Is the iPhone 14 series worth the hype? – Cameras, Dynamic islands and Action
Its been over 2 months since Apple launched the iPhone 14 series and frankly its almost like a tradition of not letting the previous device settle before it is upstaged by a new device so believe me I was pretty excited to watch the launch and make my conclusions.
Two months down and I have both the good and bad of these devices down through my review, but let’s digress a bit
Is the iPhone 14 series worth the hype? -The Lineup
the iPhone 14 series consists of 4 devices which are iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max , the iPhone 14 , 14 pro and pro max version were released on launch day with the 14 plus coming much later in September.
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro are both 6.1-inch OLED screens, a departure from the previous 5.8 inches system that made it the handy version of the iPhone series.
With the 14 is the unique dual-camera 12MP setup (which is the same as the 13 series), the 14 pro has a triple camera mix with a single ultrawide 48MP and dual 12MP setup representing just a single change in the camera department for over 2 generations with 12MP selfie sensors.
The other difference between these two is the processor, the A15 Bionic based on the 5nm process is used on the iPhone 14 while the A16 Bionic based on the 6nm process Is used by the 14 Pro. This however is a very marginal improvement over the A15 which was used throughout last year’s lineup.
The 14 Plus and 14 Pro max are the cream of both ends with the 14 plus and the Pro max having 6.7 inch retina OLED display screens with slightly different resolutions.
Like the 14 and 14 pro, there is a difference in cameras with the 14 plus retaining the unique dual-camera 12MP setup (which is the same as the 13 series ) and the 14 pro max with a triple camera setup just like the 14 Pro noted earlier before.
They are all spotting 6gb of ram under the native IOS 16 with slightly better battery life than the 13 series and the new introductions of esim on the US models “means goodbye physical sim trays “ on all the models depending on your location so please note that when you buy.
In essence, the lineup starts from the iPhone 14, iPhone 4 plus. iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro max. interesting right?
But that is basically where the similarities begin to fade, Apple found a nice way to segment users of these devices.
For the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 plus which I call the entry welcome devices, the much talked about apple redesigned notch which houses my best feature i.e. Dynamic island is missing.
You do not get the premium iPhone 14 feeling here as it retains the previous notch and if all you want is the ability to feel this new design and the wonders of dynamic island, then welcome to the completely expensive iPhone 14 pro and pro max where the changes are fully visible.
It feels more like “ hey welcome to apple if you can’t afford $2,000 ( N 1.7 million ) for the iPhone pro max, you can at least get the iPhone 14 to join the big team at $1400 ( N 1.2 million ) but you will miss out on some key features or we just have to make you look different.”
The Hype and The Story In-between: every apple launch is an expected event, and trust me it draws some 3 to 4 million live viewers on YouTube alone, this year was not different as it was much talked about but suddenly that hype is gone and the reason isn’t that far.
The iPhone 14 series from my usage and review isn’t really much of an upgrade in many ways, the iPhone 13 series represented a huge leap design wise and performance-wise with its new A15 bionic chipset.
So imagine the surprise when the 14 and 14 plus basically came with the same processor and camera module with some changes according to apple and a tardy bit more expensive to many users who I have asked, it doesn’t just make sense to upgrade when the 13 can do basically the same thing.
But hey they gave us the A16 bionic chipset on a 4nm process as the upgrade but only on the 14 pro and pro max basically letting you the user decide if you really wanted the new iPhone feeling then you had to buy the Pro series or simply make do with the 14s that didn’t feel much better.
Then the disparity in processors also did not lead to some highly noticeable performance gains for the Pro models, infact in many benchmark scores they did get almost head to head with each other.
The camera systems also show this disparity, improvement in the entire camera system has been noted from the new modes e.g. pro mode, action mode, TruDepth, improved pro res mode and new photonic engine.
But the 14 and 14 plus retain the dual 12mp setup which according to apple comes with a bigger sensor (means more light gets into the lens for better images), while the 14 Pro and Pro max comes with improved triple setup and the 48 MP wide camera (The very first).
Camera samples taken show that the best images are taken by the Pro models with the 14 and 14 plus basically on the same level as the 13 series.
Noted again is the screen, while the pro model spot the new notch that allows the dynamic island , the other models retain the venerable iPhone notch
That’s hardly an upgrade.
But its not all glom, as here are my best iPhone 14 features:
iPhone 14 Features
Dynamic Island
I can rave about how much I love this feature, I mean it felt like someone already knew the new iPhone 14 pro model notch was a tard ugly and decided what exactly do I do to make this unique?
Well they slapped on a piece of UX goodness with the dynamic island, creating a software solution that allowed easier notifications and minimizations. Simply put dynamic island is practical and beautiful.
Satellite Emergency SOS
The emergency SOS feature allows users in crisis situations and areas of next to know connectivity to communicate directly with a satellite directly away from the tradition cellular network for emergency.
It means eve if your stuck in the Sahara Desert, you should be able to call for help. The iPhone 14 has now become a survival tool (something now away from the feeling of luxury its associated with).
Crash detection
This new feature also integrated on apple watches allows your iPhone to contact emergency services once you are involved in a crash or a trauma related event. Its pretty much been proven to be a mixed back though
Is the iPhone 14 series worth the hype? -Battery Life
Naturally iPhone have never been known to be great with batteries. I mean, one of the favorite banter materials around here is the fact a user will always have a power bank or magsafe around an iPhone.
The 13 series slightly changes this view but the 14 has totally done a number on this, with improved battery sizes and optimization. I advise you either get the iPhone 14 Plus or iPhone 14 Pro max for the best battery life experience.
Camera system
What can I say, the iPhone still take amazing images and the 14 series did not disappoint despite the disparity in camera modules and sizes. Although, I warn there has been some issues with handling night mode and low light conditions.
Generally, the photonic engine syncs well with the hardware to generate true to depth outputs but generally if you do tend to tilt towards saturated pictures, you might want to try other devices.
The pro res and cinematic mode performs as expected.
Is the iPhone 14 series worth the hype? – Final Thought
The Conclusion here is unless you are getting the Pro models of the iPhone 14 series there isn’t much feeling of an upgrade from the 13 series even in performance. If you love this, read my trip to Tokyo.
Cheerio till next time!