, it also makes sense too to go with a binned A16. Either way, I personally wouldn't care. A14 in my iPhone 12 Pro Max is still blistering fast.

I'm not upgrading, but my wife is, and either of those two choices would be excellent. In fact, even A12 in her XR is still fine. The bigger reason to upgrade is the 3 GB RAM, and the old single-lens camera.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Personally I still think all models will get the A16. The non Pro model might get the lesser (binned down) chips, but they will still be variations of the A16.

honestly at first it didn’t make much sense to me, but the more I think about it the more I am starting to believe the A15 in the lower end model rumors.
Given that the A16 is rumor to move down to a 4 nm process, and the fact that their are clearly still manufacturing issues going on, it’s probably easier for them to reuse last year‘s chip in the new phones.
It’ll still be an upgrade, moving from 4 to 6 GB of ram and from the four GPU cores to five.
But if it’s true that the display, camera, everything else is remaining basically the same, there’s really no reason for them to put the new processor in.
Now the pro models which will be getting the new 48 megapixel camera that can do 8K and will have the processor doing a lot more getting the A16 makes all the sense in the world.
I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. There’s really nothing wrong with the A15

 

[ian87w]

Entire 13 series will disappear.
SE: $429
12 Mini: $529
12: $629
14: $729
14 Max: $829
Keeping me exact same processor, design, and specifications as last year is how they’ll lower the price of the regular 14.
It’ll literally just be a 13 with a better front camera and probably some new color options or something.
Thee big seller will be that 14 Max.
It’ll be the first 6.7 inch iPhone that doesn’t start at $1100, that’ll be the big story.
Just like in 2018 with the XS, it was barely different other than a better processor and a couple other things. The big story was the XS Max

My prediction:
14 pro max: $1199
14 pro: $1099
14 Max: $899
14: $799
13: $729
13 mini: $629
12: $629
12 mini: $529
SE: &429

The 12 and 13 mini overlaps, just like today where both are $729.

 

[fhall1]

99% of iPhone buyers don't want or need 8K video recording....but I bet a lot of them would like more than a 2x or 3x optical zoom!

 

[EugW]

honestly at first it didn’t make much sense to me, but the more I think about it the more I am starting to believe the A15 in the lower end model rumors.
Given that the A16 is rumor to move down to a 4 nm process, and the fact that their are clearly still manufacturing issues going on, it’s probably easier for them to reuse last year‘s chip in the new phones.
It’ll still be an upgrade, moving from 4 to 6 GB of ram and from the four GPU cores to five.
But if it’s true that the display, camera, everything else is remaining basically the same, there’s really no reason for them to put the new processor in.
Now the pro models which will be getting the new 48 megapixel camera that can do 8K and will have the processor doing a lot more getting the A16 makes all the sense in the world.
I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. There’s really nothing wrong with the A15

The RAM thing is huge.

Since my wife is upgrading this year, I was deathly afraid Apple would keep the lower end models at 4 GB RAM again this year, as Apple had a habit in the past of underspec'ing the RAM for too long. Getting 6 GB this year would be perfect.

 

[Hkfan45]

Yes, just what we need is a slightly better camera! Not anything useful like an AOD, usb c, or redesigned software that can actually make use of the already powerful hardware.

 

[Hkfan45]

The RAM thing is huge.

Since my wife is upgrading this year, I was deathly afraid Apple would keep the lower end models at 4 GB RAM again this year, as Apple had a habit in the past of underspec'ing the RAM for too long. Getting 6 GB this year would be perfect.

For the price, should be a minimum of 8gb with 12gb for the high end.

 

[Macative]

That's where the iPhone 14 Max comes in. The "upgrade" will be the max size. It will also be the hero model.

Personally I still think all models will get the A16. The non Pro model might get the lesser (binned down) chips, but they will still be variations of the A16.

As for lowering price, well, this is Tim's Apple. It's all about raising the ASP. I would expect the Pro models to get a price increase this year.

This would certainly be the year for a price increase on the Pro models. They can blame the world economic situation, while simultaneously offering nothing new in the non-Pro models, making the Pro models the only attractive option...but at a higher price than before.

