iPhone 14 Evaluate: A Good Improve for Most Folks

This story is a part of Focal Level iPhone 2022, CNET’s assortment of reports, suggestions and recommendation round Apple’s hottest product.

The iPhone 14 is each an enchancment on final 12 months’s iPhone 13 and one of the vital minimal year-over-year upgrades in Apple’s historical past. On the skin, the 14 inherits the iPhone 13’s tried and true flat-sided aluminum design. On the within, Apple basically repackaged the iPhone 13 Professional, sans the telephoto digicam and high-refresh-rate display screen. The result’s beautiful and the iPhone 14 is an efficient improve for most individuals.

The iPhone 14 begins at $799 (together with a $30 connectivity low cost should you activate it with AT&T, Dash, T-Cellular or Verizon), the identical worth because the iPhone 12 and 13 after they first went on sale. For those who’re hoping for extra vital enhancements, there’s the costlier iPhone 14 Professional and 14 Professional Max, each of that are brimming with updates. 

As Individuals grapple with inflation, some corporations have saved prices the identical by providing rather less. The iPhone 14 looks as if a manner for Apple to launch a brand new cellphone whereas sustaining final 12 months’s worth. Is that this a case of “shrinkflation“? Perhaps, however not essentially.

The iPhone 14 jogs my memory of the iPhone 5C, which got here out in 2013 alongside the iPhone 5S. The 5C was mainly an iPhone 5 inside a brand new plastic physique that was meant to enchantment to a extra budget-minded viewers. Whereas there are some similarities, the 14 appears to be geared toward balancing worth and including new options.

Apple added a lot of security instruments to the 14 together with Crash Detection and satellite tv for pc connectivity for sending emergency messages while you’re out of vary of a cell tower. The iPhone 14 additionally received an inside redesign that helps dissipate warmth higher and permits its glass again to be repaired extra simply and for much less cash.

However these are options most individuals will hopefully by no means use they usually’re largely invisible. Even the iPhone’s transfer away from bodily SIM playing cards to eSIM on US fashions is one thing most individuals will solely cope with as soon as when transferring their quantity.

The obvious improve is the brand new bigger model of the iPhone 14, known as the iPhone 14 Plus. With the identical sized 6.7-inch display screen because the 14 Professional Max, the iPhone 14 Plus ought to enchantment to individuals who need a big cellphone however do not need to spend $1,099. Nevertheless, the 14 Plus will not be out till Oct. 7.

The iPhone 14 goes on sale Friday, Sept. 16, and is at present accessible for preorder.

iPhone 14 options

Familiarity is an underrated high quality, and the iPhone 14 is crammed with it. The 6.1-inch OLED display screen has the identical Ceramic Protect, display screen notch and matte-finished aluminum because the iPhone 13. And it weighs 17% lower than the iPhone 14 Professional, regardless of being almost equivalent in measurement. That lighter weight makes the 14 a pleasure to carry and use with or with no case.

The iPhone 14 is rated IP68 for water- and dust-resistance, which means it could actually survive being submerged beneath 6 meters of water (about 20 toes). So it should not have any bother having a can of Yerba Mate spilled on it.

One factor that is lacking from the 14 is a SIM card tray. Within the US, the iPhone 14 will solely work with an eSIM. Apple has partnered with US carriers to make sure the method of transferring the quantity out of your previous cellphone to an iPhone 14 is so simple as placing your previous iPhone subsequent to your new one and following a number of prompts. Smaller carriers like Mint Cellular and US Cellular additionally provide eSIMs.

My private cellphone is on Google Fi, which helps eSIMs. However once I tried to switch my quantity to a overview unit, I needed to contact the service for help. (Seems my SIM card was very, very previous.)

The iPhone 14 is on the market in 5 colours: Product Pink, midnight, starlight, purple and blue, which is the colour of the overview unit Apple lent me.

iPhone 14 cameras

The iPhone 14 has three cameras: a principal broad angle and ultrawide cameras on the again, and a brand new up to date TrueDepth digicam system on the entrance. The iPhone 14’s digicam is just like the principle digicam on the iPhone 13 Professional, which is likely one of the explanation why I known as it an iPhone 13 Professional with out the telephoto digicam.

In comparison with the iPhone 13, the 14’s principal digicam has a bigger sensor and a brand new lens with a sooner f1.5 aperture. All that {hardware} mixed with Apple’s new processing pipeline, known as Photonic Engine, helps enhance picture high quality, particularly while you take photographs in darker environments.

