iPhone 14 plans in Australia: Telstra, Vodafone and Optus compared

With the updated iPhone SE 3 out of the way, the flagship iPhone 14 lineup is next on Apple's list.

While plenty of details around the inevitable and anticipated follow-up to last year's iPhone 13 got leaked ahead of time, the full reveal provided no shortage of new features and specs worth talking about. If you're excited by the prospect of making your next phone an iPhone, there's a lot to unpack.

Even if we won't know just how meaningful of an update the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro are until we've had the chance to go hands-on with them, there's already a lot to like about Apple's next lot of flagship smartphones.

As with previous generations of iPhone, a postpaid plan via one of Australia's mobile providers is going to be a more flexible and reasonable way for many consumers who want to get their hands on the new iPhone 14 without dropping the serious cash that Apple's latest flagships demand.

For instance, if you're looking to pick up a new iPhone 14 through Telstra, the cheapest way to do so is going to be by pairing up the 128GB model with Telstra's $65 Basic Upfront Mobile Plan. This works out to be $101.08 per month over 36 months, with device repayments making up $36.08 of that sum.

In contrast, getting an iPhone 14 with 128GB of storage on a 36-month plan is a little cheaper through Optus. Going with Optus' $52 Choice Plus Plan here means paying $88.08 per month.

Going with Vodafone gets you an iPhone 14 for even less. A 128GB iPhone 14 paired up with Vodafone's $49 Small plan will run you just $78.13 per month for 36 months.

The exact device repayments costs across all three of Australia's 'big three' mobile providers are almost identical in most cases. 

With that in mind, those who want their iPhone 14 of choice on the cheapest possible plan are likely going to be best served with Vodafone. Meanwhile, those who want their iPhone 14 to run on Australia's best and fastest mobile network are naturally going to gravitate towards Telstra.

If you think you fall somewhere between those two extremes, or would rather a little more value on your plan when it comes to the number of gigabytes of data you get per dollar, then Optus might be your best bet. Check out the widget below for a round-up of Optus plans.

Apple typically announces new iPhones in September, and the company didn't deviate from that pattern in 2022. A week or so of after Apple's "Far Out" event on September 7th, the iPhone 14 Max, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max went on-sale in Australia on the September 16, 2022.

The iPhone 14 Plus arrived a few weeks after that on the 7th of October, 2022.

While the last two generations of iPhone have kept visible design changes to a minimum, this year's iPhone 14 will break that trend. It'd be a mistake to expect a complete overhaul or even an iPhone X-level redesign, but there are a few key revisions to the formula to talk about here.

The most notable of these here concerns the notch, and is only found in the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Infamously divisive when it was first introduced, Apple is getting more ambitious with their display cutout this year.

Rebranded as the Dynamic Island, this the larger notch on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max can now expand, shrink and animated depending on the situation.

Apple will also be doubling down on the high refresh rate tech that was exclusive to the iPhone 13 Pro last year, though this feature continues to be exclusive to the Pro models and cannot be found in either the standard iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Plus.

The Dynamic Island isn't the only bit of tinkering that Apple are doing with the iPhone's front-facing camera setup this year. Much as you'd expect, the arrival of a new iPhone is an easy excuse for Apple to shore up its smartphone photography credentials.

Courtesy of a new Photonic image engine, Apple claims that the new iPhone 14 and its siblings will all offer significantly enhanced low-light performance. The 12MP camera on the front of the new iPhone 14 benefit the most here, but Apple claims that improvements should be felt across the board.

Selfie stans are also likely to appreciate the inclusion of autofocus and a larger aperture this time around. These are a fairly obvious improvements, but it should help make the front-facing camera on the iPhone 14 a little sharper than previous efforts.

While the back of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus boasts a familiar (though not identical) dual 12MP setup to the one on the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini,  the rear camera on Apple's freshest flock of Pro-grade flagship devices are equipped with a larger 48MP camera and a quad-pixel sensor.

More than just more megapixels though, Apple says that these inclusions empower the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max to support 4K video capture at 24 frames-per second in Cinematic Mode, a dedicated night portrait mode and superior macro photography capabilities.

All told, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus will be available in five colours while the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be available in just four.

Check out the table below for a breakdown of which colors are available for which device.

While this year's flagship iPhone range features four discrete models, the breakdown of that lineup is likely to be a little different to that of previous ones.

Unlike the last two generations of iPhone, the iPhone 14 will not arrive in a Mini size. Instead, the standard iPhone 14 will represent the bottom end of the lineup and a new iPhone 14 Plus will sit between it and the iPhone 14 Pro.

All told, the four-model line-up is as follows:

• iPhone 14
• iPhone 14 Plus
• iPhone 14 Pro
• iPhone 14 Pro Max

When it comes to display sizes, both the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro both boast 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR displays while the iPhone 14 Plus and iPhone 14 Pro Max feature a larger 6.7-inch form-factor

Those expecting the iPhone 14 to come with a big bump in battery life over the iPhone 13 may want to keep their expectations in check. While Apple are looking to tinker with the size of the batteries inside this year's iPhones, these are more like adjustments than significant advantages.

According to spec leaks, the size of the batteries inside the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are as follows:

• iPhone 14 - 3279mAh
• iPhone 14 Plus - 4325mAh
• iPhone 14 Pro - 3200mAh
• iPhone 14 Pro Max - 4323mAh

On paper, these figures indicate that the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Pro have slightly larger batteries than their 2021 counterparts. On the other hand, the top-of-the-line iPhone 14 Pro Max has a slightly smaller battery than the one seen inside the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

However, the introduction of an Always On display could complicate the math here. With Apple's take on this feature set to make use of the same variable refresh rate functionality seen on recent Apple Watches, this may translate into significant battery life gains. The screens on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be able to go as low 1Hz, but we'll have to wait and see how big a difference this makes over previous battery performance enhancements.

Apple typically introduces its next generation of processor with each new iPhone, and 2022 isn't set to break that streak. Where last year's iPhone 13 came with the A15 Bionic, the A16 is the engine powering this year's iPhone 14 Pro.

Those who settle for the standard iPhone 14 (or the iPhone 14 Plus) will get the same A15 Bionic found inside in the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro instead. However, the hardware here comes augmented by an updated internal design that Apple claims delivers superior thermal efficiency over last year's devices.

When it comes to on-board storage, this year's iPhones come in the same 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB variants as last year's handsets. If you want that last one though, you'll have to splurge on either the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus cap out at 512GB.

When it comes to RAM, this year's iPhone lineup seem to be a clear upgrade from last year's models. While Apple doesn't typically breakout memory as a spec for the iPhone, early leaks suggest that this year's iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are kitted out with 6GB of RAM. Assuming this is accurate, the new devices represent a solid upgrade over the 4GB found in the iPhone 13 range.

When it comes to the software side of the equation, Apple usually takes the launch of each new flagship iPhone as an opportunity to publicly release the next version of the iOS software powering their devices.

Given that iOS 16 having been in beta for a number of months now, it's expected that the upcoming iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will all ship with the new software ready-to-go right out of the box.

Australian pricing for the iPhone 14 is a little higher this time around, with price hike that range from $30 for the 256GB iPhone 14 Pro (compared to the 256GB iPhone 13 Pro) to as much as $80 for the 256GB iPhone 14 Pro Max.

For comparison, here’s what launch pricing for the iPhone 14 lineup looks like in Australia.

For comparison, here’s a breakdown of what launch pricing for the iPhone 13 lineup looked like in Australia.