Technologies

iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max Review: Welcome to Apple’s Dynamic Island

Apple upgraded its new Pro iPhones in ways both large and small without raising the price.

This story is part of Focal Point iPhone 2022, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Apple’s most popular product.

Nov 2022

Editors’ Note: The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max come with improved cameras, iOS 16, the fastest phone processor we’ve ever tested, and an upgraded yet familiar design. Features like the Dynamic Island and Emergency SOS via Satellite make the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max some of the best phones you can buy in 2022, which is why they received a CNET Editors’ Choice Award. The original review follows.

Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max may look identical to last year’s iPhone 13 Pro on the back, but don’t let that fool you. It’s the iPhone 14 Pro’s screen where there’s something different and wonderful going on. The iPhone’s display notch, which has defined Face ID iPhones since 2017’s iPhone X, has been replaced with a pill-shaped screen cutout that houses an upgraded TrueDepth camera system. On its own, that cutout will make some people happier than the notch did. But it’s the space around the cutout, which now shows system alerts and background activities, that’s become one of my favorite features.

Apple calls it the Dynamic Island, and it enlarges and shrinks when you receive a call and to display the music you’re playing, timers and other notifications. I know it’s not the best name, but it’s truly one of the best features on the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max.

9.2

Apple iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max

$999 at Apple

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Like

The Dynamic Island is delightful
Main camera takes excellent photos
A16 Bionic chip is blazing fast

Don’t Like

Telephoto camera is only good in bright light
Wish there was an easier way to simplify the always-on display
Both phones are hefty

The new Apple phones also get upgraded cameras, a faster processor, an always-on display and iOS 16 as well as new safety features including Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via Satellite.

The 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro starts at $999 ( 1,099, AU$1,749) and the 6.7-inch 14 Pro Max at $1,099 — which are the same prices as 2019’s iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max. After spending some time with the phones, I think they’re worth every penny.

The new Pros come in space black, gold, silver and deep purple — which, depending on the light, can look like a drab shade of gray or like Grimace purple. The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max go on sale Friday, Sept. 16, and are currently available for preorder.

How iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island works

There are few external ways that the iPhone 14 Pro is different from previous models. There’s the aforementioned display cutout. The camera bump is a skosh chunkier. And, like the iPhone 14, US models lack a SIM card tray and instead use an eSIM.

But it’s that strangely named Dynamic Island that defines the phone. The more time I spent with the 14 Pro, the more delightful I found it. It works in numerous situations and is an easy way to see what’s going on without pulling your attention completely away from what you’re doing.

The Dynamic Island is interactive. For example, if music is playing, a miniature waveform and tiny thumbnail of the album artwork appears on either side of the cutout. When you tap either side, Spotify brings up the song that’s currently playing. If you’re on a FaceTime call, you can tap and hold on the interface to bring up controls.

You can tap directly on the TrueDepth cameras or off to the sides. In my time using it, I didn’t notice any smudges accumulating over the selfie camera and Face ID didn’t seem to be affected.

If you have more than one background activity in progress, like maybe you’re listening to music and have a timer on, the Dynamic Island splits into two parts like a sideways lower-case letter i.

The iPhone 14 Pro and the Dynamic Island are an excellent example of Apple packaging a powerful tool into an enjoyable interface. It’s a shame you can only use it on the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. Such a fun and approachable feature is bound to be a big hit with people who don’t use Pro versions of the iPhone.

iPhone 14 Pro has an always-on display

The iPhone 14 Pro runs on iOS 16, which adds a bunch of welcome features including new ways to customize your lock screen. But there’s one lock screen feature reserved for the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max: an always-on display.

The always-on display is a low-power version of your lock screen that can show essential information when your phone is locked. Most Android phones have had the feature for years, but Apple’s implementation might be the most gorgeous one yet.

