Good, Bad & Ugly of the New iPhones

At a recently concluded Apple event, the tech giant announced its latest offering – the iPhone 14. Not one, but three other versions of the phone were released on September 7 –  iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

The new iPhones

The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches in size, respectively. In terms of the camera, Apple has expanded the system with a larger sensor (1.9 microns) and sensor-shift in the 12 megapixel main camera – offering better results even in ‘unfavourable’ environments like difficult lighting conditions. The newly introduced TrueDepth camera boosts low light photography and has better focus. The action mode in the new Apple phones ensure better digital image stabilisation for videos as well.

Like the previous version, these phones are also embedded with A15 Bionic chips. Launched in September last year, it is a 64-bit ARM-based system on a chip designed entirely by Apple Inc. Compared to its predecessor, A15 (manufactured by TSMC) increases the peak single core frequency of the two-performance core cluster by 8% – up from 2998 MHz to 3240 MHz. It also has a Neural Engine that can perform 15.8 trillion operations per second.

Next up are the ‘pro’ iPhones. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max offer considerable differences in their specifications. One of the significant differences is that the Pro series uses an A16 Bionic processor. The newly introduced processor has more transistors than before – a billion more, to be specific. This means that these phones would be able to process data more quickly. Further, like A15, the A16 Bionic processor has a five-core GPU, but the latter outperforms the former by doubling the GPU memory bandwidth. The new six-core CPU is claimed to be 40% faster than its competition.

Other salient features of the new A16 chip include a custom image signal processor that powers the camera system. The processor, neural engine, image signal processor, and GPU in the new chip together help in doing 4 trillion operations per photo.

SOS satellite feature

Satellite connectivity was one of the most-anticipated developments in the new iPhones. However, the company announced in its event an emergency SOS via satellite feature to send short text messages. The compression algorithm that Apple is using makes the text messages three times smaller, which speeds up communication. The iPhone 14 has a built-in antenna to communicate with satellites. The phone has a radar-like feature which will prompt users to link up to a satellite when wifi or cellular services are unavailable.

Controversies around the new announcements

The rumours are true – the new iPhones will not have physical SIMs support but will instead have eSIMs. Not just that, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max phones will not include power adapter and earpods. Buyers will only get a USB-C to lightning cable that will support charging and is compatible with USB-C power adapter and computer ports. Apple says that this change comes as part of the company’s motive to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. “We encourage you to reuse your current USB A to lightning cables, power adapters and headphones that are compatible with these iPhone models. But if you need any new Apple power adapters or headphones, they are available for purchase,” Apple’s blog read.

The Brazilian government recently issued a statement announcing a ban and a fine of 12.275 million reais (£2.04m) on the company. The Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Security held that the tech giant’s decision to not include power adapters with their new iPhones was unfair to the consumers and called out the selling of an ‘incomplete problem’.

The ban was announced a day before the Far Out event. Last year, São Paulo's consumer protection agency fined Apple since all phones, from iPhone 12 onwards, violated the consumer law by not bundling the chargers in. 

In response, Apple plans to appeal against the latest ban. In a statement, the company said, “We are confident that our customers are aware of the various options for charging and connecting their devices.”