The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus (at $799 and $899, respectively) are the more affordable of the bunch with a familiar overall build, vibrant OLED displays and upgraded cameras. Apple kicks things up a notch with the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max with always-on displays, the “Dynamic Island,” and some serious camera upgrades. We’ve spent some time with all four of them after Apple’s September keynote and they’re all up for preorder right now! The 14, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max will begin shipping on September 16, while the 14 Plus arrives on October 7. Here at Parade.com, we’re all about sharing products we love with our audience. When you make a purchase on an item seen on this page, we may earn a commission, however, all picks are independently chosen unless otherwise mentioned.
iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus
Aside from five fresh colors to pick from and slimmer bezels all around, the iPhone 14 looks pretty similar to the iPhone 13. But that’s not a bad thing. Apple’s modern, box-like design with rounded edges is really comfortable to hold in the hand and they’ve opted for premium materials. It’s still matte aluminum edges with strong glass in between. You can pick between purple, blue, midnight, starlight and (PRODUCT) RED. And while the iPhone 14 sticks with a 6.1-inch display, the 14 Plus goes extreme with a 6.7-inch display. You might be wondering what this brings to the table. Well, for starters, you can see more on the screen. Take Messages, for example—you’ll see more of a conversation without the need to swipe and videos look a whole lot more immersive on a larger screen. You’ll also still find the standard Face ID Notch right up at the top. However, inside that system is an enhanced front-facing camera that features autofocus for crisp images, and in testing in the hands-on space delivered more accurate results with lots of detail. AKA, say hi to my gray hair. Powering all of this is an A15 Bionic chip—yes, the same chip that powered the iPhone 13, but with an extra GPU core. So it’s essentially the same chipset that powered the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max. It’s still a state-of-the-art chip after a year and we don’t have any concerns with performance here. iOS 16 should run swimmingly—it can capture photos quickly and should get you well through the day. Apple is still promising all-day battery life with both of those, but specifically noted that the 14 Plus will have the longest battery life of any iPhone. You can pick between storage sizes of 128GB, 256GB or 512GB. In terms of imaging and videography, the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus feature a new 12-megapixel wide lens with a larger sensor and this is paired with some big photo enhancements. Namely a new “photonic engine” which starts earlier in the span of you hitting the shutter button and taking the photo, to get the perfect lighting and capture the best possible scene. We’re looking forward to putting this to the test, especially to see the low-light gains. It sits alongside a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens (which is similar to the one on iPhone 13), but will benefit from these software improvements. The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus (just like the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max) sport new sensors that will allow them to detect a car crash. This is a pretty critical safety innovation and one that, while you hopefully never need to use, could be a savior in the moment. In the same safety vein, Emergency SOS over Satellite will be arriving in November. So if you’re ever in a space with no cellular or Wi-Fi, let’s say somewhere in the mountains or on an adventurous hike, and you run into an issue, you can still call for help thanks to the iPhone 14’s new feature. A screen will ask you a few questions—what type of injury, are you on any medicine, etc.—and then tell you where to point your phone, as iOS will automatically crunch the contents down and send it off to the appropriate authorities to send help. It will be free for two years starting with any iPhone 14 as well, and is set to launch in November. So, in a nutshell, that’s iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. Apple’s clearly improving on a working formula, but new safety features, improvements to performance and battery, as well as camera improvements, should have this stand out from the bunch. If none of these scream out to you and you have an iPhone 13, you might not need to make the jump, but with an iPhone 12, 11, or older there’s a lot to gain from upgrading. You can also score up to $800 off an iPhone 14 or 14 Plus via a carrier like AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile with an eligible device trade-in and pairing it with an eligible plan. You can see full details via the links below. The other option is trade-in your current phone (iPhone or Android) for cash with a service like Decluttr. Apple’s iPhone 14 costs $799 for 128GB, $899 for 256GB and $1,099 for 512GB, while the 14 Plus is $899 for 128GB, $999 for 256GB and $1,199 for 512GB.
