I ordered an iPhone 14 Pro when they went on pre-sale on 9 September 2022.
I used the iOS Apple Store app, which is not an app I usually use. Process was smooth.
iPhone was delivered, without signature, Friday, 16 September 2022.
I opened it. It’s heavy. But the camera lenses are huge.
A Hiccup
I did the transfer from my iPhone 11 Pro. It took an hour or two. I just let it run while I went to bed. In the morning, my iPhone 14 Pro’s screen was black and it wouldn’t turn on. But it had been charging all night. I found this discussion thread about it. Doing the Volume-Up, Volume-Down, hold Sleep/Wake reset got it to turn on for me, just like it did for other people in that thread.
eSIM-Only
Before it was delivered, but after I ordered it, I found out that they’re eSIM-only in the United States. My cellular service provider (T-Mobile MVNO Tello.com) has been saying they’ll have eSIM “by October”. Okay. No biggie. I figured the phone would sit in its box for a couple weeks to a month while I waited for Tello to get eSIM support going.
But I checked their site Saturday morning, just in case. Their home page had a green banner promising eSIM support would be ready soon. But, when I was logged in, there was actually a path for me to check an eSIM for compatibility. This started the process, and I had my iPhone 14 Pro working with an eSIM in about 15 minutes. Decent!
I don’t normally buy new phones. I buy them second-hand when they’re a year (or, better, two years) old. Save a grand each time that way. But this time I wanted the better camera. This is my primary camera, so a camera quality bump from my iPhone 11 Pro was worth trying a new phone this time. Every year I don’t have the better camera is a year I don’t get the better photos. I was ready for an upgrade this year. And I won’t upgrade to an iPhone 13 Pro, because the 3×-only zoom is a hard no. iPhone 14 Pro does 2× with the main camera (crop), which I bet will be fine. Not as good as using the telephoto (flattened image rather than distorted), but fine.
Since I was going all-in on a new phone, I also got the month-to-month AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss. $14 a month or so. Okay.
What I didn’t count on (oops) was that cases won’t be cheap for new phones. That was almost a deal-breaker.
I also read a review between the time of order placement and delivery saying the camera was just a small upgrade. I tried to cancel my order, but it was already being prepared for shipment, so I didn’t have a cancelation option. I decided to just keep the phone.
Specs. I bought the 1TB model. Because buy the maximum storage option, as long as it’s not $2,000 more, like on a Mac. I had 200GB free on my 512GB iPhone 11 Pro, which is plenty. But whatever. Go big.
What do I notice about the iPhone 14 Pro? Low-light photos are taken faster, but they don’t look as good as my iPhone 11 Pro’s in middling lighting. Maybe this shines in deeper darkness though.
The screen is magnificent.
It is heavy, I as I mentioned. And everything after my iPhone 7 has been too heavy. This is heavier than my iPhone 11 Pro.
It doesn’t fit on my three-device Anker (phone, Apple Watch, AirPods) charger. Yuck! The cameras protrude too much. Seems to work for my wife iPhone 13 Pro Max. I haven’t gone and looked, but I bet it’s just taller, so the camera lenses clear the back of the phone rest.
I first noticed a charging problem this morning, after its first night charging next to my bed. It was warm. Not a good sign. If I have this tilt forward a bit, I get a message complaining that it has stopped charging and will resume when the device cools off a bit.
Now I’m buying a Belkin MagSafe charging station and a MagSafe-compatible case. I didn’t plan to do anything MagSafe. This is an unplanned additional expense.
3 June 2023 Update: Good phone. But not enough better than my old iPhone 11 Pro to warrant the $1,500 or so upgrade. Meh. I wish I had not bought my iPhone 14 Pro.