I think the iPhone 14 Pro design is dichotomous.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro on the one hand, it looks a lot like the iPhone 13 Pro, only with an even bigger camera module. From the back, it can be hard to tell this phone apart from its predecessor unless you look closely at those lenses – admittedly, they’re noticeably larger thanks to the upgrades underneath.
On the other hand, the front of the new Apple phone looks very different. The notch is gone, replaced by a pill-shaped Dynamic Island. The old, tired iPhone design has finally gotten an update, though the notch is still bigger than the best Android phones because it includes Face ID.
Dynamic Island is actually quite interesting. It’s not just a static pill (vs. the punch on most Android phones). And Dynamic Island expands depending on what you’re doing, showing animations for many system actions like unlocking, playing music, timers, and so on.
When you tap and hold Dynamic Island while listening to music, it even turns into a media player. This way you can access media controls without having to download Notification Center.
Screen cutouts are here to stay for a while, at least until Apple figures out Face ID under the screen and under-display cameras get much better. But as someone who never got used to the notch — and has hated it since its inception — I like Dynamic Island. Not only does it look better than the notch, it offers real utility where its predecessor just sat and did nothing.
The iPhone 14 Pro has a stainless steel frame with a matte finish on the back glass. Apple Ceramic Shield covers the screen and provides extra durability. The phone weighs 7.3 ounces, which is a noticeable weight for such a tiny device. And like the iPhone 13 Pro, the iPhone 14 Pro’s massive camera bump ensures it won’t lie flat on a flat surface. This means the phone wobbles when you try to use it while it’s sitting on a table or counter. An iPhone 14 case can help with this.
I’m still not a fan of the angular edges first introduced on the iPhone 12, but this is no iPhone 14 Pro Max. The iPhone 14 Pro sharp corners less makes cumbersome, and more manageable size. The lighter weight also helps keep it from digging into your palm.
I like the new front design of the iPhone 14 Pro, despite my lack of enthusiasm for the same back. Apple takes a while to change things, but this is the third generation of the boxy design, which is less ergonomic than the curved back. I hope the iPhone 15 returns to this design, but for now the iPhone 14 Pro is largely the same. I just love the death of the notch.
iPhone 14 Pro review: Display
Samsung and Apple usually have the best smartphone displays on their mobile phones. The iPhone 14 Pro continues this trend. In fact, it’s the best display I’ve ever seen on a phone. From bold colors to insane brightness indoors and out, I’ve never enjoyed looking at a screen more than with the iPhone 14 Pro.
The iPhone 14 Pro display has improved slightly over the iPhone 13 Pro, especially in color reproduction and accuracy. (Delta-E measures it, where 0 is perfect.) But in our measurements, it didn’t reach a maximum outdoor brightness of 2,000 nits, even with a powerful test rig.
This year, the 120Hz ProMotion display returns, which can clock up to 1Hz and thus save battery power. This is also key to the new always-on display.
I watched Blade Runner 2049 all the way through on this display, enthralled by the incredible neons, grimy urban scenes and harsh oranges in the latter part of the film. The iPhone 14 Pro gave me the best viewing experience I’ve ever had for this movie, even surpassing my gaming monitor and TV. That is impressive.
The games look just as impressive. With a saturated palette and anime-styling, Genshin Impact looked amazing, especially at higher and smoother frame rates. Other titles like Pascal’s Wager (a Bloodborne-style daredevil Souls), Dead Cells and Asphalt 9 also looked great. The display and new chipset make gaming on the iPhone 14 Pro an absolute treat.
iPhone 14 Pro review: Cameras
Apple iphone 14 pro made sure got big cameras upgrades this year. The new 48MP quad-pixel main sensor. While not unique to Apple phones, the iPhone 14 Pro can take a 12MP image that adapts the phone to your lighting conditions with the full sensor, but with four times the detail thanks to the four-pixel setup. If you want, you can get the full 48MP shot in ProRAW, which is wild.
The 12MP ultra-wide sensor has also seen a boost with a new sensor that’s twice the size of the one on the iPhone 13 Pro. The telephoto lens is still 3x. I was hoping to see at least 4x to match the Pixel 6 Pro, but Apple instead added 2x optical zoom to the main sensor. So you have four zoom options with a 0.5x ultra-wide lens, a 1x and 2x prime lens, and a 3x telephoto lens.
New to this year’s iPhones is the Photonic Engine, which all iPhone 14 models have access to. It’s essentially a new model of computational photography that enhances photos in medium and low light by incorporating Apple’s Deep Fusion technology before images are compressed. The Photonic Engine promises increased dynamic range to bring out details even in low-light images.
