People are reportedly getting off roller coasters and discovering that their new iPhone 14 called 911 for them. Turns out the handsets mistook thrilling rides for a car wreck and thought their users needed emergency help. It’s an unintended result of Crash Detection, a feature added to Apple’s latest handsets.
Fortunately, there are a couple of options to use as a workaround until Apple has a better solution.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Erfon returns from his Florida vacation just in time to rave about the Apple Watch Ultra and share some tips on how to use the iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
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The two iPhone 14 Pro models have been on the market for several weeks now but demand still outstrips supply. As a result, anyone shopping for the handsets should expect to wait until November to get one, especially the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The iPhone 14 Plus is set to launch October 7 and already has a short wait time beyond that date. Those shopping for the basic iPhone 14 face no wait.
The iPhone 14 Pro can take incredible 48-megapixel photos that capture eagle-eye details at incredibly high resolution. To take 48MP pictures, you need to shoot in Apple’s ProRAW format, which pairs the lossless RAW format preferred by professional photographers with the iPhone’s computational photography data.
This means that your iPhone 14 Pro is capturing all of the sensor data, and the results can be stunning — better than anything possible with any previous iPhone. (The iPhone 13 Pro captured ProRAW images, but only sported a 12MP camera.)
ProRAW captures images at 8064 × 6048 resolution. That means you can crop in really far on your pictures and keep everything pixel-perfect. You can print your images on a huge 26-inch by 20-inch poster, even at a professional-quality 300 DPI. The high-resolution images also give you more control during the editing process, so you can tweak your most important images to your heart’s content.
There are some caveats, though. Images with ProRAW enabled take up three times the storage space, for one. And shooting pictures like this takes a little longer. (The image capture isn’t as instantaneous as we’re used to.) And for everyday snapshots, ProRAW results might even be less satisfying than simply letting the iPhone perform its computational photography magic.
Read on to see how it all works so you can start taking 48MP photos with your iPhone 14 Pro, then edit them effectively.
Reports that Apple is making fewer iPhone 14 units than its predecessor are true… but that’s not the whole story. Apple is producing many more units in the entire iPhone 14 series than it did the earlier models, according to an analyst.
And the change will be a benefit for Apple’s bottom line.
★★★★★
Out of the box, the new iPhone 14 Pro looks almost identical to its predecessor, the iPhone 13 Pro, with its frosted glass back, shiny steel band and triple-lens rear camera.
But switch it on, and you immediately see an obvious difference — the new Dynamic Island, a fun, interactive UI element that alone is almost worth the upgrade. But what cinches it is the new 48MP camera sensor, which takes absolutely fantastic pictures.
Always-On display is a key new feature of the iPhone 14 Pro series. To ensure the feature does not consume a lot of battery power, Apple even added a dedicated co-processor to the A16 Bionic chip that powers the smartphone.
The Always-On display comes enabled by default on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, which many users might find annoying. It apparently looks a bit too bright for some folks. It makes your iPhone battery drain more quickly. And some folks just don’t like the new functionality because it makes them think they’ve got a new notification, even when they don’t.
If you find yourself in the same boat, here’s how you can disable Always-On display on your new iPhone 14 Pro.
Apple is using a faster and more power-efficient Snapdragon X65 modem on the iPhone 14 Pro series. This allows the new iPhones to pull faster download speeds on 5G networks.
The new modem also reduces the latency time. Combined, these improvements will provide a better network connectivity experience on the iPhone 14 Pro.
Users report that the camera in the iPhone 14 Pro starts shaking uncontrollably in some third-party applications. The weird glitch occurs in popular apps including TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
The shaking only occurs when using the built-in camera of these apps. Strange mechanical noises from inside the phone accompany the shaking.
Update: This problem is fixed in iOS 16.0.2, available now.
If a coworker came in today with a new iPhone 14 Pro, you may have decided you just have to have one. Bad news: the wait is a month or more before it can be delivered.
There’s much better news for anyone interested in the more basic iPhone 14.
Apple desperately needs to shake up its iPhone Pro colors. The brand-new iPhone 14 Pro — in the exotic-sounding “deep purple” color — actually looks like a dull gray in real life.
