We're going in deep on all the pros and cons of the iPhone 14 Pro in this long term review, more than 6 months after it's launch.
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00:00 I've been using the iPhone 14 Pro as my main phone
00:03 for the past six months.
00:04 And regardless of how many shiny new foldable phones
00:07 that I end up switching it out for for review,
00:09 I still always find myself coming back to this.
00:12 And yes, part of that is because Apple has an ecosystem
00:15 stranglehold on me, but I also love the simplicity
00:19 and reliability of the iPhone 14 Pro.
00:22 I love that in most situations,
00:24 pointing and shooting the camera
00:25 is gonna give me absolutely fantastic results.
00:28 And the built-in stabilization makes it the best choice
00:31 for a quick bit of video on the go.
00:33 I love that it never struggles when playing games
00:35 or flipping between multiple apps.
00:37 And I simply don't have to worry
00:39 about the battery dying on me,
00:40 even on a day of heavy usage.
00:42 But with the iPhone 15 series just six months away,
00:45 and flagship competitors like the S23 Ultra
00:48 having launched more recently,
00:50 is now the right time to be buying an iPhone 14 Pro?
00:53 Are there better phones that you should consider instead?
00:56 Or should you just save your money for now?
00:58 And wait for the iPhone 15 Pro to come in the fall?
01:01 Let's figure out the best move for you.
01:03 (upbeat music)
01:06 Look, let's get this out of the way quickly.
01:08 Yes, the camera module on the 14 Pro
01:10 picks up a lot of dust.
01:12 And yes, I did try to clean it
01:14 before I shot all this B-roll that you're seeing.
01:16 Obviously, it looks way worse under the macro lens
01:19 of my camera than it does in real life.
01:21 But these shots are a little bit gross,
01:23 and we're just gonna have to work together to get over it.
01:25 As far as the actual quality of the photos
01:27 that the phone produces, it's hard to beat the iPhone.
01:30 Hard, but not impossible.
01:32 The S23 Ultra is the ultimate camera phone
01:35 that you can buy right now.
01:36 With its better zoom features and higher megapixel count,
01:39 offering more detail in shots
01:41 and more versatility in editing.
01:43 The iPhone still takes the crown when it comes to video,
01:46 and that's personally what I care more about.
01:49 But honestly, the differences are marginal,
01:51 and most users will be disappointed with either handset
01:54 when it comes to taking photos or video.
01:56 If you're still rocking a phone from 2020 or even 2021,
02:00 then you're going to see massive upgrades
02:02 to your camera quality by upgrading to an iPhone 14 Pro.
02:06 But if you're happy enough using an older handset
02:09 for another six months,
02:10 then it could be worth holding fire.
02:12 The iPhone 15 Pro will launch in the fall
02:15 and will definitely come with a bunch
02:16 of new cool camera features.
02:18 It's unclear what those upgrades
02:20 and new features will likely be,
02:22 but you can be sure that we will get
02:23 even better low light performance
02:25 and possibly a periscope telephoto lens
02:28 that will make the zoom capabilities
02:29 of the new iPhone more comparable with the S23 Ultra.
02:33 All of that will also surely come
02:35 with better AI image processing,
02:37 thanks to Apple's next generation silicon,
02:39 the A17 bionic chip.
02:41 The A16 bionic chip that powers the 14 Pro is phenomenal
02:45 and delivers the fastest performance in any phone,
02:47 beating even the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-powered S23 Ultra
02:51 on key tests like Geekbench
02:53 and our own video transcoding tests.
02:56 In normal everyday use,
02:57 I can't imagine what you'd be able to throw at this phone
03:00 that would cause it to struggle.
03:01 However, the iPhone 15 Pro will obviously feature
03:04 the next generation of Apple silicon.
03:06 And I'm sure we'll be hearing plenty
03:08 of impressive sounding stats
03:09 about how much faster the A17 is than the A16.
03:13 But the truth is that the A16 is plenty fast enough
03:16 for any user.
03:17 And the 14 Pro will receive the same iOS updates
03:20 that the 15 Pro will.
03:21 So while I'm sure that the 15 Pro will likely score higher
03:24 in Geekbench, it likely won't mean much to you
03:27 and it shouldn't really inform your purchasing decision.
03:29 Unless of course the A17 bionic chip set allows
03:32 for a much more power efficient phone in general,
03:35 helping improve the battery life.
03:37 Apple will definitely claim that that is the case
03:40 when they announced the 15 Pro series,
03:42 but we'll have to wait until we get it into our lab
03:44 and test it before we can say for sure.
03:47 Having said all of that,
03:48 the iPhone 14 Pro's battery is brilliant.
03:50 And in the past six months,
03:51 I've only had it die on me during the day once.
03:54 And that was when I was traveling
03:55 and basically using it nonstop to watch movies
03:57 and play games.
