7 Months Later and the iPhone 14 Pro Still Makes Me Happy
Phones
Speaker 1: When Apple announced the iPhone 14 Pro, they built the hype around a display cutout, updated cameras, and this deep purple color. Well, the thousand dollars price tag of the Pro and the $1,100 price tag for the Promax has remained the same as it's been since 2019. Phone carriers offer deep discounts on trade-ins making the iPhone 14 Pro a particularly great buy, but now it's seven months later and [00:00:30] we have the Pixel seven Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S 23 Ultra, and I want to check in on the state of the iPhone 14 Pro.
Speaker 1: Overall, I'm as happy with the iPhone 14 Pro as Tim Cook is seeing someone with a Macintosh SE at the new Apple Store in Mumba. Now, if you're watching this and haven't yet, make sure to check out my three month check-in video for the 14 PRO [00:01:00] and my original review video. And you know what? That actually might be the best place to start. The biggest differences with the iPhone 14 Pro now versus when it came out in September, 2022 is iOS. Nearly all the features and tools we were promised at WW d c are now out, including Apple Pay later live activities, updates on the lock screen emergency, so S via satellite. In fact, there have been a number of stories about people's lives [00:01:30] being saved with car crash detection and emergency. So s but those additions have come with software bugs, and I'm not talking about car crash detection being triggered on rollercoaster rides or by skiers, though.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that did happen. And I should be clear, that car crash detection, even as Apple Fine Tunes the bugs is actually one of the most significant additions on these phones. In my seven months with a phone, there were three or four times where [00:02:00] it just froze for a second or two. No matter how I tapped, it was unresponsive. I also suffered the weather app bug where I'd open it up and as opposed to seeing the city and forecast it just had the city name and the rest was blank. I know I wasn't alone, but someone who was a loyal Dark Sky App user for years and was forced to give it up in January, this bugged me. Has it been fixed since? Seems so. Aside from those rough spots, [00:02:30] iOS 16 has been excellent on the iPhone 14 Pro, the lock screen and always on display.
Speaker 1: After Apple added the ability to turn off the wallpaper, aka a have a black screen are transformative. Dynamic Island <laugh>. Wow, I haven't said that out loud in a while, but Dynamic Island is good. I like having a shortcut at the top of my screen, and now with live activities, seeing my Uber ride status is just amazing, but I want more dynamic island, [00:03:00] and I hope with the next generation of iPhone that both pro and non-pro models get the screen cutout and the dynamic island that surrounds it, that would incentivize more app developers to take advantage of it, as well as more fine tuning in features to be developed. The 14 Pro is also where Apple flexes its camera prowess on the whole photos are quite good and at times' excellent. I do find that the iPhone 14 Pro doesn't like shadows and does everything it can to brighten them.
Speaker 1: Look, [00:03:30] contrast isn't bad Apple, but I often find myself tweaking photos I take after the fact. And yeah, maybe I need to try one of these photography styles. I don't know. But let's talk video, and this is an area where Apple's always been ahead of the competition in terms of image quality, but with the Galaxy S 23 Ultra, it seems Samsung has finally caught up just as they did with photos. But out of all the phones I have access to as a reviewer, the iPhone 14 Pro [00:04:00] is my go-to machine for making media. One thing I I do hope to see on the next iPhone are improvements to the camera app. It's getting full of tools and features, some of which you have to know where to swipe find, and others where you have to go into the menu Maze known as the Settings app to enable them. Then there's the Battery Life, as I highlighted in my three month check-in video. Battery life is good, but it's definitely a step down from the iPhone 13 Pro. My go-to [00:04:30] has been the iPhone 14 promax, which gets through a day on a single charge, even with heavy use. In fact, my screen on time averages around seven hours, which is good.
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, the iPhone 14 pro is Apple's best, and if you're considering getting one now, it's still a good time to buy it, but know that the next iPhone will likely come out in September. And now I want to hear from you guys. If you have an iPhone 14 Pro or 14 prom max, how has it [00:05:00] been? Throw your thoughts in the comments. And last, if you enjoy this video, give it a thumbs up. And if you don't, keep your damn mouth shut.
