After nearly two years of development, Apple’s iPhone 14 series this year is close to mass production. 9to5Mac has now confirmed some of the revelations about the new device, such as the iPhone 14 Pro model will be equipped with a higher-quality screen, and Apple is still working on satellite communication capabilities.
iPhone 14 Series Details
Early revelations basically point in one direction. Apple’s 2022 iPhone 14 series will still offer four new models, but there will be no more “mini” versions. According to foreign media sources, the new iPhone 14 (codenamed D27 and D28) will be available in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch sizes, while the 5.4-inch iPhone mini in the iPhone 12/13 series will be discontinued.
The phones will feature the same resolution as the current iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. However, the top-of-the-line iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max (codenamed D73 and D74) may have slightly higher resolutions, mainly to accommodate the new special-shaped screen design (longer side ratio).
As for the chips, 9to5Mac confirmed that there will be two iPhone 14 models based on the A15 chip, while the other two will feature a brand new chip. It’s worth noting that Apple has several different versions of the A15 chip, and it seems that only the iPhone 13 Pro series has a CPU/GPU full and 6GB of RAM configuration.
That said, Apple can use a full-blooded version of its A15 Bionic chip in the two entry-level iPhone 14 models, so the performance will also surpass the iPhone 13 and 13 mini. In addition, foreign media also confirmed that all four iPhones this year will be equipped with 6GB of memory.
Apple could rename the chip “A15X”, similar to the 2020 iPad Pro’s A12Z chip (essentially an A12X chip with stronger GPU performance). Apple Watch Series 7 and Apple Watch Series 6 actually have the same CPU, but because Apple made minor adjustments to the SoC, their chips were named “Apple S6” and “Apple S7” respectively.
Satellite communication function
In the weeks leading up to the launch of the iPhone 13 series, some whistleblowers said that Apple has been working on a satellite communication feature for the upcoming iPhone models, but it appears to be finally showing up in some models in select markets, but sources at 9to5Mac revealed that Apple Still developing satellite communication capabilities for the iPhone.
According to reports, the system is internally code-named “Stewie”, and it is not known what special purpose it has, and it is not clear whether the technology will be mass-produced with this year’s iPhone, but the company has been testing to pass A prototype for sending SMS messages from satellites.