iPhone 14 Pro: The good, the bad, the mediocre

New Delhi

The new iPhones have courted quite a lot of controversy since their anticipated launch. From shaking cameras to demand issues, the latest line-up of iPhones has made news for all the wrong reasons.

The iPhone 14 pro is priced starting Rs 1,29,900.

Apple claims a few incremental upgrades justify the hefty price tag despite the new iPhone 14 Pro looking identical to its predecessor. Let's break them down for you.

DYNAMIC DISPLAY: FIXES THE UGLY NOTCH

It’s 2022 and Apple has finally said goodbye to that ugly notch or rather given it a facelift by turning it into what it calls “Dynamic Island”. It’s a black contextual box which serves as an interactive display, delivers live alerts, monitors the length of your phone calls, informs you about the battery left in your AirPods and a lot more. Apple loyalists will love this feature since it integrates seamlessly into the phone’s UI and gives the notch serves some purpose after all!

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However, let me be frank, it still looks strange under the sunlight.

ALWAYS-ON DISPLAY: A BATTERY GUZZLER

This is where Apple is trying to keep up with Android phones and at last, gives us an always-on display. So, if you lock your iPhone 14 Pro, it dims in brightness and keeps your screen visible at all times. Some would find it useful, I found it to be a battery guzzler.

iPHONES: BRIGHTEST PHONES IN THE WORLD

This is undeniably the most practical and useful feature in the new iPhone. The Super Retina XDR display is rated for up to 1,600 nits of brightness with HDR content and 2,000 nits outdoors in bright sunlight! In case you use an iPhone 13 Pro, the new iPhone is twice as bright.

CAMERA: A CONTENT CREATOR’S ASSET

Apple has always positioned its cameras as the showstopper feature in all its previous iterations. The iPhone 14 Pro also gets major upgrades in its camera system and evidently targets the new generation of content creators. The “Photonic Engine” offers improvement in low-light photography making the new camera system ideal for low-light shots.

The action mode is fantastic for high-adrenalin shots or even to record your kids’ many antics — making it a big hit among new-age parenting blogs too.

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Apart from that, the Telephoto camera and 48MP camera are gimmicks at best.

BATTERY LIFE: BETTER, NOT BEST

Once again, users get an incremental upgrade in the battery life of the iPhone 14 Pro when compared to its predecessor. The new A16 Bionic chipset makes the user experience smooth and reliable and leaves no room for complaints especially for habitual Apple users.

iPHONE 14 PRO: SHOULD YOU BUY IT?

If you hold the iPhone 13 Pro and the new 14 Pro next to each other, you will struggle to tell them apart. The design, feel and experience of the two iPhones is near-identical and it’s difficult to find reasons to upgrade.

In a market saturated with budget phones trying to offer the best, the iPhones find themselves struggling to woo buyers. In the age of foldable phones and flip phones, a “Dynamic Island” doesn’t impress most.

But then again, Apple loyalists stick to what they know best and would want to upgrade. In that case, upgrade only and only if your iPhone is older than the 12 Pro.