iPhone 13, iPhone 14: An update on the changes between the two generations of Apple smartphones

The launch of Apple’s new iPhone series, which includes the new 14 Plus model, as well as the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max versions, has highlighted the iPhone 14, which looks identical to its predecessor, the iPhone 13, which you can find tested above. While we wait for our technical tests, let’s take a look at what makes the two terminals different, or not. Determine that de factoThe iPhone 14 gets a year of software support, having been released in iOS 16 while its predecessor debuted in iOS 15. On average, Apple releases five OS upgrades to its devices.

In general, iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 are quite similar. Both have a 6.1-inch OLED display with a resolution of 1170 x 2532 pixels and a large notch. There are slight differences in format. While the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 measure 146.7 x 71.5mm, the latter is slightly thicker: 7.8mm versus 7.65mm for its predecessor. It also weighs 172 grams, losing a gram in the process.

The devil is definitely in the details here. And considering the differences between the two devices, they mainly concern the photo component. At the same time, we note that a new gyroscope and accelerometer have been included in the iPhone 14 to ensure the detection of accidents announced by Apple. Equipped with the Apple A15 Bionic chip made official last year, the iPhone 14 still has the 6-CPU core, 16-core Neural Engine version, but gains a GPU core (5 instead of 4). So it should provide slightly better graphics performance.

If Apple does not indicate the capacity of the battery that animates its device, the calculations are also based on a 3279 mAh battery instead of 3240 mAh, which explains the announcement of an hour of increased autonomy (20 hours of video playback for the iPhone 14). instead of 19 for iPhone 13). Replacing Bluetooth 5.0 on the iPhone 13, the iPhone 14 has Bluetooth 5.3 and satellite communications support, which is currently reserved for North America.

Differences are mostly reserved for shooting

In the field of photography, we do not see any difference between the two devices at first glance. On paper, both are equipped with two 12-megapixel sensors, one with wide-angle optics and the other with ultra-wide-angle. However, a few minor changes should be accounted for in the iPhone 14.

Apple says it has included a larger main photosensor in the iPhone 14 than the iPhone 13. So it measures 1/1.7 “vs. 1/1.9” and the manufacturer claims to have increased the photocell size from 1.7 µm to 1.9 µm. . They are larger, so they should catch more light and therefore be able to recover more information. In addition, it has added a larger optical aperture, the wide-angle lens of the iPhone 14, which opens at f/1.5 instead of f/1.6 for the iPhone 13.

Apple also touts improvements in both wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle low-light shooting. Its Photonic Engine, introduced in the 14 series and essentially representing its new image processing algorithms, promises to improve details in underexposed shots. We will check this during our lab test.

The final points of the iPhone 14’s rear photo unit improvements concern video. Apple actually unlocks Action mode, which promises to use the entire photo sensor to compensate for movement during recording, and offers more advanced stabilization than the iPhone 13. Unless you’re surprised, a 2021 smartphone won’t be able to benefit from this option. The iPhone 14 also gets Cinematic mode, which works up to 4K HDR at 30fps, compared to 1080p at 30fps for the iPhone 13.

Finally, let’s finish with the iPhone 14’s TrueDepth front camera. It benefits from the same type of improvements as the smartphone’s rear camera unit. Its sensor retains its 12 Mpx definition, but its optics now open at f/1.9 instead of f/2.2. Cinematic mode now works up to 4K HDR and the Photonic Engine is in the game.

summary

As you can see, between the 13th and 14th generations of the iPhone, we expect very slight improvements in photography; However, we’ll have to check whether the theory announced by Apple yields an observable gain in practice during our lab testing. Again, these minor additions lead to an increased price: calculate 1019 € for the iPhone 14, its large screen today and with equal storage, a starting price of 909 €.