Satellite calling to no SIM card tray: iPhone 14’s cool new features explained

On September 7, during their “Far Out” event, along with the new Apple Watch Series and the new AirPods Pro, Apple announced their latest iPhone 14 line of phones. There had been a lot of rumours doing rounds on the internet about the speculated specifications of these newly launched phones. 

All of them were put to rest when the official announcements were made. Some of these were underwhelming. However, there were some announcements that took many by surprise. Let’s look at what’s new in Apple’s latest and best-ever iPhones.

Apple iPhone 14 – New display

There were two sides to the coin to look at when it came to the changes to the display of the new iPhones. While the lower-end, non-Pro iPhones, the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Plus, retained the old and infamous notch from the iPhone 13 and before, the Pro models, the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone Pro Max, were presented with refreshed displays.

As speculated, Apple went and ditched the notch on the Pro iPhones this year in favour of a new pill-shaped cut-out, which we at the Digit office are calling, the Morse Code notch. 
While this new design does free up some real estate, the star of the show here was Dynamic Island. 

iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max

We have covered it extensively in our article, so go check that out here. Basically, it is a mini-command centre that will morph into small widgets, if needed, giving you information about incoming calls, battery percentage, some music controls, etc.

The iPhone 14 Pro and the Pro Max also saw an improvement in the panel that they will be sporting. The new display panels on these iPhones will have 1600 nits of peak HDR brightness and 2000 nits of peak outdoor brightness. 

Additionally, there was also the introduction of the always-on display on the Pro iPhones, which Apple executives spent a lot of time talking about. In its essence, it works the same as all other phones, with the only difference being the better battery optimisation by Apple, and selective screen dimming, allowing better reproduction of human skin tones if they are present on the lock screen wallpaper.  The cherry on top is ProMotion, which also saw a few improvements. However, much to the dismay of the fans, there was not much added to the displays of the non-Pro iPhones. 

Apple iPhone 14 – Same old tech for the non-Pros

When it came to the processors, there was again a divide clearly visible in the treatment given to the Pro and the non-Pro iPhones. The iPhone 14 Pro and the Pro Max, as announced during the event, would come equipped with Apple’s latest and greatest, A16 Bionic chip.

The new A16 Bionic chip sports a 6‑core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores, a 5‑core GPU, and a 16‑core Neural Engine. These specs look impressive on paper, and if Apple’s claims are anything to go by, this is the “fastest chip ever in a smartphone”.

As for the non-Pro iPhones, they retained the last-gen A15 Bionic chip. This is a very interesting move by Apple. Because without a processor upgrade, there’s very little for the prospective iPhone 14 buyer to look forward to. If coming from the iPhone 13, then we don’t see any point for users to upgrade.

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus

Apple iPhone 14 – Better photos?

Apple’s iPhones are known for their cameras, and the folks are Cupertino understand this very well. That’s why they introduced new and improved camera tech on both the Pro and the non-Pro models of the iPhone 14. However, there was much more to talk about when it came to the Pro iPhones compared to their non-Pro brethren. 

Both the phones saw the introduction of a new Photonic Engine, which Apple claims will provide a significant improvement in the quality of pictures you take using your iPhones. The front camera also saw improvements in both models, with the introduction of the new TrudeDepth camera. It is a 12MP sensor with f/1.9 aperture and is capable of clicking photos 
in Apple ProRAW, and 4K video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps or 60 fps, along with Cinematic mode up to 4K HDR at 30 fps.

When coming to the upgrades to the camera system in the Pro models, we saw the introduction of a new mammoth 48MP main camera. The camera system on the Pro iPhones now comes with 4 zoom options. These were – 0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 3x zoom. There was also the introduction of the Action mode, which would provide users with better stabilisation when shooting videos.

Apple iPhone 14 – All day battery

One of the biggest talking points for Apple across both the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Pro models was the improved battery life. The executives on stage left no chance to mention that the new phones would have a better battery that would last users all day. Both phones get better battery tech inside, ensuring that their battery life is better than what we have seen before. 

Apple iPhone 14 – Drop messages from the middle of nowhere

When the Apple executives were presenting the iPhones, no one expected that the Pro models would include satellite communication technology. It was announced that the new iPhones, both the Pro and the non-Pro variants, would sport “Emergency SOS via satellite”.

This new feature would allow iPhone 14 users to connect to a satellite in an emergency and establish contact with the first responders. The emergency communications service works using Apple’s own messaging protocol, which would compress messages to allow for better communication over the limited bandwidth of the connection to satellites. 

To ensure that maximum required information is transferred in the shortest time, Apple has made a set of pre-configured questions that would help the responders to gauge the severity of the situation in the best way possible, in the least amount of time. This would ensure better connectivity for iPhone users in remote areas, should they ever face an adverse situation.

Staying on the topic of connectivity, Apple also revealed that the latest iPhones would come without a sim card slot in the US. This move can be viewed from several different perspectives, with one of them dubbing this the last step before Apple’s iPhones go completely port-less. Apple’s already been making improvements to MagSafe. And, with the EU’s USB-C regulation looming and the lightning port being the last remaining slot on the iPhone, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Apple introducing a port-less iPhone next year.

There was also the introduction of crash detection tech in the new iPhones. This feature would be triggered in the event of an iPhone user being involved in a car crash or a similarly adverse situation. It would prompt the device to contact the authorities – if needed.

Meet iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra, and AirPods Pro. All that and more from the #AppleEvent

— Apple (@Apple) September 7, 2022

Apple iPhone 14 – What’s the price?

In India, as per the listings on Apple’s web store, the base iPhone 14 will start at ₹79,900. If you are looking to go for the Pro models, then the base phone would set you back by ₹1,29,900.

During the one-and-a-half-hour-long keynote, Apple's executives took half the time talking about iPhones, and a lot more things were discussed. All of those, along with the features that we covered in this article, would be put to the test if and when the iPhones drop into the Digit Test Center.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in

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Satvik Pandey

Satvik Pandey, is a self-professed Steve Jobs (not Apple) fanboy, a science & tech writer, and a sports addict. At Digit, he works as a Deputy Features Editor, and manages the daily functioning of the magazine. He also reviews audio-products (speakers, headphones, soundbars, etc.), smartwatches, projectors, and everything else that he can get his hands on. A media and communications graduate, Satvik is also an avid shutterbug, and when he's not working or gaming, he can be found fiddling with any camera he can get his hands on and helping produce videos – which means he spends an awful amount of time in our studio. His game of choice is Counter-Strike, and he's still attempting to turn pro. He can talk your ear off about the game, and we'd strongly advise you to steer clear of the topic unless you too are a CS junkie. View Full Profile