iPhone 14 Pro review: A noticeable upgrade with smart enhancements for a familiar but refined premiu

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• The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max include the biggest upgrades and new features in years.
• At the same time, the experience is not dramatically different from previous models.
• Between the Dynamic Island and new 48-megapixel camera, there are a few good reasons to buy Apple's pro flagship smartphone.

People keep buying iPhones for the same reason they keep going to a favorite restaurant — they know what to expect and that it's going to be good. 

The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are everything I expect in the latest and most expensive variants. They're powerful, they have high-refresh-rate displays, unbeaten battery life, premium design and builds, and excellent cameras. 

The new Dynamic Island, always-on display, and 48-megapixel camera represent the biggest generational update in some time. But as is often the case with new iPhone models, there isn't anything in particular that screams "you must upgrade."

If you feel your current iPhone is getting tired and it's time to upgrade, the iPhone 14 Pro models will do you right. The same can be said even if you own a recent iPhone that still works perfectly well, but you might be underwhelmed, as you'll find that the iPhone 14 Pro will deliver pretty much the same experience.

• Dynamic Island is more useful than the notch
• Excellent battery life
• Stunning 120Hz display

• Always-on display needs more options
• eSIM-only could be limiting
• Still uses Lightning when everything else is USB-C

A familiar design, but the Dynamic Island makes a big difference

The iPhone 14 Pro phones look similar to the regular iPhone 14, and even iPhones as far back as the iPhone 12. But they're unmistakable thanks to the Dynamic Island.

The Dynamic Island is already making the notch feel outdated, both in looks and functionality. It's sleeker and doesn't take up as much space as the notch, and it offers helpful bits of information, shortcuts, and controls to basic apps running in the background, like a timer or a music streaming app. 

The Dynamic Island isn't life-changing in its current iteration, and it's odd that notifications still appear in a separate translucent rectangle underneath the Dynamic Island rather than expanding from it. It's likely to develop over time to become more useful.

The iPhone 14 Pro models are the only new iPhones with Apple's latest processor

It's unusual that new iPhones run on totally different processors — the standard iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus run on the same A15 processor as last year's iPhone 13, while only the iPhone 14 Pro models run on Apple's latest A16 processor. 

Does it mean that the iPhone 14 Pro models are more powerful than the regular iPhone 14? On paper, yes. But both phones open and run apps as quickly as each other, at least for now — the iPhone 14 Pro series will likely show its age a year later than the iPhone 14 models, especially when more demanding versions of iOS and apps are developed. 

Still, I don't anticipate a massive performance delta between the two phones later in their lives. The older A15 processor is still part of the latest iPhone lineup, which means it's as relevant as the newer A16 processor to Apple and app developers to maintain high performance.

With all that said, the iPhone 14 Pro models feel faster and more powerful thanks to their superior displays, which I get to below. 

An improved display is enough to skip the regular iPhone 14 for the iPhone 14 Pro 

The iPhone 14 series screens all display content in beautiful sharpness, colors, contrast, and brightness typical for iPhones. But the biggest difference between the regular iPhone 14 models and the iPhone 14 Pro models is a high refresh rate display — and it makes a big difference.

High refresh rate displays, like the iPhone 14 Pro's 120Hz display, make for smoother screen animations, and it gives the impression that the phone is more powerful. The iPhone 14's 60Hz display has been the standard for many years, but it's outdated in 2022 and screen animations look stuttery, which makes the phone feel sluggish by comparison. 

Apple's always-on display needs work

The new always-on display — also exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro models — makes it convenient to glance at the screen to check basic information like notifications, the time and widgets when the phone is locked rather than tapping the screen to wake it. But it needs work. 

The always-on display has been a feature on Android phones for years, but Apple's unique spin keeps a dimmed view of your lock screen wallpaper, colors and all, visible. If you find it distracting, there's no way to disable wallpapers from the always-on display. In fact, the only option for the always-on display is on or off, which is very limited. A few more customization options would be good here.  

Widgets also feel limited compared to those available for your homescreen — you don't get any options for widget placement, for example, so they can get in the way of your wallpaper's subject. The number of widgets you can add to the lockscreen is also limited to a single strip across the lockscreen.

The iPhone 14 Pro models come with the biggest camera refresh in years

Apple has used 12-megapixel cameras since the 2015 iPhone 6s, including the standard iPhone 14. The iPhone 14 Pro series, however, introduces a major camera upgrade: a new 48-megapixel main camera.