The 14 Pro’s always-on display shows the time, date, your widgets, notifications and shaded-out version of your lock screen’s wallpaper. Depending on how your lock screen is set up, it can look vastly different when it’s shown as an always-on display. I had fun auditioning different lock screen combinations of wallpaper and widgets to see how they’d look. The color wallpaper is also the biggest difference Apple’s always-on display makes from Android phones, which typically just light up the time and notifications in monochrome.

Seeing my iPhone 14 Pro sitting on a table with its screen on took some getting used to. I kept thinking that I’d forgotten to lock it. To wake, just tap the screen or unlock the phone.

When the 14 Pro is faced down, in a pocket, in a bag or near another Apple device that you’re using, it doesn’t turn on. Also, there’s an option in Settings to turn it off completely.

I wish there was an option to make the always-on display look more discreet and, for example, just show the time and date. Technically, you could probably set a black wallpaper as your lock screen and only select the date and time for a more minimal always-on display. Visually, the 14 Pro’s always-on display has a lot going on which I found distracting when my phone was face-up next to me.

Taken in total, the Dynamic Island, the new lock screen layout and the always-on display make the 14 Pro the most approachable iPhone for managing alerts and notifications. And I imagine that experience will only get better once live activities for the lock screen in iOS 16 is available in full. (The live activities feature displays real time updates from apps on your lock screen, so you can track the progress of a rideshare or follow the score of a sporting event.)

iPhone 14 Pro camera

The iPhone 14 Pro has three rear cameras: a main wide-angle camera, an ultrawide and a telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. The lens on the main camera has a wider focal length, going from a 26mm equivalent on previous iPhone models to a 24mm one. It’s not drastically different, but it helps get more of the scene into the frame.

The main camera also gets a new larger 48-megapixel sensor. While more megapixels doesn’t necessarily mean better photos, Apple divides the pixels into groups of four and combines them into one larger pixel. The result is a 12-megapixel photo that’s brighter, has less image noise and better detail.

The main camera takes excellent photos: The image quality and details are great for a phone. I noticed the most improvement is in medium and low-light situations: Colors look good and textures are great. Check out the photo below, which I took on a foggy morning in San Francisco. Notice the textures in the buildings’ bricks and the gradual way the 14 Pro captured the fog engulfing the top of Salesforce Tower.

The photo below was shot under a palm tree’s dark canopy. The 14 Pro did a solid job of capturing the different textures in the leaves and bark while also boosting the brightness.

If you’re so inclined, you can capture 48-megapixel photos using the phone’s ProRaw setting. I should warn you that these files are big. The file for the photo below of the Bay Bridge at sunset is 48 megabytes. After editing, the photo is saved as a much smaller JPEG. Look closely at the details of the cars and the bridge’s support cables.

The ultrawide camera gets a new sensor with more focus pixels and a stepped-down f2.2 aperture lens. All this adds up to much sharper ultrawide photos. The sensor — combined with Apple’s revamped photo processing, which it calls the Photonic Engine — gives you much better photos in less ideal situations.

Ultrawide photos and videos are still a step down compared to those from the main camera, but these improvements are welcomed.

Macro photos also get a boost. When you try to take a photo with the main camera when standing close to a subject, the iPhone 14 Pro switches to the ultrawide camera and crops the framing to mimic the main camera. This allows for a closer focus, which is great for close-up shots of small things. Last year’s 13 Pro had a similar feature, but with the new ultrawide, macro photos have better image quality, especially in medium and low light.

The telephoto camera is basically identical to the one on last year’s 13 Pro, but gets a lift from the 14 Pro’s Photonic Engine processing. As with the ultrawide, image quality is a step behind the main camera — especially in dimmer environments.

The TrueDepth camera got an upgraded lens with a brighter f1.9 aperture. And the selfie camera has autofocus for the first time ever, which works great for group selfies. Here are some more photos that I took with the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max.

Cinematic mode can now record in 4K and at 24 frames per second. There’s a new video image stabilization tool called Action mode. When you shoot a video you can toggle it on and the phone crops in a bit to keep the image centered and the horizon level. If you’re shooting in 4K, Action mode drops the resolution to 2.8K but the results are still impressive. While other phones, like the Galaxy S22 Ultra, have similar stabilization functions, it’s wonderful to see the tool come to the iPhone. And it works across all three rear cameras.

