iPhone 14 Rumors: All the Super Camera Gossip and More
Apple may offer some exciting upgrades for the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Here's every rumor, leak and report we've heard so far.
Apple's iPhone 14 is likely still four months away from launch, and fans have a lot of questions about the new iPhone. Will screen sizes get bigger? Will there be a new display without notch? We have high hopes for Apple's iPhone 14, but only time will reveal its exact specs. Rumors, however, are providing an early glimpse at what the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro could look like. The latest buzz points to the iPhone 14 getting a better front-facing camera, courtesy of a possible new lens supplier.
We've also heard the iPhone 14 series may have under-display Touch ID, a more durable titanium alloy body, a hole-and-pill shaped cut display and a bigger camera bump, among other things. A shakeup of the four-phone lineup seems likely too, as Apple is expected to ditch the Mini.
Meanwhile, Apple's 2021 flagship phone series, which includes the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini and iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max (now available in green), has been on sale for a while now. While we wait for more intel on the iPhone 14, here's our comparison of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12, and the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11. Plus, here's how the iPhone 13 stacks up to Apple's last five years' worth of iPhones. We'll update this story as new information becomes available.
Early renders of the iPhone 14 from Jon Prosser suggest a notchless design and flush camera setup.
Jon Prosser
iPhone 14 lineup rumors: Will there still be four phones?
We don't know much about the iPhone 14 yet, but we've heard that Apple's next lineup will nix the Mini and focus on larger phones instead. A July report from Nikkei Asian Review predicted the death of the iPhone 14 Mini, and an April research note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo obtained by MacRumors also suggested that the Mini was not long for this world. However, Kuo reported, the iPhone 14 lineup will still comprise four models, a "high-end" and a "lower-end," with two size options for each.
While name speculation isn't as germane to the discussion of Apple's 2022 lineup as it was for unlucky 13, rumors suggest a small shift in naming conventions, with an iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Max and iPhone 14 Pro Max, with "Pro" designating higher-end specs and "Max" referring to the larger screen size.
iPhone 14 size rumors: Bigger screens for all
Apple's last two iPhone lineups have featured the same 6.1-inch size for the base model, going up to 6.7 inches for the Pro Max. According to the same July Nikkei Asian Review report, Apple will stick with these screen sizes for the iPhone 14, but delete the 5.4-inch Mini. This rumor is corroborated by a March report from 9to5Mac. Reports showed sluggish sales of the iPhone 12 Mini, so it'll be no surprise should Apple retire the small phone in 2022.
Although the size of the next iPhone is expected to stay the same, the display bezels for the Pro Max are rumored to be 20 percent smaller compared to previous iPhone generations, according to CAD renders shared by Twitter leaker ShrimpApplePro. This means the screen would be slightly larger. However, it's important to note that this rumor should be taken with a grain of salt since ShrimpApplePro doesn't have an extensive track record to support their speculations.
iPhone 14 rumors: Will there be a SIM card?
In 2020, rumors began to surface that iPhone was ditching physical SIM cards entirely, and now a chain of leaks suggests that the iPhone 14 might be the first line to do it. 9to5Mac broke down the cascade of leaks, which started with a Brazilian site claiming the iPhone 15 Pro would go physically SIM-less. Then MacRumors reported an anonymous tip that Apple was preparing major carriers for eSIM-only phones by September. Apple leaker DylanDKT confirmed being "in agreement" with reports of the tray for physical SIM cards being removed, though his Twitter account has seemingly disappeared since.
Rumored iPhone 14 screen sizes
iPhone 14 6.1 inch iPhone 14 Pro 6.1 inch
iPhone 14 Max. 6.7 inch iPhone 14 Pro Max 6.7 inch
Release date: iPhone 14 will likely arrive fall 2022
There haven't been any reputable release date rumors for the iPhone 14 as yet, but we expect Apple to hold its annual fall iPhone event in September, as it does almost every year, with the phones being released shortly thereafter, usually the following Friday. Sometimes Apple will stagger release dates for specific models, especially when introducing a new design or size. So it's possible that the iPhone 14 lineup will have more than one release date.
Here's what we know:
Apple likes to hold its events on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Apple's iPhone 13 event was held on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
iPhone release dates are typically a week and a half after Apple's announcements.
In general, new iPhones are released on a Friday, around the third week of September. For the iPhone 13, preorders began Sept. 17 and the phones went on sale Sept. 24.
iPhone 14 price: Will Apple lower the cost in 2022?