The selfie camera on the iPhone 14 Pro has also seen some improvements. Autofocus is now standard, a feature I’ve wanted to see for a while. Apple says the faster TrueDepth camera aperture makes for better low-light selfies, which I tested below. The front camera also has access to the Photonic Engine.
I pulled out the iPhone 14 Pro’s biggest camera rival, the Pixel 6 Pro, to see how these changes translate into real photos.
Starting with this shot of the produce stand, the race is extremely close. In fact, it’s hard to tell the difference between the two photos.
Especially the purple eggplants and red tomatoes colors are vibrant in both shots. However, looking at the image of the iPhone 14 Pro, you can see that it is slightly brighter than the Pixel 6 Pro. The highlights in the tomatoes are more pronounced, while the Pixel has dialed things down a bit.
Both have a strong natural look, but I found the iPhone 14 Pro to more accurately capture the scene as I saw it.
iPhone 14 Pro Review: Video
Apple has strengthened its smartphone video dominance this year. Not only does Cinematic mode, introduced with iPhone 13 (now available in 4K 30 fps), return, but iPhone 14 Pro can record up to 4K 60 fps or 4K 30 fps in ProRes (on 256GB and larger models).
New this time is the action mode. This is basically extreme stabilization for video, where Apple claims you don’t need a gimbal when shooting video on the go. A great use case is when the subject is running, or when the cameraman is running, which you can see in my examples below.
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iPhone 14 Pro review: Battery life and charging
The iPhone 13 Pro blew me away with battery life, scoring 11 hours and 46 minutes in the Tom’s Guide battery life test. So I had high hopes for the iPhone 14 Pro. I have not been disappointed yet.
However, in our own battery life test — where we set the phone’s display to 150 nits and told the device to endlessly reload web pages over a cellular connection — the iPhone 14 Pro scored less than stellar. Here’s what we found.
iPhone 14 Pro Review: Software
Comes with iPhone 14 Pro iOS 16 out of the box. We’ve already broken down everything iOS 16 for you over the past few months, so be sure to check out our iOS 16 review if you want to know more about all the features.
There are two things I like most about iOS 16: the lock screen and the Focus improvements. I’m excited about the latter because I’ve recently taken the time to hone my focus modes and can now set custom lock screens and filters for different focus modes. I love it.
Apple has unlocked the lock screen for a lot of customization. You can add widgets, change the font of the clock, choose all kinds of effects for the background and so on. iOS 16 allows you to create multiple lock screens that you can switch between at your leisure. My current main lock screen includes a calendar widget, the weather, and the battery level of my Apple Watch.
iPhone 14 Pro review: Verdict
Based on my usage and time with the device, I’m confident that the iPhone 14 Pro is the best phone Apple has made. (I’m not a fan of big phones, so the 6.7-inch display on the iPhone 14 Pro Max doesn’t appeal to me.) Tom’s Guide content director Mark Spoonauer would argue that the new Pro Max is the best device — and he may be right, given the Pro Max’s longevity — but aside from battery life and screen size, the two phones boast the same capabilities.
With its incredible cameras, beautiful display and powerful performance, the iPhone 14 Pro surpasses any competition. It’s faster, smoother, and its cameras win against everything else, even the Pixel 6 Pro (though it’s close in some areas.
| Display size | 6.1 inches |
|---|---|
| Refresh rate | 1-120Hz |
| sRGB (%) | 120 |
| DCI-P3 (%) | 85 |
| Delta-E | 0.25 |
| Peak brightness (nits) | 993 (SDR) / 1448 (HDR) |
| CPU | A16 Bionic |
| Geekbench 5 (single-core / multicore) | 1891 / 5469 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited (FPS) | 74 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited (FPS) | 19 |
| Adobe Premiere Rush (Mins:Secs) | 0:26 |
| Battery size | N/A |
| Battery life (Hrs:Mins) | 10:13 |
| Charging | 20W |
| Recharge percentage (15 mins) | 30 |
| Recharge percentage (30 mins) | 57 |
| Storage: | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Rear cameras: | 48MP (f/1.8) main with 2x optical zoom, 12MP (f/2.2) ultrawide, 12MP (f/2.8) telephoto with 3x optical zoom |
| Front camera: | 12MP (f/1.9) Video: Up to 4K 60 fps, Cinematic 4K 30 fps, ProRes 4K 30 fp |
| Weight: | 7.3 ounces (206 g) |
| Colors: | Space Black, White, Gold, Deep Purple |
