by Jacqueline Lu ’25
Published Nov. 5th, 2022
The month of September marks Apple’s big event of the year: the release of the new iPhones. This year on September 7, the iPhone 14 lineup was officially introduced. Although new iPhones are always exciting, they are a little disappointing this year.
Noticeable improvements for the newest iPhone include a larger iPhone 14 Plus, better camera quality, and the Dynamic Island (which replaces the original notch with a pill shaped cutout that fits useful information and adapts to each application).
But that is about it. Even Eve Jobs, the daughter of Apple’s founder, Steve Jobs, mocked the new phone. She posted a meme on Instagram where a man holds up a shirt identical to what he’s already wearing with the caption of, “Me upgrading from iPhone 13 to iPhone 14 after Apple’s announcement today”. It expresses her disappointment in the minor changes of the new phone that make it almost identical to previous ones.
Because of the lack of game changing improvements, those who have the 12 or the 13 don’t have a good reason to upgrade. Heidi Elsharkawy ‘25, who currently has an iPhone 12 Pro, said, “I just don’t see any improvements in the new phone. There is nothing ‘wow’ about it that I want so badly.” Those that have the iPhone 13 would be getting an even more worthless upgrade, with minimal design changes that can only be discerned by the different color options.
Despite these criticisms, the iPhone 14 lineup is not completely irrelevant. For those that have an iPhone X or older, upgrading might provide some pretty major improvements. For example, Jennifer Tian ‘24 recently upgraded from her iPhone 6, and she was greatly impressed. “Usually, without much usage, the battery would be at 1% by the end of the day,” she says. “Now, the battery would still be at 95% after an entire day of pretty heavy usage.”
Rishika Vulta ‘25 also upgraded to the iPhone 14 Pro Max from her iPhone 11, and reported that she really likes “the Dynamic Island, because it enables [her] to see things better,” as well as the improved brightness adjustment of her screen, which fits her preferences better.
As one of the most popular smartphone brands in the world, Apple’s newest iPhone has failed to produce the wide commotion often present in previous years. It has only proven useful to those with older models, people who reasonably have inferior phones due to them being released such a long time ago. While many may be inclined to upgrade to the new phone, those that have more recent models aren’t hitting upon the best timing to further restrict their budget constraints.
Unless one has an older iPhone model, the question of whether the iPhone 14 is actually worth the buck should stay in their mind.
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