There are surprises and regrets, let’s talk about the iPhone 14 Pro experience

has no physical keyboard and supports multi-touch. The original i iPhone released in 2007 was rare in the smartphone market at that time. Steve Ballmer, who was the CEO of Microsoft at the time, even ruthlessly mocked the price of this phone in a public interview. Up to $500 product, think iPhone won't gain much market share in the end. History naturally did not develop as Steve Ballmer expected. Today's iPhone not only firmly occupies a large part of the global smartphone market share, but also continuously introduces new features to explore new ways and dimensions of human-computer interaction: such as iPhone 4s The Siri intelligent voice assistant launched in , the full-screen interactive gestures on the iPhone X, and of course the newly released "Smart Island" on the iPhone 14 Pro series.

Like other Apple products, most of these new functions and interaction methods are not the first, but they have led the "trend" after another in the smartphone market. No matter how you evaluate "Smart Island", no matter whether the iPhone 14 Pro series can become a milestone generation of iPhone, this new interactive design, which Apple calls blurring the boundaries of software and hardware, will leave a strong mark in the history of iPhone.

After two weeks with the iPhone 14 Pro, I also have some feelings about the experience of "Smart Island". The new iPhone 14 Pro also left me with surprises and regrets in terms of functions and experience. Through this article and We discuss.

A "long-lost" black iPhone

Glass back panel, stainless steel right-angle frame, classic black... iPhone 4's position in the history of industrial design is unquestionable, and it is often talked about today. After the iPhone 4 era, Apple replaced the original black with space gray on the iPhone 5s, and we haven't seen a true flagship black iPhone for a long time, .

On the iPhone 14 Pro, the addition of deep space black undoubtedly gave black iPhone lovers like me a small surprise. Compared with the previous space gray, the space black glass back panel and stainless steel frame are more thoroughly black and closer to true black. Unfortunately, perhaps due to the matte textured glass process, the deep space black still gives me a slightly gray feeling in most light environments. It should also be noted that there are some reports that on this year's new deep space black and dark purple iPhones, the glass back panel is prone to scratches or other traces of use; in my daily use for nearly two weeks, I have not found this situation , you shouldn't need to worry too much about this problem.

Apart from the color and temporarily putting aside the "Smart Island", the biggest change in the appearance of the iPhone 14 Pro is the clichéd rear camera module; it is also unexpected that since the i iPhone 11 Pro is equipped with a rear three-camera module for the first time Since then, this camera system has been getting bigger and thicker year by year.

Yes, the camera of the iPhone 14 Pro is bigger and thicker; if you update from iPhone 13 Pro, you don’t even need to compare, you can feel this obvious change by touching it directly. Of course, this year's change is also the most worthwhile "exchange" in my opinion in the past few years, because not only can you get a larger and new sensor on the iPhone 14 Pro, but the 48-megapixel main camera really makes the iPhone's Imaging systems have taken a big step forward. However, if you want to get a more veritable Pro-level imaging system, and you don’t mind the protruding problems of the camera module, then the only solution is to use a protective case as a compromise.

changed from iPhone 13 Pro Max to iPhone 14 Pro, it is hard for me to objectively tell you whether this iPhone is heavy or not, I can only say that the latter has indeed reduced my daily use a lot, whether it is an easier-to-handle machine The size of the body, or for me, the smaller size brings more sophistication. However, after using it for a long time, the iPhone 14 Pro still puts a lot of pressure on my palm, especially for the little finger. I have to seek accessories like PopSockets to help me relieve the pressure during use. By the way, the magnetic strength of MagSafe of iPhone 14 Pro is much stronger than before. Whether you use third-party accessories like PopSockets or first-party accessories from Apple, you can feel the magnetic force more clearly. "Click" once.

It can be seen that the iPhone 14 Pro is still not a light mobile phone, and even the iPhone 14 Plus, which is one size larger than it, is lighter. Therefore, starting from the needs of daily use, I still recommend that users of the Pro series choose the smaller one, unless you have a strong enough demand for a large screen; of course, the screen advantages of the iPhone 14 Pro Max are also very obvious , When I first got started with the iPhone 14 Pro, the smaller input keyboard and the screen display with less content made me feel the feeling of "experience downgrading", and it took a little time to adapt to this change.

