Apple iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max review: Is this the start of a new era of iPhones?

Note: This review was first published on 30 September 2022.

For a company that prides itself on innovation, Apple did a strange thing this year by announcing the iPhone 14, which, apart from the larger iPhone 14 Plus, doesn’t seem all that different from last year’s phones at all.

And then there’s the new iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, which are also curious because even though they look a lot like last year’s Pro iPhones, they have new displays, new internals, and thoroughly updated camera systems. They may look the same but are, in fact, almost completely different phones. The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max are unquestionably the more interesting phones, so let’s take a deeper look at them now.

Display & design

There are big updates to the display. Sizes and resolutions are unchanged but the displays are brighter than before – up to eye-searing 2,000 nits when you are outdoors. The big news, however, is that the displays are now always-on and there’s something Apple calls the Dynamic Island at the top. Let’s address the always-on aspect of it first.

Yes, Android phones have had always-on displays for a while but Apple’s implementation is, as always, different and arguably better. To start, it’s surprisingly vibrant. To the point where, for the first few days, I had to check if I had actually put the display to sleep. Instead of simply using a blanket setting to dim the entire display, the display intelligently highlights certain information on the screen, such as the date, time, and your widgets so they remain super legible even if the display is sleeping.

The Dynamic Island is, simply put, a UI element at the top that was designed to hide the pill-shaped cutout for the smaller TrueDepth camera module. Essentially, it turns the pill-shape notch into an area where status indicators and widgets reside. Swipe up on apps and they minimise into the Dynamic Island where they can stay and where you can interact with them. 

For example, if you are playing music on the Music app and you wipe up, it becomes a mini-player in the Dynamic Island complete with a funky waveform animation. And if you tap on it, you immediately open the Music app again. You could also hold on to it to expand it to quickly play/pause and change tracks. It will also work with the Live Activities real-time notifications that will be coming later this year to iOS 16.

They say a video is worth a thousand pictures which then means it’s worth a million words, so here’s a video of it in action:

It’s a creative way of hiding the notch and it makes you wonder why hasn’t any Android phone maker think of it yet. At the time of writing, not all apps will work with Dynamic Island, but the notable ones that do include Apple Music, Apple Maps, Spotify, Amazon Music, Spotify Music, Audible, and more. It will be very interesting to see what developers do with it since there’s a rumour that says next year’s iPhones will all have the Dynamic Island.

There are also some concerns as to whether fingerprints and smudges will impact the TrueDepth camera and Face ID. The answer is no. Firstly, the Dynamic Island isn't designed to be something you interact with all the time. Think of it as a status or notification bar, and you may choose to interact with it from time to time if you need further utility from the app, but otherwise, it just sits there. Secondly, the TrueDepth camera never ever gets as dirty as the rear cameras do and that has never been a problem for the rear cameras so why would it be one for the front. Furthermore, Face ID relies more on the dot projector module and infrared camera rather than the lens camera to work.

As for design, nothing has really changed apart from the colours. Silver and Gold make their return and there’s a new Deep Purple which replaces Sierra Blue, and a new version of Space Black. My review units are the iPhone 14 Pro Max in Deep Purple and the iPhone 14 Pro in Space Black. Deep Purple looks grey in most situations and only reveals its purple hue under certain specific lighting conditions. Space Black looks like charcoal. Having seen all four colourways at the launch event, my pick of the four is Space Black.

 These phones still have the same squared-off flat sides and rounded corners that debuted on the iPhone 12 series. The chassis is still stainless steel and we still have highly polished sides. Though the buttons are all in more or less the same positions, the camera bump is now larger (to accommodate the bigger sensor), which means you’ll need new phone casings – check out our guide to phone cases for the iPhone 14. 

Emergency SOS & Crash Detection

Safety was a huge thing for Apple this year and the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max both come with a new safety feature called Emergency SOS via satellite that lets you send SOS messages via satellite if you don’t have a cellular or Wi-Fi connection. This can be extremely helpful if you somehow find yourself stranded in the wilderness. The service will go live in November and will be available initially only in the US and Canada. 

International travellers who purchased their iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max outside of the US and Canada can also use the service in the US and Canada when it goes live, unless their phones were purchased in China mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao. iPhones purchased in these places will not have this feature.

