iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max first impressions: Big changes, but at a big price!

Apple’s brand new iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max have been launched and Gadgets 360 is at Apple Park in Cupertino to bring you a first look at these devices. The launch of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max has put an end to all the rumours and speculations. This is interesting because the devices I have are not what I was expecting – or maybe it comes as a big shock. There’s a lot to talk about apart from the new Dynamic Island front camera design. If you’ve always loved having the latest and greatest iPhone or have been waiting for an upgrade, read on.

iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max price in India

As a result of the strength of the US dollar, Apple’s new Pro phones are much more expensive in India than their earlier models. Whereas there has not been much difference in their price in America. The price of iPhone 14 Pro starts at Rs 1,29,900 for the 128GB variant. The iPhone 14 Pro with 256GB variant comes for Rs 1,39,900. The 512GB variant comes for Rs 1,59,900 and the 1TB variant comes for Rs 1,79,900. If we move towards the bigger model iPhone 14 Pro Max, its price is Rs 10,000 more at every level. Thus, the 128GB, 256GB, 512 GB and 1TB variants of the iPhone 14 Pro Max are priced at Rs 1,39,900, Rs 1,49,900, Rs 1,69,900 and Rs 1,89,900 respectively. It is still not clear why the difference between the prices of iPhone and iPhone Pro in India is so much more than in other markets. Apple should use the same multiplier for its products, but it does not.

The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are officially discontinued, but should continue to be available at discounted prices from third-party retailers for the time being.

iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max “Dynamic Island”

So, all the rumours about the Apple iPhone 14 series have turned out to be true. But whatever was revealed was only a small part of the whole story. This is a reminder that we should not jump on the bandwagon based on leaks alone. Also, this is a glimpse of how technology can surprise us. I think Apple is thrilled to know how it can surprise people. And as a spokesperson said, it is Apple’s special dedication to design hardware and software that make things happen this way.

A number of leaks and renders over the past few months have made it clear that Apple is going to switch to a pill and hole camera cutout design. It looks pretty odd, but it’s not hard to imagine that Apple is just trying something different. This is the same company that gave us the idea of ​​the notch, tried unsuccessfully to bring in the Touch Bar, and once even claimed that a buttonless and screenless iPod was a good idea.

The latest leaks before the phone was revealed were going in the right direction to a large extent. The cutout given at the top in the front has an empty space between the pill and the hole. But this is not visible to the users because this hole has been expanded with the help of software, so that you can see a black patch. It has been integrated with the user interface, which gives notifications and status indicators, and it is also interactive. Apple has worked on many types of animations and transitions in it, so that this strange looking patch becomes very useful.

I am glad that full screen videos don’t play around these two holes. I would have been bothered by even one hole here. I am excited to see how Apple uses its hardware and software prowess to make this a useful UI element. The active display area expands into a notification popup when needed, otherwise it just shows things like a small album artwork when music is playing, charging, or a payment indicator etc. Apps can use this area to display an ongoing activity. You can have two activities open at a time – the second activity appears in a small circular bubble to the right of the island. This is where I agree with Apple, which turns out to be the actual pill and hole arrangement as reported by leakers.

Overall, it is undoubtedly a nice improvement over the notch, and makes the premium iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max a fresher feeling device. It is a distraction when watching full-screen videos but we have to get used to it. In short, the camera seems to obstruct the display area. No part of the island is a dead zone for touch, meaning the island doesn’t obstruct swiping and touch works no matter where your finger is moving in the island.

Design of iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max

This year Apple has used a deep purple color as its signature color, which is quite deep. The color is very dark and de-saturated, which makes it look gray with a light shade. Other options include space black, silver and gold colors. The frames of both smartphones are made of polished stainless steel. The iPhone 14 Pro weighs 206 grams, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max is much heavier, weighing 240 grams.

In terms of shape and proportions, not much has changed since the iPhone 12 Pro series. The phone has a flat back and a frame all around – the MagSafe accessory ecosystem constrains Apple a bit here. The camera module at the rear has gotten a bit bigger, so last year’s phone back covers won’t work here. If you’re in the US, you’ll find the phone lacks a SIM tray – this is a goal Apple is working on, but it has its own disadvantages, and India has been kept away from it for now.

There’s a Lightning port at the bottom. Rumors say Apple will move to USB Type-C next year. This will be legally required in many countries, but it makes a lot of sense to have it anyway.

iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max display and specifications

Dynamic Island is exclusively for Pro handsets as the company can take advantage of the price of the display technology it has. The Super Retina XDR display is now slightly larger and the borders have become thinner. Apple claims a peak brightness of 1600 nits for HDR and these panels are rated to deliver up to 2000 nits of brightness outdoors. The refresh rate can go down to 1Hz to save power.

For the first time, iPhones have an Always On Display and this is a big change. It is presented in Apple’s own style and a special visual style has been adopted for this. Instead of showing simple graphics or plain text on a black background like Android phones, it is simply presented in the form of your iPhone’s lockscreen, but in a very dim form. With the help of machine learning, the brightness is reduced according to the wallpaper image but the details are retained. The lockscreen widgets are also constantly visible.

Apple claims 29 hours of battery life with the iPhone 14 Pro Max and 23 hours with the iPhone 14 Pro. The improvements include a new A16 Bionic SoC. It has 16 billion transistors and is made using a 4nm manufacturing process. The company claims the highest power and efficiency in the industry with 6 CPU cores, 5 GPU cores, 16 Neural Engine cores and many other subsystems.

Cameras of iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max

Improvements have also been made in the camera department. The primary camera is 48 megapixels and quad pixel binning has been used for the first time. Apple has claimed that the sensor in the new iPhone is 65 percent larger than the iPhone 13 Pro. In most cases, the camera has been optimized to capture light, in which four pixels combine to become one, which clicks a 12-megapixel photo. Low-light quality is also said to be 2 times better. It is said that the subject will remain in sharp focus even in a blurred motion background. On the other hand, you can also optimize pixels individually, which gives more creative options for shooting and editing. The company has also given a new 2X zoom option that can crop a 48-megapixel image and turn it into a 12-megapixel high detail image. 48-megapixel ProRAW photos can also be taken from the phone. A new option called Action Mode has been added to the video feature, which crops the video and gives it stability as if it was shot with a gimbal.

The phone has a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera that has more focus pixels for macro photos and low-light shots can also be captured better. The front camera has autofocus for the first time and uses f/1.9 aperture for better low light shots. The 9-LED flash at the back is adaptive and also has intelligent pattern and intensity adjustment feature. We will see how all this works during the review.

Other new features include crash detection and satellite-based emergency messaging (currently only in the US and Canada). The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max run iOS 16, which brings some new capabilities.

The new Pro phones look fresh enough to entice people to upgrade. This time, the price difference between these and the non-Pro versions is the biggest ever. However, their hefty prices will keep them out of reach for many buyers. To decide whether you should go for the upgrade or not, be sure to check out Gadgets 360’s full review, which is coming up very soon.