Smart Island: The soldiers and horses have not moved, the food and grass go first

The first iPhone ten years ago, with the innovative Multi-Touch technology subverted the appearance of mobile phones in people's minds. Today's iPhone X marks the beginning of a new era for the iPhone. The device and the experience are integrated, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in it, and only feel what you care about, as if forgetting the existence of the device.

Just as Jony Ive, then Apple’s chief design officer, said when the iPhone X was released in 2017, the launch of the full-screen iPhone is an important milestone, and the full-screen interactive gesture that “integrates the device and the experience” is of course a soft touch. The human-computer interaction attempt of hardware integration: the screen is the Home button, and the iOS system is under the screen.

The "Smart Island", which has similarities but the same results, is therefore called by Apple as "another great change since the full-screen
of the iPhone". So, is "Smart Island" really an innovation of the next era after the full screen as Apple introduced? I think this answer can only be given by the huge app ecosystem of the App Store in the future. Before that, let us take a look at what "Smart Island" has done and how it is doing.

According to Apple, "Smart Island" integrates notifications, reminders, and real-time activities in one place, which means that these three types of information will be presented around the "Smart Island".

Let's talk about "real-time activities" first. Maybe Apple’s secrecy work is done too well, just when many people are ready to accept that the iPhone 14 Pro will appear with the rumored “exclamation mark screen”, almost no one thought of the “real-time activity” function released with iOS 16 , Paved the way for the emergence of "Smart Island" early. "Real-time activities" are not only the soul of Smart Island, but also the only way for developers to interact with "Smart Island".

Refer to Apple's development documents about "Smart Island" and you can see that the third-party app starts the "real-time"Activity" function, which realizes the ability to present real-time updates of the application on the "Smart Island" and the lock screen. According to Apple's introduction to "real-time activities" in the "Human-Computer Interface Interaction Guidelines", "real-time activities" should have the following characteristics:

• Only present the most important content.
• is only displayed when there is an update.
• Avoid displaying information types: sensitive information, advertisements or promotions, etc.
• Behavior: Clicking should open the correct location of the corresponding function in the app.
• has start and end states, allowing users to control the start and end states by themselves.

归纳一下，我认为「实时活动」应该满足以下特性：

• 持续性
• 时效性
• 公开性
• 交互性

也就是说，虽然「实时活动」存在与传统推送通知相同的特点，比如点击后打开The correct location for the application, but it is a completely different type of information from the latter, the former will not be resident on the screen, and will be executed under stricter conditions. The reverse is also the same, iOS notifications and reminders will not appear in "Smart Island", they will still be in the way you are familiar with, with "Smart Island" as the boundary, push notifications through banners below.

In a sense, "Live Activity" is more like a higher-level widget, because it also uses SwiftUI and WidgetKit to create the user interface, but the former is different in the update mechanism.

However, it is precisely the different ways of handling notifications, reminders, and real-time activities in the form of presentation that has caused many people to complain about "Smart Island". Because the position of "Smart Island" is not only slightly lower than that of "Liu Hai", leaving a small blank area above it, but also the overall position of the banner of reminders and notifications has moved down a lot.

has explained this kind of hardware and software design adjustments in this article by @两丝百蛋, which is relatively reasonable and clear enough. On the one hand, it is due to the adjustment of the structural components of Face ID, and on the other hand, it needs to be considered. The "Smart Island" has three different styles: Compact, Minimal, and Expanded, reaching the "optimal solution" of the current design.

Judging from the results, the interactive design of "Smart Island" can definitely be called impressive. Whether it is the rounded corner design with consistent angles for the frame, screen, and smart island, or various detailed and interesting animation effects.

However, like the important functions of the iOS system in previous years, the news that "real-time activities" will be postponed to the launch of iOS 16.1 is not surprising. At present, the "Smart Island" on the iPhone 14 Pro is more like a semi-finished product. Only some system applications and functions such as timers, Face ID, etc. have taken the lead in adapting with the "native" advantages. Some voice and audio apps Also because of the type, it was able to "land on the island" first. The more capabilities of "Smart Island" can only be truly brought into play by relying on more and more adaptations of third-party apps.

