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This year’s new iPhones have the biggest gulf yet between the standard and pro models as Apple saved its best new display, camera and processing technologies for the more expensive devices.
The iPhone 14 — announced alongside new AirPods and Watches on Thursday morning at Apple’s first in-person California event since before the pandemic — greatly resembles last year’s iPhone 13 but has the option of a larger Plus model instead of a smaller mini one.
The new iPhone 14 Pro models have an animated notch at the top of the phone.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max add substantial improvements including a new more powerful A16 processor (the iPhone 14 uses last year’s A15), a new display that supports Apple Watch style always-on widgets and a smaller cut-out notch to house the Face ID hardware under the top of the display.
This new notch animates to show notifications or widgets like music players above other phone content, in a system Apple calls the Dynamic Island.
The Pro phones also have a new 48MP main camera, allowing for much greater light capture, 2x zoom shots with no loss of detail, and the option of huge images taken in the professional ProRAW format.
All iPhone 14 models have the new ability to detect when they’ve been in a serious car crash and call emergency services. They can also send SOS messages via satellite, but this feature is rolling out in November in the US and Canada only. Apple said the feature, which is free for two years but then comes with a fee, will make its way to other regions in the future but did not specify plans for an Australian rollout. It confirmed that Australian phones, if taken to a supported country, would be able to use the satellite feature.
Also in the US, the new phones have ditched physical SIM cards entirely in favour of e-SIM. Australian phones will continue to work with both.
Starting prices for the iPhones have raised $50 across the board since last year, with the standard model at $1399, the Pro at $1749 and the Pro Max at $1899. The new Plus model slots in at $1579. Apple will continue to sell the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 12 at $1229, $1049 and $1049 respectively.