iPhone 14 Plus: The cheapest iPhone with all-day battery life (and other reasons you'll love it) - ZDNet

For the past mates of years, Apple's iPhone lineup has offered a wide assortment of sizes and features. The 5.4-inch iPhone Mini exemplary has been for those who privation an easy pocketable and affordable smartphone, portion the modular 6.1-inch iPhone and iPhone Pro models were the aforesaid size but offered wildly antithetic features -- with the Pro exemplary having a overmuch amended camera, artillery life, and durability. 

Then determination was the 6.7-inch Pro Max model, lasting gangly implicit the remainder of the lineup, offering the astir artillery life, and the largest show of the group. 

This year, however, Apple has changed its approach. The iPhone 14 Mini isn't an option. Instead, Apple went with a much azygous iPhone 14 lineup. There are present 2 6.1-inch models successful the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, and past 2 6.7-inch models successful the iPhone 14 Plus and the iPhone 14 Pro Max. 

Also: iPhone 13 Mini lives! The lawsuit for buying it successful 2022

The iPhone 14 Plus was disposable for preorder alongside the remainder of the iPhone 14 lineup; however, it didn't motorboat until a fewer weeks later, connected Oct. 7. I've present been utilizing the iPhone 14 Plus arsenic my main telephone for the past week, replacing the iPhone 14 Pro Max. And, well, it's wide to maine that Apple's determination distant from the Mini to the Plus is the close call. 

The iPhone 14 (left) and the iPhone 14 Plus (right). 

Jason Cipriani/ZDNET

More surface for little money

Ever since Apple moved to its modular iPhone and iPhone Pro mix of iPhone models, the lone mode to get an iPhone with a surface implicit 6.1 inches was to bargain the astir costly iPhone exemplary successful that year's mentation of the Pro Max. That meant paying astatine slightest $1,100 for an iPhone, conscionable due to the fact that you privation a bigger iPhone with a bigger battery.

And yet, this year, the iPhone 14 Plus starts astatine $899 for 128GB of storage, oregon $999 for 256GB, oregon $1,199 for 512GB. 

That's a bargain for an iPhone with a show of 6.7 inches, and what Apple promises to beryllium the longest artillery beingness of immoderate iPhone. 

A larger show doesn't lone mean much abstraction for a larger artillery (more connected artillery beingness successful a minute), but it besides makes the iPhone much accessible and easier to usage for a batch of people. 

Also: Bad iPhone artillery aft installing iOS 16? Don't panic! Do this instead 

With a bigger screen, there's little scrolling erstwhile speechmaking agelong emails oregon messages, and you person a larger viewfinder erstwhile utilizing the Camera app. These are each evident benefits to Android converts oregon those who've been paying the Pro Max premium for the past fewer years, but for those who've conscionable wanted the cheapest iPhone with all-day artillery life, a big-screen iPhone astatine an affordable terms is simply a overseas concept. 

I've truly enjoyed utilizing the iPhone 14 Plus and it's larger show implicit the past week. It brings the main diagnostic that attracts maine to the Pro Max -- the surface size -- to a terms constituent that, portion inactive much costly than the basal exemplary iPhone 14, is much affordable than the Pro Max. 

Jason Cipriani/ZDNET

Battery beingness is king

In my review of the iPhone 14, I touted each of its caller features and still-impressive performance, but I dinged it a spot connected artillery life. I could get done a afloat time of use, but conscionable barely. This means that connected days wherever I'm traveling for work, I'm going to person to trust connected immoderate benignant of external artillery pack oregon apical disconnected astatine the edifice -- not a atrocious signifier successful general, but thing I'd alternatively not person to do. 

The iPhone 14 Plus, however, brings with it the committedness of longer artillery beingness than the smaller iPhone 14. 

After 4 days of use, I tin confidently accidental the iPhone 14 Plus' artillery beingness is an betterment implicit the iPhone 14. I've been ending my days -- which typically commencement astir 6 a.m and extremity aft 10 p.m -- with 30% oregon much of artillery left. That's with astir 5 hours of surface connected time, according to the Battery conception successful the settings app.

Review: Apple Watch 8 is simply a sleeper hit, adjacent if it doesn't lucifer Samsung's sensors  

The existent trial for immoderate phone's battery, though, is traveling with the phone. So, I took the 14 Plus with maine to New York to screen the Made By Google event wherever the Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel Watch were announced. 

My archetypal time of question started astatine 3:15 americium with a 100% complaint of the iPhone 14 Plus battery. I utilized the telephone for the emblematic question tasks: showing my boarding walk erstwhile required, browsing news, checking email, sending messages to loved ones and colleagues, FaceTime calls, streaming euphony and keeping tabs connected formation delays. I got stuck successful Dallas for a fewer other hours acknowledgment to what was near of Hurricane Ian delaying flights successful and retired of New York City airports. 

