Apple loves nothing more than using the word best. The new iPhone 14 Pro is the “best iPhone yet,” with a 48-megapixel camera system that lets you capture the “best photos and video.” It's usually easy to validate these claims after some real-world testing, especially with cameras. Newer, larger image sensors often outperform the old. But this year, the results are … complicated.
I've snapped more than 250 photos with four phones over the past few days, and last year's iPhone 13 Pro occasionally bested the brand-new model. Even where the iPhone 14 Pro came out on top, the improvements were so marginal that I'm left wondering if Apple just overhyped its product. Don't get me wrong, the 14 Pro has wonderful cameras—some of the best you can get in a smartphone, particularly when it comes to video—but the improvements aren't as dramatic as the company suggests.
A few other features overshadow these cameras, like the insanely bright display, which can now always stay on, so you never have to tap the screen. The Dynamic Island, which replaces the infamous Face ID notch, is a smart and fun way to make use of dead space. But I'd go so far as to say that, more than anything else, it's iOS 16 that makes this iPhone feel new. Go ahead. Update the iPhone you currently own. With all the new perks the software brings, you might not feel the need to upgrade the hardware.
The iPhone 14 range consists of the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max. I've mainly been testing the latter two (in black and “grandma purple," as my friend calls it) for the past week, but I'll be able to write up my thoughts on the cheaper iPhones soon. For what it's worth, most of the new upgrades announced this year are largely exclusive to the Pro models. At the top of the list? Dynamic Island.
No, it's not a button that transports you to the balmy Caribbean. It's the name for the module that houses the selfie camera and Face ID sensors. Gone is the notch in favor of a smaller pill-shaped cutout, like on a lot of Android phones, but Apple smartly makes use of this space as a second screen of sorts. (LG V10, anyone?) If you play some music, the pill expands slightly to show album art and a music visualizer. Tap it to hop into your music app, or press and hold it to access playback controls. It's the same when you get a phone call, start Maps navigation, or track a Lyft ride.