Small innovations but still insufficient, iPhone 14 Pro review

At the beginning of September, Apple updated its new iPhone as always. In this so-called "Technology Spring Festival Gala" Apple's autumn conference, we first saw how the iPhone 14, which does not change the chip, mocks Android manufacturers in terms of performance. People lament the disappointment of Android and Qualcomm .

Then there is the long-exposed "pill"-shaped center slot design on the front, which was officially unveiled on the iPhone 14 Pro series. I originally thought this design was ugly, but after the first short video of the press conference was released, I was completely shocked. The apple is still the same apple, something that looks outrageous when exposed, it can always be presented in front of you in another extremely advanced form.

This is the heaviest Dynamic Island design this time. A functional animation is added to the front of the iPhone 14 Pro pill, which makes this ugly design suddenly become more advanced.

Currently in the first-party APP, the adaptability of the Smart Island is still very high. Turn on the timer to start the timing, slide the APP back to the desktop, and the timer will shrink into a small window and put it on the Smart Island. Turn on Apple Music to play music, open the map and select navigation, and perform the same operation, all will have the same effect.

When using AirDrop to transfer files, when using the location authority of the taxi app, when using FaceID authentication, even when swiping the bus card or bank card, there will be elegant animations, presenting the operation process in your smart on the island.

Apple is really a detail madman. When you make a call, you can see the sound waveform on Smart Island. Your voice is presented in red waveform, while the other party’s speech is presented in green waveform.

When you use multiple apps that support Smart Island, you can display up to two of them at the same time. Apple will display the apps with higher priority in a larger area, and the apps that are less important will be displayed in a circular shape. Instead of reflecting Apple's detail control, this small function has been done so carefully.

However, the praise for Smart Island can end here. The adaptation of the Smart Island is still not well resolved. The first is the notification of the APP. We originally thought that Apple could also implement the notification in the Smart Island and push it to the user in a very elegant form.

But Apple does not seem to have such a plan. In Apple's conception, Smart Island does not seem to be a notification center, but more of a functional display area. Therefore, the notifications of the three-party APP will be displayed under the smart island, which is not elegant at all.

And when we watch a 2:1 ratio video, a large part of the Smart Island will protrude, and with the black border on the left, it will properly become a bigger bangs. It really affects perception. If you are watching a 16:9 or 21:9 video, either it is not displayed, or the entire Smart Island is displayed completely, and the look and feel will be much better.

After using the iPhone 14 Pro for almost 10 days, I still think that the design of Smart Island is still as Lao Luo said, it is a design of "carved on shit". can't find a perfectFiling of under-screen solutions.

Why is there such an inference? It can be seen from the 3D structured light module half hidden under the screen this time that Apple has begun to stuff the Face ID and front camera modules under the screen. According to Apple's urine, this design will also be used for a few years. When the off-screen technology matures, a full-screen iPhone will naturally appear.

After talking about Smart Island, I have to mention the newly upgraded screen of the iPhone 14 Pro. The iPhone 14 Pro is equipped with a 6.1-inch OLED straight screen with a resolution of 2556 x 1179. The pixel density of and are 460ppi and support 120Hz High refresh rate, and compared with the 120Hz refresh rate of the previous generation, the dynamic refresh rate has been greatly improved this time, from the lowest refresh rate of 10Hz to 1Hz.

This also makes the iPhone 14 Pro series finally join the Always on display function that has been used by the Android system for a long time. But Apple's screen display is exactly the same as that on Apple Watch. It does not only display time and key information like Android. Apple will dim your wallpaper, and will also display information and widgets on the lock screen. save.

When you lock the screen when you are listening to a song, the always-on screen display will become the album cover you are playing; when you are navigating, the always-on screen display will become a guide for when you should turn to the next intersection; when you turn on the timer When the monitor is turned on, the screen will also display the corresponding time.

is advanced and good-looking, but screen burn-in is the first problem that OLED screens must face. After a large-area screen is displayed for a long time, OLED screens are still relatively prone to image afterimages, which is the case of screen burn-in. As for how to deal with it, Apple has not yet given an answer.

The second is power consumption. When the always-on screen is turned on, the power consumption will be 1% more than that of an iPhone without the always-on screen. With such a large area of ​​the always-on screen display, you still have to choose your own power consumption of.

Then there is the problem of habit, whether you used iPhone or Android before, when you lock the screen after turning on the always-on screen, you will always feel as if you have not turned off the screen. The phone whose screen couldn't go dark even felt a little irritated. Some people turned off this function not long after they got it. I sincerely hope that Apple can give users different options. Maybe it is better to choose the traditional screen that you like?

iPhone 14 Pro’s screen has improved in brightness. Under daily maximum brightness, the brightness reaches 1000nit. When playing HDR video, the brightness can reach 1600nit. Under strong outdoor light, the brightness can reach 2000nit. This is the official rating, and our actual measurement can reach a terrifying brightness of 2300nit. When watching an HDR video, it was the first time I felt that the sunlight in the video was so real, and the impression was really shocking.