While testing video shot with and without Action mode, I was reminded how good the image stabilization is in regular video mode. Check out the video below to see the clips I shot with the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max.

iPhone 14 Pro speed

Driving all these upgrades is Apple’s new A16 Bionic chip. In use, everything feels peppy. Gaming is an absolute delight. And subtle things, like animations as you move in and out of the Dynamic Island, are super smooth. In our benchmark tests, the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max proved that they’re not only faster than any iPhone we’ve ever tested, but they’re the fastest phones you can buy today.

Check out our benchmark test results below.

iPhone 14 Pro battery

The regular 14 Pro’s battery had no problem making it through a day. I typically got 6 hours of screen-on time. With the 14 Pro Max, I was able to consistently get a day and a half on a single charge.

Charging is OK. I charged the 14 Pro Max for 30 minutes and the battery went from 14% to 59%. The 14 Pro went from 51% to 84%.

iPhone 14 Pro vs. iPhone 13 Pro, 12 Pro, 11 Pro

If you have last year’s iPhone 13 Pro, I don’t think you should upgrade. While the improvements and new features have a lot of sizzle, you aren’t getting a drastically different experience. Upgrade your 13 Pro to iOS 16 and enjoy the new features from that software update instead.

But if you have an iPhone 12 Pro and have the itch to upgrade, the 14 Pro is a sizable step up in terms of performance, battery life, camera quality and additional features like the Dynamic Island.

And if you’re rocking an iPhone 11 Pro or older, the iPhone 14 Pro is a giant upgrade all around.

Technologies

Trump Maintains US‑Iran Negotiations Continue Amid Tehran’s Denials of Duplicity

President Trump insists that US‑Iran talks are ongoing despite Tehran’s denial of any negotiation plans, while warning that only a deal or total surrender will allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Conflicting statements from both sides have heightened uncertainty as the conflict enters its sixth month.

On Monday, President Donald Trump asserted that negotiations between the United States and Iran are still taking place, even after Tehran stated it has no intention of engaging in direct talks with Washington.

In a fiery Truth Social post, Trump labeled Iran’s leaders “unbelievably duplicitous,” claiming they are lying about ongoing peace talks “whether Iran wants to admit it or not.” He repeated his assertion that the United States completely controls the Strait of Hormuz, despite maritime traffic through the crucial route lingering at only a small fraction of pre‑conflict levels.

He wrote, “Nothing reaches Iran unless we allow it, and nothing will pass unless a deal—or total surrender—is achieved.”

Earlier that day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters there is no imminent plan for U.S.–Iran negotiations, contradicting Trump’s earlier comment that talks would resume Monday afternoon. Baghaei added that Iran’s only current discussions are with Oman concerning the Strait of Hormuz.

The conflicting statements have heightened uncertainty over the peace‑talk process and the broader conflict, now in its sixth month.

Trump’s assertion about new negotiations came a day after he said on Truth Social that he had agreed to cancel a massive strike against Iran “subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.” He said in the same post that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked him to hold off on that attack because “the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

Trump has claimed dozens of times throughout the more‑than‑five‑month‑long war that a deal is at hand. No permanent deal has been signed, and a temporary ceasefire reached in June has fallen apart.

Trump has also repeatedly threatened to launch devastating strikes against Iran before backing off. After the latest example, oil prices on Monday fell and stocks surged.

BMI, a research unit of Fitch Solutions, said in a note Monday that a broader diplomatic understanding on reopening the Strait of Hormuz is still achievable this quarter, while raising the probability of its escalation scenario to 35% from 25%, citing mounting military, diplomatic and economic signs of rising U.S.-Iran tensions.

“Diplomatic progress is likely to be punctuated by periodic military flare-ups, while miscalculation by either side could trigger a renewed escalation,” BMI analysts wrote in a note. The firm said the key issue to watch is the future governance of the strait, as the Iran-Oman talks — potentially backed by Gulf states, China and the U.S. — point to efforts to build a post-conflict shipping framework.

