If there's one thing that Apple is guaranteed to release every year without skipping a beat, it's the iPhone. For many years, the iPhone only came in one size, but then it began to deviate from the "one size fits all," and we ended up with Plus phones, Pro devices, and even budget options. Every year, the iPhone has continued to improve its feature set, giving users of older generation devices to upgrade to.
The iPhone 13 just came out a few months ago and is what we consider the best iPhone right now. However, the iPhone 14 is just around the corner with a typical fall release. As much as I am really enjoying my 1TB iPhone 13 Pro, here's what I am hoping to see in the iPhone 14.
Replace the notch with anything else
This is a hot debate among tech bloggers time and time again, but I really do hope that the notch goes away. Ever since Apple launched the iPhone X, I was never a fan of the notch because it took away valuable screen estate.
Before the notch, we could fit more information in the status bar, which I was always a big fan of, especially the battery percentage. Even though the notch technically shrank with the iPhone 13, Apple decided to just make the status bar text slightly bigger to make up for that, instead of giving us more information.
The latest rumor for the iPhone 14 is that we may see not only a hole-punch camera, but a pill-shaped camera hole to go along with it. As long as Apple takes advantage of the regained space in the status bar, I wouldn't mind such a design. I mean, honestly, even though I hate that I get less information with the notch, I have grown used to it by now after having the iPhone XS and later. I'm sure that I'll feel the same way about both a pill and hole-punch camera hole too.
Under-display Touch ID
I know that recent reports seem to debunk this, but I want to see the iPhone 14 come with an under-display Touch ID. I've been a big fan of Face ID since it came out, but in the days of wearing face masks, it hasn't been as reliable as days past. I would like to have an alternative way to secure my iPhone, and an under-display Touch ID sensor would have been a great implementation. But again, this may be coming in a later device rather than the iPhone 14.
Still, I think it would be good to have an alternative to unlocking your device. Perhaps Apple could go a route that is similar to some models of iPad and add a Touch ID sensor in the side button. One can hope, anyway.
More megapixels
Ever since the iPhone 6s, Apple has stayed at 12 megapixels for the rear-facing cameras. While yearly upgrades brought about bigger sensors for improved low-light photography and other tweaks, the number of megapixels has remained at 12, even though competitors have been flying by with that megapixel count.
I personally use my iPhone for all of my photography needs, and while i enjoy the upgrades that Apple adds every year, I would like to see a bigger megapixel count. Rumors suggest the iPhone 14 could be getting a 48 megapixel camera, but I have my doubts about it going that high. Honestly, I would be happy with even a slight bump up to 16 megapixels, as long as there is a bump in megapixel count this year.
Flush camera system — no more giant bump!
As Apple continues to upgrade the cameras every year, the camera bump on the back has gotten bigger and bigger. I would love it if Apple just made the device a little thicker to accommodate the camera bumps, so it becomes flush with the back of the device rather than sticking out like a sore thumb.
Better displays across the board
The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are the first iPhones to have ProMotion displays with 120Hz adaptive refresh rates. For a lot of folks, it may be hard to tell the difference with a non-ProMotion display, but I've noticed a slight difference, and it's even more noticeable when apps take advantage of ProMotion.
While rumors suggest otherwise, I would like to see ProMotion displays on all iPhone 14 models, not just the Pro and Pro Max. However, this may just be a pipe dream after all, at least for another year. ProMotion may be on all iPhone 15 devices, but that's still over a year away.
Still, I hope Apple gives us a better, sharper display on all iPhone 14 models, at least. Who knows? We could see something better than the Super Retina XDR display.
Lightweight titanium
The regular iPhone 13 devices have a glass back with aluminum design, while the Pro models use stainless steel. However, as classy as the stainless steel makes the Pro models look, there's no doubt that these definitely feel hefty. I would like to see Apple branch out to different materials for the iPhone 14, including titanium, which can be very lightweight and durable. After all, there are titanium Apple Watches, so why not a titanium iPhone?
More storage
With the iPhone 13, Apple finally got rid of the 64GB starting storage option and bumped it up to 128GB as the baseline. However, if you decided to go with the standard iPhone 13, you wouldn't be able to go past 512GB of storage. Meanwhile, the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max went all the way up to 1TB of storage, even though the other storage sizes matched up with the regular and mini devices. But if you wanted 1TB, you'd have to go with the Pro or Pro Max.
For the iPhone 14, I hope to see a 1TB option available for the regular and mini sizes. I'd also like to see an increased baseline storage, so instead of 128GB, maybe start at 256GB instead. And for the Pro lineup, perhaps have that go all the way up to 2TB this year. After all, we can get 2TB of iCloud storage, so it seems like it could transfer over to iPhone just as well.
The iPhone 14 is sure to be a hit
While the year just started, there's no denying it — the iPhone 14 is set to debut in a few several months. These are just some of the things that I hope will arrive with the new device, but I'm certain not all of these wishlist features of mine will make it in this year's release. We may see a few of these this year, while the rest may be arriving with the iPhone 15 or later. But one thing is for certain: the iPhone 14 will be here before we know it.
