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Apple iPhone 14: Premium Smartphone with Innovation Issues

The two new color variants blue and purple aside, the iPhone 14 is virtually indistinguishable from the iPhone 13.
The two new color variants blue and purple aside, the iPhone 14 is virtually indistinguishable from the iPhone 13.
The Apple iPhone 14 performs very well in our review and achieves top scores primarily in the performance, display, and camera categories. Regardless, not much has changed compared to the iPhone 13 despite its higher base price. Innovative new features are exclusive to the Pro models of this generation.

What differentiates the iPhone 14 from its predecessor iPhone 13? The answer, unfortunately, is very little. The list of features is fairly short, since Apple has only made a few minor upgrades. They include an improved main and front camera, an automatic crash detection, more RAM, two new color variants, and a better repairability. Truly revolutionary new features for the series such as the always-on display, 48-MP camera, and the Dynamic Island are exclusive to the Pro models iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

If you are already on an iPhone 13, switching to the iPhone 14 likely will not sound very enticing due to the many similarities. Additionally, the base price has increased slightly. The lowest-storage configuration of the new Apple iPhone 14 with 128 GB costs around 800 USD - the iPhone 13 only cost 700 USD at launch. Since the iPhone 13 Pro falls into a similar price range nowadays, it may be a better alternative for prospective buyers of the iPhone 14. The advantages include an additional telephoto camera as well as the adaptive 120-Hz display. Conversely, the standard iPhone of 2022 still relies on a slower 60-Hz panel.

Main Camera of the iPhone 13 Pro

The new camera may be the most important upgrade for the Apple iPhone 14. The 12-MP main camera is now identical to that of the iPhone 13 Pro. This means that the sensor size increases to 1.7 to 1.9 µm, while the aperture improves from f/1.6 to f/1.5. In our testing, this is particularly apparent from the pictures captured at night. Under low-light conditions, the iPhone 14 takes significantly better pictures than last year's model and reveals many more details and richer colors in darker areas. The selfie camera has also been improved and now features an autofocus, allowing it to capture sharper photos particularly from a close range.

Our in-depth review of the Apple iPhone 14 can is available here.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2022 10 > Apple iPhone 14: Premium Smartphone with Innovation Issues
Manuel Masiero, 2022-10-16 (Update: 2022-10-16)