Dynamic Island, always-on screen, and 48 MP rear camera are the features highlighted by the international press on the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max duo.
After a week of launch, many international news sites have shared the first reviews of the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, Apple’s expected smartphone duo in 2022.
While the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus do not have many outstanding improvements, the iPhone 14 Pro duo brings a series of useful upgrades, such as the Dynamic Island hole, always-on screen mode, A16 Bionic chip, and 48 MP camera first appeared on iPhone.
Here are the biggest impressions from some international news sites for the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max duo.
iPhone 14 pro’s Dynamic Island
The most prominent and mentioned detail is the Dynamic Island hole, which replaces the old notch (notch) to accommodate Face ID and the selfie camera. After a period of experience, The Verge editor Nilay Patel said that this is an interesting idea, but still needs a lot of improvement because this is only the first version, and some functions do not work as expected. would like.
With the old missing band, you will quickly ignore it after a period of use. However, Apple intentionally makes users pay attention to Dynamic Island when it enters the screen, very recognizable when the bright interface is turned on. The whole length also varies continuously based on different operations.
Dynamic Island is like a second screen, which can be resized based on the application running in the background.
There is a reason for Apple to create this detail. Over the years, iOS has increasingly alerted things in the status bar. Not only plugging in or turning off the ringer, but the device also displays notifications when there is a call, an app uses GPS, screen recording, AirPods connection, or 4G playback. Meanwhile, background tasks such as counting time, and listening to music are not displayed visually in the status bar.
According to Patel, Dynamic Island is an affordable way to refresh the entire status bar alert system, with 3 different display modes. When Live Activities are expanded later this year to third-party apps, users will be able to update much useful information on the hole. Of course, traditional notifications still appear in the Notification Center.
Effects when minimizing background applications to Dynamic Island.
Writer Jake Krol from The Street views Dynamic Island as a “control center” to view important information. Suppose when a user turns on the countdown feature to know when the Covid test results are available, the time will show up in the status bar while browsing through the apps below.
Cover photos of songs playing on Apple Music or Spotify will also be displayed on Dynamic Island. This area can even show alerts from 2 different apps.
Dynamic Island feels like a resizable second screen, favoring hardware instead of just software effects. To do this, Apple has developed an anti-aliasing system for each sub-pixel, making the rounded corner of the hole 3 times smoother than usual.
In good lighting conditions, users have the feeling that the hole changes in length. When used in the sun, the selfie camera will be quite obvious.
According to Patel, the unfortunate point of Dynamic Island lies in the control operation. In some alerts, users need to long press to interact and view more information, while normal touch will open the application that is showing the alert.
The ways for users to control Dynamic Island’s warning are not diverse, so the selfie camera being dirty due to fingerprints is not a big problem, at least for the time being. With the application below, the content may be covered by warnings if it is not updated by the developer.
In short, Dynamic Island is more useful and noticeable than the old missing band. Apps running in the background can display visual information in the status bar, but users don’t have many ways to interact with them. The best details of Dynamic Island will come into play later this year when third-party apps can leverage Live Activities to make the new hole even better.
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iPhone 14 pro’s camera
The next improvement of the iPhone 14 Pro lies in the main camera, the resolution increased from 12 MP to 48 MP. This is not a new trend when Samsung uses a 108 MP sensor on the Galaxy S20 Ultra in 2020, or Google with the 50 MP camera of the Pixel 6 Pro.
Apple also upgraded the ultra-wide-angle and telephoto cameras to support 3x optical zoom, but they still keep the 12 MP resolution.
Apple uses a familiar technology on the 48MP sensor called pixel binning, which combines 4 pixels into one to create a 12MP photo with better light capture than the 12MP sensor. . The difference lies in the Deep Fusion algorithm, which can process images from the uncompressed stage to improve the best possible light. On iPhone 14 Pro, Deep Fusion will take place in earlier stages, with a new name called Photonic Engine.
Editor Cherlynn Low of Engadget evaluates photos taken from the iPhone 14 Pro in normal conditions not too different from the iPhone 13 Pro. The iPhone 14 Pro’s larger sensor picks up more detail. The same thing happens when the ambient light is bright. Of course, users will not feel the difference when posting photos on social networks.
Compared to the Pixel 6 Pro, the way the iPhone 14 Pro handles light/dark areas is very different. According to Patel, evaluating a better device will depend on each person’s perception. However, in some cases, the iPhone 14 Pro’s algorithm to reduce noise and increase sharpness is quite strong, causing some details to be inaccurate compared to photos taken by Pixel 6 Pro.
