iPhone 14 Pro max review: the future of the iPhone starts here

The evolution of the iPhone as a product since its public appearance in 2007 has had several phases. In the case of the Apple smartphone, they have also been very marked: precisely because it is one of the products that has most influenced not only how we relate to technology, but also how we relate to society. From that first stage, where practically everything surprised us ( who didn’t look surprised when pinching the screen and zooming in? ) until 15 years later it was practically recognized as an icon.

Jobs’s idea at the time, which Apple has continued after his disappearance, is that of a product that improves iteratively, arithmetically: as a mechanism that perfects the very idea of ​​the product from which it was born. The big difference between Steve Jobs’ Apple and any competition is that they don’t see a product as a trial-and-error opportunity. They are not allowed to launch models that include a radical change in the product that confuses the buyer: they only improve by focusing on the horizon of the device, on what defines an iPhone.

But what defines an iPhone as a product? Perhaps this is the question from which the conceptualization stage begins in one of those ideas rooms in Apple Park . 

I think the answer to the question was given to us-again-by Jobs himself when he introduced the world to that madness in 2007. “It’s a phone, it’s an iPod with a touch screen, it’s an internet device . ” Telephone, music and internet. Only these words have fallen short after all these years – and that is precisely what each generation of iPhone does: widen them. Make them bigger, take them further.

The consolidation of technologies makes Apple continue perfecting aspects such as design, today tremendously consolidated. In these times, the form factor of the Cupertino phone increasingly resembles that mythical rectangle without buttons that Jobs wanted as an initial idea – perhaps he even imagined it as such a long-term journey that we are still approaching today.

In these iPhone 14 Pro, the company continues at the highest level in materials and finishes – in which they have no competition. The construction continues with the inclusion of Ceramic Shield , whose first introduction to the range began with the iPhone 12. 

This ultra-resistant glass protects the phone’s screen up to four times better against drops and bumps. The manufacture of this material was complicated: although there were smartphones with a very similar material ( such as the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus ), the problem was that using them as a screen protector reduced visibility.

Apple and Corning managed to solve this thanks to ceramic nanocrystals, which thanks to a crystallization process at incredibly high temperatures allowed them to be combined in the glass matrix without reducing transparency. 

It is enhanced with an ion exchange process to make it even more resistant. In these iPhone 14 Pro this feature is maintained since so far, not even the latest version of Gorilla Glass Victus has achieved a similar process and resistance. The Ceramic Shield production process is also much more expensive.

 And it works better than ever: Combined with the new Super Retina XDR display, it’s probably the biggest jump in quality since Retina Display came to iPhone 4.

We still have the stainless steel that surrounds the device and in which the buttons are built. It is comfortable to the touch – as always – beautiful to look at and a small fingerprint magnet as it is polished steel and very reflective as in the iPhone 13 Pro . However, this generation’s color for Apple’s top-of-the-line phone, deep purple , really enhances the overall device – and these slightly purple-toned edges help a lot. The color did not convince me until I had it in front of me (it is the Max model of this analysis ).

It has a very slightly raised color tone, an almost neutral saturation and only in certain lighting conditions will we see those purple reflections. As always in the Pro range, these very different tones give a certain personality but do not make the phone a flashy element – rather elegant. The other color that I really liked for this generation is space black, which you can see in the photos in this article as the iPhone 14 Pro. A color that is not so dark and much closer to a saturated gray than to a classic black. In any case, just as elegant.

The rest of the colors, gold and silver, are practically identical to those we saw in the iPhone 13 Pro – but be careful – in the current model they have a somewhat lower hue, less saturated . I doubt that anyone can distinguish them without having them side by side, but they do suggest a slight variation – slight enough to drive my colleague Javier Lacort crazy, since many of them can be confused by the same name.

The iPhone 14 Pro , in deep purple, placed face down on the table, does not need rear LED lights to shine. I think that little can be asked of a high-end industrial design that has refined how each of the materials is created, 

manufactured and integrated at the highest level of the iPhone. The bulk of the cameras follows a visual continuity, and if there is something we could ask of future iPhones, it is that – if technology allows it – it be integrated into the main body of the phone one day.

Speaking of them, during the rumor stage of this iPhone 14 Pro it was considered a significant increase in the module that integrates them. We will never know if this was the case in some design phase, but despite the improvements included, the size is practically the same as in the iPhone 13 Pro, which gain a few millimeters more in size in this generation. 

Read More Article: Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max Review: Redefining Near to Perfection

Be careful, because this means that not all iPhone 13 Pro cases are compatible with the new models ( on the contrary, yes, although there will be a gap left uncovered in the case) .

In hand, this new generation continues to look impeccable, with the highest level finishes ever in a robust , compact device that has not gained weight compared to the previous generation. All this, without turning it around, because when we see the new screen, these sensations are even more enhanced.

iPhone 14 Pro screen gets closer to Pro Display XDR

As we hurried out of the Steve Jobs Theater just as the keynote ended, I was trying to make a mental list of everything I would need to look out for from the new iPhone 14 Pro in the demo area. “Ok, Dynamic Island, colors, try some sound, check out the new cameras…” .

As soon as I got to that table and saw the new phones, something struck me on the screen, and it was that it looked really good to be in an area where there is traditionally a lot of light. It was the new Super Retina XDR screen, with which Apple wants to go beyond what we knew.

The first thing that stands out is the new HDR lighting that goes up to 1600 nits of brightness when playing HDR content – which is exactly what was playing when I got to that table. According to the company, this new lighting is 33% larger than on the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

During these days in which I have been testing the device, the content recorded in HDR – including the one that we can record with the iPhone in Dolby Vision – is noticeably better, especially if we view it outdoors. The colors are more defined and contrast the details of the content better – in a way, it gives them a little more life.

There is something important to comment on the screen that has been highlighted very little: the iPhone 14 Pro has two light sensors to better adjust the brightness depending not only on direct light on the sensor on the screen, but also with the rear. This tonal balance between the place where we are using the mobile and the TrueTone screen will prevent us from ever having to touch the brightness of the iPhone to adjust it manually.

I’ve found this to be especially helpful when changing from a bright environment to one with little visibility: the iPhone 14 Pro screen adapts so quickly that it seems like a completely natural change. This maximum brightness in HDR content is the same as the brand’s professional Pro Display XDR screen .

An important novelty of this new screen is something that we will probably use a lot outdoors: a brightness that reaches – nothing more and nothing less – than 2000 nits of brightness , twice as much as we had on the iPhone 13 Pro. Apple also says that no other mobile has this brightness so high.

The goal is for the iPhone screen to have better visibility in direct sunlight. Although obviously this will not make it an electronic ink screen, the change is very noticeable outdoors or in very bright environments. The difference is even more noticeable if we are viewing HDR content, where the screen will reach the peak of nits to display the content.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.