Render of what’s claimed to be iPhone 14 by Jon Prosser and RendersbyIan
Every Wednesday, AppleUnboxed lands in subscribers’ mailboxes. It’s an all-things-Apple guide to what’s going on with the world’s most fascinating company. Each weekend, I’ll be publishing just one item from a previous newsletter.
AppleUnboxed has much more stuff, including exclusive interviews, reviews before you can read them anywhere else (no, I mean anywhere—and the review below is an example of that), long-read features, comparison pieces, news items and more. To see all that, you’ll need to subscribe—and you’ll get it sooner, too. Sign up here.
Oh, and all previous AppleUnboxed newsletters are available, for subscribers’ eyes only, here on Forbes.
The article below is an updated an expanded version of what first appeared in this week’s newsletter, sent to subscribers on Wednesday, September 29.
Render of what’s claimed to be iPhone 14 by Jon Prosser and RendersbyIan
AppleUnboxed iPhone 14 Is Up Next
And you thought it was too soon for iPhone 14 rumors? Never. While it’s true that the iPhone 14 isn’t expected until September 2022, reports have been building since before the iPhone 13 went on sale. At least some of those newly-released phones, specifically the iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13 Pro Max, are all expected to be removed from sale when the next models are launched.
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Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, whose reports for the iPhone 13 had a decidedly mixed level of accuracy, is now reporting that iPhone 14, due exactly 12 months from now, will have a complete redesign. You can read Forbes’ Gordon Kelly on this rumor here. Gurman’s isn’t the only report that’s already describing next year’s iPhone range, but we’ll start there.
Gurman also feels that this year’s iPhone 13 is no major step up, which I’d disagree with, having used all four models for two weeks now.
However, because this year delivered what he considers to be very small updates right now, it may mean more exciting things ahead. “The minor changes this year also mean that Apple’s engineers were working behind the scenes on bigger things that will take more time. With the iPhone 14, you can expect new entry-level and Pro models and a complete redesign.”
Other reports have similarly suggested a redesign and promise intriguing changes.
Jon Prosser at FrontPageTech.com says that the phone will be thicker than it is at the moment, which is something given that the current iPhone 13 models have added a little thickness already and it sounds like this next change will be more striking. This is likely to mean a heavier iPhone 14, too.
However, Prosser also believes that there will be a titanium iPhone in the iPhone 14 range. Since titanium is incredibly strong but very light, this may mitigate the weight increase. Note, though, that it will probably be reserved for selected iPhone 14 models only.
Is this the iPhone 14? Render by Jon Prosser and RendersbyIan.
The cut-out at the top of the display, which has shrunk 20% on the iPhone 13 range, will be removed entirely and replaced by a holepunch, it’s claimed by Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities. I’ll be honest, I’m slightly sceptical of this as Apple rarely if ever delivers a new design for an element, as it just did with the smaller notch, only to remove it one year later.
However, Jon Prosser claims that Apple will go further and that the holepunch won’t be there at all, replaced by cameras underneath the display. That’s exciting but something makes me feel that next Fall is too soon for that. On the other hand, it would certainly fit with Gurman’s description of the next iPhone having a complete redesign. Kuo, however, says that it’s iPhone 15 that will see under-screen Touch ID—a feature previously rumored for the iPhone 13 which never transpired.
Render of what’s claimed to be iPhone 14 by Jon Prosser and RendersbyIan
Much more likely, I’d say, is the rumor that the back of the iPhone 14 will be completely flush, with no camera bump at all. That would look fantastic, and the iPhone would no longer wobble on the table when you type texts, for instance.
Even with a thicker iPhone, flush-fitting cameras is still quite a challenge. Still, as Jony Ive described the first protuberant iPhone cameras as a pragmatic rather than a design choice, it may be that Apple has been hoping to flatten the camera panel again when possible.
Gurman also claimed that a folding iPhone is on the cards but a few years away.
It’s worth saying that at this point in the cycle, it’s likely that much has been decided but that things can still change quite radically. At this stage my guess is that a lot of things will still be aspirational rather than set in stone. And, to be realistic, features are more likely to be dropped rather than added in external hardware terms at least.
Camera sensors could be changed—Kuo has predicted that there will be a 48-megapixel wide camera on the iPhone 14—and internal configurations rejigged to allow for a bigger battery or other component, for instance.
But it certainly looks like next year’s iPhone could be radically different.
One More Thing
This is your weekly pet photo treat. The excuse is to show off smartphone photography, though it’s just as much a moment of triumph if I’ve managed to encourage my dog to sit still long enough.
This week, a short video to show off the brilliance of Cinematic Mode. I’ll admit to wobbly camerawork—I was lying on the floor, you’ll understand—but the cool thing is that I did nothing manually for the focus. The iPhone 13 Pro decided that the fluffy toy was what should be in focus until a dog entering the frame to collect a just-tossed treat was more interesting.
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