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Phones · Apple iPhone

Apple iPhone 14

43owners with an opinion
60%of verdicts positive
16/12positive/negative since 2024
3.75 yrslongest happy owner
2happy after 3+ years

Praised for reliability and performance; criticized for ease of use and comfort.

What owners wrote

Doesn’t like itOwned 0.75 years
I have looked. If you look for a clean experience and not an OS that tracks your every breath and every shake, none. Absolutely none. If you care about a sanely sized phone and not a phablet, then double absolutely none — as in there’s no option in Apple’s stable either. Been using my 14 for some 9 months after 12 mini and every time I look at this monstrosity I regret moving to iPhones because I kinda knew they’d stoop down to be like Androids eventually. Anyway, so no option really. Again, I have looked. Did you mean to replace 13 mini without any such criteria I have mentioned above? Well, then go to any phone listing site or Amazon and filter Android devices based on cost and features and just buy the one that fits the bill. Because you didn’t say anything else.
Likes itOwned 0.5 years
We had Google fi for $25/line for 6 lines. But VZW works out to $31/line for 6 lines; and we got 6 “free” iPhone 14. So it definitely seems like the better deal over the 3 year contract period — $1300 extra for 6 new phones. But I air quote becaus there were some extra activation fees, we pay monthly for the phones but then get a credit to zero it out which I worry is tricking me somehow, and I’m pretty sure our monthly service with VZW is NOT fixed under contract, so maybe they can jack up my monthly bill over the 3 years I’m paying off the phones?? I don’t know. So far, 6 months in, it’s been a good deal but I much prefer buying phone outright and opting for cheapest service — but I THINK this promotion will get me out ahead, as long as I switch back to a cheaper provider at the end and don’t get an escalating service fee before phones paid off.
Likes it
Apple is not what it used to be… We see it in the hardware AND the software. It used to be: think different It used to be: It just works… Now we got “apple intelligence” and subscriptions all over the place and also the lock-in feels stronger over time. Don’t even get me started that one can’t easily replace the battery oneself. They gradually convinced us that reduced repairability is fine. I got my first MacBook Pro in 2006… things were quite different back then. Anyway, I’ve decided I wanted to get away from BigTech a while ago. Apple is the hardest part for me. They used to have this annoyance-free usability that I loved so much. iPhone Duo, Touchscreen on the Mac, liquid glass, visionPro, etc. are all valid things to go after and I don’t think these are bad things per se. But it is not what I care about. And clearly the focus has shifted away from the values I used to share with this company about what constitutes a good product. I took the hit on the ownership/control side because their products were so ‘seamless’. Now I hope the Framework and Fairphone (with eOS) have matured enough to not regret when I am getting off the Apple-train. I don’t expect a frictionless experience - it just has to be sufficiently annoyance-free. I’ll happily take some rough edges in exchange for greater control and ownership. “Unfortunately” their products are really sturdy and it will take a while until my M3 MacBookAir and iPhone 14 need to be replaced ^^
Neutral
It's strange that my iPhone 14 is at regular temperature when using the E2B model. But also it's a lot slower (not sure how to measure the exact tokens per second, ~12 if I had to guess)
Doesn’t like it
Something I've heard from someone that owns an iPhone 16 Pro is that animations are (were?) laggy sometimes. I was also looking at some pictures on an iPhone the other day (unsure about the model, maybe 14?) and it felt like it was dropping some frames while switching apps. So while it may not be fundamentally broken, it's the type of stuff that would annoy me a lot if I used an iPhone. I never expect to go from smooth experience to a low-end Android phone experience after a software update. MacOS... I've avoided upgrading my M4 Max MBP so far after upgrading the M1 Air we have at home. It's just not as smooth as before, even with reduced transparency.
Likes it
Not OP, but I think they still have the lead in hardware. However, I'm using an iPhone 14 which apparently released 4 years ago now, and it's still plenty fast enough for all my needs. If it lasts another 4 years, I won't update. That's probably their problem. Do I think the software ecosystem is superior? I _hate_ using the app store with a passion. I _hate_ trying to find an app for my needs(most recently a gym app) and there's 40 options and they're all a monthly subscription. I _hate_ the advertising that my children get trapped in while playing a game(I sometimes have to switch to data so that my pihole isn't used so that the ads can load so that the game will work at all), but the ads don't have a timer or an X in the top right, you have to interact with them the right way to escape. But most of all, I _HATE_ that all my daughter wants is a draw-by-numbers game and there's literally hundreds of almost identical games which all charge $10+ a MONTH for the privilege. Nah, I don't think the software ecosystem is superior. Although Google trying to stop sideloading does make me think they're happy racing to the goddamn bottom.
Likes it
this makes absolute sense. most of the times when my iphone 14 is literally in life support. honestly would trade off the thickness to not have to charge everyday
Neutral
At this point I am like “fuck (perception of) privacy!”. I will just buy the 9a, or Pixel 10a if one releases by the time I switch from my (already large) iPhone 14. At least I won’t have to deal with the never ending shenanigans, the crazy prices, and the very real possibility that if there’s a damage it might be cheaper to buy a new one (in warranty).
