Apple iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max - Expensive and great handsets, but the upgrades are not dramatic
Apple loves nothing more than using the word best. The new iPhone 14 Pro is the “best iPhone yet,” with a 48-megapixel camera system that lets you capture the “best photos and video.” It's usually easy to validate these claims after some real-world testing, especially with cameras. Newer, larger image sensors often outperform the old. But this year, the results are … complicated.
I've snapped more than 250 photos with four phones over the past few days, and last year's iPhone 13 Pro occasionally bested the brand-new model. Even where the iPhone 14 Pro came out on top, the improvements were so marginal that I'm left wondering if Apple just overhyped its product. Don't get me wrong, the 14 Pro has wonderful cameras—some of the best you can get in a smartphone, particularly when it comes to video—but the improvements aren't as dramatic as the company suggests.
A few other features overshadow these cameras, like the insanely bright display, which can now always stay on, so you never have to tap the screen. The Dynamic Island, which replaces the infamous Face ID notch, is a smart and fun way to make use of dead space. But I'd go so far as to say that, more than anything else, it's iOS 16 that makes this iPhone feel new. Go ahead. Update the iPhone you currently own. With all the new perks the software brings, you might not feel the need to upgrade the hardware.