When Apple marketing chief Greg “Joz” Joswiak revealed the new deep purple color at last month’s Far Out product launch, I immediately thought of “Smoke on the Water.” I envisioned a bold hue that would actually look trippy and unique. And I thought maybe Cupertino’s brightest minds finally broke free from the iPhone Pro’s typically mundane color palette.
What was I smoking?
Anyone having activation problems with their iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro series model should install iOS 16.0.1. Apple specifically created the update to deal with an issue in setting up its latest handset.
It also takes care of other bugs in the iPhone 14 series.
iPhone 14 models require eSIM rather than physical SIM cards. That means those getting Apple’s latest handsets have to activate them via eSIM – they can’t simply plug in a SIM card to get connected to a wireless network.
It’s new to many iPhone users, but Apple released a video that explains how to activate an eSIM on an iPhone.
The first set of iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max preorders began arriving for customers around the world Friday morning. Further, the phones are now on sale in more than 30 markets.
Apple Watch Series 8 and 2022 Apple Watch SE preorders are also arriving for customers today.
Getting the iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max for its Always-On display? True to its name, the display on the new iPhones remains in an always-on state, except in a few situations.
In a support document, Apple has detailed the scenarios when the iPhone 14 Pro’s Always-On display will go dark to save battery.
Speck released a wide assortment of 10 new cases for the iPhone 14 series. All but one of them are designed for MagSafe. The collection includes Presidio cases with 13-foot drop protection and and upgraded version of the colorful CandyShell Pro case.
The company said the cases are slim, durable and protective, with Microban antimicrobial protection.
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro lineup are yet to go on sale. But Apple already has an update ready for its latest iPhones.
Your new iPhone 14 will receive a day-one update to iOS 16.0.1 as soon as you set it up.
Benchmark tests done on the newly announced iPhone 14 Pro show that its Apple A16 processor offers far better performance than the Qualcomm Snapdragon chip in the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
So, for another year, Apple’s flagship smartphone is much faster than Samsung’s.
Early reviews of the new iPhone 14 are rolling in. The consensus? It’s a capable iPhone — basically an iPhone 13 with minimal improvements (and nowhere near as cool as the feature-rich iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max).
So it’s not quite worth an upgrade from an iPhone 13, or maybe even the fairly similar iPhone 12. Only people holding iPhone 11 and older have something to get excited about.
But for some who want the big screen of the iPhone 14 Plus — not yet in the hands of reviewers — an upgrade from a recent handset may be worth it.
The first reviews of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max praise the replacement for the screen notch and the always-on display. Most are unimpressed with the 48-megapixel camera, though.
Some early feedback from reviewers on Apple’s newest top-tier handsets might help you decide if you want to upgrade.
Alleged battery capacities of the iPhone 14 series leaked Sunday, seemingly confirming that Apple is using bigger batteries on all models except for the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The Cupertino giant does not officially detail the capacities of iPhone batteries. Various Federal Communications Commission and regulatory filings usually reveal this data.
Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max support dual-frequency GPS for greater location accuracy. This is the first time Apple has added this feature to its products.
Dual-frequency GPS is not a new technology. Select Android phones launched as far back as 2018 have had it, though it has not exactly gone mainstream yet.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: We can’t figure out which is more exciting, the brawny new Apple Watch Ultra or the brainy new Dynamic Island. Will the rugged new smartwatch prove too big for Erfon’s skinny wrists? Or does its bold size and styling elevate it to “big enough” status?
Also on The CultCast:
Brace yourself for our breathless reactions to Apple’s Far Out event — which was actually pretty far out!
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
Special thanks to this week’s sponsor, Squarespace. Get all the tools you need to set up your very own website and commence selling anything online. Start your free website trial today at squarespace.com/cultcast (no credit card required). Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain with code cultcast at checkout.
Maybe you’re planning on a new iPhone 14 and wondering if you can still use your iPhone 13 case with it. Unfortunately, for most models the answer is a hard “no,” thanks to a bunch of subtle differences.
But you might get away with it on one model. For everyone else, buy a new case or try going without one (go ahead, put that Ceramic Shield to the test).
If you procrastinated on ordering one of the new iPhone 14 Pro models, there’s a good chance you’re looking at a lengthy wait for it to be delivered.
But Apple still has plenty of stock of the “standard” 6.1-inch iPhone 14 ready for delivery on launch day. The same is true for the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus.