Apple presented the iPhone 14 alongside the iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Sure, there’s a gap between the Apple iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, but here let’s focus on the progress the base model has made over its 2021 predecessor. Let’s go!
| Model from 2022 | Model from 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Product | ||
| Image |
 |
 |
| Display | 6.1-inch OLED display with 1,170 x 2,532 pixels (460 ppi) at 60 hertz | 6.1-inch OLED display with 1,170 x 2,532 pixels (460 ppi) at 60 hertz |
| SoC | Apple A15 Bionic (5nm) | Apple GPU with 5 cores | Apple A15 Bionic (5nm) | Apple GPU with 4 cores |
| Memory | 6GB RAM | 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB internal | 4GB RAM | 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB internal |
| Micro SD | no | no |
| Main camera | 12MP | f/1.5 | 26mm | 1.9 µm | dual pixel autofocus, sensor shift OIS | 12MP | f/1.6 | 26mm | 1.7 µm | dual-pixel autofocus, sensor-shift OIS |
| Ultra wide angle | 12MP | f/2.4 | 120° | Focal length of 13 millimeters | 12MP | f/2.4 | 120° | Focal length of 13 millimeters |
| Telephoto | – | – |
| 3D | – | – |
| Video | Max: 4K at 60 fps | HDR | Dolby Vision HDR | Cinematic Mode | Max: 4K at 60 fps | HDR | Dolby Vision HDR | Cinematic Mode |
| selfies | 12MP at 23mm | 12MP at 23mm |
| audio | Stereo speakers | stereo speaker |
| UWB | Yes | Yes |
| Battery | 3.279 mAh | 3,227 mAh |
| Fast Charging | Maximum 20 watts | Maximum 20 watts |
| Wireless charging | Maximum 15 watts | Maximum 15 watts |
| Colors | Midnight, Polaris, Purple, Blue, (PRODUCT)RED | Polaris, Midnight, Blue, Rose, Green, (PRODUCT)RED |
| Dimensions and weight | 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.80 mm | 172 g | 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.65mm | 173 grams |
| Price (list price) | From $799 | From $829 |
| Advantages: |
|
|
| cons |
|
|
| Rating |
|
Read the Apple iPhone 13 review |
| To the offer* |
Pre-order |
Check price |
If you look closely at the table, you might suspect that the iPhone 14 is not really a big update. But let’s not speculate, but take it in turns to see if the iPhone 14 is better, and if so, what does it do better than last year’s vanilla iPhone.
Jump to:
iPhone 14 vs iPhone 13: Models and Prices
Just like last year, there are again four models: two basic models and two Pro models. What’s new is that Apple is dropping the Mini and giving the iPhone 14 an iPhone 14 Plus instead. If you want a mini model, you’ll need to buy last year’s iPhone 13 Mini from the Apple website starting at $599.
The iPhone 14 Plus has been delayed and, like the Pro models, won’t be available until October. That’s why we don’t include both the Mini and Plus models in our comparison of the base models.
Apple has increased the price by $100 per device, depending on storage space. Here’s a breakdown of the prices for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13:
Prices at a glance
| Fashion model | iPhone 14 | iPhone 13 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 128GB | $799 | $699 | + $100 |
| 256GB | $899 | $799 | + $100 |
| 512GB | $1,099 | $999 | + $100 |
iPhone 14 vs iPhone 13: Design and Display
If you take an iPhone 13 in one hand and an iPhone 14 in the other, you won’t be able to tell the difference right away. Both iterations can be twins, so the dimensions and overall design are identical. Height times width remains absolutely identical, but the new iPhone is no less than 0.25 mm thicker and at 172 grams also one gram lighter than the predecessor.
The Apple iPhone 14 is available in five colors. / © Apple, Screenshot: NextPit
There are minor changes in color: Midnight and Aurora Borealis remain, as do (PRODUCT)RED and Blue. Okay, the blue one looks different from last year’s though. In addition, violet will replace rosé this year.
The display is even less different than the design. Again, 6.1 inches, again AMOLED with identical resolution and again only 60 hertz. The “Dynamic Island” of the Pro models is also missing, so the identical notch of the iPhone 13 can also be found in the iPhone 14. If Apple should have included innovation in the iPhone 14, the Cupertino company has managed to hide it perfectly, at least in terms of design, choice of materials and display.
iPhone 14 vs iPhone 13: Performance
A15 Bionic? We know that too, don’t we? Okay, it’s not actually a new SoC, but still a change from last year’s base iPhone. The variant of the iPhone 13 Pro is now used: an identical chipset, but with five instead of four graphic cores.
Here you can see the main innovations of the iPhone 14 at a glance. / © Apple, Screenshot: NextPit
It has not yet been officially confirmed that the iPhone will now have 6 GB of RAM instead of last year’s 4 GB. These were only available for the Pro models last year, but are now said to have arrived in the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus as well. That means that with the combination of more RAM and more graphics cores you should not expect a performance explosion, but in terms of performance the iPhone 14 leaves the iPhone 13 behind.
Or else? Everything as usual: no microSD slot, still 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB as available storage variants. The iPhone 14 should be a little faster and offer a little more graphics performance – at least a little. Apple has also improved the sensor technology so that the fall detection now also detects car accidents. In addition, “Emergency SOS” allows you to call for help via satellite if Wi-Fi and mobile internet can no longer help you.
iPhone 14 vs iPhone 13: Camera
But now: if not much else has changed, then Apple has certainly made quite a leap in its specialty discipline, photos, hasn’t it? In any case, Apple itself writes on the product page that the iPhone 14 makes a “huge leap for photos in low light”. How does Apple explain this jump? The specs tell us that the main camera is equipped with an aperture of ƒ/1.5 instead of the aperture of ƒ/1.6. This should receive up to 49 percent more light.
The camera system looks exactly the same on the new iPhone 14 as it does here on the iPhone 13. / © NextPit
Finally, the new “Photonic Engine” should deliver even more realistic and detailed photos. I can tell you that the test devices should arrive soon. Then we come to the bottom of the better photos from the iPhone 14. But honestly, if you want the big camera update, you’ll have to look at the Pro series again. A 48 MP camera is used there for the first time, while the iPhone 14 remains at 12 megapixels, even with the selfie camera.
iPhone 14 vs iPhone 13: Battery Capacity and Charging
The battery lasts longer, Apple promises: 20 instead of 19 hours of video playback is possible, Cupertino reports. Apple is regularly reluctant to give precise figures for battery capacity, but it has been leaked that the battery in the iPhone 14 has increased slightly by 3,279 mAh from 3,227 mAh.
Again, our detailed NextPit test should show how much better the battery performs in the new iPhone. So just a little patience – our old iPhone hares Camila and Antoine are already warming up for the iPhone tests!
Oh, do you also want to know about Fast Charging? Sorry, it’s not worth mentioning. Fast charging remains at a maximum of 20 Watts and wireless charging remains possible at a maximum of 15 Watts.
iPhone 14 vs. iPhone 13: which phone should you choose in 2022?
Oops, are we done with the comparison yet? That’s a shame, because I don’t see the much anticipated long list of improvements of the iPhone 14 over the iPhone 13 here at the moment. That is, while there are meaningful updates, I don’t think there are any that require a convincing switch from the iPhone 13 to the iPhone 14.
Performance should be slightly better, low-light photos should look better and the battery should last a little longer. A new purchase would be hard to justify if the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 prices were identical. But unfortunately they are not even identical. To you, who own neither iPhone 13 nor 14, means carefully consider whether the manageable improvements are worth $100 to you – because that’s how much more you’ll pay anyway!
And don’t get me wrong: the iPhone 14 is another fantastically good mobile phone on paper. But Apple has decided to keep the innovations for the Pro series. So you’ll find a rather incremental upgrade here so iPhone 13 owners can relax and wait for the iPhone 15.