Your First Ever Hands-On Look at the All-New iPhone 14 Pro

[calstanford]

In a year or three when they are able to replicate more Android manufacturer tech like under-screen cameras and sensors, what is going to happen to this 'dynamic island'? Dynamic nothingness?

 

[Finbarr Cnaipe]

I do love Apple for a lot of their design choices, especially recently, the iMac refresh with all its colours are absolutely glorious. But the notch and the pill cut out have both been just dreadful. And to call that pill cut out a “Dynamic island”, to actually give it a name, it’s just cringe inducing.

Let’s be honest here Tim, the pill shaped cut out is a design flaw, it’s barely any different to the notch in size and inconvenience. It’s a short coming in your display tech, yet you give it some awful name, whack an icon either side of it and sell it like it’s a design feature instead, sadly some people hang off every word you say and they lap this stuff up.

I’d much rather have an extra 1-2mm bezel at the top and have everything stored up there, with either a hole punch camera or a camera under the screen itself (the tech is there for this). Unfortunately Apple and a few disciples are obsessed with tiny bezels, despite them offering no discernible benefit to the user, in fact they just lead to more accidental touches.

Similarly I’d rather have a slightly deeper phone, and have the rear camera array flush with the phone case, rather than it stick out so much in one corner, I’d then happily use this space and have a larger battery in the phone. Yes it would be heavier, but not massively so. But then I’ve always associated a heavier phone or device particularly one of Apple making to help add to that feeling or high build quality, lightweight on the other hand feels cheap.

I’m happy with my 13 Pro Max. I’ll upgrade to the 15 when hopefully this dynamic island is binned off, and the enforced USB-C port hopefully leads to an actual design change to the handset itself. I feel Apple have included the pill cut out to make phone look obviously different from the 13, and then when we go full screen no cut outs next year it’s an another noticeable change.

Currently nowhere near enough difference between 13 and 14 to warrant an upgrade.

IMHO, this ID is tired, weary, and in need of a radical, innovative design update. I had occasion to get a OnePlus 9 Pro this year as a 2nd Phone, and I 1000% prefer the ID over my iPhone 12 Pro Max. The current ID was great when it was new in the iPhone 5, but (again just MHO) is clearly a step backward from even the Xs Max progression. (I have both 11 Pro Max and Xs Max in my collection.) This ID just doesn't work on a larger "phablet" type phone, is aesthetically unpleasing, and is uncomfortable. Also, while I know we always want enhanced battery life, the weight of the iPhone 12 Pro Max is also uncomfortable. OnePlus 9 Pro runs circles around the 12 Pro Max in this regard from a HW ID perspective and the display itself is more pleasing to the eye than iPhone 12 Pro Max. (I'm running rooted LineageOS on my OnePlus 9 Pro, and have about the same amount of battery life as I get from the 12 Pro Max. Of course I charge nightly, and both get me thru a whole day).

The camera infatuation is another thing... I too could really care less, and would prefer a flush back...even if that means less fancy camera lens options...don't care. The camera bump is the stupidest thing ever on a phone....it too is aesthetically unpleasing, and just "uncool" (IMHO.). Sorry Apple, but these considerations do NOT "delight" me in your products. I'm delighted by the OnePlus 9 Pro ID/HW however.

But iOS does save things, and is the ONLY reason why I still prefer iPhone over Android devices. But Apple could do SOOOO much better with the HW designs.

I still prefer iOS and macOS ecosystem integration over Android / Windows ecosystem. The software and ecosystem makes all the difference, and Apple wins hands down here. But from a HW / ID perspective, Apple has continued to make numerous design decision blunders since Steve Jobs left us, as well as now with the departure of Jon Ive. So much so, that I'm increasingly finding it harder and harder to evangelize Apple to my less tech savvy colleagues, family, and friends. It used to be that Apple covered us Enthusiast segment proponents, and yet still addressed the "masses". Now they don't seem to give a **** about the Enthusiast, and actually have been purposefully removing "enthusiast" function for a while now. I hate tech that makes me feel like its paradigms for "best use cases" are being rammed down my throat. It is ok to propagate for new paradigms, but to purposely remove "optionality" for no good reason is just the height of hubris....and just spells mediocrity and loss of innovation and creativity. Apple lost that kind of initiative when Steve passed away... "Think different"? Not so much for many years now... Just more like "how can we be less mediocre than our competitors?" As Captain Kirk once said for the Enterprise crew, it should be the same for Tech companies: "Risk is our business gentlemen!" Priority of Risk adversity management (and bean counters running companies) spell the end of innovation. Because of Steve Jobs, Apple knew this truth once upon a time...

 

[topmounter]

This is a USB-C port away from being a worthy upgrade.

 

[Sorig]

That pill is looking massive in these real life videos. The status bar area is now even thicker to keep the spacing symmetrical above and under the pill.

Dynamic Island is beautifully animated, but still is just a gimmick to hide this atrocity.

 

[theloon]

Yawnnnnnnn ..... another phone iteration another headphone update...

 

[anthorumor]

Where’s my green?

 

[groove-agent]

Does anyone else thing the pill shaped cutout is worse than the notch? When I was watching the demo video it seemed more intrusive.

I'm wondering if the pill encroaches the centre of the screen more than the notch. Let's face it, the area between the pill and the bezel is pretty useless.

 

[Octavius8]

Chinese phone makers know better about making the lenses more discrete than Apple.

 

[indiecraig]

Why wouldn't there be a mode where you just get black bars all around, almost like a bezel? That's how it works now with the notch. You double tap on it to do this. Sure, the image is a little smaller, but this way you don't get any cutouts.

That’s how it works with 2:1 (18:9) video, but is absolutely not how it works with 21:9 video. A lot of Apple TV content is 2:1 video, as well as an increasing number of YouTube creators, and that aspect ratio looks great on an iPhone with a notch.

Unfortunately, movies and some TV shows (e.g. the new Star Treks) are full ultra wide 21:9, and there is no way to avoid the notch unless you use a third party video player and make the video smaller, at which point the letterbox black bars are massive and you may as well be using an iPhone 8 Plus. The island sticks down further into the screen and will make this problem worse.

 

[duringtherapy]

You walk around with that camera in your pocket at all times? That’s nice

Actually I've learned to just not take meaningless garbage pics all the time, things that I never ever look back on or use. Like stupid selfies and food pics. I don't upload any of my iphone pics or videos to my instagram or youtube anymore. My point is I use the camera and do need it, but don't need another mediocre iphone camera, I couldn't two shats if it was 4k 8k 42 megapixel because in the end they are all mediocre at best, nor professional after using a full frame camera. Don't get me wrong they are probably amazing for anybody who doesn't have a dedicated camera/one's only camera, I'm just talking about my personal use case.

 

[svish]

Good to see real life pictures and videos right after the event!!

 

[msackey]

So, they have done the following for flaships since 2019: Midnight Green, Pacific Blue, Sierra Blue, Alpine Green (Mid cycle) and now Purple.

Hmm, I wonder what are they gonna do for mid cycle? I am suspecting that leaked blue that didn't show up?

But the bigger question, whats gonna be the flagship color for the iPhone 15 Pro/Max? I am suspecting Lavender.

Of all those colors, I found Pacific Blue to be the most stunning and miss not seeing it on the other phones.

 

[jkwr]

Blimey, that pill is hideous, Apples still in 2018. At least give some more choices like other manufacturers. We have underscreen camera tech thats getting a lot better with the zfold etc and this is the gimmick Apple come up with? They will ditch it in a few years.

 

[effineji]

I was considering switching over this year, but only if it had USB-C and noticeable upgrade from OnePlus7T…
Even if it did have USB-C, paying 2-3 times the price just so I can get better features (90+hz screen, more than 128GB) than my 3 year old OnePlus7T is painful…and in Europe we still have a SIM slot but I will lose the 2 SIM/SD card feature of OnePlus...sigh

 

[msackey]

It looks like a fine device, as my 13 Pro Max is a fine device. But I must be getting older or maybe smarter because I can’t seem to make myself care this year.

I have an iPhone 12 Pro. While the 14Pro has some nice features, it’s not a significant upgrade from the 12 Pro. Eg
- cameras. Ok nice to have 3x zoom instead of just 2x, but not enough
- island. Looks interesting but not a reason to upgrade.
- satellite. Meh, don’t care.
- always on display. Meh, don’t care. Won’t use it.

 

[macjaffa]

No, I'm not. But at least it made sense to only have 4 apps on the smaller screen of the older iPhones. On the newer iPhones, it just looks stupid.

Below is the Pixel 6 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Look how much better the layout is on Android. It's almost 2023 and the fact that Apple still can't get this right is ridiculous.

Iphone looks better to me. I can’t even make out the icons on the android. Iphone is nice and clear

 

[indiecraig]

I consider an iPhone unusable for video. Want to watch a movie? Get an iPad.

That’s an interesting take considering Apple demonstrated the quality of the screen by showing it playing For All Mankind. Regardless, we’re all entitled to our own opinion and don’t really get to say what other people should or shouldn’t do with their own money and the devices they buy with it.

That said, an iPad mini screen is 176mm wide, so a 21:9 video would be 75mm tall. An iPhone 13 Pro Max screen is 71mm tall when held in landscape. So it’s difficult to argue that an iPad mini is suitable for watching a movie but an iPhone 13 Pro Max is not - unless the 4mm height and slight cropping at the sides makes all the difference for you. In which case fair enough, but for me the only thing ruining it is the notch/island.

Personally, I don’t want to have to buy, carry, charge, and keep up to date a whole additional (and unpocketable) device just to have a video watching experience that I find acceptable. Especially when phones such as the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra exist, and demonstrate what can be done if we let go of this obsession with face unlock and perfect selfies.

 

[carestudio]

please get the TouchID back. I don't care about Dynamic Island.

 

[macjaffa]

IMHO, this ID is tired, weary, and in need of a radical, innovative design update. I had occasion to get a OnePlus 9 Pro this year as a 2nd Phone, and I 1000% prefer the ID over my iPhone 12 Pro Max. The current ID was great when it was new in the iPhone 5, but (again just MHO) is clearly a step backward from even the Xs Max progression. (I have both 11 Pro Max and Xs Max in my collection.) This ID just doesn't work on a larger "phablet" type phone, is aesthetically unpleasing, and is uncomfortable. Also, while I know we always want enhanced battery life, the weight of the iPhone 12 Pro Max is also uncomfortable. OnePlus 9 Pro runs circles around the 12 Pro Max in this regard from a HW ID perspective and the display itself is more pleasing to the eye than iPhone 12 Pro Max. (I'm running rooted LineageOS on my OnePlus 9 Pro, and have about the same amount of battery life as I get from the 12 Pro Max. Of course I charge nightly, and both get me thru a whole day).

The camera infatuation is another thing... I too could really care less, and would prefer a flush back...even if that means less fancy camera lens options...don't care. The camera bump is the stupidest thing ever on a phone....it too is aesthetically unpleasing, and just "uncool" (IMHO.). Sorry Apple, but these considerations do NOT "delight" me in your products. I'm delighted by the OnePlus 9 Pro ID/HW however.

But iOS does save things, and is the ONLY reason why I still prefer iPhone over Android devices. But Apple could do SOOOO much better with the HW designs.

I still prefer iOS and macOS ecosystem integration over Android / Windows ecosystem. The software and ecosystem makes all the difference, and Apple wins hands down here. But from a HW / ID perspective, Apple has continued to make numerous design decision blunders since Steve Jobs left us, as well as now with the departure of Jon Ive. So much so, that I'm increasingly finding it harder and harder to evangelize Apple to my less tech savvy colleagues, family, and friends. It used to be that Apple covered us Enthusiast segment proponents, and yet still addressed the "masses". Now they don't seem to give a **** about the Enthusiast, and actually have been purposefully removing "enthusiast" function for a while now. I hate tech that makes me feel like its paradigms for "best use cases" are being rammed down my throat. It is ok to propagate for new paradigms, but to purposely remove "optionality" for no good reason is just the height of hubris....and just spells mediocrity and loss of innovation and creativity. Apple lost that kind of initiative when Steve passed away... "Think different"? Not so much for many years now... Just more like "how can we be less mediocre than our competitors?" As Captain Kirk once said for the Enterprise crew, it should be the same for Tech companies: "Risk is our business gentlemen!" Priority of Risk adversity management (and bean counters running companies) spell the end of innovation. Because of Steve Jobs, Apple knew this truth once upon a time...

I dont understand what you are talking about. What has Internal Diameter got to do with anything?

 

[deckard666]

I have an iPhone 12 Pro. While the 14Pro has some nice features, it’s not a significant upgrade from the 12 Pro. Eg
- cameras. Ok nice to have 3x zoom instead of just 2x, but not enough
- island. Looks interesting but not a reason to upgrade.
- satellite. Meh, don’t care.
- always on display. Meh, don’t care. Won’t use it.

I don’t understand

 

[Anaxarxes]

I dont understand what you are talking about. What has Internal Diameter got to do with anything?

Industrial Design

 

[deckard666]

I have an iPhone 12 Pro. While the 14Pro has some nice features, it’s not a significant upgrade from the 12 Pro. Eg
- cameras. Ok nice to have 3x zoom instead of just 2x, but not enough
- island. Looks interesting but not a reason to upgrade.
- satellite. Meh, don’t care.
- always on display. Meh, don’t care. Won’t use it.

I don’t get this expectation of a significant upgrade each year - my tv doesn’t, my games console doesn’t and cars don’t either….

 

[MacFarmer]

The dynamic island looks awful and is a downgrade from the notch, which I already hated. When they showed full screen video I cringed so much, it’s so distracting I would personally consider it unusable for consuming 21:9 video.

gee, get a life. Who cares so much about video in landscape. If you would see the numbers, most watch in portrait mode. And once in a while landscape viewing wouldn't hurt. Get a tv, I head it is better for video content.

 

[Station Grey]

Yeah I feel like an ass. Turned out to be an incremental update after all. Actually they lost TWO sales. Really blew this one. Blackmagic 6k pocket cinema's getting these bucks. My 12 promax is a FINE phone until they cough up 8k video and 2 terrabytes.

Don't wish to sound rude, but if you're struggling to compare a $3,000 dedicated video camera with the $50 miniaturised unit in a phone then maybe the $3k camera is overkill for you

 

[troy14]

I was looking forward to an upgrade to my 12PM but now without the sim card tray (I go on vacation 2-3 times a year outside the US and I refused to pay the exorbitant fees that verizon charges for the roaming and rather switch SIM cards.) but that's just me. I've been contemplating on switching to the fold but the Apple ecosystem with wallet/applepay is pretty hard for me to leave.. 😂

Not sure where you’re traveling but I go all over Europe, some of Africa, and some of the Middle East and have had about 99.9% coverage with Google Fi (using T-Mobile’s network) and exclusively use eSim.

Also have Verizon back in the states