 

[ian87w]

This would certainly be the year for a price increase on the Pro models. They can blame the world economic situation, while simultaneously offering nothing new in the non-Pro models, making the Pro models the only attractive option...but at a higher price than before.

You got it. Tim is such a smart cookie eh?

 

[SFjohn]

Yes I agree. Also I really wonder how Apple is going price the new iPhones and how much price cut are they ging to give to the older ones.
The current prices are:

1. iPhone SE - $429
2. iPhone 11 - $499
3. iPhone 12 Mini - $599
4. iPhone 12 - $699
5. iPhone 13 Mini - $699
6. iPhone 13 - $799

Ignoring the prices of the Pros since Apple always discontinues them.

The expected prices when the iPhone 14 releases:

1. iPhone SE - $429
2. iPhone 11 - Discontinued
3. iPhone 12 Mini(5.4inch) - $499?
4. iPhone 12(6.1inch) - $599?
5. iPhone 13 Mini(5.4inch) - $599?
6. iPhone 13(6.1inch) - $699?
7. iPhone 14(6.1inch) - $699/799?
8. iPhone 14(6.7inch) - $799/899?

Since keeping the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 at the same price would not be beneficial to Apple and it would probably cannibalize the iPhone 14 since both are exactly the same size just that the iPhone 14 will have a better front camera. And also it doesn't make sense. So Apple will probably price the iPhone 14 a $100 higher. But who is gonna get the iPhone 14 for $100 extra just because it has an upgraded front camera?
This is why Kuo's rumor doesn't make sense. An upgraded chip can compensate for the extra $100 but just an upgraded front camera can't.

I don't know how Apple is going to price their upcoming lineup and if you guys have any thoughts about it please let me know.

Apple might just stop selling the iPhone 13s, once the 14 is out.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

My prediction:
14 pro max: $1199
14 pro: $1099
14 Max: $899
14: $799
13: $729
13 mini: $629
12: $629
12 mini: $529
SE: &429

The 12 and 13 mini overlaps, just like today where both are $729.

I really don’t think so
Even between the 12 series and the 13 series, there were some differences. A different camera layout, better battery, faster processors.
The rumor is that the 6.1 inch 14 will literally just be a 13 with an upgraded front camera and a slightly better GPU and ram. I don’t think that’s enough to justify keeping the 13 around for $70 less, especially since Apple doesn’t make things like RAM Public.
Imagine the compare page.
Everything absolutely identical… except for the front camera.
Doesn’t seem likely.
I seriously think since it will be so similar, Apple will start the 14 at 729, and the 14 max at 829.
As for the pro going up by $100, I don’t think it will but if it does they’ll likely justify it by starting them with 256 GB. If that doesn’t happen, then I don’t think the prices will go up.
I guess we’ll see.
But I certainly don’t expect the regular 6.1 inch 13 to stick around, it’s just so similar to the rumored 14. Same processor generation, same camera, same notch.
I don’t think they could justify keeping the old one around.
Unless all of these rumors are wrong of course

 

[ian87w]

I really don’t think so
Even between the 12 series and the 13 series, there were some differences. A different camera layout, better battery, faster processors.
The rumor is that the 6.1 inch 14 will literally just be a 13 with an upgraded front camera and a slightly better GPU and ram. I don’t think that’s enough to justify keeping the 13 around for $70 less, especially since Apple doesn’t make things like RAM Public.
Imagine the compare page.
Everything absolutely identical… except for the front camera.
Doesn’t seem likely.
I seriously think since it will be so similar, Apple will start the 14 at 729, and the 14 max at 829.
As for the pro going up by $100, I don’t think it will but if it does they’ll likely justify it by starting them with 256 GB. If that doesn’t happen, then I don’t think the prices will go up.
I guess we’ll see.
But I certainly don’t expect the regular 6.1 inch 13 to stick around, it’s just so similar to the rumored 14. Same processor generation, same camera, same notch.
I don’t think they could justify keeping the old one around.
Unless all of these rumors are wrong of course

I personally think that the whole 14 lineup will be A16. It's in Apple's interest to do so to save cost and not wasting silicon. Just like the A15 in the 13, the A16 in the 14 will probably be a lower binned version (eg 1 disabled GPU core). I just don't buy the rumored A15 on the iPhone 14.