At this point, I started to wonderment if the iPhone 14 Plus would person capable artillery to get maine to my edifice successful Williamsburg. After the delay, which progressive much FaceTime calls, immoderate transferring of video from the DJI Osmo Action 3, and plentifulness of streaming of my favourite Apple Music playlists, I was capable to get connected my last formation 40% of artillery left. 

During the implicit 3-hour formation from Dallas to New York, I caved and paid for Wi-Fi truthful I could get immoderate enactment done. And past I ended up streaming immoderate unrecorded TV (thanks, Southwest), which yet triggered my fearfulness of moving retired of artillery earlier arriving astatine my hotel, truthful I connected an Anker MagSafe artillery pack to the iPhone 14 Plus to apical it off. This was aft astir 5 hours of surface connected time, but adjacent much inheritance use. Essentially, I didn't halt utilizing the telephone successful immoderate signifier from 4:30 americium Mountain clip to 5 p.m. ET. If I wouldn't person fixed successful to the Wi-Fi temptation, I person nary uncertainty that the artillery would person made it until I arrived astatine the edifice astir 6 p.m. that night; though it would person been practically empty. 

Also: Google's Pixel Watch is simply a large deal

Moral of the story? The artillery beingness connected the iPhone 14 Plus is much than capable to get you done a unsmooth time of travel, and astir apt adjacent longer if you're not idiosyncratic who is perpetually connected their telephone similar I am. 

Jason Cipriani/ZDNET

The iPhone 14 Pro Max truly is for Pro users now

Prior to the iPhone 14 Plus, the Pro Max variant wasn't truly conscionable meant for those customers who wanted oregon needed Pro features. There were 2 wide camps. You either wanted the Pro features, oregon you wanted the bigger display. 

Now you person a chiseled prime to make: a bigger iPhone with the halfway features oregon a bigger iPhone with Pro features. 

After a fewer days of investigating the iPhone 14 Plus, I was questioning whether oregon not I request the Pro Max present that the iPhone 14 Plus exists. I've since settled connected the information that I bask having the other telephoto camera excessively overmuch not to person a Pro Max exemplary successful my pocket. 

The iPhone 14 Plus uses the aforesaid halfway camera strategy arsenic the iPhone 13 Pro. You're constricted to a 12MP main camera and a 12MP ultra-wide camera, some of which instrumentality fantastic photos acknowledgment to the A15 Bionic processor and Apple's caller Photonic Engine. It's casual to marque jokes astir the names and selling presumption Apple comes up with for caller products, but I've changeable immoderate exceptional photos with the iPhone 14 Plus. 

Also: iPhone Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro Max: How to choose

Here's 1 of a tempest arsenic my level made its attack for landing astatine La Guardia Airport:

Jason Cipriani/ZDNET

Or this 1 of a random gathering I recovered successful Williamsburg with NFTs pained connected it:

Jason Cipriani/ZDNET

I posted a fewer much photos connected my Instagram account, each of which I was pleasantly amazed by. 

Performance, too, is the aforesaid if not somewhat amended than the iPhone 13 lineup owed to Apple utilizing the A15 Bionic successful the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus -- with the lone quality being an other halfway successful the five-core GPU, each for $899.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max offers more, with the new Dynamic Island, an upgraded camera system, and adjacent longer artillery life. But that besides comes with a starting terms tag of $1,099. 

About that eSIM

One country wherever the full iPhone 14 lineup, including the 14 Plus, tin origin vexation for immoderate is with Apple's power to eSIM, alternatively of the much accepted integrative SIM paper that's utilized to facilitate connection betwixt your telephone and wireless carrier. The setup process with the iPhone 14 Plus and transferring my fig over was easy, but traveling overseas volition apt origin immoderate headaches successful the adjacent word as more carriers follow eSIM technology.

Also: eSIM vs. SIM: What's the difference?

Bottom line

In my iPhone 14 review I said it wasn't worthy upgrading to the iPhone 14 from the iPhone 13. The objection to that connection is if you're switching to the 14 Plus, due to the fact that you're getting much surface and battery.

The 14 Plus slots nicely into Apple's lineup and makes much consciousness to maine than the Mini ever did, and I person a feeling that's going to resonate with users, beryllium it this twelvemonth oregon successful the years to come. I privation we had entree to income numbers to spot the nonstop breakdown of units sold by the exemplary astatine launch, and past again a fewer months from now. I fishy that the iPhone 14 Plus and Pro Max volition extremity up being the 2 astir fashionable models.