In addition to pixel binning, the 48 MP sensor also helps the device take 2x zoom images with “optical” quality, essentially simply cutting the 12 MP image in the middle of the 48 MP image. ProRAW photography mode on iPhone 14 Pro also supports 48 MP photography.
Apple also added autofocus to the iPhone 14 Pro’s selfie camera. According to The Verge, this feature will probably be useful in certain conditions, but for regular selfies, the difference in quality compared to the iPhone 13 Pro is not too big.
The Video recording quality on iPhone 14 Pro is still very good. Font blur mode (cinematic) separates faces better and supports 4K resolution. Apple also added an action mode to record good anti-shake videos without using a gimbal. However, to work best, the surroundings need good lighting, the video is cropped quite strongly, and the maximum resolution is only 2.8K.
iPhone 14 pro’s always-on screen
After years of waiting, Apple has brought always-on to the iPhone 14 Pro. When this mode is turned on, the screen will display the date and time, wallpaper, and widgets when the device is locked, the scan frequency is reduced to 1 Hz to save battery. However, Patel still prefers the simple screen of the Pixel line instead of the “always on” feeling screen (when there is a wallpaper), and expects Apple to add more customization.
Meanwhile, author Florence Ion from Gizmodo appreciates the iPhone 14 Pro’s ability to customize the always-on screen, with the ability to add widgets and blurred backgrounds, instead of just a monotonous black color. Even with real-time notifications, the content is updated to the always-on display.
WSJ’s Joanna Stern commented that the always-on screen on the iPhone 14 Pro doesn’t affect battery life much. After a day of continuous use for video recording, the iPhone 14 Pro ran out of battery around 7:30 pm, while the Pro Max model still had battery life until Stern went to sleep. Users can turn off the always-on screen to extend the battery life a bit more.
The iPhone 14 Pro’s OLED screen can reach 1,600 nits of brightness when displaying HDR content, and 2,000 nits in sunlight. According to Patel, this is still one of the best screens in the smartphone world. iPhone 14 Pro keeps 2 size versions, including 6.1 inches (iPhone 14 Pro) and 6.7 inches (iPhone 14 Pro Max), ProMotion technology changes the scan frequency from 1-120 Hz.
Other upgrades
The iPhone 14 series, equipped with satellite emergency communication, is expected to be released later this year. When urgent communication is needed, the device tries to call over the mobile network, however, if it fails, the satellite option is activated.
According to Patel, this is a feature suitable for people who like outdoor activities, giving them peace of mind when moving to forests or remote areas. However, if you never leave areas with mobile signals, users may not need to care about this feature.
Another feature for emergencies is vehicle crash detection. Once featured on Google’s Pixel line, this feature uses various sensors to automatically broadcast emergency notifications when the user is in a serious car accident. Due to the need for some more precise sensors, the feature will not support older iPhone models.
Another upgrade on the iPhone 14 Pro lies in Apple’s latest A16 Bionic processor chip. The biggest advantage of the new chip is the ability to save energy, helping to improve battery life. However, users will have to make a slight trade-off if the always-on mode is enabled.
In Gizmodo’s test with the Geekbench 5 application, the A16 chip gives 36% more performance than the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 on the Galaxy Z Fold4, and the Tensor of the Pixel 6. This number is 12% higher than the iPhone 13 Pro. If considering between regular iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, users should choose the Pro version if they need to play heavy games and stream continuously.
iPhone 14’s Price
You can refer to the starting price of each iPhone 14 model with different capacities below
| iPhone model | 128GB of storage | 256GB of storage | 512GB of storage | 1TB of storage |
| iPhone 14 | $799 | $899 | $999 | – |
| iPhone 14 Plus | $899 | $999 | $1099 | – |
| iPhone 14 Pro | $999 | $1099 | $1299 | $1499 |
| iPhone 14 Pro Max | $1099 | $1199 | $1399 | $1599 |
Who is the iPhone 14 Pro for?
iPhone 14 Pro marked the beginning of many new ideas: Dynamic Island, camera, and satellite communication system. In the context of the future of the iPhone being questioned, the fact that Apple continues to improve the iPhone user experience is a positive sign.
iPhone 14 Pro Max is still a very heavy smartphone. Gizmodo’s writer said that this is the right model if users often read long, multi-word content, but it is difficult to hold with one hand for people with small hands.
If you are willing to accept and test new ideas, iPhone 14 Pro is the right choice. For those who don’t need to upgrade, Wired editor Julian Chokkattu says that in iOS 16, many features are not limited to the latest iPhones, including customizing the lock screen and separating the subject from the background. or recall messages in iMessages.
Therefore, if using recent iPhone models, users can completely upgrade to iOS 16 to experience new features without buying iPhone 14 Pro.
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