For iPhone 13 Pro owners, the iPhone 14 Pro might be the obvious choice. However, before you rush to upgrade to the iPhone 14 Pro from the iPhone 13 Pro, let’s take a closer look into how the two differ and, ultimately, whether the iPhone 14 Pro is worth your money.
Design and Colors
Starting with the design, the iPhone 13 Pro and 14 Pro have more similarities than differences. Apple retains the same boxy design on the latest model. The Lock button is on the right, and the mute and volume rocker buttons are on the left. You may confuse the two at a distance, but take a close look, and the differences will stand out.
First, if you live in the US, you’ll notice that Apple has ditched the SIM card tray on the iPhone 14 Pro, similar to the other iPhone 14 models. In place of that, all the US iPhone 14 models only use e-SIM. Apple also yanked out the infamous notch on the iPhone 13 Pro in favor of a pill-shaped cutout that the company calls Dynamic Island.
The iPhone 14 Pro is also slightly thicker, has a more pronounced camera bump, and gains a little weight over its predecessor. Both models are available in Gold and Silver. In addition to the two colors, you can get the 14 Pro in Space Black and Deep Purple and the iPhone 13 Pro in Graphite, Sierra Blue, and Alpine Green.
Besides these differences, build quality stays the same with glass on the back and front and a stainless steel frame. A Ceramic Shield glass also protects the front glass on both. The iPhone 13 Pro and 14 Pro are also dust, splash, and water-resistant for a maximum depth of 19 feet (up to 30 minutes).
Display
Both models have the same 6.1-inch 120Hz OLED display with HDR support and nearly identical resolution. However, the iPhone 14 Pro’s ProMotion display is slightly better in other areas. For starters, the display can automatically adjust the refresh rate to as low as 1Hz (instead of 10Hz on the 13 Pro), depending on what you’re doing to help improve battery life.
With a dynamic refresh rate, the phone cranks up the refresh rate for demanding tasks like gaming and reduces it for less intensive tasks like reading a blog or watching a movie.
The iPhone 14 Pro’s display also has a higher peak brightness of 2,000 nits, a massive upgrade relative to the 13 Pro’s 1,200 nits of peak brightness. Another great addition to the iPhone 14 Pro is always-on display support that gives you a glance at the current time and notifications without entirely waking up the screen.
Camera
If you’re looking for key reasons to upgrade to the iPhone 14 Pro, the camera is undoubtedly one of them. Since the iPhone 6s in 2015, Apple has stuck to a 12MP resolution for its cameras, but that changes with the iPhone 14 Pro, as the company finally made the leap to a 48MP primary camera to compete against Android flagships.
The new sensor is 65% larger, which helps capture more light and, in return, detailed photos. It promises better shots under low-light conditions (up to two times better, according to Apple) than the iPhone 13 Pro. The 12MP ultra-wide sensor is also larger on the 14 Pro for better low-light photos.
Unlike the ultra-wide and wide sensors, the 12MP telephoto camera is the same as that of the iPhone 13 Pro, with optical image stabilization and 3x optical zoom.
However, the iPhone 14 Pro’s telephoto sensor can produce better low-light photos due to the new Photonic Engine. And thanks to the new sensors, it’s now capable of shooting 4K/30FPS videos in Cinematic Mode; on the iPhone 13 Pro, you’re stuck with 1080p while using this feature.
Moving to the front, iPhone 14 Pro uses a new 12MP sensor with an f/1.9 aperture, lower than the 13 Pro’s f/2.2. That should allow more light to enter and capture slightly better-detailed selfies.
Processor
It has become a norm that Apple releases a new chip with each new iPhone generation. For the iPhone 14 Pro, the company stays true to its roots. The all-new A16 Bionic chip powers the iPhone 14 Pro (However, remember that Apple doesn’t include the A16 in the standard iPhone 14).
The A16 chip is built on a 4nm process and packs a 6-core CPU and a 5-core GPU. Apple’s main focus with the A16 Bionic is all on power efficiency, a standout theme during the official announcement. The company made some incremental changes to the neural engine, GPU bandwidth, number of transistors, and more to achieve this.
In comparison, the iPhone 13 Pro runs Apple’s 2021 A15 Bionic with a 5nm SoC, a 6-core CPU with slightly less peak frequency, and a 5-core GPU. On the bright side, this is the same process Apple uses in the standard iPhone 14.
As a consumer, what matters is that the A16 Bionic is roughly 10-15% faster in benchmarks and more efficient than its predecessor. However, you’ll struggle to notice the performance difference in real-world use.
Storage and Battery
There’s no difference between the two in terms of memory and storage size. They run on 6GB of memory paired with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage. However, the 14 Pro has the edge over its successor in the battery department—at least on paper.
It bumps up the battery capacity from 3,095mAh to 3,200mAh. As a result, Apple promises up to 23 hours of video playback on the iPhone 14 Pro, an hour more than the outgoing model. But you may want to turn off the iPhone 14 Pro’s always-on display, as it can negatively impact the battery life.
Thankfully, there are no differences when it comes to charging, as fast charging and MagSafe charging are available on both.
Price
The iPhone 14 Pro starts at $999, similar to the launch price of the iPhone 13 Pro. Unfortunately, you can no longer buy the iPhone 13 Pro directly from Apple, as the company discontinued the 13 Pro models after launching the iPhone 14 series.
However, you’ll still be able to find the iPhone 13 Pro at third-party retailers at a steep discount as long as you act quickly before the stock runs out.
Is It Worth Upgrading to the iPhone 14 Pro?
Compared to the iPhone 13 Pro, the iPhone 14 Pro has primarily incremental upgrades. It has a 48MP camera, always-on display, Dynamic Island, and the new A16-Bionic chip. For most people, these upgrades and refinements don’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
The iPhone 14 Pro is not worth an upgrade unless you care about the tiny details. Besides, the iPhone 13 Pro is still capable, and you’ll do fine with it for at least another year. But if you own the iPhone 12 Pro or an older model, the iPhone 14 Pro won’t disappoint.
