The iPhone 14 Plus Is a Big, Bold Purple Behemoth

Apple's newest phone is an iPhone 14, but bigger.

Patrick Holland

Patrick Holland has been a phone reviewer for CNET since 2016. He is a former theater director who occasionally makes short films. Patrick has an eye for photography and a passion for everything mobile. He is a colorful raconteur who will guide you through the ever-changing, fast-paced world of phones, especially the iPhone and iOS. He used to co-host CNET's I'm So Obsessed podcast and interviewed guests like Jeff Goldblum, Alfre Woodard, Stephen Merchant, Sam Jay, Edgar Wright and Roy Wood Jr.

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James Martin Managing Editor, Photography

James Martin is the Managing Editor of Photography at CNET. His photos capture technology's impact on society - from the widening wealth gap in San Francisco, to the European refugee crisis and Rwanda's efforts to improve health care. From the technology pioneers of Google and Facebook, photographing Apple's Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Sundar Pichai, to the most groundbreaking launches at Apple and NASA, his is a dream job for any documentary photography and journalist with a love for technology. Exhibited widely, syndicated and reprinted thousands of times over the years, James follows the people and places behind the technology changing our world, bringing their stories and ideas to life.

Expertise photojournalism, portrait photography, behind-the-scenes Credentials

2021 Graphis Photography Awards, Gold Award, Journalism, 'The Doorway' Graphis Photography Awards, Silver Award, Portrait, 'Cast of film '1917'' Graphis Photography Awards, Silver Award, Environmental, 'Upper Lola Montez' ND Awards, Architecture, 'Taj Mah

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Patrick Holland

James Martin

Oct. 5, 2022 9:00 p.m. PT

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The $899 iPhone 14 Plus is either a big iPhone 14 or a scaled-back iPhone 14 Pro Max, depending on your perspective.

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The iPhone 14 Plus starts at $899 for a model with 128GB of storage. That's $200 less than the iPhone 14 Pro Max and just $100 more than the regular iPhone 14.

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But it's $900, which still makes it out of reach for many people. And that's disappointing, especially when you consider that the Android landscape is littered with large-screen rectangular slabs that can be bought at nearly any price.

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The iPhone 14 Plus has a Lightning port but US models lack a physical SIM card tray.

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The 14 Plus has all of the iPhone 14's features -- some of which you may never see or use -- and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

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That includes Crash Detection, which can notify emergency services when you're in an automobile accident.

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The iPhone 14 Plus has the same internal redesign as the regular iPhone 14, which improves thermal management. The back-glass on the back is easier and more affordable to repair since it's no longer attached to internals.

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Starting in November, you'll get Emergency SOS via Satellite that lets you message emergency services via a satellite link. You also get a new selfie camera and a new main camera.

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Like the standard iPhone 14, the iPhone 14 Plus has both an ultrawide and a main camera. Photos and videos shot on the iPhone 14 Plus look good, even in dimmer situations, and I like having a larger screen to frame up a scene.

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One of the most underrated features on the 14 Plus might be the new TrueDepth camera, which now has autofocus. I don't take many selfies regularly, but I was shocked to see how much better iPhone 14 Plus selfies looked compared to ones I took with an 13 Pro.