Apple officially announced its new iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus models today during an event that was pretty light on surprises. As expected, the new iPhone 14 will keep the same design as the iPhone 13, and the bigger iPhone 14 Plus model will come with a 6.7-inch screen and a larger battery. 

Both the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus use the same A15 Bionic chip as last year’s iPhone 13. However, there’s an upgraded camera system with a new 12MP main camera with a larger sensor and faster aperture. The new 12MP TrueDepth camera on the front also gets Autofocus support and better low-light performance.

Apple said today that both models have an updated thermal design to improve performance in games. However, the OLED displays on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus still don’t support Apple’s ProMotion technology, which remains exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro line.

This year, the iPhone 14 is pushing the adoption of eSIM technology: In the US, all iPhone models won’t have a SIM tray and AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have agreed to support eSIM on the iPhone 14. This technology will make it easy to transfer an existing cellular plan to an iPhone 14 or get a new plan digitally. It will also be possible to store multiple eSIMs on the same device. 

The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus also come with new sensors enabling a new car crash detection feature. In the US and Canada, it will also be possible to use these iPhones to contact emergency services via satellite when cellular connectivity isn’t available. This feature will launch in November and will be free to use for the next two years. 

The iPhone 14 will start at $799 and the Plus model will start at $899. Both models will be available to pre-order starting Friday, September 9, and the iPhone 14 will start shipping on September 16. The iPhone 14 Plus, however, will start shipping on October 7.  

Tagged with Apple, iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus