Everything we can learn about iPhone 14 from iOS 16

This story is part of WWDC 2022CNET’s full coverage of and about the annual Apple Developer Conference.

In less than a week, a file iPhone 14 must be announced in Apple’s annual fall event. We’ll likely get to know the official iOS 16 release date as well. Apple’s upcoming major iPhone operating system, iOS 16reviewed in WWDC And now available for Download for developers. New iPhone update It will work on iPhone 8 and later It is likely to be launched along with iPhone 14 . rumored This fall. iOS 16 offers a host of much-needed features, such as the ability to Customize your lock screen or Edit Sent Messages. But if you look closely, iOS 16 may also reveal some clues about the iPhone 14.

While Apple has told us a lot about new features coming to current iPhones, it lacks any specific mention of what to expect from the iPhone 14. And that’s not surprising; Apple never discusses new products before announcing them. Sometimes the company keeps certain software announcements for its annual iPhone event so that it can roll out these features as exclusive features of the latest iPhone.

for example, Cinema Mode was absent from iOS 15 from Apple It was announced and instead launched as an iPhone 13 feature in the fall. Although if you look closely, you will find some subtle hints in iOS 15. Since the launch of Apple Portrait mode for FaceTime calls in iOS 15It’s easy to imagine Apple creating a Portrait mode for video recording - which is basically what Cinematic Mode is.

iOS 16 seems to be no different. Several features seem to have the potential to offer hints about what we might expect for the iPhone 14 series. One of those clues is already buried in the iOS 16 code.

iPhone 14 may have an always-on screen

I was disappointed to see that Apple didn’t add an always-on display to iOS 16. It’s a useful feature found on many Android phones, even the Apple Watch. The always-on display shows basic information like the time or weather while your phone is sleeping. Instead of lighting up your entire screen like a lock screen does, the always on screen only activates part of the screen to save power. It’s a great convenience and will make the iPhone more easy to look at.

A site focused on Apple 9to5Mac . Reports Discover several references in iOS 16 that suggest that always-on display support may be in the iPhone’s future. The blog found references to backlight management tools as well as hidden flags for engineers that might allow them to test the feature on the iPhone 13 Pro.

But always-on display support may be limited because the screen refresh rate has to be lowered to 10Hz or even lower to use less power; Much lower than the usual 60Hz refresh rate for an iPhone. The Apple Watch always-on display runs at 1Hz which is not supported on any current iPhone (13 Pro can go up to 10Hz) and that could mean it debuts on the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max since it’s likely to require new devices.

Even without these clues in the code, the revamped and customizable lock screen also hints at an always-on screen. Specifically, the way iOS 16 notifications are housed at the bottom of the screen makes me wonder if Apple is testing ways to conserve screen space. This is important for an always-on display since this feature only uses certain parts of the display to conserve power.

The new lock screen widgets in iOS 16 are another potential clue, as they look closer to the intricacies of the Apple Watch and are therefore more amenable to the look. Some Android phones have similar widgets on their always-on displays.

Visual search could mean a more powerful cinematic mode

One of the more accurate features in iOS 16 is the revamped visual search which can identify objects, people, pets, and landmarks in photos and provide additional information or context. A great addition this year is the ability to tap on any image to remove the background. You can literally click and lift the foreground topic like a person or a dog off the background and add “Chapter” to other apps to share or create a collage.

I could see cinematic mode getting a boost from the machine learning that supports it New click and upload tool for visual search. Machine learning acceleration combined with a potential new A16 Bionic chip could make cinematic-mode videos look even better. Subjects can be “cut” more reliably and backgrounds have a consistent out-of-focus appearance. Apple can also use separation technology to make Cinematic mode do more of the same things as Portrait mode such as replacing the background with black or placing your subject on a white background.

Cinematic mode made its debut in the iPhone 13 series and is basically Apple taking Portrait mode for video. Although cinematic mode is fun to use, the results can be hit or miss. It reminds us of the time Apple introduced portrait mode with the iPhone 7 Plus: at first it worked but it wasn’t great. Over the course of several years, Apple has improved portrait mode to the point where it has become really cool.

Pro mode for the camera app

Without reading a single rumor, you can guess that the cameras on the iPhone 14 series will be better than those in the iPhone 13 lineup. A lot of these improvements will likely come from Photography-enabled computing features such as SmartHDR and Deep Fusion, which is directly related to the chip that powers the phone. So the iPhone 14 running on the A16 chip will theoretically have new camera features or improved image processing technologies that the iPhone 13 lacks.

Apple’s addition of a customizable lock screen in iOS 16 makes me hope for an overhaul of the camera app on the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. New professional features like ProRaw and ProRes video recording can make the camera app’s interface look a bit cramped. There is probably a Pro mode that can be turned on and off and provides shortcuts for adjusting camera settings on the go. Or maybe Apple cleans up the interface of the Camera app to make it more visually appealing.

Don’t get me wrong, the iPhone still has one of the best camera apps on any phone sold today. But just as the family can trump the home, the number of features and modes is starting to grow beyond the app’s original intent.

However, this is all speculation, and we won’t know anything about the upcoming iPhone until Apple announces it. But if there’s one certainty, it’s that it will run iOS 16.