Making its debut in September 2022, the iPhone 14 Pro introduced the Always-On display, the first-ever 48MP camera on iPhone, Crash Detection, Emergency SOS via satellite, and the Dynamic Island, which is an innovative new way to receive notifications and activities to the Cupertino-based company’s iOS powered smartphones.
Powered by A16 Bionic (6‑core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores 5‑core GP 16‑core Neural Engine), the smartphone keep things smooth and snappy whilst multitasking, navigating iOS 18, or even playing the most demanding mobile gaming titles such as Genshin Impact, Call of Duty: Mobile, GRID Autosport, or Alien: Isolation.
The design of the smartphone screams class and quality coming in a surgical-grade stainless steel frame and a textured matte glass back, with the device measuring in at 147.5 x 71.5 x 7.85 mm and tipping the smartphone scales at 206 grams. The centrepiece of this design, where you spend all your time interacting with this smartphone, is its 6.1-inch (2556‑by‑1179-pixel resolution at 460 ppi) Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion, which actually debuted the Always-On display functionality on the Pro iPhones for the first time. Moreover, this advanced display also brings the same peak HDR brightness level as Pro Display XDR, and the highest outdoor peak brightness in a smartphone at the time: up to 2000 nits, which is twice as bright as iPhone 13 Pro.display also brings the same peak HDR brightness level as Pro Display XDR. This screen sports a Ceramic Shield front cover that helps protect the smartphone from common spills and accidents with water and dust resistance.
While the iPhone 14 range was the last to use the lighting port still before the 15 series kicked off the iPhone’s USB-C era. Luckily, the built‑in rechargeable lithium‑ion battery is fast-charge capable, charging up to 50% in around 30 minutes with a 20W adapter while also being capable of up to 15W MagSafe wireless charging and up to 7.5W Qi wireless charging. It will get you through a working day whether you are a power or casual smartphone user.
In terms of optics, you get a now iPhone Pro standard 48MP main camera with a quad-pixel sensor that adapts to the photo being captured, and features second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization. The quad-pixel sensor also enables a 2x Telephoto option that uses the middle 12 megapixels of the sensor for full-resolution photos and 4K videos with no digital zoom. This delivers optical quality at a familiar focal length, which is great for features like Portrait mode. The quad-pixel sensor also brings benefits to pro workflows, optimizing for detail in ProRAW. And with a new machine learning model designed specifically for the quad-pixel sensor, iPhone now shoots ProRAW at 48MP with an unprecedented level of detail, enabling new creative workflows for pro users.
Additional features on the iPhone 14 Pro includes the fact that its dual-core accelerometer is capable of detecting G-force measurements of up to 256Gs and a new high dynamic range gyroscope, allowing Crash Detection on iPhone that can now detect a severe car crash and automatically dial emergency services when a user is unconscious or unable to reach their iPhone.
Another debut feature is Emergency SOS via satellite which combines custom components deeply integrated with software to allow antennas to connect directly to a satellite, enabling messaging with emergency services when outside of cellular or Wi-Fi coverage.
Ultimately, the iPhone 14 Pro is definitely still worth it if you pick it up second hand from iStore for a recommended retail prioce of around R16 999 or a decent used model from Meta’s Facebook Marketplace can be had for under R10k, so you should not be thinking of picking up a new one for R29 999 which you still can from local retailers. At that price you might as well go for the iPhone 16 Pro range or one of many flagship Android devices.