Another safety feature coming to the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max is Crash Detection, which uses the phones’ highly sensitive accelerometer and other sensors to detect if you have been in a serious car crash. And if it does, it can help contact emergency services and your emergency contacts, even if you are unresponsive. This feature is present on the Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra too.

Camera System

To start, the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max both have the same camera system and it has been updated quite extensively.

Making headlines is obviously the new 48-megapixel main camera. Apple calls it a quad-pixel sensor, which is basically its fancy name for pixel binning. For the most part, this sensor puts out 12-megapixel photos because what’s happening is that it is taking four of these pixels and combining it into one. You can use the full sensor and take 48-megapixel photos in ProRAW but be warned that it generates huge files that are around 70-80MB in size.

Also important to know is that this main camera is paired with a f/1.78 lens and it now has a slightly wider focal length of 24mm (versus 26mm). Also, its sensor is 65% larger and it features a second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilisation system. Furthermore, it has 100% Focus Pixels (phase-detect) for better auto-focusing performance.

Another benefit of having a larger sensor for the main camera is that the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max can now give you a 48mm focal length to take 2x telephoto photos. To be clear, this isn’t optical zoom because what’s happening is that it’s really just taking the middle 12-megapixels from that large 48-megapixels sensor to generate the image. In other words, it’s simulating the 2x telephoto zoom and 48mm focal length. It’s no different from the Leica Q2 simulates it's multiple focal lengths even if it only has a fixed 28mm prime lens.

Main camera aside, there are other updates to the camera system. The ultra-wide camera now has a sensor that is twice as large and has 100% Focus Pixels. And the front-facing TrueDepth camera finally has autofocus and a faster f/1.9 aperture lens that lets in 38% more light.

All cameras will benefit from a new mid to low-light image processing pipeline that Apple calls Photonic Engine. Essentially, Apple is taking its Deep Fusion process and applying it earlier in the image processing pipeline on uncompressed image data. By working with uncompressed image data, Apple says this will improve low-light photography by up to two to three times depending on which camera you use.

Alright, enough talk, let’s take a look at some sample photos now and see if there’s any discernible improvements in the cameras.

Sample photos & analysis

I want to draw your attention to the photos taken at 2x and 3x. Here, we can clearly see that the 2x photo is not as sharp as the one taken with the 3x telephoto camera. As I mentioned earlier, the 2x camera isn’t really “optical zoom” and you can see differences in picture quality if you look hard enough. Where it is most obvious is in low-light situations such as the stairway photo below. The photo taken with the 2x camera is noticeably noisier and fuzzier around the neon-lit sign. That said, I’ll concede and say that the differences are quite small when viewed on a phone screen and will more than suffice if all you are going to do is share them on your phones or on social media.

I do see quite significant improvements with the ultra wide camera. Objects in the foreground appear sharper and more detailed. And if we look at the photo below which was taken in a low-light situation, it’s remarkably sharp and detailed – particularly for an ultra wide camera. There are noticeable improvements in macro photography too. It unquestionably captures more detail. In the sample photos below, you can easily make out the sunburst finish on the dial of the watch and how sharp the “Grand Seiko” print is. And in the toy, you can clearly see its textured finish.

Night Mode photography remains good but I noticed that, in some instances, Apple seems to be brightening objects and lifting highlights a little too aggressive. For example, in the photo of the lock below, the actual scene was considerably darker. The lock and the latch also looks heavily processed and unnaturally sharp. Still, the amount of detail that the new larger 48-megapixel sensor can capture is commendable.

Closing thoughts on imaging performance

No surprises here, the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max have fantastic cameras and take solid photos. Though the new larger 48-megapixel sensor didn’t really translate into huge leaps in photo quality, it is irrefutably better than last year’s iPhones, particularly in low-light conditions. That said, Apple’s image processing seems to be more aggressive than ever so photos have the tendency to look over-sharpened. I hope that they rein this in.

Where I think the new sensor really shines is in the ability to take full-resolution 48-megapixel photos in ProRAW which pro users will probably appreciate the most. Unfortunately, because the files are so big, I can't show them here. Not only does this give them the flexibility to crop in post-production, but I also find the photos taken in ProRAW to look more natural and pleasing. The trade-off, of course, is huge file sizes.

The 2x camera is also a nice middle ground to have especially considering the popularity of the 50mm focal length. However, you are sacrificing some image quality when using it, particularly in low-light conditions. The biggest improvement for me is the ultra wide camera. The larger sensor captures noticeably more detail and is especially apparent when taking macro photo where detail is everything. 

