The iPhone 14 series will be Apple’s first line of new iPhones that will not adhere to the strategy Apple has employed for years. The iPhone 14 Pro models and the regular iPhone 14 versions will feature different designs. That’s something that we haven’t witnessed since the iPhone X and iPhone 8 launch in 2017. More importantly, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 will feature significant specs differences, which would be a first for the iPhone.
Differences and similarities between the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro
The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will come with a new pill-and-hole notch replacement. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max will have the same design as the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro Max, respectively. That’s what all leaks say, and we saw plenty of renders and dummy units to back up these claims.
There have always been differences between the non-Pro and Pro iPhones when it comes to specs. The cheaper models feature less RAM than the Pros. Also, they have two rear cameras on the back instead of three. The telephoto lens is still restricted to the Pro models. Starting with the iPhone 13 series, the Pros also got 120Hz ProMotion displays. The iPhone 14 models will continue that trend.
But one of the great things about the iPhone is that the most affordable handset offers the same overall performance as the best Pro version. That’s because they share the same A-series processor generation. That’s about to change this year.
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max will feature a version of the A15 Bionic that powers the iPhone 13. Specifically, rumors say that the iPhone 14 models will get the iPhone 13 Pro’s A15. That means more RAM and an extra GPU core compared with the iPhone 13’s A15 variation.
The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will get the brand new A16 Bionic chip. However, recent reports said the A16 will deliver limited performance and efficiency gains over the predecessor.
The mobile business is hurting
The analysts at TrendForce penned a new report detailing the current state of the mobile market. The rising inflation, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the recent COVID-19 lockdowns in China are all factors that have impacted smartphone sales and production in the first half of the year.
TrendForce says that Apple isn’t likely to be hit as hard as Chinese smartphone makers in the near term. But other recent reports also said that Apple wouldn’t manufacture more iPhones this year than in 2021.
It’s in this context that TrendForce mentions the specs differences between the upcoming iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models. Like other reports, the analysts say only the Pro models will deliver the brand new A-series chip this year. However, TrendForce expects this sort of behavior to attract more buyers:
Most notably and unlike prior offerings, only the latest processors are employed in the Pro series. In addition to taking into account terminal pricing strategy, this can also highlight differences in market positioning. As rising inflation changes consumer behavior, this type of product positioning is expected to attract more buyers.
According to other reports, the iPhone 14 should still start at $799, while the iPhone 14 Pros will be more expensive than in the past. TrendForce makes no mention of prices but implies that Apple’s specs strategy this year should help it deliver competitively priced new iPhones to buyers.
Great iPhone 14 specs expectations
Getting back to the specs differences between the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 models, TrendForce also offered the table above, which covers the hardware details that buyers are most interested about.
These are only estimates based on recent reports, however. TrendForce expects all iPhone 14 models to feature 6GB of RAM, but only the iPhone 14 Pros will get the faster LPDDR5 memory. Moreover, only the iPhone 14 Pros will get a 48-megapixel primary camera, while the regular models will stick with the same 12-megapixel shooter that Apple currently uses.
Finally, the specs table indicates that the iPhone 14 Pros will have at least 256GB of storage on board.
There’s at least one detail in the table that contradicts other rumors. TrendForce believes the A16 chip will be a TSMC 4nm chip. An analyst said a few days ago that Apple will stick with the 5nm tech it used for the A14 Bionic last year.
More iPhone coverage: For more iPhone news, visit our iPhone 14 guide.
