A photo claiming to show molds of Apple’s upcoming iPhone 14 series models has appeared online, offering another preview of the relative sizes of the rumored devices.
It's worth bearing in mind that the molds shown in the image sourced from Weibo have likely been made for use in the production of third-party iPhone cases rather than actual handsets. Still, they do appear to line up with unconfirmed details we've been hearing over recent months, particularly with regard to the dimensions of the devices.
The first notable difference in the lineup is the lack of an iPhone mini model. iPhone sizes are changing in 2022, and Apple is eliminating the 5.4-inch iPhone as it turned out to be unpopular with customers.
After seeing lackluster iPhone mini sales, Apple is offering larger iPhone sizes for its flagship devices: A 6.1-inch iPhone 14, a 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max, and a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max. The iPhone 14 models are expected to look like the iPhone 13 models with the same flat-edged design.
Slight camera bump size changes are expected across the lineup. According to iPhone 14 Pro Max schematics shared by Max Weinbach, the camera bump on the 2022 high-end iPhone will be 4.17 mm thick, or 0.57 mm larger than the bump on the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
The space that the bump occupies on the back of the iPhone will also increase in size by about 5% in each dimension, going from the current width of 35.01 mm to 36.73 mm and height of 36.24 mm to 38.21 mm. We've yet to learn what the relative changes on the standard iPhone 14 models could be.
These camera bump changes are also expected to usher in improvements to the Ultra Wide camera. Rumors have suggested the iPhone 14 Pro models could see significant improvements to the wide-angle camera and updates to the telephoto lens.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the 2022 Pro iPhone models will feature a 48-megapixel Wide camera, which would be a major improvement over the current 12-megapixel camera, and 8K video recording capabilities.
While the image only shows the rear of the devices, the 2022 iPhone 14 Pro models are expected to eliminate the notch in favor of some combination of a circular hole-punch cutout for the camera paired with a pill-shaped cutout. This change is expected to be limited to the Pro models, while the standard iPhone 14 models will continue to feature the notch.
Apple is expected to introduce the iPhone 14 models at an event that's likely to be held in September 2022, if Apple follows previous launch timelines. Be sure to check out our dedicated guides for iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro for much more information on what we know.
