Apple has finally unveiled the new iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro. The Apple cynical may think that there probably isn’t a huge difference between them. Indeed, many components are the exact same between the two, but the Pro models have a few nifty features that set them apart from the base models announced at Apple’s event.

Jump to:

• Exterior Differences
• Cameras Compared
• A15 vs. A16 Chips
• Display Differences

iPhone 14 Specs

Exterior Differences

Let’s start with the exterior of both models. Apple kept it simple and kept the “smaller” iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro at 6.1-inches screens and the larger iPhone 14 Plus and 14 Pro Max at 6.7-inches. Since the regular and larger variants of each phone. The overall form factor is very similar to the previous iPhone 12 and 13 models with exception of the iPhone 14 Pro’s pill shaped cutout in the front (we’ll get to that later).

Cameras Compared

The iPhone 14 keeps the same dual-camera setup as before with 12-megapixel main and ultrawide cameras. That said, Apple says it takes up to “2x” better low-light photos. The iPhone 14 Pro, however, finally ditches the 12-megapixel setup for a massive 48-megapixel shooter with a quad-pixel sensor.

The iPhone 14 Pro’s has a 65% larger sensor than the iPhone 13 Pro. Last year, Apple introduced the “Cinematic Mode” that allows videos with shallow depth of field, but it only shot at 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second. The iPhone 14 Pro can do it at 4K, 30 frames per second.

The larger sensor in the Pro models allow it superior performance in low-light scenarios than the regular iPhone 14 models. Apple combines the 48 megapixels with machine learning to produce images that should be sharper and less grainy regardless of the lighting situation.

A15 Bionic vs. A16 Bionic Chips

Interestingly, Apple chose to keep the same A15 Bionic from the iPhone 13 models inside of the iPhone 14 models (albeit with one more GPU core). The iPhone 14 Pro models, however, get the a shiny new A16 Bionic chip that has almost 16 billion transistors. Technically, the A16 Bionic has a similar 6-core CPU/5-core GPU setup as the A15 Bionic, but the higher transistor count means faster performance.

Apple says the A16 Bionic has 50 percent more bandwidth which should make playing games or other processor heavy tasks much smoother.

Apple also designed a new image signal processor (ISP) for the A16 Bionic that works in tandem with the new “Photonic Engine” and the larger 48-megapixel sensor to deliver much better photos and video.

Display Differences Explained

Exclusively on the iPhone 14 Pro models, the infamous notch has been turned into a pill-shaped cutout. However, instead of having content flow around the cutout, Apple decided to lean in on that and make the cutout part of the software itself called “Dynamic Island”.

The black pill is able to stretch and grow to show various content such as sports scores, music playback, turn-by-turn navigation, or keep an eye on an Uber. It seems like a fun addition and turns what would’ve otherwise been an eyesore into an integral part of the iOS 16 operating system.

Additionally, the iPhone 14 Pro has an always-on display, a first for the iPhone. It can also reach up to peak brightness of 2000 nits in outdoor environments while the regular iPhone 14 only gets up to 1200 nits.

Though the iPhone is the marquee showecase at these events, it wasn’t the only thing Apple showed off. The company released new Apple Watch models, including the brand-new Ultra model geared towards outdoor professionals. There’s also new AirPods Pro that features new swipe controls and MagSafe.

David Matthews is a freelance writer specializing in consumer tech and gaming. He also strongly believes that sugar does not go in grits. Follow him on Twitter @packetstealer