iPhone 14 vs iPhone 14 Plus: key differences

Intro

Now that the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are official, we can dive in and compare the two, side by side. Here, we will talk about the differences between iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus known so far — design, cameras, performance, and battery life. The article will be updated with further details and impressions soon after the phones are released on September 16. 

Design and Display Quality

Same screens, but one is smoother

At the very basic level, these two are fundamentally the same phone. The Plus is just… big. The iPhone 14 has a 6.1-inch screen, while the Plus has a 6.7-incher. These are stretched out in the 19.5:9 aspect ratio and mirror the shape and proportions of an iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro Max. PPI figures are pretty much identical — 460 and 458 pixels per inch, respectively. So is their peak HDR brightness level of 1200 nits and typical brightness of 800 nits.

No Pro Motion on any of these phones — both the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus stay at 60Hz refresh rate, which is one of the things that Apple reserves to keep them feeling “cheaper” than their Pro siblings. Both are protected by Apple’s Ceramic Shield cover glass.

On the back, we see the square-shaped camera module on both phones. Though, the non-Pro iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus only have dual lenses back there — one wide-angle and one ultra-wide angle camera for each.

The non-Pro iPhones also come in vibrant and fun colors, which sometimes make them more desirable than the “boring” Pro colors — at least to some crowds. The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus are available in five colors: Midnight (black), purple, Starlight (white), (PRODUCT)RED, and blue.

All the iPhone 14 colors (Image Credit – Apple)”&nbsp

As for contents in the boxes, inside you’ll find an iPhone and a USB-C to Lightning cable. Nothing more, nothing less (hopefully).

Performance and Software

Same chips, a worse deal?

Some might be concerned by Apple’s decision to equip the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus with an Apple A15 Bionic — that is the 2021 iPhone SoC. Indeed, this is the first time ever for Apple to launch a new generation of iPhones with a previous year’s chip. However, Apple claims its A15 Bionic is still better than anything its Android competitors have to offer. 

Naturally, with the same chips as last year, we expect the same performance — save for an 18% bump in graphics performance, as the iPhone 14’s chip uses a 5-core GPU instead of a quad-core one. The iPhone 14 Plus may have better thermal management, due to its size, and thus be capable of better sustained performance. Of course, we will only know that to be true when we actually get our hands on the phones and run some benchmarks.

The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus probably come with either 4 GB or 6 GB of RAM. That’s for both of them, we don’t expect one to come with less RAM than the other.

A curious addition to the iPhone 14 lineup is satellite connectivity. This is a feature meant to be used in cases of emergency, allowing you to call for help even when cellular coverage is not available. The feature is coming in November. 

Camera

An upgraded 12MP dual-cam system

While the iPhone 14 Pro models sport a brand-new, 48 MP sensor for their main cameras, the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus stay in the past. Once again, we see 12 MP sensors for the wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle cameras of the lower-tier iPhones. And yes, the 14 and 14 Plus come with identical cameras, so we don’t expect to see any image quality differences whatsoever. 

Compared to the iPhone 13 series, however, the main. 12MP camera has been upgraded. It has a larger sensor with 1.9-micron pixels, as well as a larger aperture of f1.5. Sensor shift OIS is also on board. In the front, the 12MP camera has been improved with the addition of autofocus, which can work together with Face ID for accurate focus even in low light.

iPhone 14 camera (Image Credit – Apple

Audio Quality and Haptics

The speakers on iPhones have been pretty good in the past years — they’ve been getting better and better ever since we got the stereo setup with the iPhone 7 series. In the iPhone 13 series, the Pro Max sounds the best — no doubt because the huge body allows for better acoustics inside.

So, in the case of the iPhone 14 vs iPhone 14 Plus, we do expect that the Plus may sound slightly better. But we don’t think it’d be anything to completely sway your buying decision over.

As for haptics, the Taptic Engine on iPhones is doing a fantastic job as it is for years now, so we don’t see it getting any better (or worse).

Battery Life and Charging

Can the Plus max out?

The iPhone 13 Pro Max shocked us with massive battery endurance numbers. Thanks to the huge chassis of the phone, we got a big battery (by iPhone standards) and great thermal management, which no doubt helped in that.

In the case of iPhone 14 vs iPhone 14 Plus, we do expect a repeat of that story. The iPhone 14 should last you through a day and then some, but the iPhone 14 Plus will probably be chasing that 2-day-battery dream and even achieving it with moderate usage. In fact, Apple claims the iPhone 14 Plus offers the best battery life ever on an iPhone.

Specs Comparison

Summary and Final Verdict

While we haven’t yet tested the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus thoroughly, we can’t imagine it being too hard to pick one of the two. They’re simply too similar to make this a tough choice.. Those who value having a compact phone or simply want a cheaper iPhone should stick with the iPhone 14. The iPhone 14 Plus, however, costs just $100 extra. In exchange you can expect getting better battery life, and that larger screen is a nice perk too. 

The iPhone 14 will be released on September 16, while the iPhone 14 Plus is coming out on October 7. This comparison will be updated shortly after with plenty of tests, benchmarks, and our first-hand impressions.