Skip to main content

The iPhone Mini is dead — long live the iPhone 14 Plus

The iPhone 14 series is here and with one major change. Just as the rumors suggested before Apple’s Far Out event, there is no Mini model this year. After launching the iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 13 Mini, Apple has given up on the small size form factor to go the Plus route.

The iPhone 14 Plus is the new entrant in the lineup. For the unaware, the latest Apple iPhone models are iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max. While the Plus is similar in screen size to the iPhone 14 Pro Max, it borrows everything else from the vanilla iPhone 14.

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus.
Apple

The iPhone 14 Plus features a 6.7-inch OLED XDR display with 1,200 nits of peak brightness. It is powered by the same A15 Bionic chipset that was seen on the iPhone 13 series and is now available on the iPhone 14. It comes equipped with the same set of cameras as the 14, and you get no design changes from the previous generation. This means you’ll still see the notch on the iPhone 14 Plus, which is different from the new cutout found on the iPhone 14 Pro series.

The larger display allows more content to appear on the screen and is covered by the Ceramic Shield. Apple touts the iPhone 14 Plus to last longer than any iPhone ever on a single charge. You still get a 12MP primary camera with a larger sensor, larger pixels at 1.9 microns, and an f/1.5 aperture. It also includes sensor-shift OIS, and the faster aperture allows for better motion freezing. Apple says that the camera system comes with a 49% improvement in low-light performance while also making night mode exposure twice as fast.

iPhone 14 & iPhone 14 Plus | Big and Bigger | Apple

On the front lies a new 12MP selfie shooter with a faster f/1.9 aperture and a 38% improvement in low light. It has a hybrid system that focuses faster, and group shots can be in focus from further away. The larger sensors and aperture, combined with A15 Apple silicon and deep fusion, bring multiple frames into a single image in mid to lower-light environments. It applies deep fusion earlier in the process for uncompressed images that allow the rendering of more and brighter colors.

An iPhone 14 Plus in hand.
Apple

No U.S. model has a SIM tray. Apple says that eSIM support has skyrocketed in the U.S., and that is the only way to activate your SIM going forward. Apple is also bringing satellite connectivity to the iPhone 14 series.

The iPhone 14 Plus, as well as the iPhone 14, comes with crash detection, which is the same as Apple Watch. This means it consists of a high dynamic range gyroscope and dual-core accelerometer that can detect up to 256g and can contact emergency automatically.

Editors' Recommendations

Prakhar Khanna
Prakhar writes news, reviews and features for Digital Trends. He is an independent tech journalist who has been a part of the…
iOS 18 may give Siri the upgrade we’ve been waiting for
Hey Siri

Apple isn’t immune from the AI craze sweeping the rest of the industry. Following the likes of Google with Gemini Nano, Apple is set to roll out AI upgrades to the iPhone with iOS 18. Code-named “Project Graymatter,” the iOS 18 update will bring a variety of AI-powered enhancements to the iPhone and Siri in particular.

According to AppleInsider, the features are being tested in advance of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), and one of the biggest is called “Graymatter Catch Up.” The feature is tied to Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, which will now allow users to request and receive an AI overview of the most recent notifications.

Read more
5 tablets you should buy instead of the iPad Air (2024)
Two iPad Air models showing the screens.

Apple finally released some new iPads this year after going over a year without any updates. The iPad Air got a big refresh, now with an M2 chip inside and a new size -- 13 inches -- to go along with the regular 11-inch size from before.

The new iPad Air starts at $599 for the 11-inch Wi-Fi base model and increases depending on the size and configuration you choose. If you want the new 13-inch model, be prepared to spend at least $799.

Read more
Become an iPhone video master with this powerful new app
Screenshots from the Kino app.

Avid iPhone photographers will already know the excellent Halide camera app and how it can help transform the stills you take. But they will also know it does not support video, a point the company itself has been well aware of too. That’s why it has launched Kino, a video app for the iPhone that aims to bring similar Halide-style benefits to video instead of stills.

Kino is described as a video app for beginners and experts alike, but to get the most from it, you’ll likely need to be familiar with the iPhone’s video recording modes. For example, one of the main features that makes Kino stand out is Instant Grade, which uses the Log video recording mode, which was introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Read more