Look at this.
This is the three-camera cluster introduced first on the iPhone 11 Pro.
This is the camera cluster on the iPhone 12 Pro. Here's the 13 Pro, and this is the camera cluster on the new iPhone 14 Pro.
It's so big. You know, at this rate, Apple's going to be making that Samsung phone, the failed one,
the camera phone with the zoom lens, remember that thing?
But the camera bump isn't the only thing that got bigger on the iPhone 14 Pro.
The notch did too, in a way, so that means that the most significant updates for the
premium phone are the camera and the display.
Let's try them out and see if they're a worthy update for the Pro.
While most people care about the cameras on their iPhone, the thing I'm most excited
about with the iPhone 14 Pro is the display.
It's actually a major step forward in a whole lot of respects.
Firstly, it's a way better phone to film videos like these outdoors.
Typical max brightness remains at 1,000 nits, but HDR brightness has gone up to 1,600 nits.
And if you go outside on a bright sunny day like today, the ambient light sensor can boost
this OLED up to 2,000 nits. So this will definitely eat battery.
But there's no more squinting at the screen, keeping it clean, so emails remain legible.
Look at it compared to an iPhone 13 Pro. Wait.
Why is it that every time I try to do a brightness comparison, they always end up looking the
same? It's happened last year too.
What will also eat up the battery is the brand new Always On screen, along a feature on OLED
equipped Android phones, Apple's finally brought it here too.
Which is perfect timing, thanks to the home screen improvements added to iOS 16.
Clock, notification, weather, and calendar widgets are all visible without having to
touch your phone.
What I love the most is the fact that it shows Apple Maps turn-by-turn navigation.
Usually when navigating the screen is completely black until your next direction prompt, after
which it stays on for a long time. The Always On screen, however, still shows direction information that's really handy
and could save battery on a long trip, even though unfortunately it won't.
Because Apple went all the way in their implementation of the Always On screen, when active, or asleep,
it looks as if I dimmed the screen all the way to its dimmest setting in dark mode and
then just left it on. It's quite jarring.
Because alongside the information the wallpaper remains on.
Of course there's more going on underneath to reduce the impact.
Apple slows down the screen to 1Hz and they claim to do some trickery to make skin tones
and portrait wallpapers stay accurate. It kind of looks like an unlit slide photo.
The penalty in my usage is almost a day of use, and that makes me think that Apple may
have gone a bit too far. Android phones let their screens go completely black, showing only the pertinent time, widget,
and notification information when asleep. It goes a long way at making the phone appear off, allowing you to be more present.
I think the easy solution for the iPhone is a wallpaper on off setting.
I've long thought that software these days isn't magical.
I largely blame flat design for that, but out of the blue Apple has given us the Dynamic
Island. It's one of those features that when you see it, you wonder why nobody's thought of
it before. Conceptually, it's a software embrace of the Face ID system cut out we were first introduced
to with the notch on the iPhone X. Now though, the sensor array and front camera remain in a black monolithic pill.
Then, depending on what background task you have running on the phone, the island expands
and splits to give you increased information and access.
This speaker grills is going to get filled with lint.
It's so thin. It's very lovely and lively, but also a start.
I think it's slow. It kind of reminds me of the iOS 7 animations that made people sick.
I do really love how alive it feels and looks, but I'd rather not have to wait to use it.
The Dynamic Island should make something as simple as changing a song easier, but it doesn't.
There are two methods of interaction. Simply tapping on the island will open the associated app, but long pressing inflates
the island into a widget. I think this is backwards, because most of the time, I don't want to leave what I'm
doing and tapping is easier. I love how Face ID registration is integrated into it, which makes sense, and I'm hoping
they use this for more in the future. For example, notifications still appear as blurred rectangles below the island and airpod
pairing is still a white panel at the bottom of the screen.
I do worry how long the Dynamic Island is going to remain exclusive to the pro iPhones, because
that might prevent it from expanding its capability as much as I'm hoping.
Developers are not going to look for new ways to use this feature if the install base is
a small exclusive group of wealthy iPhone users.
Now, to be fair, Face ID did get introduced into the mainstream models after only a year,
and they should do that here too. So I guess the Dynamic Island on its own isn't enough to warrant an upgrade, but I do love
it, and you will too if you get one.
