The first reviews of the iPhone 14 Pro showed that there is no point in updating last year’s model
New iPhone 14 Pro models reached journalists and bloggers a little earlier than store shelves. Recently, Apple lifted the embargo on reviews, which simultaneously poured in from all sides of the “technological bubble” of the Internet. We watched several reviews (MKBHD, Engadget, TheVerge, CNET, WSJ) to highlight among them the main interesting points.
And the first thing that the reviewers’ attention was closely focused on was Dynamic Island. Its functionality was a surprise at the presentation. Probably the last time so much attention was paid to the cutout for the front camera at the time of the release of the iPhone X. But even then it was a mixture of conversations about functionality and a selection of jokes about the “monobrow”. Everything is a little different now.
The new notch would not have attracted so much attention if Apple had not managed to supplement it with interesting software. Observers are delighted with such a decision and its implementation. “Island” can show call status, charging connection, running music player, etc. It collected many status indicators (connecting headphones and charging, switching to silent mode…) in one place and can turn into a widget, or show, for example, music and a timer at the same time. At the same time, it has interesting animations that also change the size and shape of the cutout.
The reviewers did not like something in it and they came to a common opinion. Dynamic Island can send the user to the application with a tap, and if you hold your finger on it, it will open in a widget. These should be swapped or the user could be given a choice. It would be much better to get a widget on tap, and switch to the application through a long tap on the cutout, it really seems more logical. And sometimes the application interface is not yet adapted to Dynamic Island, where it can interfere with the content. But it’s a matter of time.
Another nice detail is Always-On. This is also hard not to notice in a new smartphone. However, “but” was found here as well. First, the backlighting of the clock and widgets seemed too bright and could give the impression that the smartphone is simply not locked. Second, I would like more customization options with the lock screen. Android smartphones have long had many interesting options that could be implemented on the iPhone.
Battery life seemed a little shorter to journalists and they all blamed this, of course, on the Always-On function. At the same time, everyone complained about the old Lightning, and not the expected USB-C for charging and transferring files to a computer.
Among the pleasant moments about the display was also noted the backlight increased to 2,000 nits, which was a little noticeable when using the device outside on a sunny day. Although in such conditions, the cut-outs for the camera and Face ID sensors were visible against the background of the screen (which looks a little sloppy, in my opinion).
They also liked the new purple case. But this is practically the only update. Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) emphasized that during the week of using the new iPhone, which he did not hide from strangers around, no one noticed that he had a new model. Therefore, almost no attention was paid to the case in reviews. As well as productivity. Yes, the new chip is, as always, the most powerful, but this does not mean that the older models immediately began to noticeably lose. Therefore, this point was also almost not mentioned.
But what is really not good news is the full transition of American models to eSIM. This is also relevant for Ukraine, because someone may purchase such a model through friends in the USA, and someone will get one from the “gray” market. The inconvenience is that, for example, when traveling with such a smartphone, it will be more difficult to buy a temporary local SIM card and stay connected. Of course, over time everyone adapts better, but now it can add unnecessary discomfort.
And finally, cameras. For the first time in many years, Apple increased the resolution and capabilities of the main sensor, but even this was not exclusively good news. Now the camera has increased the minimum focusing distance, and in some cases, the post-processing is not critical, but it lost the saturation of individual shades.
Although it collects more details than the previous one, without even switching to full-size RAW mode (the standard mode composes a 12 MP image). In addition, the camera takes better pictures with moving objects and conveys the depth of the scene noticeably more pleasantly.
But here the reviewers were disappointed by the comparison with pictures and videos from the iPhone 13 Pro. They had to look for the difference. And although it exists, no one called it significant. Especially considering the fact that on social networks, no one will so meticulously look for the strengths or weaknesses of a particular photo.
And this led to a collective “sentence”: it makes no sense for iPhone 13 Pro owners to upgrade their smartphone to the iPhone 14 Pro. Of course, if there is extra money and desire, it is out of the question. But from a practical point of view, Dynamic Island, Always-On Display, a little more power, and minimal improvements in camera performance are not worth the extra money.