Apple Island
The long-awaited Apple (AAPL) event’ took place yesterday, and while it was full of adjectives about the nuances the company brought to this year’s iPhone, if we had to characterize the overall iPhone 14 line this year, we would have to say that the changes were utilitarian rather than revolutionary. That said, we summarize what we see as the noteworthy changes, if any, below by looking at the differences between last year’s iPhone 13 family and the new iPhone 14 family.
iPhone 14 – The iPhone 14, which is expected to be released on 9/16/22, will sell for $799, the same initial price of the iPhone 13 (128GB). The size of the new model is the same as the previous one, other than being 0.1mm thinner and it weighs 2 grams less, so there is little to shout about here. The 6.1” OLED display is the same as is the Apple A15 Bionic chipset, other than a 5 core Apple graphics processing unit as opposed to last year’s 4 core. The cameras are basically the same, as are most of the other features, with the addition of the satellite SMS emergency messaging system that we noted earlier this week, although (hold on to your seats) the case color purple has been added, although it replaces last year’s pink and green offerings.
The iPhone 14+ is a new member of the iPhone family so there is no comparison, so we compare it to the new iPhone 14. The iPhone 14+ is 19.4% larger than the iPhone 14 and is 25 grams (18%) heavier (like adding the weight of a mouse) and has a larger (6.7”) screen that has a higher resolution with a similar pixel density. The iPhone 14+ will sell for $899 and will be available October 7.
The iPhone 14 Pro, which will sell for $999 and is essentially the same size and weight of last year’s iPhone 13 Pro, and while they both have a 6.1”OLED display, this year’s model has a brighter screen that is based on LTPO (Low-temperature poly oxide) which reduces power consumption. But the main difference is the Apple A16 Bionic chipset (4nm node) that replaces the A15 Bionic (5nm node) from last year. The iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14+ both use last year’s A15 Bionic chipset. While it is early for benchmark tests, it should be a bit faster than last year’s model and comparable Qualcomm (QCOM) Snapdragon chipsets but by how much and whether it will be noticeable by users is a question that will take some time to answer. One of the cameras in the iPhone 14 Pro has also been upgraded from 12MP to 48MP with the Pro becoming available 9/16/22. The iPhone 14 Pro Max will sell for $1,099 and is the top of the iPhone line, with a 6.7” OLED LTPO display and the same upgraded chipset and camera as in the previous model, so the real difference between the Pro and the Pro Max is the larger screen size, for which they charge $100 more.
Aside from the satellite SOS capabilities that we mentioned in an earlier note, there is one improvement of note in this year’s models. There is an obsession among smartphone fans concerning the area in which cameras are located, typically called a notch. The notch began back in 2017 with the Sharp (6753.JP) Aquos S2 and Apple picked up the idea with the iPhone X that same year. Over the last few years notches became larger as more cameras and sensors were added and then the tide turned away, with fans seeing the larger notch taking up valuable screen real estate. Apple changed the notch in the iPhone 14 Pro & Pro Max to a ‘pill’ shape, obviously smaller than a full notch, and rather than waste the space created what they call the “Dynamic Island”, a notification window that sits over the cut out. Apple seems to have spent a great deal of time and effort designing the notification window shapes and formats for various message types, but it does allow the user to avoid having to move between applications to check status, as the “DI” can remain open without affecting other applications. It’s a handy feature that puts the notch to good use and seems far better than the screen bar notifications that are typical with Android phones.
That said, there was little else to get excited about, at least from a hardware standpoint, so the release seems to be pretty much as we expected, with little change to the phones themselves. Its hard to get excited about something that is essentially the same as last year’s model, but we are sure Apple fans will find things to crow about and the endless stream of slick advertisements showing hip folk doing cool things with their iPhones will surely attract attention, but short of the ‘Dynamic Island’, which is a nice feature, and a better camera set-up, there is little to move customers to upgrade from the iPhone 13 series in our view.
iPhone 14 – The iPhone 14, which is expected to be released on 9/16/22, will sell for $799, the same initial price of the iPhone 13 (128GB). The size of the new model is the same as the previous one, other than being 0.1mm thinner and it weighs 2 grams less, so there is little to shout about here. The 6.1” OLED display is the same as is the Apple A15 Bionic chipset, other than a 5 core Apple graphics processing unit as opposed to last year’s 4 core. The cameras are basically the same, as are most of the other features, with the addition of the satellite SMS emergency messaging system that we noted earlier this week, although (hold on to your seats) the case color purple has been added, although it replaces last year’s pink and green offerings.
The iPhone 14+ is a new member of the iPhone family so there is no comparison, so we compare it to the new iPhone 14. The iPhone 14+ is 19.4% larger than the iPhone 14 and is 25 grams (18%) heavier (like adding the weight of a mouse) and has a larger (6.7”) screen that has a higher resolution with a similar pixel density. The iPhone 14+ will sell for $899 and will be available October 7.
The iPhone 14 Pro, which will sell for $999 and is essentially the same size and weight of last year’s iPhone 13 Pro, and while they both have a 6.1”OLED display, this year’s model has a brighter screen that is based on LTPO (Low-temperature poly oxide) which reduces power consumption. But the main difference is the Apple A16 Bionic chipset (4nm node) that replaces the A15 Bionic (5nm node) from last year. The iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14+ both use last year’s A15 Bionic chipset. While it is early for benchmark tests, it should be a bit faster than last year’s model and comparable Qualcomm (QCOM) Snapdragon chipsets but by how much and whether it will be noticeable by users is a question that will take some time to answer. One of the cameras in the iPhone 14 Pro has also been upgraded from 12MP to 48MP with the Pro becoming available 9/16/22. The iPhone 14 Pro Max will sell for $1,099 and is the top of the iPhone line, with a 6.7” OLED LTPO display and the same upgraded chipset and camera as in the previous model, so the real difference between the Pro and the Pro Max is the larger screen size, for which they charge $100 more.
Aside from the satellite SOS capabilities that we mentioned in an earlier note, there is one improvement of note in this year’s models. There is an obsession among smartphone fans concerning the area in which cameras are located, typically called a notch. The notch began back in 2017 with the Sharp (6753.JP) Aquos S2 and Apple picked up the idea with the iPhone X that same year. Over the last few years notches became larger as more cameras and sensors were added and then the tide turned away, with fans seeing the larger notch taking up valuable screen real estate. Apple changed the notch in the iPhone 14 Pro & Pro Max to a ‘pill’ shape, obviously smaller than a full notch, and rather than waste the space created what they call the “Dynamic Island”, a notification window that sits over the cut out. Apple seems to have spent a great deal of time and effort designing the notification window shapes and formats for various message types, but it does allow the user to avoid having to move between applications to check status, as the “DI” can remain open without affecting other applications. It’s a handy feature that puts the notch to good use and seems far better than the screen bar notifications that are typical with Android phones.
That said, there was little else to get excited about, at least from a hardware standpoint, so the release seems to be pretty much as we expected, with little change to the phones themselves. Its hard to get excited about something that is essentially the same as last year’s model, but we are sure Apple fans will find things to crow about and the endless stream of slick advertisements showing hip folk doing cool things with their iPhones will surely attract attention, but short of the ‘Dynamic Island’, which is a nice feature, and a better camera set-up, there is little to move customers to upgrade from the iPhone 13 series in our view.
Sharp Aquos S2 with camera notch - Source: PhoneArena
Various Notch Formats - Source: c.realme.com
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