Video Performance

iPhones have always taken really good videos and it’s no different here. Folks hoping to get 8K video-recording capabilities will be disappointed because there is none. Instead, Apple is banking on the fact that this is still the only smartphone in the world to shoot in ProRES and the only device in the world with an end-to-end workflow in Dolby Vision HDR. And as you can see from the demo videos below, the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max give very nice footage. Visuals are crisp and sharp, and colours look vibrant and natural. That said, lens flare issues continue to be a problem at night.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t improvements. Firstly, the second-generation sensor shift optical image stabilisation should mean more stable videos when using the main camera. Secondly, there’s a new Action Mode designed to give shooters a smooth video even if they have to move around a lot. Lastly, Cinematic Mode has been updated to shoot in 4K and at up to 30fps and including 24fps. 

Action Mode is arguably the feature most people would use because it gives you even more stable footage. While you can still shoot in ProRES or Dolby Vision HDR in this mode, you are, however, limited to 2.8K resolution and at 60fps. 2.8K is still plenty, and really, the only time you’ll notice the drop in resolution is if you are viewing the footage on a 4K screen. The reason it shoots at a lower resolution is because it is over-scanning and advanced roll correction to help keep footage level despite your motion. In other words, it’s cropping and correcting your footage.

Crucially, as you can see from the demo videos below (normal hand-held video first, Action Mode video below), the feature works and it gives you significantly more stable and even gimbal-like videos even if you are only walking up steps and panning. The only caveat is that it requires a lot of light to work. By default, it will only work outdoors, but there’s a low-light setting you can turn on in the Camera app, but even then, you still need a relatively well-lit environment for Action Mode to work.

Play

Play

Introducing A16 Bionic

The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max are the only phones this year to get the new A16 Bionic chip. The chip is built using TSMC’s newest 4nm process and it has nearly 16 billion transistors – A15 Bionic has 15 billion. It has the same core configuration as previous A-series chips, this means two performance cores and four efficiency cores. It also has five GPU cores.

As usual, Apple makes remarkable claims about its new chip. Compared to its predecessor, Apple says we can expect up to 10% faster CPU performance from the A16 Bionic. It also says A16 Bionic's CPU performance is up to 40% faster than any other rival smartphone chip. One reason the A16 Bionic is so fast is because it has 50% more memory bandwidth than A15 Bionic. Apple also says that at the same performance level, the new high-efficiency cores of A16 consume just a third of the power of even the best efficiency cores from the competition. Let’s see how it performs in our benchmark tests.

Geekbench 5

Geekbench CPU is a cross-platform processor benchmark that tests both single-core and multi-core performance with workloads that simulate real-world usage. Geekbench 5 scores are calibrated against a baseline score of 1000, which is the score of an Intel Core i3-8100. As a result, Geekbench 5 scores are not comparable against those of Geekbench 4, whose baseline score is derived from an Intel Core i7-6600 processor.

On Geekbench, Apple's claims of 10% faster CPU performance are about right. Single-core scores were about 8% better whereas multi-core scores saw bigger jumps of as much as 15%. Against the competition, specifically, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 5G, the A16 Bionic’s single-core scores were about 42% faster and its multi-core scores were about 40% better. Overall, it seems Apple's claims were spot on.

The new iPhones were also put to the test in Geekbench’s Compute benchmark which measures GPU performance. 

The A16 Bionic’s gains on the Compute benchmark were more modest. If we compare it to the more powerful version of the A15 Bionic with five GPU cores, the A16 Bionic’s gains were about 7%. 

JetStream 2

JetStream 2 is a combination of a variety of JavaScript and Web Assembly benchmarks, including benchmarks that came before like SunSpider and Octane. It primarily tests for a system’s and browser’s ability in delivering a good web experience. It runs a total of 64 subtests, each weighted equally, with multiple iterations, and takes the geometric mean to compute the overall score.

The A16 Bionic’s gains on JetStream 2 were significant. Compared to last year’s Pro iPhones which have five GPU cores, the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max posted gains of around 17%. They also increased their lead over their Android rivals. Even the fastest Android phone couldn’t even manage half the score of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.

