Double Eleven is approaching, should I buy the iPhone 13 or the iPhone 14, or choose the iPhone 14 Pro in one step?
I believe that most of the friends who want to change to a new iPhone recently have struggled with this problem.
Every year after the release of the new iPhone, consumers are always entangled between the old and new iPhones, but when it comes to the iPhone 14, this “tangle” seems to be magnified several times, because the similarity between the 13 and 14 generations of iPhones seems to be a bit too high.
From the appearance point of view, the difference between the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 13 is only reflected in some subtle points, such as the thickness of the iPhone 14 is slightly thicker and the camera module is slightly larger, but as long as you do not hold the two phones in your hand at the same time With careful comparison, it is difficult to perceive the difference in these details.
For iPhone users, this “old bottle of new wine” has long been accustomed to. The iPhone 6s, released in 2015, was also largely identical in appearance to the iPhone 6, but that didn’t prevent it from being a huge success in sales, becoming the second-best-selling iPhone in Apple’s history (behind the iPhone 6).
Only now, we are hard to find on the iPhone 14 the upgrade highlights like the iPhone 6s compared to the iPhone 6 (80% performance improvement, new 3D Touch).
Since both generations of iPhones use the same generation A15 bionic chip (the iPhone 14 has one more GPU core), the core computing power has not improved much, which makes it difficult for some price-sensitive users not to consider the cheaper iPhone 13. .
If you feel that the iPhone 14 does not give you much motivation to change the phone this year, then you might as well put aside your rush to change the phone and listen to some “good news” about the iPhone 15.
USB-C dust settled?
I don’t know since when, the topic of “iPhone will switch to USB-C interface” has become a resident guest on the new iPhone rumor list every year, but year after year, the iPhone has been charged with magnetic suction and cut off. With the “bangs” and the “extremely advanced” 48-megapixel camera, the USB-C interface that people are thinking about is still missing.
This is not a thorn in which Apple users want to deliberately pick the Lightning interface, but in 2022, there are not many digital products that do not support USB-C interface charging.
Just imagine, you can use a USB-C data cable to charge your laptop, Switch, drone, headset, iPad, and even Kindle (which was unimaginable in the past), but only To prepare another charging cable specifically for the iPhone, it is inevitable to feel uncomfortable.
Moreover, the Lightning interface, as a standard released in 2012, its backward transmission speed (equivalent to USB 2.0) and charging power (up to 36W) are constantly updated in the USB-C interface (USB4 The maximum transmission speed can reach 40Gbit/s) In front of him also seemed dwarfed.
The good news is that Apple’s vice president of global marketing, Greg Joswiak, recently revealed in a foreign media interview that Apple will respond to the EU’s increasingly stringent mobile phone interface policies.
Previously, the European Parliament passed legislation from 2024 that all manufacturers of electronic equipment such as mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras and wireless headsets sold in the EU should unify the charging interface as a USB-C interface, thereby simplifying Europe. consumers’ lives.
This means that if Apple wants to continue to ship in the European market, it must put the replacement of the interface on the agenda.
Greg Joswiak did not further reveal whether the iPhone will be honestly replaced with a USB-C interface, or directly changed to MagSafe wireless charging, cutting wired charging to bypass legal restrictions.
As for when the specific measures will be implemented, whether it will be implemented in Europe or globally, Greg Joswiak is also tight-lipped and refuses to reveal more.
But judging from Apple’s recent move to switch to USB-C for the entire iPad lineup, it seems that the iPhone’s use of USB-C is not that far away.
In addition, well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and industry reporter Mark Gurman, who has been following Apple’s news for a long time, both broke the news that Apple will officially replace the USB-C interface on the iPhone 15 series in 2023. Driven by many factors , we may soon see the Lightning port “retire” on Apple’s most important product.
iPhone 15 is all on the island?
“Smart Island” is undoubtedly the most eye-catching update on the iPhone this year. It not only brings a highly recognizable appearance to the new iPhone, but also makes system messages “live” on the screen. One of the biggest innovations in the combination of hardware and software.
It’s a pity that to get on this “Smart Island”, you need to spend more money to buy the iPhone Pro model. On the more bulky iPhone 14 model, you can only get one that neither works nor does it work. The moving “Peninsula”.
However, on the iPhone 15, Apple may break the Pro model’s binding to the “Smart Island”. According to reports from display industry consultant Ross Young on personal media, Apple is likely to use a new “pill-shaped” hole-punch screen for the entire iPhone 15 series, completely replacing the past “Liu Haiping”.
In other words, “Smart Island” will also become a standard feature of the new iPhone, and there is no need to add money to the Pro.
Previously, Ross Young had accurately predicted the screen size of the iPad mini 6, as well as the ProMotion feature on the MacBook 14-inch and 16-inch.
As for the always-on display and 120Hz refresh rate ProMotion function exclusive to the same Pro models, Ross Young predicts that this will still not be distributed to non-Pro models. If this prediction is accurate, some people who want to experience high brushing on the basic iPhone Friends may be disappointed again.
Cancel the physical volume and switch buttons?
If you think the above updates are not related to you, then the next update is closely related to your daily operations.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that Apple will replace the physical volume keys and switch keys on all iPhone 15 models with solid-state buttons, just like removing the physical Home button on the iPhone 7, using Taptic Engines linear vibration motors to provide key presses force feedback.
