Apple iPhone 14 has officially launched alongside the iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Apple’s flagship phones of 2022 rejig the lineup by doing away with the mini iPhone. This year Apple has re-introduced a “Plus” iPhone in the form of the iPhone 14 Plus which shares most of its features with the iPhone 14. This is also the first time the base iPhone versions don’t get the latest A16 Bionic chip and instead run on last year’s A15 chipset making the iPhone 13 (review) more relevant than before. So what’s different this time between the iPhone 14 vs iPhone 13 and do the changes make enough impact on the iPhone experience? That’s what we’ll try and answer in this comparison between the iPhone 14 vs iPhone 13 vs the iPhone 14 Plus based on specifications.
The iPhone 14 is priced starting at ₹79,900 (128GB) and goes upto ₹1,09,900 for the 512GB storage variant. The iPhone 14 Plus starts at ₹89,900 (128GB) and goes upto ₹1,19,900 for the 512GB model.
Meanwhile, Apple has slashed iPhone 13 price in India which now starts at ₹69,900 for the base 128GB version and goes upto ₹99,900 for the 512GB storage option.
The iPhone 14 carries the iPhone 13 design forward sans any cosmetic changes. Apple says that the iPhone 14 has an updated internal design for components that give way to better thermal performance over the iPhone 13. The iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus and the iPhone 13 have the same aluminium build with a glass back and ceramic shield protection on the front. All three iPhones are IP68 rated making them withstand dust and water ingress.
In comparison, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus measures 7.8mm in thickness while the iPhone 13 has a 7.7mm thickness. The new iPhone 14 is lighter than the iPhone 13 weighing in at 172 grams while the iPhone 14 Plus weighs 203 grams.
The iPhone 14 has the same display as last year’s iPhone 13 measuring 6.1-inches wide while the iPhone 14 Plus gets a 6.7-inch OLED display. All three displays offer 1200 nits peak brightness levels, Dolby Vision and HDR10 playback. The display on the iPhone 13 is great for watching anything under the sun as it offers an immersive experience and you can expect similar if not better performance from the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus.
The new iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Plus runs on the Apple A15 Bionic chip which debuted last year with the iPhone 13 lineup. The only change here is that Apple has upgraded the 4-core GPU with a 5-core GPU on the iPhone 14. While the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus have iOS 16 out of the box, the iPhone 13 will get an update to iOS 16 in the coming weeks.
One major change for the iPhone 14 buyers in the US is that Apple has done away with the SIM card slot and the new iPhones will have to be used with e-SIM instead. Now, this is a bummer for those in India who thought of getting the iPhone 14 from the USA!
Another change is that Apple has introduced satellite connectivity for sending emergency SOS alerts and like the e-SIM, this feature too won’t be available in India. Apart from these, the rest of the features remain the same such as stereo speakers, Face ID, Lightning port for charging, battery capacity and more. The Bluetooth profile on the iPhone 14 has been updated to Bluetooth 5.3 from Bluetooth 5.0 on the iPhone 13.
Read More: Satellite calling to no SIM card tray: iPhone 14’s cool new features explained
The iPhone 14 has an upgraded 12MP primary camera that offers an f/1.5 aperture which lets in more light and expectedly brings more details to pictures and videos. Though, we’ll be reserving our final judgement until we get to test the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 cameras side by side. The 12MP ultrawide sensor is the same as on the iPhone 13.
On the front, the 12MP selfie camera has also been updated from a 12MP (f/2.2) camera to a 12MP (f/1.9) sensor and now supports Cinematic mode recording in 4K at 30FPS.
The rest of the iPhone 13 camera features remain the same on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus like Dolby Vision HDR recording, photographic styles, stereo sound and more.
The iPhone 14 is a rather incremental update to the iPhone 13 and makes it ever so slightly better while the iPhone 14 Plus is a great addition for those who are looking for a large-screen smartphone for watching movies, videos and playing games.
Of course, those using the iPhone 13 have no reason to update to the iPhone 14. The iPhone 13 is still a very relevant and affordable smartphone to buy if you are fine using a year-old phone that gives a similar day-to-day performance. However, if budget isn’t a constraint, buyers should opt for the new iPhone 14 or the iPhone 14 Plus as they will get more value out of it in the long run.
Also Read: USB-C to A16 Bionic chip: iPhone 14 didn’t include these new features