iPhone 14 Pro review: This upgrade attracts me more than dynamic Island

Providing roughly similar experiences within different hardware has been Apple’s trademark for a long time. Taking the iPhone in the full-screen era as an example, you can say that these phones are “skilled and not aggressive”, but in any case, similar hardware frameworks allow Apple to bring similar software and interactions to different iPhones, significantly reducing the cost of User learning costs for different hardware.

But with the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, things have changed. In order to “delay time” for Face ID or other biometric systems under the screen, Apple introduced the design of “Smart Island” for the new iPhone 14 Pro series, and moderately used software technology to “relieve” the stagnant hardware development. Although it is said that under the cool and smooth interactive animation of Smart Island, this design to cover shame has indeed played a role in turning corruption into magic. But for consumers, the emergence of Smart Island inevitably brings interaction differences to the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro series.

Iphone 14 wholesale price : $429 on Ripesale

Click here to check the best price and deals from ripesale.com

So how is the iPhone 14 Pro different from the iPhone 14 that everyone was familiar with a year ago?

iphone 14 pro wholesale price: $589 on ripesale

Click here to check the best price and deals from ripesale.com

Before introducing the Smart Island, I would like to talk to you about the design of the iPhone 14 Pro. After all, the dynamic Island can only be seen and used after it is unlocked, and the appearance and design of the iPhone 14 Pro can be experienced the moment you get your hands on it.

First, the iPhone 14 Pro does get heavier. Whether you compare it to the iPhone 13 Pro or the iPhone 14, the solid weight and feel of the iPhone 14 Pro will give you a whole new appreciation for the stainless steel frame. Many people thought last year’s iPhone 13 Pro Max was heavier because of its size, but it wasn’t. Even within the same generation of the iPhone 14 series, the iPhone 14 Plus with an aluminum frame and a larger screen is still lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro with a stainless steel frame.

Image source: Gozchina Technology
So why is Apple obsessed with stainless steel bezels? The reason is simple: the tough stainless steel frame gives the phone a better tactile feel. However, on the iPhone 14 Pro, due to the change in the angle of the frame, the phone will feel like a scratch when you hold it, and the stainless steel frame is easily stained with fingerprints or scratches. Judging from Xiaolei’s own habits, a protective case that feels comfortable in the hand is still essential. However, on the bright side, the body width of the iPhone 14 Pro seems to be narrower than that of the iPhone 13 Pro, which can provide some psychological help for one-handed holding.

In addition to the impressive feel and weight of the stainless steel frame, the iPhone 14 Pro’s camera module is equally impressive. The iPhone 14 Pro camera module, which uses a new sensor, has become more prominent than the iPhone 13 Pro, and the “footprint” is also larger. This change brings two negative effects to the iPhone 14 Pro: First, there will be a more serious “seesaw” phenomenon when the phone is placed on the table. Secondly, when holding the phone with one hand in the right hand, the right index finger will press the fingerprint to the camera lens.
One thing to say, Smart Island may not be a perfect design, but it is indeed a very interesting design. In terms of level, Smartisan does not belong to the notification bar, so software notifications such as WeChat will appear below Smartisan Island. However, in actual use, I think it is more like a resident item after the notification bar is pulled down: those music player controls and countdown controls that were originally resident at the top of the notification bar will appear in the dynamic island, without pulling down. Direct operation.

However, this design also has its own drawbacks, that is, Smart Island treats the Face ID module as a button. In other words, your fingerprints will always accompany the former camera, and you have to wipe it before every time you take a photo, otherwise the pictures will be foggy.

By the way, since the essence of Smart Island is a resident control, most music playback software can directly call Smart Island without worrying about adaptation.
Another major upgrade from the iPhone 14 Pro, the 48MP latter camera impresses me. Let’s talk about what everyone cares about first: “ghosting” is still there. The phenomenon of “ghosting” (intra-mirror reflection) still occurs in the iPhone 14 Pro due to issues with the lens optics. But in terms of actual performance, the “ghost control” of the iPhone 14 Pro is much better than the previous two generations, and the situation of the “urban galaxy” has been greatly improved.

Not only that, the over-sharpening of iPhone photos in the past has also been greatly improved. I don’t mean to say that the iPhone 14 Pro looks very “meaty” when taking pictures, but thanks to the higher-pixel main camera, the iPhone no longer needs to be sharpened to make the picture “look clearer”. In addition, the iPhone 14 Pro also does a better job of retaining details than previous iPhones. Sky colors are also cleaner in night mode.

Previously, some people were worried that the iPhone 14 Pro would affect the quality of night shots due to the smaller aperture. Judging from the samples taken by Xiaolei, you don’t have to worry about this problem at all. Even if you shoot without relying on your hand, the amount of light entering the iPhone 14 Pro at night is not enough. high enough. As for the sports mode that was mainly promoted at the press conference, due to time constraints, it has not been tested yet, and it will be delivered in a detailed test later.
In terms of configuration, this year’s mobile phone has been equipped with 6GB RAM as standard, and the situation of killing the background is slightly better than before, and the top ten applications back in the background will basically not be overloaded. But if you want to go back to a game from a few apps ago, the probability of reloading is still relatively high.

In terms of running points, compared with the iPhone 13 Pro, the performance of the iPhone 14 Pro is slightly improved. GeekBench CPU single-core performance increased from 1734 to 1863 points for iPhone 13 Pro, and multi-core performance increased from 4577 points to 5446 points, an increase of 7% and 18% respectively. At this stage, there will be a problem of vertical screen rendering of 3D Mark on iOS 16. Due to the incorrect resolution, the score and frame number have no reference significance. As for the game test, it will also be completed in the added evaluation.

However, in terms of heat, the performance of the iPhone 14 Pro is indeed better than that of the iPhone 13 Pro.

Although in the eyes of many people, the “only” update of the iPhone 14 Pro is the Smart Island and a series of interactions around the Smart Island, but after most of the day’s hands-on experience, the iPhone 14 Pro impresses me more on the hardware. improvement. The new 48MP camera has changed my impression of the “sharpened” iPhone camera, and the brighter screen has also given me a better HDR video viewing experience. If it is the Smart Island that attracted me to buy the iPhone 14 Pro, what really makes me continue to use the iPhone 14 Pro is the hardware improvement covered by the Smart Island and the excellent software experience that matches it.

Next, I will continue to fully experience all aspects of the iPhone 14 Pro, and the detailed evaluation content is also being actively prepared. If you haven’t bought the first batch of iPhone 14 Pro, or are still hesitating “Would you like to wait for 15?”, I believe you can find the answer in the future iPhone 14 Pro evaluation.