For regular point-and-shoot use, the main camera actually condenses those 48 megapixels into 12 megapixels in a process called "binning," which is suppose to improve lighting and help capture clearer details when lighting conditions aren't perfect. It also means photos are still 12 megapixels, which use up a manageable four-to-six-megabytes, whereas 48-megapixel photos can take up to 60 megabytes. 

From my test shots, I found that the iPhone 14 Pro overall has similar photo quality as the regular iPhone 14, and low-light shots are only marginally better, despite the Pro's 48-megapixel camera. That's likely thanks to Apple's new "Photonic Engine" software in the regular iPhone 14 models that's designed to improve low-light photo quality. 

In real-world usage, the iPhone 14 Pro's 48-megapixel camera is most appealing for a certain kind of user — photographers who often use their iPhones ProRAW camera mode. In ProRAW mode, photos are taken in full 48 megapixels to capture much more detail than a 12-megapixel camera, and photos aren't processed to look good, which photographers find helpful for editing.

For video, the iPhone 14 Pro is easily among the best options for its quality and natural color reproduction. Apple added the new "Action Mode" that stabilizes video when there's a lot of motion, like when you're running.  

The iPhone 14 Pro models continue to offer the best battery life out of any phone

Apple started dominating in terms of battery life with the iPhone 13 series in 2021, and the 2022 iPhone 14 Pro models are an extension of that dominance.

I tested the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro with a new battery test that involves two hours of video streaming at an average brightness (around 285 lux units), one hour of music streaming while connected to a pair of Bluetooth headphones, two runs of the intensive 20-minute 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test, and five runs of the Geekbench 5 benchmarking app. 

The iPhone 14 Pro ended the test with 58% battery life remaining, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max ended up with 67%. To compare, Google's latest Pixel 7 Pro with the same 6.7-inch screen size as the iPhone 14 Pro Max completed the test at 58%.

I still have to test the iPhone 14 Plus' battery life, which Apple claims has the longest in any iPhone it's made.

For transparency, I initially found that battery life on the iPhone 14 Pro models running iOS 16 was unexpectedly weak, but the latest update at the time of writing, iOS 16.0.3, addressed any issues.

In terms of charging, the iPhone 14 series continues to use Apple's Lightning standard, which puts it at odds with Apple's latest devices that use USB-C. It seems uncharacteristic that the company has a disjointed charging ecosystem for its devices — iPhones and AirPods use Lightning, while Macs and iPads use USB-C. It would be more convenient to have one single cable standard, like USB-C, to charge all your Apple devices.

A USB-C iPhone is rumored for next year's model, so there's hope for those who feel strongly about it. At the very least, I'm expecting that the 2024 iPhone will have USB-C, as the EU has mandated as much, and it's unlikely that Apple would release USB-C iPhones for Europe and Lightning iPhones for the rest of the world. 

New safety features, especially Crash Detection, make the iPhone 14 series even more tempting

The iPhone 14 series, including the regular non-Pro iPhone 14 models, have built-in sensors for a feature called Crash Detection. It's meant to detect if you've been in a car accident and contact emergency services automatically, which is an incredibly meaningful safety feature. 

Crash Detection is so meaningful, in fact, that I'd recommend you go for the iPhone 14 series rather than an older iPhone model without the feature. If your budget constraints you to an older model, don't worry — your next upgrade will have it, as Crash Detection is likely to remain a feature on all future iPhone models.

Apple also included the SOS Emergency feature that lets you reach emergency services via satellite if you're totally off the grid in the US and Canada. It's primarily designed for adventurers who get lost or injured in particularly remote areas, and while it's meaningful for those users, it doesn't apply to as many people as Crash Detection. 

Should you buy the iPhone 14 Pro?

Despite meaningful new features and hardware, the iPhone 14 Pro models deliver a typical iPhone experience that many recognize in their current older iPhones. 

However, those with the iPhone 12 series or older will appreciate the iPhone 14 Pro's fluid 120Hz display and the significantly better battery life — even more so than the camera and performance improvements, Dynamic Island, and always-on display, which are nice bonuses in this case. 

Apple is also removing the SIM tray in favor of eSIM. This could be inconvenient if you're upgrading from another phone or if you're someone who likes to swap phones (like us phone reviewers).

Crash Detection is also a deeply meaningful feature that you hope you never have to use. It's the kind of thing that you'd be glad you have, and it's worth considering if you're weighing less expensive options from previous years.

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