Shipping risks persist even as diplomacy appears to be advancing. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said it received a report of an incident 20 nautical miles (23 miles) northeast of Khasab, Oman — at the mouth of the strait — with a tanker’s master reporting an explosion in close proximity to the vessel at about 20:37 UTC Sunday (4:37 pm ET). The vessel and crew were safe and authorities are investigating, UKMTO said, advising ships to transit with caution.

The proposal Trump announced over the weekend calls for the U.S. and Iran to return to negotiations and continue ironing out some of the thorny issues that had derailed diplomatic efforts, according to The Associated Press, citing a regional official involved in the mediation efforts.

The official said the proposal also includes a reopening of the Hormuz Strait and halting attacks across the region, including by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on the Arab Gulf countries and Jordan.

The U.S., for its part, will end its naval blockade on Iran and allow Tehran to export its oil, the official said, adding that no deal has been reached, although the mediation efforts remained underway.

Trump’s weekend reversal has lowered the temperature after days of escalating attacks across the Gulf. Kuwait said Saturday that Iranian forces launched a wave of drones within its airspace, with its military destroying multiple aircraft after Iran targeted critical infrastructure in the country’s north.

A parallel track with Muscat is also advancing. Iranian diplomats said Tehran was close to reaching a new arrangement with Oman to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a deal critical to preventing the war from escalating further, according to the Financial Times.

Iranian officials said negotiations over future management of the Hormuz Strait with Oman, which sits on the opposite shore of the waterway, are in their final stages. The agreed shipping route would be different from those used before, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Baghaei, adding that the new route was separate from the issue of the strait’s reopening or continued closure.

Technologies

Oil Prices Slide as Trump Halts Planned Iran Strike

Oil prices dropped after Trump cancelled a planned strike on Iran, with WTI down about 5% and Brent near 5% lower. He said the move followed requests from Tehran and regional allies for a pause while a deal shaping the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program is negotiated.

Oil prices fell on Monday after President Donald Trump announced he had cancelled a planned strike on Iran. WTI futures dropped roughly 5% to $80.34 a barrel, while Brent slipped about 4.7% to $83.77 a barrel.

Trump said early Sunday he called off the strike after Iran and several Middle Eastern nations asked him to hold off, noting that the outlines of a deal had been agreed upon. He added that the prospective accord would entail the immediate, full opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to his Truth Social post.

The president had been considering another round of strikes as diplomatic hopes waned since the conflict began on February 28. He said the U.S. and Iran would meet for talks on Monday, but Iran denied any scheduled negotiations with Washington, citing PressTV. Iran’s foreign‑ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei clarified that Tehran was only discussing shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz with Oman. In a follow‑up Truth Social message, Trump insisted that, regardless of Iran’s acknowledgment, the United States is indeed discussing a solution to a long‑standing problem created by Iran.

Technologies

Oil Prices Drop as Trump Cancels Planned Attack on Iran

Oil prices fell sharply after President Trump announced the cancellation of a planned strike on Iran, citing a new deal that would open the Hormuz Strait and end Iran’s nuclear threat.

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday after President Donald Trump announced that he had called off a planned strike on Iran.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, slipped roughly 5% to close at $80.34 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, declined 4.7% to settle at $83.77 a barrel.

Trump made the announcement early Sunday, saying he had canceled the strike following requests from Tehran and other Middle Eastern countries.

In a Truth Social post, he wrote: “We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

The president indicated that the proposed agreement would include the immediate, complete, and total opening of the Hormuz Strait, as well as an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.

Trump had been weighing additional strikes amid diminishing prospects for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict that began on Feb. 28. He stated that the U.S. and Iran would hold negotiations on Monday.

Tehran denied that talks were planned with Washington, according to state news outlet PressTV.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was only holding talks with Oman regarding the routes ships can use through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a subsequent Truth Social post, Trump added that whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused for decades.”