There's no word either way on iPhone 14 pricing, but Apple didn't make any big price changes between 2020's iPhone 12 and 2021's iPhone 13, so the existing price structure is at least a good place to start our speculation. However, Kuo predicts the high-end 6.7-inch phone (the iPhone 14 Pro Max) will launch at a record-low price, under $900. Compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which ranges from $1,099 all the way up to a staggering $1,599, that's quite a steal.
Camera rumors: A better front-facing camera and more for the iPhone 14
Apple may have a few camera upgrades in store for the upcoming iPhone 14. Rumors say the tech giant has chosen a new supplier for its front-facing camera to make a higher-end lens. According to a report from Korean tech site ET News, citing unnamed industry sources, South Korean supplier LG Innotek will provide the new selfie camera for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro.
Kuo also shared insights about the iPhone 14's potential camera upgrades in an investors note reported on by 9to5Mac just after the iPhone 13 launch. In the note, Kuo predicts a hole-punch front camera, making the iPhone 14 notchless, as well as a 48-megapixel wide rear camera for the Pro and Pro Max models, up from 12 megapixels on previous iPhones.
Display analyst Ross Young hypothesizes, however, that the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max will have a hole-and-pill shaped design to accommodate for the front-facing camera and Face ID. The hole cutout is believed to be for the Face ID dot projector, and the pill-shaped cutout holds the front camera and Face ID camera, according to a January report from MacRumors. Supposedly leaked CAD renders of the iPhone 14, seen by 91mobiles, corroborate this rumor.
Kuo's speculation regarding the camera's megapixel capacity aligns with both a recent research note from Haitong International Securities, also reported on by MacRumors, and a report from research company TrendForce. Both Jeff Pu and TrendForce hypothesize the two Pro models will be equipped with a 48-megapixel wide lens. Pu, however, adds that the iPhones will sport a triple-lens rear camera system with a 12-megapixel ultrawide and telephoto lenses in addition to the 48-megapixel wide lens. The analyst adds that the Pro versions of the iPhone 14 could sport 8GB of RAM, as well. (In comparison, the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max have 6GB.) This is corroborated by a report from a Korean blog that cites domestic supply chain sources, as MacRumors spotted.
iPhone 13 camera upgrades include a new Cinematic mode, ProRes video and some improvements in zoom capabilities. We had previously reported on rumors that the entire lineup would feature lidar, the iPhone 12 Pro's standout depth-sensing feature, but lidar ended up making an appearance only on the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max after all. It's possible Apple might expand the feature to its full lineup in 2022 instead, but we haven't heard anything yet.
Another of the camera features we're still waiting on is an improved telephoto lens. While the iPhone 13 Pro's zoom capabilities were given a 3x optical zoom, it still pales in comparison to a lot of competitor flagships, including Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra, which boasts a 10x optical zoom.
iPhone 14 could have a camera setup that's flush with the back of the phone, nixing the chunky camera bump.
Will iPhone 14 get under-display Touch ID?
The feature that seems to get kicked down the road the most in Apple rumor world is the return of Touch ID. Early rumors supported the Touch ID's return coming in the iPhone 12, and when that didn't happen, speculation turned to the iPhone 13. But even before the iPhone 13 launched (sans Touch ID), word on the street had shifted again: iPhone 14 would surely be it. Now, that's looking less likely, too. In late September, Kuo predicted that it won't be until 2023 that the iPhone regains Touch ID technology. That would be… the iPhone 15?
Design rumors: iPhone 14 might be notchless... or will it?
YouTuber and iPhone leaker Jon Prosser (whose track record is admittedly spotty) made waves the week before the iPhone 13 announcement by releasing renders he commissioned of the iPhone 14 Pro Max based on "real images and schematics" leaked to him from purported sources at Apple.
Read more: iPhone 14 Design Rumors
Prosser's renders corroborate a number of previously reported rumors, including the notchless display and hole-punch camera previously reported by Kuo, and the iPhone 14 Pro's titanium alloy chassis, which was first referenced in a July report from JPMorgan Chase. We'd been expecting to see the iPhone 13 go notchless, but instead we got a slimmed-down, but still very notchy, notch. Apple introduced the world to the notched display in 2017 with the release of the iPhone X, and as rivals solved the selfie conundrum with hole-punch and under-display cameras, Apple still hasn't, er, taken it down a notch.
But Prosser's renders seem to corroborate these earlier reports that Apple would finally excise the iPhone's notch in 2022. And Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also hinted at its removal in a September edition of his Power On newsletter, wherein he predicted a "complete redesign" for the iPhone 14, while Young says Apple could introduce a hole-and-pill shaped design for the new iPhone. This hole-and-pill display emerged in schematics on Chinese social media site Weibo, and were later shared by Prosser.