iPhone 14 (starting at $799; amazon.com, walmart.com, att.com, t-mobile.com, verizon.com)iPhone 14 Plus (starting at $899; amazon.com, walmart.com, att.com, t-mobile.com, verizon.com)
iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max
The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max kick things into high gear in two clear ways—the display and the cameras—as both of these make a big leap over the previous 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max. And let’s start with the removal of the Face ID notch, which is the biggest change to the iPhone since the iPhone X. Gone is the cutout notch at the top and there is a long pill-shaped cutout that is a bit lower. But rather than just holding the camera, it’s also a controllable software element. Apple calls this a Dynamic Island and essentially it can morph into different shapes and show information. Plugging your iPhone in to charge? Well, it will adapt to show you the percentage and a neat graphic. Putting it in silent mode, the element will show a confirmation of that. Listening to Music on Spotify or Apple Music? Well, when you close out of the app, you can monitor playback right from the top. It’s pretty freaking cool and after just a few minutes, you can tell this is going to change the game. And Apple didn’t stop there. The 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch Pro displays can get even brighter, have slimmer bezels all around and an always-on display. So when you’re not using the phone it dims, but your wallpaper, time, widgets and notifications are all still visible. And while it’s not the first always-on display, it’s different from Android phones like a Pixel or Samsung Galaxy in that it keeps the whole display lit. And Apple promises that it’s super efficient and smart—AKA it won’t turn on when it is in your pocket. Powering all of this is Apple’s first 4-nanometer chip, the A16 Bionic. And a lot of the improvements here are dedicated to powering the Dynamic Island, the upgraded displays and the cameras. And there’s a ton that is new on the back, starting with a new 48-megapixel wide camera, which is the main lens, and entirely new hardware that’s paired with the same software improvements as the iPhone 14. And rather than deliver a massive final result, Apple is grouping every four pixels together to provide more details, more colors and more accurate images. The result is also a final image that doesn’t take up too much space. It’s also paired with a 12-megapixel ultra-wide and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens—both of which are seeing improvements. It should be a pretty night and day experience and in total, the 14 Pro or 14 Pro Max can shoot at 0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 3x all optically. And like the iPhone 14, the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max also sport crash detection, satellite connectivity, all-day battery life, an enhanced front camera and will run iOS 16 out of the box. The other change is the removal of the SIM card slot, as every iPhone 14 in the United States will be an E-SIM device. The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max opt for more premium materials with stainless steel edges and a matte glass finish on the back. You can get the 14 Pros in a new “deep purple,” gold, silver or “space black.” The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max stand as the most epic iPhones yet. With key improvements across the cameras and a display that takes it to another level. We’re eager to go deeper with these and will circle back when we have. If you’re already sold, like the 14 and 14 Plus, the Pro and Pro Max are up for order. And with an eligible device trade in and plan pairing, you can save up to $1,000 off these phones.
iPhone 14 Pro (starting at $999; amazon.com, walmart.com, att.com, t-mobile.com, verizon.com)iPhone 14 Pro Max (starting at $1,099; amazon.com, walmart.com, att.com, t-mobile.com, verizon.com)
iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max Accessories
Of course, after you get the phone, you’ll need to get some cases. And to answer the question, iPhone 13 cases will not fit the iPhone 14, iPhone 13 Pro cases will not fit the iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max cases don’t fit the iPhone 14 Pro Max. All four of the iPhone 14s do support MagSafe for fast wireless charging and Apple—as well as third parties—have already dropped a number of cases for them. Here are some of our favorites so far.
Apple iPhone 14 Silicone Case with MagSafe in Storm Blue, Sunglow, Succulent, (PRODUCT) RED, Lilac, Elderberry, Midnight, or Chalk Pink ($49; amazon.com)Apple iPhone 14 Plus Silicone Case with MagSafe in Storm Blue, Sunglow, Succulent, (PRODUCT) RED, Lilac, Elderberry, Midnight, or Chalk Pink ($49; amazon.com)Apple iPhone 14 Pro Clear Case with MagSafe ($49; amazon.com)Apple AirPods Pro second-generation ($249; amazon.com)
Prices are accurate and items in stock at time of publishing.
