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iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 14 Plus: Which big new iPhone should you get?
In This Article
Apple just unveiled the latest updates to its flagship smartphone line, including a new, larger14 Plusmodel to take the place of theiPhone 13 Mini. But how does the iPhone 14 Plus stack up to the top-of-the-line 14 Pro Max?
A range of four Apple smartphones have just been shown off at the brand’s September event. Read on to discover all the major differences between the two largest phones in the iPhone 14 series, both of which feature 6.7-inch displays.
Dynamic Island
One of the most obvious visual differences between the two is the presence of the all-newDynamic Islandat the top of the screen of the iPhone 14 Pro Max. This feature is not present among the two standard edition iPhone 14 devices, and so it will strongly mark out the Pro editions from the others.
Whereas the iPhone 14 Plus has a similar notch design to the one we’ve seen gracing the screens of Apple’s smartphones ever since the iPhone X, spreading across and connected to the top of the screen, the dynamic island is a pill-shaped design that is surrounded by the the colourful display and can adjust itself based on the apps being run the phone at the time. It can expand or contract depending on background tasks running at the time, and even splits off into two “bubbles” if there’s more than one activity running in the background.
Always-On Display
The iPhone 14 Pro Max is capable of running an always-on display, thanks to the combination of intelligent dimming, which reduces the brightness down automatically, and the adaptive refresh rate which can be lowered all the way down to just 1Hz, to keep it ticking over without being a drain on the battery life.
This efficient application of Always-On tech will allow you to keep track of notifications from your iPhone without having to wake it, but unfortunately, you won’t be able to use this feature on the iPhone 14 Plus as it’s exclusive to the Pro editions.
Camera
The iPhone 14 Pro boasts some significant camera upgrades over the standard editions of its same generation.
Most notably, the main camera now has a 48-megapixel resolution, and while typically this will be subject to 4-in-1 pixel binning, you’ll be able to take shots in the original resolution withProRAWmode enabled.
The iPhone 14 Plus has at least seen an upgrade to its front-facing camera equipment, with a newTrueDepth cameraon board.
Chipset
There’s also a big upgrade in processing power on the way to the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which is going to come running Apple’s latestA16 Bionicchipset. Built on a highly efficient 4nm process, and with almost 16 billion transistors, this silicon once again seems to have left other smartphone rivals in its wake, apparently being 40% faster and yet one-third as power-hungry as its competitors.
On the other hand, the iPhone 14 Plus will stick with theA15 Bionicthat we first saw unveiled last year with the iPhone 13 range. We found this to be a highly impressive bit of silicon when we tested it, capable of running even the most arduous apps, so we doubt you’ll notice the difference in maximum performance when you’re using the iPhone 14 Plus on a day-to-day basis.
Price
Perhaps most significantly of all, of course, is the difference in price between these two brand new devices. While the iPhone 14 Plus has a starting price of $899 (£949), the iPhone 14 Pro Max is significantly more expensive, at $1099 (£1199) for the base storage model. Both handsets will go on sale on September 16.
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Peter is a mobile tech writer, covering the latest smartphones, tablets, and wearables in news stories, reviews, and features. Previously he worked as a business researcher for Which?, analysing the m…
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