3DMark Wild Life Unlimited

3DMark Wild Life is a new cross-platform GPU benchmark measures graphics performance on iOS, Android, and Windows devices. This means you can compare scores of devices regardless of platform. On iOS devices, it runs Metal; and on Android and Window devices, it runs Vulkan. This benchmark comes at a good time because prior 3DMark GPU benchmarks for mobile devices (like Slingshot and Ice Storm) are woefully old and use outdated graphics engines and rendering techniques. The benchmark is ran in Unlimited mode which renders the test offscreen and maximises the performance of the GPU.

The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max are the first phones to break the 12,000 mark on this benchmark. However, the gains were modest. Again, if we compare them to last year’s Pro iPhones with five GPU cores, their scores were about 6% better. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips have made significant progress in graphics performance, but even the flagship Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip trailed by around 15%.

Battery life

Our standard battery test for mobile phones has the following parameters:

• Looping a 720p video with screen brightness and volume at 100%
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
• Constant data streaming through email

Let’s take a look first at the battery capacities of these phones. Curiously, the iPhone 14 Pro Max has a marginally smaller battery than the iPhone 13 Pro Max. On the other hand, the iPhone 14 Pro, as well as the iPhone 14, both have slightly larger batteries.

Despite the slightly smaller battery and brighter display, the iPhone 14 Pro Max still lasted 22 minutes longer than last year’s iPhone 13 Pro Max. As for the iPhone 14 Pro, it lasted half an hour longer. In the real world, both phones would easily last an entire day, although it did feel like they were down a little quicker than before. But it’s hard to say if it’s due solely because of the always-on display or if it’s because I recently switched to a 5G plan. Regardless, battery life is not a concern because you have to be trying really hard to drain these devices in a single day.

What do these phones cost?

Before we discuss buying advice and closing thoughts, let’s look at the prices of these phones. Flagship-class phones have gotten very expensive and the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are some of the priciest phones you can buy right now. If it’s any consolation, Apple hasn’t increased prices despite all that is going on in the world right now. 

Storage starts at 128GB which should suffice if you don’t have the need to run large apps and have an iCloud storage subscription to offload your photos to. The 1TB option is probably a must for users who intend to shoot mostly in 48-megapixel ProRAW.

Buying advice

Let’s address users with last year’s Pro iPhones. As is the case with most phones these days, there’s no real need to upgrade if you are using last year’s flagships. The always-on display is definitely nice to have, as is the larger 48-megapixel camera, but I don’t think they are groundbreaking enough to warrant an upgrade unless these things are really, really important to you or if you can get an irresistible offer for your old phone. Only upgrade if your phone is two years or older, that has been my advice for the past couple of years and it remains true this year.

Avid photographers might have a harder time deciding because the 48-megapixel sensor is a notable upgrade but only if you intend to shoot mostly in full-resolution ProRAW. Remember, by default, the main camera puts out 12-megapixel photos.

Against the iPhone 14, I think there’s no comparison. As I said in an earlier piece, the updates to the iPhone 14 are minimal and it probably makes better sense to hunt down an iPhone 13 Pro instead. They both have the same chip and camera system, and you get the nicer ProMotion display on the iPhone 13 Pro. If you do intend to upgrade this year, it makes sense to stretch your budget and get an iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max. Yes, it costs a lot more, but I guarantee you it’s worth it.

Closing thoughts

The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max are great phones with irreproachable build quality, gorgeous displays, terrific cameras, and blazing fast performance. They also come with useful new features that I hope no one would ever have to use: Emergency SOS via satellite and Crash Detection. Anyone who owns these phones will be very happy.

That said, there are some thoughts worth pondering. The iPhone 14 lineup is a little curious this year because it seems like Apple wants to make changes to the way it positions its iPhones. It looks like they are trying to create more differentiation between the “Pro” iPhones and regular iPhones. 

Consider that the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max are the only ones to receive the always-on display, Dynamic Island, significantly upgraded camera systems, and a new chip, while the iPhone 14 is mostly a parts bin update, getting the chip and camera from last year’s iPhone 13 Pro. Perhaps we are too fixated on the design, but if you think about it the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max really are new phones – just wearing last year’s clothes. 

Ultimately, it just means that the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max are solid phones and, more than ever, fully live up to their “Pro” labels. They are absolutely the phones to get if you are upgrading this year. 

	Click to see the score breakdown
	Click to see the score breakdown

You can pre-order the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max from the Apple Online Store, Amazon, the Apple Flagship Store on Lazada, or the Apple Official Store on Shopee.