What problems do users of Apple's new iPhone 14 and headphones face?

Users are not very happy with the new iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, as well as the AirPods Pro 2 headphones. They are sharing online the problems they have found with the listed devices.

All of these devices have just recently been released: they were officially announced during the September Apple event.

iPhone 14 Pro – signal problems and peeling of the matte layer on the back panel

The iPhone 14 Pro smartphones with eSIM are losing signal and running slower than the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13, a complaint many users have heard online.

According to them, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max running on Verizon's network can spontaneously drop calls and also have a poor signal. According to one iPhone 14 Pro user, when he is at home, the signal strength on his new smartphone is only 1-2 bars, while there were no such problems with the iPhone 13. Besides, he said, the 5G network speeds on the iPhone 13 are faster than on the iPhone 14 Pro.

An iPhone 14 Pro Max user complained that the signal just disappears while switching between 4G and 5G and is restored after a few seconds – much later than the iPhone 12 Pro Max did.

Users also complain that the back panel of the phone is very vulnerable to damage – scratches appear even on phones on display in stores, especially on the purple version. According to users, the matte layer lags from the back panel. The reason is most likely that on Apple devices, ceramic sand is sprayed on the surface of the glass to get a matte effect. Apparently, the joining of two completely different materials with this technology leads to peeling rather quickly.

Many people complain about the delamination of the matte layer, but it seems that this is not a warranty case: so far, there are no known cases of Apple to replace the iPhone 14 Pro with such a problem.

iPhone 14 – lack of dual-frequency GPS module

The iPhone 14 lacks a dual-frequency GPS module, which can be accurate up to 3 meters. The single-frequency GPS is more susceptible to interference, and its accuracy is about 5 meters. However, only the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are equipped with a dual-frequency GPS module.

The appearance and characteristics of the phone also disappointed many users, and because of all this sales of the standard version of the iPhone 14 were very humble. Sales of the iPhone 14 dropped 70% in the first week compared to the iPhone 13 in the same period last year. 

Meanwhile, sales of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max were up 56%. However, given how many problems users are finding with these phones, it's hard to say whether sales will remain high.

AirPods Pro 2 – lots of headphone issues

According to users, Apple's new AirPods Pro 2 noise-canceling headphones disconnect when used with an iPhone or iPad.

The reason for the disconnection of the headphones is yet unclear: it may be a matter of the headset firmware (the current firmware version is 5A377), or it is a bug in iOS 16. It is possible that the headphones may also have hardware problems; however the probability of this, according to experts, is still lower, because AirPods Pro 2 is an improved version of the original AirPods Pro, which have been on the market for several years.

Some users have also reported that the speaker of the charging case does not work.

Not all new devices are problematic

The Apple Watch Ultra was also announced at the same September event, but there does not seem to be much to complain about. The watch, as promised by the manufacturer, is indeed durable: it has withstood with dignity "adventures" in a can of nails, being thrown on the floor and even being hit with a hammer. It also turned out to be able to withstand immersion deeper than the promised 40 meters.