Jon Prosser
Apple's iPhone 13 was released earlier this year, and although the iPhone 14 isn't quite "just around the corner," we've already started collecting all the latest rumors about Apple's 2022 flagship smartphone. The iPhone 14 was trending on Twitter even before the iPhone 13 was announced, but there's still much we haven't heard yet about the new iPhone's release date, price, design changes and new features. We'll be sure to add to this roundup as the rumor mill continues to heat up, so you might want to make a bookmark.
The biggest rumors so far include a new design with a notchless display (yeah, we've heard that one before), a hole-punch front camera, under-display Touch ID, a more durable titanium alloy body, the elimination of the chunky rear camera bump, a shakeup of the four-phone lineup with new screen sizes and the death of the iPhone Mini. It's said the iPhone 14 could also be equipped with Wi-Fi 6E, and the Pro models may even come with a 48-megapixel camera.
Now playing: Watch this: Top 5 iPhone 14 rumors
Meanwhile, Apple's latest flagship phone lineup, which includes the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini and iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, is on sale now. While we wait for more intel on the iPhone 14, here's our comparison of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12, and the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11. Plus, here's how the iPhone 13 stacks up to Apple's last five years' worth of iPhones. We'll update this story as new information becomes available.
Jon Prosser
Read more: iPhone 13 vs. 13 Mini vs. Pro vs. Pro Max
iPhone 14 lineup rumors: Will there still be 4 phones? We don't know much about the iPhone 14 yet, but we've heard that Apple's next lineup will nix the Mini and focus on larger phones instead. A July report from Nikkei Asian Review predicted the death of the iPhone 14 Mini, and an April research note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo obtained by MacRumors also suggested that the Mini was not long for this world. However, Kuo reported, the iPhone 14 lineup will still comprise four models, a "high-end" and a "lower-end," with two size options for each. While name speculation isn't as germane to the discussion of Apple's 2022 lineup as it was for unlucky 13, rumors suggest a small shift in naming conventions, with an iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Max and iPhone 14 Pro Max, with "Pro" designating higher-end specs and "Max" referring to the larger screen size.
iPhone 14 size rumors: Bigger screens for all Apple's last two iPhone lineups have featured the same 6.1-inch size for the base model, going up to 6.7 inches for the Pro Max. According to the same July Nikkei Asian Review report, Apple will stick with these screen sizes for the iPhone 14, nixing the 5.4-inch Mini. Reports showed sluggish sales of the iPhone 12 Mini, so it's no surprise that Apple is retiring the small phone in 2022.
iPhone 14 rumors: Will there be a SIM card? Last year, rumors began to surface that iPhone was ditching physical SIM cards entirely, and now a chain of leaks suggests that the iPhone 14 might be the first line to do it. 9to5Mac broke down the cascade of leaks, which started with a Brazilian site claiming the iPhone 15 Pro would go physically SIM-less. Then MacRumors reported an anonymous tip that Apple was preparing major carriers for eSIM-only phones by September. Most recently, Apple leaker DylanDKT, confirmed being "in agreement" with reports of the tray for physical SIM cards being removed.
Read more: iPhone 13 vs. iPhone 12
Rumored iPhone 14 screen sizes iPhone 14 6.1 inch iPhone 14 Pro 6.1 inch iPhone 14 Max 6.7 inch iPhone 14 Pro Max 6.7 inch
Patrick Holland/CNET
Release date: iPhone 14 will likely arrive fall 2022 It's too soon for any reputable release date rumors for the iPhone 14, but we expect Apple to hold its annual fall iPhone event in September 2022, as it does almost every year, with the phones being released shortly thereafter, usually the following Friday. Sometimes Apple will stagger release dates for specific models, especially when introducing a new design or size. So it's possible that the iPhone 14 lineup will have more than one release date. Read more: When is the next Apple event? Here's what we know: Apple likes to hold its events on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Apple's iPhone 13 event was held on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
iPhone release dates are typically a week and a half after Apple's announcements.
In general, new iPhones are released on a Friday, around the third week of September. For the iPhone 13, preorders began Sept. 17 and the phones went on sale Sept. 24. A few years ago, CNET took a deep dive into the Apple event timeline and emerged with a compelling Labor Day hypothesis, which you can read about here. Based on the 2022 calendar, the Labor Day rule would put the September Apple event (and unveiling of the iPhone 14) on Sept. 7, with a Sept. 16 release date. However, our Labor Day hypothesis was a week off for 2021 -- and, because of coronavirus delays, about a month off in 2020.
iPhone 14 price: Will Apple lower the cost in 2022? There's no word either way on iPhone 14 pricing, but Apple didn't make any big price changes between 2020's iPhone 12 and 2021's iPhone 13, so the existing price structure is at least a good place to start our speculation. However, Kuo predicts the high-end 6.7-inch phone (the alleged iPhone 14 Pro Max) will launch at a record-low price, under $900. Compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which ranges from $1,099 all the way up to a staggering $1,599, that's quite a steal.
For reference, here's how much each version of the iPhone 13 lineup cost at launch.
iPhone 13 pricing
128GB 256GB 512GB 1TB iPhone 13 Mini $699 $799 $999 NA iPhone 13 $799 $899 $1,099 NA iPhone 13 Pro $999 $1,099 $1,299 $1,499 iPhone 13 Pro Max $1,099 $1,199 $1,399 $1,599
Jon Prosser
Read more: Is buying an iPhone 13 worth it? Let's compare the last five years of Apple's iPhones
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iPhone 14 says buh-bye to the camera bump but keeps the Lightning port The other big design change Prosser's renders show is a flattened camera bump. According to Prosser, the iPhone 14's body is going to be a "thick boy," thick enough, it seems, to encompass all the camera hardware without an annoying, protruding camera setup on the back. Why is the iPhone 14 supposed to be so thick? Perhaps to house a bigger battery, or even the previously rumored periscope camera, which Kuo projected in 2020. Two prior rumors that won't pan out, according to Prosser at least, are the death of the Lightning port and the addition of USB-C (the EU may force Apple to add USB-C ports to iPhones, however). Rumors of a completely portless iPhone have been circulating for a while, but it appears those won't come true in 2022.
iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini: Check out the redesigned camera module and smaller notch See all photos +48 More
iPhone 14 color rumors: Pale gold, perhaps? As far as colors go, Prosser's render colors were not based on any actual information from his sources, except for a pale gold color, which he claims to have seen evidence of himself. However, it's still early days, and Apple surely has not finalized its color lineup yet for the iPhone 14.
Apple
Patrick Holland/CNET
Stay tuned for more iPhone 14 news as it comes out, and in the meantime, check out CNET's reviews of the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini, and iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max. Plus, here's how all four iPhone 13 models compare, how the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12 differ, whether it still makes sense to buy an iPhone 12, an iPhone 11 or an iPhone SE, and how all of Apple's iPhones from the past five years stack up. And here's everything we know about the rumored iPhone SE 3 and everything else Apple still owes us.