And in my checks, the iPhone 14 takes nice photographs and movies. I used to be in a position to get a decent snap, even when the lighting wasn’t good. Take a look at the picture beneath of a canine that I took within the not-so-bright inside of a espresso store. Discover how nicely the 14 captures the feel and element within the canine’s fur. It additionally did a great job of freezing the motion despite the fact that the canine was transferring his head as I used to be taking the picture. 

Though the 14’s ultrawide digicam is certainly one of my favourite cameras, it is nonetheless a step down from the principle digicam when it comes to total picture high quality and efficiency. And the ultrawide digicam cannot double as a Macro digicam prefer it does on the iPhone 14 Professional. However I do admire how the acute subject of view offers photographs and movies a dramatic look.

The iPhone 14’s Evening mode is improved, however nonetheless suffers from gentle supply reflections. Check out the beneath picture of an overpass. Discover how the shop’s signal is mirrored within the evening sky.

Listed below are another photographs I took with the iPhone 14.

Cinematic mode received an improve and it could actually now report 4K video at 24 fps. There’s additionally a brand new software for video picture stability known as Motion mode. Principally, it applies GoPro-like ranges of picture stabilization while you’re recording a video. The Galaxy S22 has an identical function known as Tremendous Regular. For those who’re capturing 4K video on the iPhone and use Motion mode, the decision drops to 2.8K. However the outcomes are implausible.

Video high quality is superb total in brilliant gentle, however beneath dimmer lighting the main points look muddy. Take a look at my iPhone 14 overview video to see a bunch of clips I shot utilizing the cellphone.

iPhone 14 processor: A15 Bionic chip

The iPhone 14 has Apple’s A15 Bionic chip, which is the opposite motive it looks as if a repackaged 13 Professional. Final 12 months, there have been two variations of this chip: One for the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini, and one other with an additional GPU core for the iPhone 13 Professional and 13 Professional Max. The 14 has the one with the additional GPU core.

By way of efficiency, the iPhone 14 is speedy. Animations look clean. Gaming is enjoyable and the iPhone 14 dealt with every thing I threw at it, from Name of Obligation Cellular and Asphalt 8: Airbourne Plus to Warped Kart Racers and Lego Brawls.

In our benchmark checks, the iPhone 14 carried out on par with final 12 months’s iPhone 13 however continues to be sooner and extra highly effective than any Android cellphone at present offered. Such excessive efficiency is not essentially one thing you may use immediately, however it’ll future-proof the cellphone for years. Take a look at the outcomes of our benchmark checks beneath.

By way of battery, the iPhone 14 lasts a tad longer than the iPhone 13. I can simply get by a full day with my screen-on time averaging 5 hours a day, which is on common with different telephones we have examined. The rise in battery life is available in half from the redesigned inside in addition to iOS 16, which in my time with the cellphone was peppy, clean and lacked any bugs. iOS 16 can also be accessible as a free replace for the iPhone 8 and later. 

The iPhone 14 can cost shortly. It is nowhere close to the quick charging speeds on the OnePlus 10 Professional, however the 14’s battery went from 18% to 81% in 45 minutes. I charged it utilizing the included Lightning-to-USB-C cable and a third-party 20-watt wall adapter that I purchased since Apple does not ship one within the field.

iPhone 14 vs. iPhone 13, 12, 11

So, do you have to improve? For those who just like the iPhone 12 and 13, you may be proper at house on the iPhone 14, however there is not any compelling motive to improve from both of these telephones. The iPhone 14 is a superb improve should you’re utilizing an 11 or older iPhone because it gives longer battery life, sooner efficiency, a a lot better display screen, elevated sturdiness and cameras in addition to security options like Crash Detection and Emergency SOS by way of Satellite tv for pc.

For those who’re making an attempt to determine between getting an iPhone 14 or the iPhone 13, I might advise you to save cash and go for the lately discounted $699 iPhone 13 or the smaller $599 13 Mini. However if you need these new security options, it is price contemplating the iPhone 14.

I loved my time with the iPhone 14. Commonplace upgrades like those discovered within the iPhone 14 are geared at individuals who simply need a new iPhone and are upgrading from fashions which are years previous. Whereas the iPhone Execs have the flashiest new options, it is simple to miss the enhancements Apple made to the iPhone 14. However the acquainted iPhone 14 is like consolation meals and will certainly hit the spot for most individuals.