Apple iPhone 14 review: The most iterative update ever to a great smartphone
The iPhone 14 is such an incredibly minor update that no iPhone 13 owner with a sane mind should consider upgrading to it. The fact that iPhone 14 doesn’t even do the bare minimum to justify an upgrade from its predecessor is a reminder of Apple’s incredible grip over the smartphone market and how it can afford to get away with controversial moves that others simply can’t. Can you imagine any Android brand releasing a flagship with the same chipset as its predecessor, and getting away with it?
The iPhone 14 is Apple trying to sell you the same old wine in the old bottle but with a new label. Okay, I’m exaggerating a little here. There are some notable upgrades here, and one of the biggest changes Apple didn’t even talk about during the event (but more on that later). The list of hardware upgrades is relatively small this year. You get the same chipset as the last year but with an extra GPU core, a brand new selfie shooter, an improved primary camera, basic satellite connectivity, and Crash Detection. In addition, the US models also drop the physical SIM card slot to fully embrace the eSIM future.
As you can see, there’s not a lot to convince the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12 owners to make a switch. The divide between the standard and Pro models is wider than ever as most of the cool features, including Dynamic Island, the new A16 Bionic chipset, and a 48MP main camera, are exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. That also means there’s more incentive to shell out extra money on the Pro models as the advantages and perks you get are more clearly defined and easy to rationalize