I don't want to repeat to you what the current "Smart Island" can do. You probably have already tried it in many other contents or by yourself. However, after using it for a period of time, I did find some current problems. For example, according to this introduction in the "Best Practices" section of Apple's "Human-Computer Interaction Guidelines":

Make sure tapping your Live Activity opens your app at the right location. When peopletap a Live Activity to open your app, take them directly to details and actions related to it — don't require them to navigate to the relevant screen.

can learn that Apple's suggestion for developers is to When active, the application should directly open the details page of the corresponding function instead of just opening the app. However, among the few apps that are currently adapted to "Smart Island", the commonly used music apps and timer functions cannot be perfectly realized. For example, clicking on the music being played in "Smart Island" will only jump to the previous page in the music app, and will not open the playback page of the corresponding song; when clicking on the timer, if it is not the first time to wake up the clock app, it will not be able to Go directly to the timer page.

Clicking on the timer real-time activity cannot directly jump to the timer interface.

In addition, perhaps because Apple's current positioning of "Smart Island" is "light interaction, heavy display", or to maintain consistency with the interaction logic of the 3D touch shortcut menu, clicking "Smart Island" will directly open Corresponding to the app, long press to expand the expanded (Expanded) view shortcut. Considering that even the smaller iPhone 14 Pro is difficult to easily complete various operations with only one hand, if you want to use the "Smart Island" shortcut at the top of the screen to operate the application (rather than open the app), you will still feel it. strenuous. Fortunately, iOS 16.1, which is in the beta stage, has already given a solution to this. At that time, we will be able to pull the "Smart Island" to the middle of the screen through the "Easy Access" function to complete the operation.

Many people think that "Smart Island" is Apple's "concealment" treatment method for the iPhone's new screen form-double digging screen. Judging from the results, it is naturally difficult for us to deny this point of view. However, I also think that Apple has not only specially designed such a software and hardware interaction form from the idea of ​​blocking the "exclamation mark screen". Under such a brand that has extremely high requirements for details, "Smart Island" must be The product of constant trade-offs and mutual achievements between hardware design and software experience must have gone through an extremely complicated decision-making process behind it; of course, there must be many compromises. No matter how you think of "Smart Island" now, and no matter how this design will develop in the future, it will definitely accompany the iPhone through a long journey.

"Smart Island" is also well-deserved and can be called a wonderful innovation. Whether it is the ultimate pursuit of details or the ingenious combination of software and hardware experience, the history of iOS human-computer interaction design will definitely leave a mark belonging to "Smart Island". A bold stroke.

From the current point of view, rather than saying that "Smart Island" is a solution to an objective problem, it can only be regarded as a means of realizing a certain less-strong demand. From a personal point of view, I really don't need to see how long the time has passed in real time during the countdown, and I don't need to see which song is currently playing anytime, anywhere... Like many functions of Apple, "Spirit Island "Leaving a lot of room for imagination for developers and users; whether this design will be an epoch-making creation in the history of iPhone hardware and software, or it may become a short-lived existence like Touch Bar, only time will tell us Answer. Now let us wait and see what kind of whimsical ideas the creative developers will have on this island.

All-weather display: another attempt to combine hardware and software

has always been said that Apple Watch is the "experimental field" of the iPhone, although we may never get an answer from Apple, but a glimpse of the product history of the former, weCan also know a thing or two. It all started with the first-generation Apple Watch.

In 2015, Apple launched the first-generation Apple Watch, which is equipped with a stainless steel case, equipped with an OLED screen, Taptic Engine, supports Force Touch, IPX7 waterproof rating . Let’s take a look at the iPhone again. The i iPhone 6s released in 2016 was the first to be equipped with Taptic Engine and support 3D Touch. The i iPhone 7 released in 2017 was the first to support IP67 splash-proof, water-resistant, and dust-proof grades; and the iPhone X launched in 2017 , we saw the return of the stainless steel bezel, and the long-awaited OLED screen, which is a full screen similar to the Apple Watch.

By the way, Apple first supported the eSIM function on the Apple Watch Series 3 released in 2017, and also provided eSIM support on the i iPhone XS a year later, although we can’t use this feature on the iPhone yet. On the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple even canceled the physical SIM card slot in the models sold directly in the United States.

looked back at the iPhone 14 Pro again. On the Apple Watch Series 5 released in 2019, Apple introduced an all-weather display for the first time. There is no need to raise your hand or turn on the screen. Apple Watch can always display the content on the screen. And on the iPhone 14 Pro, the long-rumored all-weather display has finally arrived.

iPhone 14 Pro with the screen off.

i The all-weather display on the iPhone is also very similar to the Apple Watch in terms of implementation: through the LTPO screen technology, the iPhone will always display the screen content with a new 1Hz refresh rate when the screen is locked, such as the weather, astronomy and other information on the background of the locked screen. Widgets and various content of real-time activities; and when the iPhone is put in the bag (the sensor is blocked), the screen will be completely turned off to save power.

The screen goes off completely when the sensor is blocked.

It can be seen that the all-weather display of the iPhone is different from the current mainstream solutions on the market. It is not a component that displays a time or date after the screen is turned off, but a real "always on display": reduce the screen brightness , Leave the lock screen content unchanged. Of course, when displayed at a lower refresh rate, most of the content on the iPhone 14 Pro will not be updated in real time, only the seconds in the timer, time minutes, and new notifications will continue to be updated in real time.

Switching to the iPhone 14 Pro, what I am most uncomfortable with is this all-weather display screen, because even in an indoor environment its brightness is relatively not too dark, which leads me to often think that the iPhone does not have a lock screen. After turning on the screen Only then did I suddenly realize. If you're upgrading from an older device, it might take a while to get used to the change like I did. Of course, this also shows that the visibility of this all-weather display is really good. It is relatively more convenient to see the time, weather or other information at a glance on the screen than to look at the watch by raising your hand. After

has an all-weather display, it is satisfactory that the battery life of the iPhone 14 Pro does not seem to be greatly affected, whether it is continuous use of the iPhone indoors for a long time (with the all-weather display turned on), or continuous navigation through the iPhone outdoors, Browsing social networks and more (the 24/7 display turns off when the device is in the bag), iPhone 14 Pro battery lifeThere is no obvious difference in the duration, which is also relatively close to the relevant test conclusions of FView.

Judging from my use, it is basically not a problem for the iPhone 14 Pro to go out for a day of light to moderate use. For example, I mainly use social media reading, listening to music, and light video consumption on a daily basis. From early in the morning, I basically use it until the evening before the battery level reaches below 20%. However, compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max I am using, the battery life of the iPhone 14 Pro is still far inferior to the former. The Pro Max model can provide a more reliable experience when going out for a long time or on the way, depending on your screen size, How to choose between battery life and portability.

belongs to the iPhone, a big step for imaging, a small step for photography

iPhone The last time the main camera pixel was upgraded was 7 years ago, when the main camera pixel of the iPhone 6s series was upgraded from 8 million in the previous generation iPhone 6 series to 12 million Ten thousand. It can be said that many iPhone users have waited too long for a 48-megapixel main camera.

Of course, like Apple’s conservative style in the past, the new 48-megapixel main camera capability is currently only available to professional users, or it only provides support in professional mode. If you want to switch to the 48-megapixel mode, we need to turn on the Apple ProRAW format in the camera options in the iOS system settings, and manually adjust to the 48-megapixel option. Of course, there is actually another important reason for such a logical design, and that is the new four-in-one pixel processor that debuted in the iPhone 14 Pro.

In the iPhone 14 Pro, the sensor size has increased by 65% ​​compared to the previous generation, and the four-in-one pixel sensor will merge four pixels by default to become a larger pixel to increase the amount of light entering. According to the information given by Apple, the four-in-one pixel sensor can increase the light sensitivity by 4 times. Even in the 12-megapixel shooting mode, the iPhone 14 Pro can take clearer and more brilliant shots.

Shot with iPhone 14 Pro (12MP wide-angle 1x lens HEIF), the image is compressed.

As expected, the iPhone 14 Pro also continues to maintain the consistent advantages of iPhone photography: high shutter speed, accurate color reproduction, stable white balance, and good enough control of highlights and shadows. Thanks to the four-in-one pixel and light-image engine, the iPhone 14 Pro also performs better in terms of color performance and light capture, even if its main camera aperture is slightly reduced.

Shot with iPhone 14 Pro (12MP telephoto lens HEIF), the image is compressed. Even though the

still uses a three-camera imaging system of 13mm, 24mm (the previous generation was 26mm), and 77mm equivalent focal length , with the help of high-pixel cropping, the 2x lens with 48mm equivalent focal length has finally returned to the iPhone under the welcome of many people. 14 Pro.

Shot with iPhone 14 Pro (12MP wide-angle 2x lens Apple ProRAW), the image is compressed.

Unfortunately, the "ghosting" that has plagued iPhone users for many years and the problem of over-sharpening can still be seen on the iPhone 14 Pro.

Shot with iPhone 14 Pro (48-megapixel wide-angle 1x lens Apple ProRAW), the image is compressed.

was shot with iPhone 14 Pro (12MP wide-angle 1x lens HEIF), and the image has been compressed.

And when the 48-megapixel Apple ProRAW option is turned on, the strongest imaging capability of the iPhone 14 Pro is finally fully released: the picture details are unprecedentedly rich, and the post-production space is further free.

Shot with iPhone 14 Pro (48-megapixel wide-angle Apple ProRAW), the image is compressed.

​​is cropped from the source file above, and the image has been compressed.

But also need to realize that such an upgrade is not free. Due to the influence of the computing power of the chip, when shooting 48 million Apple ProRAW images, each time the shutter is pressed, there will be a waiting time of 2-3 seconds, because we are about to face a 50MB or even larger Apple ProRAW file . For many scenes suitable for mobile phone photography, this may make you miss the best time to record.

Therefore, I would suggest that you give priority to shooting in 12-megapixel mode more often, with excellent shutter speed, accurate color performance, and reasonable file size. These iPhone image advantages you are already familiar with can be fully preserved. This will not waste the new hardware capabilities of the iPhone 14 Pro, because the new four-in-one pixel sensor, light and image engine, and the "long-lost" 2x focal length can help you take photos fast enough and good enough. When faced with scenes with more complex environments and richer details, iPhone images under 48 megapixels will amaze you with a completely different vision at such a high resolution.

captures a kitten sticking out its tongue, using an iPhone 14 Pro (12MP wide-angle 1x lens HEIF), and the image is compressed.

Fortunately, iOS also provides us with the ability to quickly switch. When we don’t need to use the 48-megapixel mode to shoot, we can turn it off directly through the “RAW” button in the upper right corner of the camera interface, without frequent settings in the system switch. Unfortunately, fast switching means giving up the advantages of Apple ProRAW in terms of image information retention and post-adjustment space, because we can only choose between 48-megapixel Apple ProRAW and turning off Apple ProRAW. If you still want to be able to shoot a 12-megapixel Apple ProRAW image file while enjoying the high-speed shutter, you can only switch between different pixel modes through the system settings, or completely turn off the 48-megapixel option. In subsequent software iterations, we will continue to optimize the software experience for switching between different photography modes.

Conclusion

Screen, video, and Smart Island, these are the main answers that Apple handed over in the iPhone 14 Pro.

The changes in this generation of iPhone can be said to be great or small. The big change is that the newly added "Smart Island" will undoubtedly become a battleground for Apple developers, and it will also become the most important place for the ecological development of App Store applications before the arrival of Apple's AR / VR products. One of the wind vanes, and the latter is also the most important factor for the success of the iPhone; the change is so small that when the new generation of iPhone almost only has "Smart Island" as the main selling point, it may not necessarily make everyone buy it. As for Whether this generation of iPhone can become a milestone product of the next era after the iPhone X, it is indeed too early to draw conclusions.

It is undeniable that the appearance of "Smart Island" is absolutelyIt can become a wonderful creation in the history of human-computer interaction design, and it may also lead the smartphone industry into the next "trend" . Whether you like "Smart Island" or not, it will accompany the iPhone through the next many years like the screen "bangs" of MacBook Pro.