Apple’s iPhone 14 lineup is likely coming this fall. These are the leaks and rumors we trust.
In the mobile world, one thing is certain: Apple will release new iPhones this year. The iPhone 14 lineup is currently expected to appear in September or October 2022, bringing new capabilities and new design touches.
iPhone rumors are a dirty business. A lot of them originate with totally unverified, and unverifiable, posts on microblogging sites like Weibo. Literally anyone can publish something random on Weibo and get picked up by a bunch of websites as a source. The second tier come from analysts with sources at Apple’s suppliers, but they can’t confirm whether or not they’re just seeing something Apple is experimenting with and decided not to use. A select few journalists sometimes get the real details, but often not until the last minute.
With that said, here are the iPhone 14 rumors we trust so far.The iPhone 14 Release Date Is This Fall
Although supply-chain problems have created issues for several phone releases, Apple has kept its phones largely on time. We still anticipate that Apple will hold an iPhone 14 launch event on a Tuesday or Wednesday in mid-September 2022, with the phones hitting shelves 9-10 days later.The iPhone 14 May (But Probably Won’t) Use USB-C
Apple is working on switching from its existing Lightning port to the more common USB-C, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. But that probably won’t happen on the iPhone 14; it would happen for the iPhone 15 in 2023. USB-C has higher charging and data rates than Lightning makes possible, and it also gets Apple out of a bind with the EU, which may soon mandate USB-C as a universal port on many electronics.The iPhone 14 May Connect to Satellites
A rumor from 2021 reappeared in 2022 as Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that the iPhone 14 may have some form of satellite connectivity. This would likely come as the ability to send emergency messages to satellites when you’re out of a coverage area, as a last-ditch safety feature. While two companies, Lynk and AST, are working on broader satellite connectivity for standard smartphones, their systems probably won’t be ready to work at the scale Apple demands for its iPhones this year.iPhone Mini Is Dead; Only Pro Phones Get A16
Analyst Kuo has been dropping high-quality rumors on his Twitter account of late. His recent blockbusters were that the iPhone mini line is dead, and only the two Pro-model iPhones will get the new A16 processor.
The news about the mini is sad, but it isn’t a big surprise. Counterpoint Research says that the iPhone 13 mini, like the 12 mini, was the worst-selling iPhone in its cohort.
The A16 news poses a unique challenge for the iPhone line, though, as new features often depend on new silicon—even camera features like Deep Fusion and night mode, which are now more computational than optical.It Will Come in 6.1- and 6.7-Inch Screen Sizes
Gurman, the premiere Apple leaker right now, says that with the demise of the iPhone mini, there will be four models, but only two sizes. Apple will have 6.1- and 6.7-inch lower-cost models, and 6.1- and 6.7-inch “Pro” models.