Another big update besides the screen is the camera module on the back of the phone. The upper 48 million pixels are also four-in-one, and the output effect of 12 million pixels is still a bit worse than Android.

but apple this timeIt brought a new ProRAW mode, and the 48-megapixel ProRAW effect really shocked me. Although there is not much difference between shooting in the daytime and Android's high-resolution mode, but at night, Android phones with high-resolution are also turned on, and there will be insufficient light. And Apple relies on its own algorithm, that is, a new light-image engine algorithm, which largely compensates for the high-pixel shooting effect at night.

According to our actual measurement, the photos taken by the iPhone 14 Pro after turning on the 48-megapixel ProRAW mode at night have considerable brightness, and the picture noise is very well controlled, and the night scene effect is very pure. The sharpening problem that has been complained about before is fine Not a lot. The photos in the RAW format also gave me more space for post-processing. Compared with the previous generations of iPhone products, the night scene shooting level has made a qualitative leap.

But the high-pixel RAW still has its problems. First of all, it is the capacity. Basically, a photo in RAW format ranges from 50-80MB, which is more than double the size of the previous 12 million-pixel RAW. 128GB mobile phones are hard to use, and 256GB will feel very tense.

Then there is the shooting time. After turning on ProRAW to take a photo, it takes about 1-2 seconds to process. Continuous shooting is naturally impossible, and the experience still needs to be improved.

主摄样张

两倍镜头样张

4800 万像素主摄的加入,让iPhone 14 Pro 还拥有了一个“虚拟的2倍镜头”,将主摄进行裁切,并优化的效果,相比iPhone 12 Pro The physical 2x lens, the details of the picture are much better. This focal length is still very practical for friends who like to shoot objects or sweep the street every day, and the experience is quite good.

In terms of video shooting, the iPhone 14 Pro is still the "king", and the 4K60fps Dolby Vision video shooting effect is still the best so far. The movie mode added in the previous generation upgrades the original 1080P30fps ultra-low specification to 4K30fps specification, and you can also choose a more cinematic 4K24fps when shooting, and the keying and blurring of this generation are better than the previous generation With a great improvement, basically from unusable to usable.

also has a sports mode newly added in this generation. The shooting specification is 2.8K60fps. Although the specification is less than 4K, the actual shooting effect is quite good, and the stability is very high. The picture is still as stable as Mount Tai. We held a mobile phone to complete a surround shot that can only be completed with a camera and a handheld gimbal. The picture is quite stable and the film is fully usable. When it comes to shooting videos, Apple is still good.

These are all the important upgrade points of the iPhone 14 Pro, why not mention the new A16 chip this year? Because the upgrade rate is very small, in the actual game experience and daily use experience, whether the frame should be dropped or the frame should be dropped, and the heat should still be heated. In the case that the battery capacity has not changed much, there is still no improvement in the actual experience of battery life, and the small-screen iPhone 14 Pro consumes power very quickly.

There are also problems such as signals and ghosting that everyone is concerned about, but they still exist without any improvement. There is also the satellite communication function that has been talked about for a long time at the press conference, which is not yet supported in China and cannot be experienced.

As for the feel, in order to make the iPhone Pro series look more Pro, Apple used a stainless steel middle frame for this series, which made the weight of the 6.1-inch iPhone 13 Pro go to 203g, and the weight of this generation of iPhone 14 Pro is still there. Unabated, it reached 206g, and the weight of the film and the case reached 250g in minutes. The 6.1-inch mobile phone achieves such a weight, and with the right-angle middle frame, it still feels disastrous.

In general, the appearance of the iPhone 14 Pro generation has actually changed a lot. The bangs used on the iPhone X five years ago have been changed to a new smart island design and a new screen display , so that others can see at a glance that you have changed to a new mobile phone. However, there is still a long way to go in terms of software adaptation and application.

The 48-megapixel ProRAW night scene effect on the image can be said to beat Android phones, but other aspects have not changed much, and the video is still outstanding. If you are an iPhone 13 Pro user, then the upgrade of the iPhone 14 Pro series is not very big, and there is no need to replace it. After all the freshness on the front, it doesn't take long to see that this iPhone is no different. But if you are an iPhone 12 Pro or previous user, the upgrade will bring you a great experience improvement. After all, this is still the best iPhone right now.