An iPhone Just Like Any Other
Which is a great thing. Some thoughts on the iPhone 14 Pro.
With each passing new iteration of the iPhone, I feel as if I have less to say about it. That’s both natural and actually a good thing for Apple. It’s not that it’s “boring”, it’s that it’s so ingrained in our lives now that it’s second nature in your first hand. It’s boring in the same way that looking at yourself in the mirror everyday is boring. You might get a haircut at a new place one day and think it’s pretty great, but it’s not going to revolutionize your face. You are who you are. As is the iPhone. It’s too good to radically change.
15 years into iPhones, that’s my bland take on the iPhone 14.¹ Technically, I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max — still a silly name — this time, but I suspect the story is the same for the other iterations as well. Someone who is updating from a several year old iPhone will notice a great leap in speed and capability. Perhaps a brand new size if you’re getting an iPhone 14 Plus instead of say, an iPhone 12 Mini. But for those of us who have had each and every iteration of the device, it’s a new haircut. A nice one.
Again, that’s not an insult.² It’s actually a compliment and a testament to the greatness of the device. It’s also probably not that useful of a take to a majority of people. Because the majority of people don’t upgrade their iPhones every year. We continue to inch closer to that world as Apple not only makes it easier to trade-in your old phone to upgrade to a new one, but I suspect we’re getting close to an “Apple Prime” subscription that includes a new phone every year at some tier.
Still, a lot of people probably don’t want to upgrade every year. While it’s easier than ever to upgrade and to turn your old phone into your new one, it’s still a bit of a hassle. Again, I’ve done it every year (sometimes a couple times a year) over the past 15. My wife is in the other group, for example. She would much rather just have her old device as long as it’s working fine instead of switching to the latest and greatest.
If there’s one change Apple makes that compels people to upgrade to that latest and greatest, it’s undoubtedly the camera system. The iPhone is the most popular camera in the world and it’s how so many of us capture our lives and revisit memories. And this year is no different. In fact, in terms of sheer specs — something which Apple downplays when it doesn’t suit them, but plays up when it does — this is “the biggest leap ever for the iPhone camera,” as Greg Joswiak put it in the keynote talking about the iPhone 14 Pro’s camera system.
It’s a lot of megapixels. 48, to be exact. But, you actually won’t use that many by default. It’s an option buried in the system settings (enabling ProRAW). Because those images are really large — roughly 75MB per image, as Apple tells you in this area. So basically, very few people are going to actually use this feature. At least in this iPhone.
The camera seems great in low light. But the truth is that last year’s camera seemed great as well. The “pro” user may notice the differences, but the regular user will not. Once again, not an insult, but an admission of greatness of the iPhone’s camera system for years now. And it’s something Apple can’t really argue with since they still sell older models of the device.
The more interesting elements worth talking and thinking about with regard to this year’s iPhones 14 Pro models are two new features: the always-on screen and the Dynamic Island. Both are — wait for it — great. Nice additions. Not revolutionary but important evolutionary steps forward. Once you have them, you can’t not have them.
To me, the strangest thing about the always-on screen (which yes, several Android devices have had for years), is that Apple didn’t make a new phone case to highlight this feature. It’s borderline criminal to lay your iPhone on its back right now because of the aforementioned camera system and the truly massive mountain of protruding lenses it requires. If I was out and about and saw someone laying their iPhone on its back without a case, I would be beyond stressed out. I know they’re scratch-resistant, but my god. Also, it’s just a comically uneven way to put your phone down. Even with a case this is the case. At least the Apple ones. Again, I cannot believe Apple didn’t make one that makes it a no-brainer to lay the iPhone down face-up to take advantage of the always-on screen. Currently, my “hack” is to use a case plus a MagSafe wallet. This is not ideal!
Still, in the times you can lay your iPhone down so that the face is pointing up — on a pillow? on a $20 Apple Polishing Cloth? — it’s great. Widgets. Notifications. They’re all there to see. The whole thing looks nice, and well thought-through, as you’d imagine from Apple.
As for Dynamic Island, the strangest thing here remains the name. It’s so silly. But I increasingly believe it was an oddly smart marketing tactic in that everyone is talking about the name, even if just how silly it is. There’s no such thing as bad press — as long as the feature is good. And it is. It’s such a natural and eloquent way to turn a negative (the need for front-facing camera cut-outs) into a positive. I was always swiping down to access music (and podcast) controls previously. Now they’re right there at a tap (or long-press). It’s a subtle difference, but it matters. When other third-party apps start to leverage it, it could be a game-changer. It’s just so clever. Bravo, Apple.
The other elements of the device are more mundane. The UI of the whole thing feels more rounded, thanks I believe to the addition of the Dynamic Island. The battery on the Big Boi — the Pro Max — is fantastic. After a couple non-Max years, it’s better than I remember. (And I think it’s a bit better overall.) While I love Dynamic Island as a whole, I will say that it’s a bit odd to have the notion of touching the area — which is centered around and exists because of a camera system, after all — to interact with it. SMUDGE. Hope you like finger grease FaceTime.
This is more of an iOS 16 thing, but I find it quite a bit harder to swipe-to-camera now with the way notifications are handled (coming up from the bottom). I often mis-swipe this and need to swipe down first (to dismiss notifications) before I can get this to work. This needs to be insanely fast and accurate. It used to be, now it’s not.³
The new purple color is nice. It often looks less purple than gray, but I think that’s okay as a “real” purple iPhone would look like it belonged to The Joker. Or Grimace. Regardless, I don’t notice it much right now since, as mentioned, I have 17 layers of cases to avoid scratching my camera lenses. Flies in the Vasoline, we are.⁴
Wait a minute. Holy shit. WHAT IF APPLE MADE A LENS CAP? It sounds ridiculous, but there is a lot of precedent with camera companies. I bet Apple could come up with something really clever here. What if it’s just a case that loops around your iPhone’s camera system and helps buffer it when you’re laying it down, but then folds to protect it when you want it to? What if removing the cap automatically launched the camera? I think there’s something here…
Anyway, another year, another (insanely great) iPhone.
¹ And yes, this is the preface I believe most longtime iPhone reviewers give these days. Because everyone has been writing these iPhone reviews for years and largely repeating themselves. It’s a great device. OBVIOUSLY. The best in the world. So what? That’s the key.
² Again, it’s also humorous how many reviewers — myself included — often feel the need to couch such statements. That’s undoubtedly because many of us have written what is essentially the same review for 15 years. “It’s an iPhone. It’s great. You should get one if cost is not an issue or you need one. But if not, you should wait. Because the next one will be even more great.”
³ As an aside, I also just got the new Apple Watch Ultra, and the addition of a new button is amazing. Here’s an idea THAT NOW I CAN’T BELIEVE APPLE HASN’T DONE BEFORE: make a camera button. A new button on the side to both launch the camera and to take a picture. My god this is so obvious that I feel like it needs to happen tomorrow. And yes, if for some reason you don’t take a lot of pictures — so, if you’re not a human? — you could program this button to do something else, I guess?
⁴ Get it?