By removing the mechanical structure of the physical buttons, the iPhone 15 can achieve stronger dust and water resistance, while also saving a certain amount of internal space.
In order to provide more powerful and more realistic vibration feedback, the number of Taptic Engines linear vibration motors on iPhone 15 will also be increased from 1 to 3.
Before that, we have seen how Apple replaced physical buttons with excellent vibration tuning on the iPhone 7. Vibration interaction has always existed in every corner of the iOS system, and Apple will choose to use it to replace the physical volume keys and Not surprisingly.
If you want to feel the feeling of the physical button paragraphs simulated by the Taptic Engines vibration motor in advance, as long as you press the iPhone volume to the maximum or minimum now, you can roughly experience the feeling of pressing the “fake button”.
There is just one question worth thinking about: If there is no physical switch key, can it be turned on normally after we shut it down?
Technically, this actually works, because when your iPhone is “off,” it doesn’t mean it’s completely “off.”
You may have seen it on the iPhone’s shutdown interface, where Apple will prompt you that it can still be found by Apple’s Find feature even if the iPhone is turned off.
This is because there is a processor (Always-on Processor, AOP processor) inside the iPhone that will work forever as long as the battery is charged, even if the phone is turned off, it will not be affected.
Apple rarely mentions AOP processors in public documents, and the most relevant information is mentioned in a technical article explaining why Siri can always respond to voice wake-up.
Hey Siri wake-up workflow, the green box is the AOP processor
Apple explained in a technical document that making such an always-on processor is actually to save power, because it can run for a long time with extremely low power consumption, so that as long as it detects a specific command (such as hearing Siri’s name), and then call the main processor to process the task, so that the main processor with higher energy consumption can be in a sleep state for a long time.
In addition to being used for speech recognition, the AOP processor has many functions, such as connecting to wireless chips, Bluetooth chips and other components, so that the iPhone can be found through the Internet when it is turned off.
So when the AOP processor works with the power management chip and the pressure sensor, can it be possible to wake up the iPhone when it is turned off? It’s not impossible.
Of course, this revelation is only some news at present. The iPhone 15 will not necessarily eliminate the physical buttons. It is too early to over-analyze a feature that does not exist, but if this prediction comes true, then Apple will be soft on the iPhone. The meticulous layout of hardware features is a bit scary indeed.
iPhone 15 Ultra？
Which iPhone 14 series is the best seller? Surprisingly, the most expensive model this time may be the most expensive iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (yes it’s him again) said that the iPhone 14 Pro Max is estimated to account for about 30%-35% of all iPhone 14 model shipments.
Judging from the number of orders added in the supply chain, the iPhone Pro Max accounts for about 60% of the number of Pro models added. This most expensive model is not as high and low as people think, but it is very popular with consumers.
Ming-Chi Kuo believes that on next year’s iPhone 15 Pro models, Apple may add more differentiated features to the larger-screen version of the Pro models to further increase sales of the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Apple has made similar adjustments on the iPhone 12 Pro model the year before.
In addition to having a larger battery and screen than the iPhone 12 Pro, the iPhone 12 Pro Max also has a telephoto lens with a longer focal length and a main camera sensor shift optical image stabilization function, which surpasses other models in image capability.
So, if Apple wants to make a difference between the two models of the iPhone 15 Pro, then Apple may add to the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s camera again. Previously, analysts including Ming-Chi Kuo and Jeff Pu predicted that Apple may add a periscope telephoto lens that supports 10x optical zoom to the Pro Max model to make up for the iPhone’s shortcomings in super telephoto .
Mark Gurman also broke the news that Apple may abandon the “Pro Max” name for differentiation, and will use the “Ultra” suffix to name the strongest version of the iPhone, like the Apple Watch family and the M1 family.
If the iPhone 15 Ultra exists, will it have other enhancements beyond imaging to meet its product premium? let us wait and see.
Will the iPhone 15 be the next 5-year iPhone template?
Looking back at the evolutionary history of the iPhone in recent years, you will find that since the square frame of the iPhone 12 has changed, Apple has made smaller and smaller changes to the appearance of the iPhone. We can only rely on the size of the rear camera and the length of the bangs to tell the difference. Generation iPhone.
Going back a little further, there is a similar appearance cycle between iPhone 6 to iPhone 8 and iPhone X to iPhone 11, with a cycle of about 3-4 years.
As the third-generation iPhone released after the iPhone 12, the iPhone 15 is likely to become another iconic iPhone that breaks the appearance cycle like the iPhone 6 and iPhone X. This time, what Apple wants to redefine is likely to be It’s the way to charge the iPhone in the future.
But before that, Apple still needs to answer a difficult question – where to go with the current huge stock of Lightning charging cables?
Whether Apple is going to compromise with the USB-C port, or continue to be arrogant and cut off the iPhone’s wired interface to a completely non-porous “perfect iPhone”, Apple needs to find a suitable “perfect iPhone” for the Lightning charging cable it has accumulated over the past decade. Nursing homes” to allow them to enjoy their old age, rather than allowing them to become dreaded e-waste.
Otherwise, the green and environmentally friendly image that Apple has built up over the years will be tripped over by this thin charging cable, and a big somersault with almost no hope of turning over.
This article is from the WeChat public account “爱faner” (ID: ifanr), author: Huang Zhijian. 36氪 is authorized to publish.