The iPhone 14 event is approaching quickly with this year’s lineup expected to include a number of upgrades and changes. While it’s easy to get sucked in by the excitement of a new iPhone, an important question to consider is “will iPhone 14 be worth it?” Follow along for some help getting your answer.
Whether or not you’ll find the iPhone 14 to be worth an upgrade will come down to how important and valuable you find the changes and features – or also could just be about having the latest tech. But there’s something else to consider this year, Apple may increase the price of the new Pro iPhones by around $100.
Will iPhone 14 be worth it?
Table of contents
Expected upgrades
Pill-shaped cutout
One of the biggest changes to arrive with the iPhone 14 is Apple ditching the notch that started with iPhone X and has been present on the flagship iPhones since.
The 2022 iPhone lineup is expected to see a new pill-shaped cutout, a more minimal way to house the TrueDepth Face ID camera, sensors, and more.
New sizes
The iPhone 14 lineup should bring a big shakeup to what we’ve seen over the last few years. In a 9to5Mac exclusive report, we revealed that Apple is dropping the iPhone mini and will instead offer an iPhone 14 Max alongside the iPhone 14, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max.
Additionally, the Pro models should have slightly larger screens.
Camera upgrades
The iPhone 14 will also feature big improvements to the front-facing camera, according to Kuo. Major changes will be upgrades to the front-facing camera’s auto-focus features and iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max being upgraded to 48 megapixels, an increase from the 12-megapixel sensor in iPhone 13.
Kuo also believes the camera system will be upgraded, supporting 8K video recording for the first time. Meanwhile, the camera bump is expected to remain with the new iPhones.
Lightning or USB-C?
Apple has been rumored to be working on a port-less iPhone for some time now. However, that as well as a USB-C iPhone aren’t expected this year.
The switch to USB-C could happen in 2023 as we’ve seen predicted by both Kuo and Bloomberg, but expect the iPhone 14 lineup to stick with Lightning.
There is a chance we see Lightning get USB 3.0 speeds this year, but that rumor is sketchy.
A16 and A15 chip
Interestingly, this year looks like it could be the first that Apple brings a different chip strategy to the iPhone lineup.
Historically, all of the new iPhones announced get Apple’s newest A-series chip, but this year Apple is expected to only offer the A16 in the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. That would mean the iPhone 14 and 14 Max would keep the same A15 chip as the whole iPhone 13 lineup.
It’s hard to know how much performance improvement Apple will be able to bring with the A16 chip, time will tell.
Touch ID?
Early iPhone 14 rumors said Apple would bring under-display Touch ID to the 2022 iPhone, but this no longer appears to be happening.
A recent report from Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple had to delay under-display Touch ID – possibly even beyond 2023. That means iPhone 14 will stick with Face ID as the biometric identification.
Price increase?
Normally Apple keeps the new iPhone lineup pricing roughly the same as the previous models (when they originally launched). However, a change this year amid tough economic conditions could be a price increase.
Ming-Chi Kuo recently predicted that the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max will be around $100 more expensive this year. However, it’s tricky because we’re expecting Apple to drop the iPhone mini and introduce the 14 Max this time around.
Read more on all this in my colleague Chance’s article:
Price drop on iPhone 13
As is always the case, as soon as Apple launches the iPhone 14 lineup, pricing on the iPhone 13 (and 12, etc.) drop. And carriers often offer compelling promotions on the year-old iPhones.
Don’t forget to include that in your formula to figure out if iPhone 14 will be worth it for you.
Will iPhone 14 be worth it – wrap-up
When it comes down to it, deciding how important the iPhone 14 features/changes are will make up your mind on “will iPhone 14 be worth it?”
One clarifying question to ask yourself is after the initial hype of getting a new iPhone wears off, how how much of a difference will the below features and changes actually make in your day-to-day life?
- Pill-shaped cutout
- Camera upgrades
- New sizes (iPhone 14 Max and slightly larger for 14 Pro and Pro Max)
- A16 for Pro and Pro Max models, A15 for non-Pro models
- Possible price increase on new Pro models and price drop on previous models
What do you think? Are you already set on picking up an iPhone 14? Will you wait to see all the specs and pricing? Do you already know you won’t be upgrading? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Thanks for reading our guide on answering the question “will iPhone 14 be worth it?”
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