Later this year, in September, the world will turn its eyes to Cupertino, California, for the launch of Apple’s next flagship iPhones. This year’s event could be the biggest for Apple in a long time. After all, 2022 marks the fifteen years of the iPhone. But the main draw at Apple’s fall event will be the arrival of the iPhone 14 series, which is likely to see a big change both in terms of design and features. A few rumours suggest that Apple will get rid of the notch from the high-end iPhone 14 Pro models, others say the tech giant might introduce the iPhone 14 Max, Apple’s iPhone 13 mini’s replacement. This year, we made a wishlist of the features we want to see on Apple’s next iPhone.
No notch on the iPhone 14
Apple first added a ‘notch’ to the high-end iPhone X in 2017, replacing the home button and TouchID for a TrueDepth camera and FaceID. The notch, despite many calling it a weird choice at first, was actually a clever move. After all, Apple’s FaceID solution is so much more complex as it uses 3-D mapping technology to get a whole overview of your face. Despite Apple shrinking the notch by 20 per cent on the iPhone 13, it still exists for some reason. The notch served its purpose but it’s time for Apple to try out a new solution to implement a full-screen display on the world’s most popular smartphone. Apple could use under-display cameras that are already there on smartphones such as the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and get rid of the annoying notch completely. However, the technology is far from perfect right now. Rumours say the iPhone 14 might have a pill-shaped hole-punch design for its front-facing camera which is an elegant solution compared to the notch. That way the display offers more information across the top of the iPhone 14.
Apple needs to figure it out how to abandon the notch on the next iPhone. (Image credit: Shruti Dhapola/Indian Express)
USB-C port
The iPad Pros and MacBook Pros are already shipping with USB-C ports, so it would make sense for Apple to follow the industry trend and replace Lightning with USB-C on the iPhone as well. Apple is known for simplifying the user experience. What is happening right now is that the iPhone feels left out, especially when every Android smartphone, Nintendo Switch and even a MacBook Air supports USB-C. As a user, you don’t want to carry different cables and chargers. You want a single cable/charger that works with multiple gadgets. Apple can forgo USB-C in favour of a port-less iPhone. Given wireless charging is slower than expected, Apple still needs a dedicated wired charging solution for the iPhone. That leaves Apple with the only option to introduce a USB-C port on the next-generation iPhone.
Bring ProMotion to all iPhone models
High-refresh displays are not a novelty feature on smartphones these days. Every mainstream Android smartphone, regardless of the price, comes with either 90Hz or 120Hz displays. In fact, some gaming smartphones including Asus’ ROG Phone have 144Hz displays. The iPhone, too, has a super crisp ProMotion display but only on its top-end ‘Pro’ models. That needs to change, starting with the iPhone 14 series. The iPhone 13 Pro finally introduced ProMotion aka 120Hz rate displays. ProMotion makes everything smooth. Animations and scrolling are more responsive. Right now, ProMotion is marketed as a luxury feature but Apple shouldn’t restrict ProMotion to its ‘Pro’ lineup of iPhones. Every iPhone should have a high-refresh-rate display.
A longer zoom option will benefit photographers immensely. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
A bigger optical zoom lens
The iPhone 13 Pro Max is fantastic, taking great shots in daylight as well as low light. It has, in fact, one of the best cameras on a smartphone. One thing that could make the iPhone, especially the top-tier model, exceptional is a bigger zoom lens. Sure, the iPhone 13 Pro comes with a 3X zoom lens but it’s in no way comparable to the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s 10X zoom lens. For a pro-mobile photographer, a zoom lens allows you to experiment with a scene without physically needing to move either away from – or closer to your subject. Although Apple has not confirmed it, it is rumoured that one of the top-end iPhone models in 2022 or 2023 will feature a “periscope” lens. A periscope lens offers optical zoom capabilities, allowing for 5x or 10x capabilities. If Samsung can offer a bigger and better zoom lens on its premium smartphone, Apple can also increase the maximum range of zoom lenses on an iPhone. Its high-time premium iPhone models have a bigger zoom lens.
Is Apple not bringing the reverse wireless charging feature to the iPhones because of the failure of AirPower? (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/Indian Express)
Reverse wireless charging
One very useful feature that Apple has not added to its iPhone yet is reverse wireless charging. For years, Apple has been refraining from adding reverse wireless charging to the iPhone, which would give Apple’s most popular gadget the ability to charge other devices such as AirPods. Reverse wireless charging would be a nice feature to have on the go, allowing you to quickly charge your AirPods or Apple Watch just by placing them on the back of the iPhone. It’s still puzzling to see why this feature has not been made to the iPhone despite leaks and rumours in the past. While reverse wireless charging could be a nice add-on feature on the iPhone, one thing that shouldn’t be ignored is charging efficiency. When you tap two Apple devices together for a short duration – efficiency needs to be high. With Apple rumoured to bring the device-on-device charging capability to the iPad Pro later this year, we are just hoping to see reverse wireless charging coming to the iPhone in the near future.
