There’s Nothing New About The iPhone 14?
The iPhone 14 has some new features but for many it might not be worth the upgrade.
Tech heavyweight Apple announced their new iPhone 14 series on September 7th, which includes the iPhone 14, 14 plus, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max. In this series, there is no inclusion of the iPhone 14 mini. But the biggest question on everybody’s lips: is it worth the upgrade?
Apple’s endless cycle of yearly/bi-yearly upgrades of the iPhone can be tedious or, albeit, pointless to some consumers. At the same time, other customers love the reveal of how Apple has tweaked and advanced its ground-breaking technology.
The Apple iPhone 14 new features include a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display, a higher resolution of 2796 x 1290 pixels, an always-on display setting, a new A16 Bionic chipset with 6-core CPU, a more power efficient processor, and their most ascetically pleasing update the ‘Dynamic Island,’ which replaces the massive notch at the top of the screen.
Apart from its seeming to have a better battery, the features listed above mean nothing to most people. So to the everyday guy on the street, how does it fair against the other models, and is it worth the money?
The good news for consumers is that there has been no increase in prices for the new iPhone in the USA. Unlike in Europe, the prices have increased by 70 pounds or 100 euros compared to the iPhone 13. The major upgrade within this series is the battery life and, once again, a bigger screen. This feature, for instance, for someone who works remotely on their phone, may be a part they are crying out for as the iPhone’s battery is notoriously below par compared to Android.
If you look historically at the iPhone series since 2019, when the iPhone 11 was released, there isn’t a massive reason to upgrade. As it seems, most of the technology has been refined with every new series rather than adding explosive new features. While Apple still has from iPhone 8 to the iPhone 14 on its newest iOS 16 system, where it can still receive upgrades and download apps, users with an iPhone 8 should consider upgrading to a more up-date version. If you have a fully-working iPhone 11 or older, other than the battery life being more significant, there is no practical reason to want an upgrade.
Even though Apple holds 50% of the smartphone market, releasing an iPhone series in 2022, where people are being consumed by various price increases and inflation in their essential household bills, is a gamble. While most iPhones are sell-outs and very successful, this iPhone may not be. The serial upgraders may not have the money to splash out on such a luxury brand with very little to offer that they don’t already have in an older series.
So here we are, another year, another iPhone series with little changes and an expensive price tag. Is it worth paying hundreds of dollars for the new iPhone 14 series? The odds are, probably not for most folks. Will it sell out anyway? Time will tell.