 

[AmazeSE]

I personally think that the whole 14 lineup will be A16. It's in Apple's interest to do so to save cost and not wasting silicon. Just like the A15 in the 13, the A16 in the 14 will probably be a lower binned version (eg 1 disabled GPU core). I just don't buy the rumored A15 on the iPhone 14.

Plus this rumor came from Kuo. He was also the one who said that the upcoming redesigned MacBook Air will have the same chip (M1) as the current one. So even I believe Kuo is wrong and we will get the upgraded chip in both the products.

 

[EugW]

Plus this rumor came from Kuo. He was also the one who said that the upcoming redesigned MacBook Air will have the same chip (M1) as the current one. So even I believe Kuo is wrong and we will get the upgraded chip in both the products.

Yeah, I'm not sure about this rumour from Kuo.

When he outlines very specific reasons for his predictions, often times he's bang on. He sometimes comes up with very obscure supply-chain details to predict a very specific detail that nobody else has mentioned and he turns out to be absolutely right, sometimes even over a year in advance. However, other times it seems he has some general information so he makes an educated guess to fill in the blanks.

I wonder if this prediction is the latter, as in for example he's not convinced the production capacity can easily support non-binned A16 across the line, so that full-on A16 will be used only for the Pro and Pro Max. That leaves the non-Pro devices, and perhaps he thought A15 would make the most sense, whereas others may think binned A16 is workable.

Just wondering...

Either way though, I don't really care. While I'd prefer a GPU-binned A16, A15 is totally fine. As I've said before, a Max-sized non-Pro iPhone 14 with 6 GB RAM would be a totally awesome upgrade from the 4 year-old XR with 3 GB RAM for my wife. It's a much more affordable option than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and the differences between the Max and Pro Max would be totally lost on her.

OTOH, from a marketing point of view, I've always thought it was odd that MacBook Air and MacBook Pro had the same SoC. For M1 it makes sense just because no previous chip was available, but for M2, one could have an M1 MacBook Air and M2 MacBook Pro 13". Mind you, previous to the M1 release, while I was predicting "A14X" (aka M1) for MacBook Pro, I was actually predicting A14 for MacBook Air, so what do I know?

 

[magicschoolbus]

iPhone 11 Pro: “the best camera we’ve ever put on an iPhone”

iPhone 12 Pro: “the best camera we’ve ever put on an iPhone”

iPhone 13 pro: “the best camera we’ve ever put on an iPhone”

 

[pierce1979]

I hope there is more to the 14 than an upgraded camera, please let the notch finally die, Steve Jobs would have never allowed the notch

 

[Smartass]

So according to Kuo the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max or whatever will just have an upgraded front camera. They will have the same size notch, same back cameras, same processor, same design as the iPhone 13s. If that is the case the iPhone 14 is not worth it and it would probably better to buy the 13 at a $100 discount.

I really hope Kuo is wrong about the iPhone 14s having the same chip as the current 13s and also about the upcoming MacBook Air having the same M1 chip as the current one.

Oh dear lord, how will you be able to sleep at night, knowing that it has the same high performance chip as the iphone 13

 

[ian87w]

I hope there is more to the 14 than an upgraded camera, please let the notch finally die, Steve Jobs would have never allowed the notch

If Steve Jobs was still around, we probably wouldn’t have Apple at all. Remember that he would want to use all Apple’s money to destroy Android.

 

[EugW]

I almost forgot: This is also the generation that is rumoured to get the hole punch / pill screen. Hopefully that's true, across the entire model line.

 

[Hkfan45]

If Steve Jobs was still around, we probably wouldn’t have Apple at all. Remember that he would want to use all Apple’s money to destroy Android.

Good. Maybe he would have spent more energy defeating android by not letting iOS languish and become uncompetitive.