Apple uses the extra pixels for many different things, because Apple now employs pixel binning
for the first time. It takes 4 pixels and combines them into one, so normal compressed photos from the camera
are still saved at 12 megapixels. Second, the extra pixels enable a 2x zoom option by cropping 48 megapixels into 12.
Third, the extra pixels allow for a gimbal-like action mode for video.
Resolution drops to 2.8K, but footage gets more stable.
And finally, the extra pixels are accessible if you shoot in the 48 megapixel Pro RAW mode.
Though those files can balloon past 100 megabytes in size.
If you only get a 128GB version, that comes to about 1000 photos, and that's including
no ProRes video either. Oh yeah, and then try getting all those photos and videos off it.
So how is it? I compared the 14 Pro to a bunch of different cameras.
The 13 and 11 Pro, a Pixel 6 Pro, and two real cameras.
Here's what I've learned. The low light improvements on the new iPhone help shorten the shutter speed, not reduce
noise. In daylight, compressed photos of all the iPhones look heavily sharpened, and it's hard to
tell the difference between the newer and older phones. I really found myself preferring the processing that the Pixel 6 does.
Photos taken in Pro RAW are much better, especially if you do the adjustments yourself.
If you are getting an iPhone 14 Pro for the camera, use Pro RAW, especially the 48 megapixel
mode if you can. They do look so much better.
I took photos alongside the Sony ZV-E10 and Ricoh GR3.
They are very nice, compact, $800 APS-C cameras.
Certainly they're more cumbersome to lug around than simply an iPhone in your pocket,
but I noticed, holding these, that they're way more fun to photograph with.
The camera ergonomics compel you to find and snap that next photo.
That's something I have yet to feel with the iPhone, like I never take eye photos.
I'm still impressed with the photos you can get on the iPhone 14 Pro.
Now, it takes great video, but a dedicated video camera is better.
It takes great still photos, but a dedicated still camera is better.
It takes great action video, but a dedicated gimbal is better.
It's a jack of all trades and a master of none.
Really really great if you're in a pinch, but unless Apple starts putting in lenses
like these, we're getting to the limits.
If you have an iPhone 12 in newer though, I don't think you should upgrade,
as you'll still be getting the benefits of ProRA. The 48 megapixel photos aren't enough, unless you're a glutton for selfies,
because the autofocus on the front camera is a game changer, though I think the regular
14 gets that too. The other improvement the iPhone 14 Pro gets is the A16 chip.
In my tests, it's not significantly more powerful than an A15-powered 13 Pro,
shaving only 20 seconds off a Lightroom export and showing mild improvements in Geekbench.
It's not nothing, and it's still miles ahead of the 6 Pro.
And if you want the best performance in Genshin Impact, get an iPhone 13.
So it's not worth an upgrade if you're coming from anything newer than an A13.
Every iPhone release, it leaves me reflecting on my waning enthusiasm.
It feels like gone are the days of truly innovative and exciting updates and changes
to the phone. But it's actually not true, there have been really sizable jumps between each generation.
Even taking photos on this old iPhone 11 Pro feels like a trip back in time with the absence
of ProRes and ProRA options. If you are upgrading from one of these, you are going to notice a lot of differences.
I think my waning enthusiasm can be attributed to the premium iPhone's increased price.
It used to be that all the innovations added to the iPhone get added to the latest model
that everyone ends up buying. And that used to cost $650.
To get the best the iPhone has to offer today, you have to pay significantly more, in this
case $1,000. And it's not clear anymore when those innovations will trickle down.
So far I haven't thought any of these features are worth upgrading to alone, but what have
you put them together? Well compared to the standard model, the Pro gets a lot more features this year.
And the price difference between it and the standard model is only $200.
Every year is a good year to get a Pro, but you don't need to get a Pro every year.
If you're coming from an 11 Pro, then yes, this is a great option.
And if not, maybe just replace the battery.
Thanks Andy for taking high quality photos of this Mac Address.
If you like the new camera on the iPhone 14 Pro, give this video a like.
And if you're curious about the iPhone 14 Plus, you might as well subscribe.
Now I'm curious, are you the type of person who just takes photos exclusively with an
iPhone? Comment below what that's like.
Why do you do that? Do you miss having a camera?