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.
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.
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.
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.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.