Apple released its latest iPhone models, the iPhone 14 series, in September 2022. With each new model generation, expectations tend to run high for the exciting possibilities that come with Apple’s new iPhone models. And, most importantly, is it time to upgrade your iPhone?
For iPhone 13 Pro users, the iPhone 14 Pro may be an option worth considering. But before rushing to upgrade from the iPhone 13 Pro to the iPhone 14 Pro, let’s take a closer look at the differences between the two models and see if the iPhone 14 Pro is worth your money.
Design and color
Starting with the design, the iPhone 13 Pro and 14 Pro have more in common than different. Apple has still kept the boxy design on the latest models. The lock button is on the right, and the mute and volume buttons are on the left. You can confuse the two from a distance, but when you look closely, you can see the difference.
First, if you live in the US, you’ll notice that Apple has removed the SIM card tray on the iPhone 14 Pro, similar to other iPhone 14 models. Instead, all US iPhone 14 models use e-SIM only. Apple also removed the infamous notch on the iPhone 13 Pro in favor of a pill-shaped cutout it calls Dynamic Island.
The iPhone 14 Pro is also slightly thicker than its predecessor, has a more pronounced camera bump, and is slightly heavier. Both models are available in basic gold and silver. In addition to those two colors, you can also get the 14 Pro in space black and dark purple, or the iPhone 13 Pro in graphite, mountain blue and alpine green.
Other than these differences, the product quality is the same as the front and rear glass and stainless steel frame. Both are protected by Ceramic Shield glass on the front. The iPhone 13 Pro and 14 Pro are also dust and water resistant to a depth of 19 feet (for up to 30 minutes).
Screen
Both models have the same 6.1-inch 120Hz OLED display with HDR support and roughly the same resolution. However, the iPhone 14 Pro’s ProMotion display is slightly better in other areas. For starters, the display can automatically adjust the refresh rate to as low as 1Hz (instead of 10Hz on the 13 Pro), depending on what you’re doing to help improve battery life.
With dynamic refresh rate, the phone can increase the refresh rate for power-intensive tasks like gaming and reduce it for less intensive tasks like reading blogs or watching movies.
The peak brightness of the display on the iPhone 14 Pro is also increased by 2,000 nits, which is a big improvement over the 1,200 nits maximum brightness of the 13 Pro. Another big addition to the iPhone 14 Pro is Always On Display support, which lets you quickly check the current time and notifications without fully waking up the screen.
Camera
If you’re looking for reasons to upgrade to the iPhone 14 Pro, the camera is definitely one of them. Since 2015’s iPhone 6s, Apple has managed to keep its cameras at 12MP resolution, but that changed with the iPhone 14 Pro, as the company finally jumped to a 48MP main camera to compete with Android flagships.
The new sensor is 65 percent larger to capture more light and capture detailed photos. It promises better low-light photography than the iPhone 13 Pro (up to twice as much, according to Apple). The 12MP ultrawide sensor on the 14 Pro is also larger, which should benefit better low-light photography.
Unlike the wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle sensors, the 12MP telephoto camera on the iPhone 14 Pro is the same as the iPhone 13 Pro, with optical image stabilization and 3x optical zoom.
However, thanks to the new photon engine, the iPhone 14 Pro’s telephoto sensor can take better low-light photos. Thanks to the new sensor, it’s now capable of recording 4K/30FPS video in movie mode; on the iPhone 13 Pro, it’s stuck at 1080p when using this feature.
On the front, the iPhone 14 Pro features a new 12MP sensor with an f/1.9 aperture, down from the 13 Pro’s f/2.2. This should let more light in and capture better detailed selfies.
Processor
It has become customary for Apple to release new chips with each iPhone generation. As for the iPhone 14 Pro, the company remains faithful. The new A16 Bionic chip powers the iPhone 14 Pro (though remember, Apple didn’t include the A16 in the standard iPhone 14).
The A16 chip is built with a 4nm process and has a 6-core CPU and a 5-core GPU. Apple’s main focus with the A16 Bionic was power efficiency, a prominent theme at the official launch. The company made some changes to the Neural Engine, GPU bandwidth, transistor count, and more to make this happen.
In contrast, the iPhone 13 Pro runs Apple’s A15 Bionic 2021 with a 5nm SoC, a 6-core CPU with a slightly lower peak frequency, and a 5-core GPU. On the bright side, this is the same process Apple uses with the standard iPhone 14.
As a consumer, it’s important to keep in mind that the A16 Bionic is around 10-15% faster and more efficient in benchmarks than its predecessor. However, you will hardly notice the difference in performance in real use.
Memory and battery
There is no difference between the two in terms of memory and storage capacity. They run on 6GB of RAM and 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage. However, the 14 Pro has an advantage over its successor when it comes to battery — at least on paper.
It increases the battery capacity from 3,095mAh to 3,200mAh. As a result, Apple promises up to 23 hours of video playback on the iPhone 14 Pro, an hour more than the iPhone 13 Pro models. But you might want to disable Always On Display on the iPhone 14 Pro, as it can negatively impact battery life.
Thankfully, there’s no difference when it comes to charging, as both models offer fast charging and MagSafe charging.
Price
The iPhone 14 Pro will start at $999, similar to the launch price of the iPhone 13 Pro. Unfortunately, you can no longer buy the iPhone 13 Pro directly from Apple, as the company stopped offering the 13 Pro models after the launch of the iPhone 14 series.
But you can still find the iPhone 13 Pro at deep discounts at third-party retailers, as long as you act fast before stocks run out.
Is it worth upgrading from iPhone 13 Pro to iPhone 14 Pro?
The iPhone 14 Pro has some upgrades compared to the iPhone 13 Pro, such as a 48MP camera, Always On Display, Dynamic Island, and a new A16-Bionic chip. For most people, these upgrades and improvements won’t matter.
Unless you care about small details, the iPhone 14 Pro isn’t worth upgrading. Other than that, the iPhone 13 Pro is still very powerful and you should have it for at least another year. But if you own an iPhone 12 Pro or earlier, the iPhone 14 Pro won’t let you down.