September is here, and so are Apple’s latest iPhone models. Today, on the first day of launch, The Apple Post has gone hands-on with the iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple’s largest, most advanced iPhone featuring an all-new Always-On display, the first-ever 48MP camera on iPhone, Crash Detection, Emergency SOS via satellite, and a new way to receive notifications and activities with the “Dynamic Island.”
One of the main new features of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max is the Dynamic Island, Apple’s name for the TrueDepth camera system, which now blends and adapts in real-time to show alerts, notifications, and activities, using the pill-shaped cut-out at the top of the iPhone’s display and dynamically turning it into part of the core iPhone experience. – See more about the Dynamic Island here.
The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max feature Apple’s first megapixel upgrade on an iPhone since the iPhone 6S in 2015. The all-new 48MP Main camera with a quad-pixel sensor is enhanced by computational photography upgrades, allowing shots to be captured in ProRAW at 48MP with “an unprecedented level of detail, enabling new creative workflows for pro users,” says Apple.
Image: The Apple Post
Available in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch sizes, both models include a new Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion that features an always-on display for the first time ever on an iPhone, enabled by a new 1Hz refresh rate and multiple power-efficient technologies.
The A16 Bionic chip in iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max powers all-day battery life. With two high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, the new 6-core CPU is up to 40% faster than the competition, Apple says the chip easily handles demanding workloads.
iPhone 14 Pro Max: Hands-On First Impressions
The second you look at the iPhone 14 Pro from the front, the new Dynamic Island catches your eye with its floating design rather than the fixed, protruding “notch” that we are all familiar with on the iPhone X and upwards. The Dynamic Island blends into the software, giving the black pill-shaped space at the top of the display a purpose, other than to house the TrueDepth camera system.
When connecting AirPods to the iPhone 14 Pro, the Dynamic Island will morph from its fixed state and show that the earbuds have been connected, when on a FaceTime Audio call, the Dynamic Island will change its appearance to represent a call UI, and when setting a timer, the Dynamic Island will again change its appearance to show different information on-screen.
Image: The Apple Post
Apple has always touted the importance of building hardware and software together, and the result of that strong philosophy shows with the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
On the rear, the design differences compared to last year’s iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are less notable, but still visible. The camera housing for the 48MP Main camera, Ultra Wide and Telephoto lenses has increased, making the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max incompatible with iPhone cases designed for previous-generation models.
Speaking of the rear camera, Apple has added “Action mode” to all four iPhone models this year, a new gimbal-like feature described as offering smooth-looking video that adjusts to significant shakes, motion, and vibrations. The new stabilization feature reduces motion while recording video to offer smooth video playback so that when a video is recorded on the go or where the camera isn’t still, the recording won’t show significant shakes or vibrations.
Image: The Apple Post
Further testing will show how well the new stabilization feature works in the real world.
The new iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are available in deep purple, silver, gold, and space black in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage capacities. Holding the iPhone 14 Pro Max doesn’t feel any different to holding the iPhone 13 Pro Max, despite a slight increase in thickness.
The first impressions of the iPhone 14 Pro Max are positive, with the Dynamic Island likely to become a fundamental part of the iPhone experience, especially as third-party developers begin to adopt support for Dynamic Island actions within their apps. I can understand what other reviewers have said about the new always-on display being a tad too bright, and I also can see the ever-so-slight reduction in bezel width around the display.
Image: The Apple Post
I look forward to further testing the iPhone 14 Pro Max and delving deeper into all that the device has to offer.
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