Doesn’t like it
I see this said all the time but I think people underestimate what an extra few millimeters of thickness would feel like in the hand. Both in terms of grip-ability and weight. I would reckon if people actually got to use a device like that they'd quickly realize they don't want to use it in their day to day. The iPhone 14 Pro was noticeably heavy, but the switch to titanium the following year made the 15 Pro feel way lighter. The only difference was 206 grams -> 187 grams, but you'd swear it was 25% lighter.
Neutral
Well, I’m pretty entrenched in Apple’s ecosystem because I value the iCloud integration between my devices, but all my devices are a couple years old and I tend to keep them until they are no longer supported (M1 Air, iPhone 14, iPad Air M1, etc.). In particular, I don’t drive my iPhone hard. As long as it can do phone and texting and run a browser and the Kindle app, I’m good. Needless to say, I won’t be upgrading devices for liquid glass.
Likes it
I sadly will pass. I know there was no Mini size coming..but still, one can hope. Anyway, I see absolutely ZERO reasons to switch from my iPhone 14 other than to help them beta test their new modem in the field. They already have been doing that with software releases (iOS specially) since iOS 12/13. A Mini would not have been a diminished experience/purchase even with lesser features. This is a diminished experience even for what it would cost.
Doesn’t like it
I have made peace with it. It's not coming. When I look around me - the number of people who want a small sized phone is exactly zero. The ship has sailed. I will still buy an SE if it's much cheaper than the base iPhone model and just one version old (on most hardware and doesn't have to be as powerful as the base iPhone) when my iPhone 14 dies. But seeing they are releasing it in 3 years now (or 4?) I am not sure that SE will be the one-gen-old when I might change my 14. It's been close to 2 years and I still struggle with the size of my iPhone 14 - and to think that this fucking phablet is the smallest iPhone. At this point I am just waiting for a much more affordable simple Android phone (with the OS being OEM-deGoogled and supported for at least 3 years with timely updates). I mean I will buy it even if it's slightly bigger than base iPhone because size was the reason I had bought my first iPhone which was the first SE :)
Doesn’t like it
My partner got the "you must download iOS 18.3, it has security fixes!" message, and did so. It defaults to Apple Intelligence "on", which they had already declined in the last update. So, turned it off in settings. Then discovered they had to turn it off in each app that uses it individually . That is not good, Apple. Terrible UX. All the other changes were just as big of a hit. Mail went wonky (the Categories view is not great). The iMessage apps list is now gigantic and many of them you can't turn off, only reorder. Honestly, this Wall Street-influenced AI goldrush is getting out of hand. Apple used to be better than this. The last updates to iOS did not make the devices better, just different. I'm staying on iOS 17 as long as I can, my feeble iPhone 14 won't do Apple Intelligence anyway, but I also don't want 18 and its changes. Honestly, I'm about ready to just move to a flip phone. The only feature I really need is a WiFi hotspot.
Doesn’t like it
I finally replaced my iPhone 14 with a Xiaomi Fold 4 - the ability to turn it in to a small tablet has been far more useful than I anticipated, I also appreciate easy side-loading of apps and multiple stores. There are some cons, especially with using a phone aimed at the Chinese domestic market (not all features and UI are in English) But so far it feels like a far more innovative and 'free' ecosystem - iOS/iPhone was starting to feel really stale to me.
Neutral
Man I work in IT as a developer and I have absolutely no clue what most of my devices (can) do, and truth to be told I couldn't care less, because if I need something I find out how to do it. My main phone is a 2019 Xiaomi midrange phone, and I just can't tell how's the Iphone 14 I use to test our apps should be better, and I played with it some. I read the economist, hackernews watch some YouTube, play chess and occasionally use messaging apps or check banking stuff. I couldn't care less about editing photos on a phone nor mobile gaming. I know I live in a bubble, but I don't see users around me do much more than I do with the phone. It's not like these products are bad, and I think that people that live on their phone will benefit from all of this. But I'm just not one of them.
Doesn’t like it
I purchased the iPhone 14 right when it was released. In the US it seemed like some of the carriers were not prepared yet still offered the phone for purchase. There was this issue where I wouldn't receive any texts or voicemails due to the number being ported over to eSIM. The worst thing is that nobody who worked for the carrier had any clue either, there was zero acknowledgement that there was an issue going around. I had to spend a day reading through the forum posts, which there were a bunch, and someone wrote about their experience and suggested to talk to the tech but mention specific things something like "reauthorize the device", and finally got it to work. Similar issue happened to a friend on a different carrier but their employees actually knew about the issue and solved it with a single trip to the store. I wouldn't really blame this issue on the technology but just incompetence from the carrier made the eSIM transition a nightmare, I really don't get why they bothered to offer the iPhones in the first place if their tech is still playing catch up.