iPhone 13 and iPhone 14: An update on the changes between two generations of Apple smartphones

Apple’s presentation of the new iPhone series, including the new 14 Plus model, but also the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max versions, highlighted the iPhone 14 that looks identical to its predecessor, the iPhone 13, which you can find in the test above. While we wait for our technical tests, let’s evaluate what distinguishes or does not distinguish between the two terminals. select it, de factoThe iPhone 14 got a year of software support, launching in iOS 16 when its predecessor appeared in iOS 15. On average, Apple releases five operating system upgrades to its devices.

Broadly speaking, the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 are quite similar. Both have a 6.1-inch OLED display that displays 1170 x 2532 pixels and reveals a large notch. However, in terms of form, there are slight differences. While the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 both measure 146.7 x 71.5 mm, the latter is slightly thicker: 7.8 mm versus the 7.65 mm of its predecessor. It also loses a gram in the process, weighing in at 172 grams.

The devil is undoubtedly in the details. And if we consider the differences between the two devices, then they mainly concern the image component. We all note that a new gyroscope and accelerometer have been included in the iPhone 14, to ensure that accidents announced by Apple are detected. Equipped with the Apple A15 Bionic chip that was formed last year, the iPhone 14 still has a 6-core version of the CPU, the 16-core Neural Engine, but it gains 5 GPU cores (5 instead of 4). So it should provide slightly better graphics performance.

If Apple does not specify the battery capacity that drives its devices, the estimates are also based on a 3279 mAh battery instead of 3240 mAh, which explains the announcement of an increase in autonomy for one hour (20 hours of video playback for the iPhone 14 instead of 19 for the iPhone 13 ). There is support for Bluetooth 5.3 on the iPhone 14, replacing Bluetooth 5.0 on the iPhone 13, and support for satellite communications – currently reserved for North America.

The differences are mainly reserved for photography

In the field of image, at first glance we do not notice any difference between the two devices. On paper, they are both equipped with two 12MP sensors, one associated with wide-angle optics and the other with ultra-wide-angle optics. However, some minor changes will be added to iPhone 14.

Apple states that it included in its iPhone 14 a main image sensor that is larger than the iPhone 13 sensor. Hence, it measures 1/1.7″ versus 1/1.9″, and the manufacturer announces that the size of the optical sites has increased from 1.7 micrometers to 1.9 micrometers. . Bigger, so it’s supposed to capture more light, and therefore be able to retrieve more information. Added to this is a larger optical aperture, the iPhone 14’s wide-angle lens opens at f/1.5 instead of f/1.6 on the iPhone 13.

Apple also announced an improvement in low-light, wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle shots. Its photonic engine, which opened in the 14 series and actually represents the new image processing algorithms, promises to improve the detail of low-exposure shots. This is what we will check during our lab test.

The latest iPhone 14 wallpaper set improvement points are related to the video. Apple has already unlocked Action Mode, which promises to use the entire image sensor to compensate for movements during recording, and offers more advanced stabilization than the iPhone 13. Unless the 2021 smartphone is surprised it won’t benefit from this option. The iPhone 14 also gains a cinema mode that works at up to 4K HDR at 30 fps, versus 1080p at 30 fps for the iPhone 13.

Finally, let’s finish with the iPhone 14’s TrueDepth front camera. It benefits from the same kind of improvements as the smartphone’s rear set of photos. Its sensor retains its 12-megapixel definition, but its optics now open at f/1.9 instead of f/2.2. Cinema Mode now works with up to 4K HDR and the in-game optical engine.

in summary

As you can see, expect very slight improvements in photo taking between the 13th and 14th generations of the iPhone; However, we will have to check during our lab testing whether the theory announced by Apple translates into a gain that can be observed in practice. However, these weak additions lead to a higher price: calculate 1019 euros for the iPhone 14, when the oldest, even today and with equal storage, offers a starting price of 909 euros.