The iPhone 14 series is tipped to kill the mini-sized iPhone, with Apple expected to make a larger standard iPhone in the form of the iPhone 14 Plus/Max.
And a now a claimed case leak found on Chinese social networking site Weibo seems to confirm this rumor, giving us a good idea of just how each iPhone 14 will look in the hand.
As you can see from the image below, size will reportedly no longer be a differentiating factor between the Pro and non-Pro iPhones, with both models available in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch sizes. From left to right: iPhone 14; iPhone 14 Pro; iPhone 14 Max (or perhaps “Plus”); iPhone 14 Pro Max.
At a glance, iPhone 14 Max/Plus aside, these phones look near identical to recent Apple designs, perhaps making these cases redundant if you’re coming from an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13. But the Weibo poster says that the distance between the lenses is slightly bigger, meaning you’ll likely need a new case after all.
This is something we’ve heard before with videos of dummy units showing a larger camera hump, presumably to compensate for a rumored upgrade to 48 megapixels on the Pro models.
The Pro divide
The big camera upgrade isn’t the only area where Apple is said to be diverging between Pro and non-Pro with the next generation. iPhone 14 Pro buyers can reportedly look forward to the death of the notch (kind of), an always-on display and a speed boost with a new A16 Bionic chip.
In the past, that last point would be the same across the board, with even the entry-level 2022 iPhone SE getting the same A15 chip as the iPhone 13 series. But Apple is apparently planning on making the Pro divide clearer this time, with the regular iPhone 14 apparently sticking with last year’s chipset in an effort to upsell.
It’s a bold and probably quite sensible move for Apple’s shareholders, and most buyers probably won’t care given the A15 still leaves rival smartphone chipsets in the dust in terms of raw speed.
But it’s not a plan without risk. iPhone 13 deals are coming thick and fast as retailers look to reduce stock ahead of the next launch. If the regular iPhone 14 has the same chip as the previous generation, then plenty of would-be buyers may decide to save a few bucks and buy the older phones.
Ultimately, the plan to upsell the new hardware may leave the iPhone 13 Pro looking like a better buy than a regular iPhone 14. And if enough people decide that’s the case, then it may do strange things to Apple's quarterly sales figures.
Next: iPhone 14 renders just revealed a stunning notch-free design. Here's your first look. And this new report is good news for the iPhone 14 release date.
