I’m not going to lie. When I first heard about Apple’s new base model iPhone 14, I was shocked.
Not only does the base model resemble the last generation of iPhones, but even the chipset also remained the same as the iPhone 13 lineup.
While many would argue that by doing so, they differentiated the base models from the Pro models but does it really make sense to provide a year-old chipset in a new phone?
The Plus version is pretty much the same with a better battery life, at $100 more.
So here is the breakdown, go with the new baseline iPhone 14 or save yourself and get the iPhone 13 pro? It’s pretty much the same device.
Aesthetics
Nothing has changed since Apple went back to the square design in 2020. The base models are made with aluminum while the pros are made with surgical grade stainless steel.
This year, the black is a true black called midnight, a new lilac and a product red are your fancy options.
As mentioned earlier, the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 base model resembles the iPhone 13 quite a bit. The screen, stereo speaker grilles, lightning port, and even its aluminum frame all continue to be the same. However, there are minor structural changes.
It is just a tiny bit thicker than the iPhone 13 at 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.8mm. However, it is also two grams lighter than the previous phone, which I believe is due to the new thermal architecture.
The iPhone 14 body does slide into some iPhone 13 cases, but the iPhone 14's two-lens camera array is slightly larger despite the similarity in chassis.
When it comes to the Plus model, it just followed the outer structure of the Pro Plus model with the same hardware as the base model. It is the Base iPhone 14, but bigger.
While the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 is essentially identical to the iPhone 13, the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus is 6.33 inches (160.8mm) tall and 3.07 inches (78.1mm) wide,
All the materials, outer body and specs, apart from the display, remained the same as the base model.
The weight of the base model stands at 172 grams while the Plus model weighs 203 grams.
Performance
Both the base model of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus have a year-old Apple’s A15 Bionic chipset.
Even though the chipset is a year old, it is not bad in any way. It can still beat the best Snapdragon chipset available out there. Apart from the chipset, there are certain features that stand out.
Mobile games like PUBG and Asphalt: Legends perform really well. The A15 Bionic is perfectly capable of daily day-to-day tasks such as browsing the web or switching through different apps.
Even though the chip is the one previously used in the iPhone 13 lineup, Apple did some minor tweaks. The A15 Bionic has a new internal design for more effective heat dissipation. This, according to Apple, aids in repairability. A cooler chip ought to function more effectively too.
Satellite Connectivity and Crash Detection
Google has been working on satellite connectivity for ages now. But they were not the first ones to officially implement it. Apple took that spot, I guess, with quite a bit of a surprise.
In order to provide this additional level of emergency support, Apple collaborates with low-Earth orbit satellites from Globalstar.
If you’re ever stranded without any cell connectivity, you will be able to face your iPhone towards a nearby satellite and ask for emergency support. But this feature is currently available in the US and Canada only.
The way it works is, if you ever face such a situation, your iPhone 14 will ask you if you want to try emergency text via satellite if you call 911 (in the US). After that, a visual cue will pop up with the direction to the closest satellite. You would need to face your iPhone in that direction.
The system then prompts you with a series of questions that can be sent to Apple's relay centre via compressed text, which then contacts emergency services.
Similarly, if you ever find yourself in a car accident (God forbid), your iPhone will know that you’re in a car crash and automatically alert emergency services and key contacts. This is also a very important feature which I wish no one needs to use.
Camera
Both the Base and Plus models of iPhone 14 have two rear cameras on the back. A 12MP main camera along with a 12MP ultrawide camera with 120 degrees field of view.
While it may not look much different from the iPhone 13’s camera from outside, it has some minor improvements.
These cameras have better sensors and overall low-light performance compared to their predecessors. Group selfies should be a little bit simpler now that the front camera — also 12MP — has autofocus.
A new imaging pipeline benefits all the cameras. The Photonic Engine prioritizes Deep Fusion neural image processing earlier than previously, so it can work with uncompressed images, according to Techradar.
This model, like the rest of the iPhone 14 lineup, can record videos in up to 4K resolution, and Cinematic Mode has been upgraded to support 4K at 30 fps.
Active Mode is a brand-new feature that can be accessed by choosing the running person icon in the top right corner of the camera app's viewfinder. This is a surprisingly efficient method for minimizing shakes in action videos.
I don’t think there are any points in talking about the photo and video quality of the iPhone. There are some occasional hiccups, but the images and videos captured using the latest iPhones are the best you can get from a smartphone as always.
Battery
The battery of the base model of the iPhone 14 almost remained the same as iPhone 13. I don’t want to mention the 39mAh improvement because that won’t change any of the benchmarks.
However, you cannot judge an iPhone by its battery capacity. Even with the 3,279 mAh battery, the iOS 16 is perfectly capable of giving you a full-day backup, even on a busy day.
If you still want numbers, iPhone 14 is rated for 20 hours of video playback, 16 hours of streaming video, and 80 hours of audio playback.
Now, if we come to the Plus model, things will get a bit different because it came with a bigger 4,323 mAh battery to support that bigger OLED panel. If not for the display, the battery can be another reason to consider the Plus model. Some are even claiming that the battery of the iPhone 14 Plus will last longer than the battery of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which makes sense considering that the Plus model is using a chipset which is a year old.
Both of the iPhones support MagSafe for iPhone and Qi wireless charging and they ship with a USB-C-to-Lightning plug cable but no power adapter. You can either get a regular 5W adapter or spend a bit more for Apple’s 20W charger, which will charge the phones much faster. Both of the phones will take between one hour to one and a half hours to fully charge.
However, here is a tip for lithium-ion batteries, only charge them from 40% to 80% six days a week and to a 100% once a week to extend battery life and health.
The reason for this being, the battery deteriorates when you charge to a full cycle, and a full cycle is considered charging from 80% to 100%. Also, if you let your phone go below 20%, then the battery will overheat while charging, affecting your battery health.
Pricing
Since Apple doesn’t have a shop in Bangladesh, the prices of iPhones always vary in the country.
Executive Machines, for example, is one of the authorized resellers of Apple and they are selling the base 128GB version of the iPhone at Tk146,999 and 256GB at Tk165,299.
If you look at the prices in shops that are not Apple-authorized, you will be able to buy an iPhone 14 Pro Max by spending Tk165,299.
The price for the base model, in non-Apple-authorized shops, varies between Tk105,000 to Tk120,000.
Keep in mind that the retail price for the base model of iPhone 14 in the US is $799, which is roughly Tk84,000.
The Plus model, on the other hand, is priced at $899, which is equivalent to Tk94,000. When it arrives in Bangladesh, it is safe to assume that people will be able to buy it at around Tk120,000-Tk130,000.
Due to the unstable dollar market, these prices will fluctuate a lot every now and then. For the sake of the conversion, I valued each dollar at Tk105 since the dollar price is staying above and below that.
Final verdict
If you ask me, I will recommend you to not upgrade to the base version if you already have an iPhone 11 or later. If you are using an iPhone 8, feel free to upgrade.
If you have an iPhone 11 or later, and want to upgrade I suggest you save some money and buy an iPhone 12 pro or 13 pro.
Now, if you want a bigger display, I believe iPhone 12 Pro Max will be enough to meet your needs since the phone is already two years old and the prices have also dropped.