Those who've been crossing their fingers for a notchless iPhone since the iPhone 12 and had their hopes dashed once again by the iPhone 13 can now look forward to a potential realization of their all-screen dreams in 2022's iPhone 14. Although it's uncertain whether this rumor will become reality, a February report from Taiwan Economic Times (via MacRumors) suggests the iPhone 14 Pro's design has been finalized as it enters the early stages of manufacturing.
MySmartPrice recently published supposed CAD renders of the iPhone 14, depicting -- you guessed it -- a notch. But renders of the 14 Pro model published the day before on 91Mobiles do show a notchless display. If these rumors prove true, it looks like you'll have to spring for the Pro in order to get rid of the notch.
A schematic of the iPhone 14's display, shared to YouTube by Jon Prosser.
Jon Prosser
iPhone 14 says buh-bye to the camera bump but keeps the Lightning port
The other big design change Prosser's renders show is a flattened camera bump. According to Prosser, the iPhone 14's body is going to be a "thick boy," thick enough, it seems, to encompass all the camera hardware without an annoying, protruding camera setup on the back. Why is the iPhone 14 supposed to be so thick? Perhaps to house a bigger battery, or even the previously rumored periscope camera, which Kuo projected in 2020. However, Kuo and famed tech leaker Max Weinbach have actually pointed to a thicker camera bump in the 14 Pro and Pro Max.
Two prior rumors that won't pan out, according to Prosser at least, are the death of the Lightning port and the addition of USB-C (the EU may force Apple to add USB-C ports to iPhones, however). Rumors of a completely portless iPhone have been circulating for a while, but it appears those won't come true in 2022.
iPhone 14 color rumors: Pale gold, perhaps?
As far as colors go, Prosser's render colors were not based on any actual information from his sources, except for a pale gold color, which he claims to have seen evidence of himself. However, it's still early days, and Apple surely has not finalized its color lineup yet for the iPhone 14.
The iPhone 13 lineup came in a rainbow of new hues.
Apple
Rumored iPhone 14 features and specs
Here's everything else we know (and think we know) so far about the iPhone 14 lineup's specifications and potential new features.
Better battery life
Apple's 2022 iPhone could offer better battery life, according to a report from Taiwan's Economic Daily News (via MacRumors). This is said to be due to a new 5G chip that could also provide the new iPhone with Wi-Fi 6E connectivity.
Wi-Fi 6E adoption
The iPhone 14 could be equipped with Wi-Fi 6E, according to a November note from Kuo, reported on by 9to5Mac. However, the analyst says the components needed for Wi-Fi 6E may be in short supply. Apple's rumored VR headset is also said to have Wi-Fi 6E.
A16 chip
Previous speculation was that the whole iPhone 14 series would upgrade to an A16 chip, improving upon the last iPhone's A15 chip in keeping with Apple's previous pattern. However, Kuo predicted in March that the A16 will only appear in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, while the 14 and 14 Max will keep the A15.
120Hz ProMotion display
All iPhone 14 models could include Apple's ProMotion display, which only the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max variants currently have. ProMotion boosts the screen's refresh rate for smoother performance, up to 120Hz. This is more speculation than actual rumor, based on changes in Apple's supply chain that would make it easier for the company to offer the feature across its next lineup.
Young, however, speculates that Apple will continue to offer ProMotion displays exclusively to its Pro models. The analyst suggests that Chinese manufacturer BOE would be one of Apple's LTPO OLED display suppliers, but the company doesn't have a large production capacity right now.
5G connectivity
Apple introduced 5G connectivity to its iPhone 12 lineup and, unsurprisingly, included it in the iPhone 13 as well. There's no reason to believe we won't see 5G-compatible iPhone 14s, too. A July report from Nikkei Asian Review also predicts Apple will "go all in on 5G" in 2022.
MagSafe accessories
Like 5G, MagSafe was introduced to the iPhone in 2020's iPhone 12 lineup. The snap-on, magnetic accessories include wallets, battery packs and chargers, and it was one of our favorite iPhone 12 features. The iPhone 13 is also compatible with MagSafe, and we expect the same for Apple's next generation of phones.
Satellite connectivity
An 11th-hour iPhone 13 rumor via Kuo that didn't come to fruition was the addition of satellite connectivity, which would allow users to send text messages via satellite in areas without cellular coverage, at least in emergency situations, as reported by Bloomberg. Alas, satellite connectivity is nowhere to be found in the iPhone 13 lineup, but perhaps that means it's coming in the iPhone 14 instead.
Stay tuned for more iPhone 14 news as it comes out.
