Nearly 10 years ago, Tim Cook said that Apple was going to “double down” on product secrecy. Cook’s remarks at the 2012 D10 conference came in the wake of numerous iPad and iPhone design leaks. Despite Apple’s best efforts, however, there’s only so much that can be done to prevent leaks ahead of upcoming products.
The simple reality is that Apple’s supply chain is too vast and the appetite for Apple rumors is too insatiable. And so, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone that we’re already starting to see iPhone 14 features and design leaks make their way through the Apple rumor mill.
iPhone 14 features and design will look completely different
The iPhone 13 is a compelling upgrade, but looks-wise, it’s essentially the same as the iPhone 12. The iPhone 14, however, may usher in the most sweeping iPhone redesign we’ve seen since the introduction of the iPhone X a few years ago.
According to several reports, the iPhone 14 will do away with the notch. In its place will be a punch-hole selfie camera. Meanwhile, Face ID will remain but its sensors will likely be housed underneath the display. The end result will be more screen real estate.
Word of a notch-less iPhone first surfaced a few months ago and has since been corroborated by several credible sources. Over the last month alone, noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman have both said Apple’s iPhone 14 will eliminate the notch. Additionally, noted leaker Jon Prosser a few weeks ago shed even more light on the iPhone 14 design.
According to Prosser, the iPhone 14 will not only eliminate the notch, but will also eliminate the camera bump on the back. This should make for a sleeker device. If the camera bump does go away, it will be interesting to see if the iPhone 14 will be markedly thicker than the iPhone 13. There are also rumors that the volume buttons on the iPhone 14 will be circular.
In the wake of these reports, the ConceptsiPhone channel on YouTube published a video that illustrates what the iPhone 14 will probably look like. The final result is quite stunning.
What are the new iPhone 14 features?
The iPhone 14 design aside, we can expect to see a huge jump in camera performance on the iPhone 14. Kuo anticipates that the next-gen iPhone will take smartphone camera performance “to a new level.” Specifically, Kuo believes we’ll see a 48-megapixel sensor on the back.
“We believe that the new 2H22 iPhone may support direct 48MP output and 12MP (four cells merge output mode) output simultaneously,” Kuo said in an investor note.
“With 12MP output, the CIS pixel size of the new 2H22 iPhone increases to about 2.5um, which is significantly larger than the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13, and larger than existing Android phones, and close to the DSC level,” Kuo went on to say. “We believe that the camera quality of the new 2H22 iPhone will elevate mobile phone camera photography to a new level.”
As for other iPhone 14 rumors, the Lightning connector likely isn’t going anywhere. And despite rumors of Touch ID making a comeback, that’s not in the cards until the iPhone 15 at the earliest.
How many iPhone 13s did Apple sell?
Meanwhile, analysts believe that iPhone 13 sales are off to a strong start. iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max models are in particularly high demand. Notably, demand for the 1TB iPhone 13 model is exceptionally strong. And given that the 1TB model is expensive, it will only help boost Apple’s margins and bottom line. Analysts also believe that battery life improvements are driving upgrades.
On a related note, iPhone 13 Pro demand is outweighing supply. On some iPhone 13 models, new orders won’t even ship until October 26 at the earliest.
Make sure to check out our iPhone 13 review over here.