03:58 After six months of use,
03:59 the battery health section of the settings menu
04:02 still reads at a hundred percent,
04:03 which is pretty impressive and better than I expected.
04:06 When the phone launched,
04:07 there were two major complaints when it came to the battery.
04:09 And one of them has kind of been solved.
04:12 The first unsolved issue is the 20 watt charging speed.
04:15 Apple is way behind the competition in this space.
04:18 And thanks to some regulation
04:19 that was recently passed by the EU,
04:21 it looks like it could be forced to improve this
04:23 in the 15 series.
04:24 Maybe.
04:25 The iPhone 15 should be ditching the lightning port
04:28 in favor of the industry standard USB-C.
04:31 And that could result in faster charging speeds
04:33 and data transfer.
04:34 That alone could be a solid reason for a lot of users
04:38 to wait until the iPhone 15 is announced
04:40 before making their next smartphone purchase.
04:42 However, if you're still using an older iPhone
04:45 and have a bunch of lightning port accessories
04:47 like speakers and charging docks lying around the house,
04:49 then the iPhone 14 Pro could still
04:52 be the right choice for you.
04:53 The other issues that Apple had at launch
04:55 was with the always on display,
04:57 a big new feature that Apple was keen to show off.
05:00 Although reviewers had mixed opinions.
05:03 Okay.
05:03 Those opinions were less mixed and more negative.
05:06 And to be honest, I agreed.
05:07 The always on display was way too bright and distracting
05:10 when the phone was supposed to be sleeping.
05:11 And according to some tests,
05:13 the up to 20% negative impact
05:16 that had on your battery life
05:17 simply wasn't worth it to me.
05:19 Uncharacteristically, Apple actually listened to its users
05:22 in regards to this and relatively quickly
05:25 released an update that allowed you to disable the wallpaper
05:28 or disable the always on display altogether.
05:31 I've opted to disable the wallpaper
05:32 and just stick with the time and date showing,
05:34 which mirrors what most Android phones
05:36 have been doing for years.
05:38 In the upcoming iOS 16.4 update,
05:40 Apple will reportedly add an option in the battery settings
05:43 to be able to see how much your always on display
05:46 will drain your battery.
05:47 So you'll be able to make that informed decision
05:49 for yourself.
05:50 Ultimately for me, the two big new features in the 14 Pro,
05:53 the always on display and the dynamic island
05:55 are not reasons to upgrade from older iPhones.
05:58 They're neat features that look great in marketing,
06:01 but aren't going to drastically improve
06:03 your smartphone experience.
06:04 So they shouldn't factor into your purchasing decision.
06:07 The iPhone 14 Pro's design is solid
06:09 and we don't expect too much to change
06:11 when the 15 is announced later this year.
06:13 The flat stainless steel edges and rounded corners
06:15 make for a premium feeling and looking device.
06:18 I'm happy to sacrifice the larger screen of the Pro Max
06:21 for a display that I can reach across with one hand.
06:24 And that display is stunning.
06:27 The 120 Hertz ProMotion display
06:29 continues to wow me six months on.
06:31 Whether I'm streaming movies
06:33 or just checking out some photos and videos
06:35 that I've taken on the phone itself.
06:36 It's a canvas that I just never get tired of using.
06:40 But it is worth noting that these improvements
06:42 are mostly marginal in comparison to the iPhone 13 Pro
06:45 and Samsung competition.
06:46 So if you're upgrading from an older phone,
06:48 you're gonna see a huge improvement,
06:50 whichever direction you decide to go.
06:52 But I'd also expect the improvements on the 15 Pro
06:55 to be just as marginal.
06:56 So I wouldn't use the design or display specs
06:59 as an excuse to wait another six months
07:01 if you're desperate for an upgrade.
07:03 All in all, the iPhone 14 Pro is a top end device
07:05 that holds its own against the more recently released
07:08 premium Android handsets
07:09 and sees improvements across the board
07:11 when compared to Apple's previous iPhone generations.
07:14 If you're currently an Android user
07:16 looking to make the jump to iOS
07:18 and you have a load of USB-C accessories around the home,
07:21 then I'd suggest holding off on buying a new iPhone
07:23 until the 15 series launches this fall.
07:25 But if you're looking for better cameras,
07:27 battery life and processing power
07:29 in a one hand friendly form factor,
07:31 then you won't be disappointed
07:32 if you opt to pick up the iPhone 14 Pro right now.
07:35 Let me know down in the comments below
07:37 if you bought an iPhone 14 Pro at launch
07:39 and if you experienced any issues with it that I haven't.
07:42 If you're interested in making your next phone a foldable,
07:45 then you should check out a video I did
07:46 on the Honor Magic VS right now
07:48 on the Tom's Guide YouTube channel.
07:50 I'm Matt Phillips, be sure to subscribe
07:52 and I'll see you on the next one.