I went from a rotten iPhone to the iPhone 14 Pro Max, my honest opinion

Posted on 09/18/2022 at 10:30 am

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As a good Apple fan, I’ve only had iPhones since I was a teenager. One of the reasons that explains my taste for apples is the longevity of the products. I’ve always kept my iPhone for 4 or 5 years. This year, also thanks to my work as a technology journalist, I took an iPhone 14 Pro Max to replace my iPhone XR purchased on September 12, 2018.

Apple: Was my iPhone XR coughing in the lungs?

I’m a little ashamed to say it, but I think I’m one of those millions of people addicted to their smartphones. There are weeks in which my average daily screen time exceeds 7 hours a day. Suffice it to say that my iPhone XR has largely paid for itself in 4 years.

On my phone I spend hours scrolling through Twitter and TikTok, but that’s not all. I take a lot of photos and videos for myself and for work, I play a lot (long live SuperCell), I write … in short, I am what is called a “power user”. I push my phone’s capabilities to the limit and often.

After 4 years of good and fair service, my iPhone XR was starting to get out of date. However, I find it far from being a cure-all.

• Intensive applications (such as a large game or video editing) work relatively well fluid
• The photos well lit are more than adequate
• The battery it always lasts a short day (let’s say you have to charge around 7pm on weekdays and around 5pm on weekends).
• Mon screen it’s nickel and as iPhones are slowly depreciating, I know I can still get a relatively high price.

So yes, every day I felt that my smartphone was rotting day after day. The more time passes, the more I have experienced accidents and frustrating little moments of slowing down. My battery remains decent, but running out of steam on the way home was frustrating. As for the quality of photos and videos, I clearly felt the gap with current standards.

It was time for a change.

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The transition to the iPhone 14 Pro Max from an iPhone XR: the slap?

As usual since iOS 11, switching between iPhones is almost magical. My iPhone 14 detected my iPhone XR, so the data transfer happened by itself. One hundred gigs transferred in about 40 minutes.

Obviously I found my settings, my applications already linked to my different accounts … what a pleasure.

The first thing that stood out to me was the difference in quality between the two screens.. The colors of the OLED screen crush the excellent LCD of the iPhone XR. Brightness level, it’s just crazy, I can swipe my phone in direct sunlight for the first time in my life. As for the fluidity of the image, I feel enormously the impact of 120 Hz in the game and on social networks.

After being surprised by the screen, I was very shocked by the size of the cattle. In the good. Between my 6.1-inch XR and my 6.7-inch 14 Pro Max, I barely feel the difference in my pocket. What I feel the most is the weight of the phone. Holding the iPhone 14 Pro Max at a safe distance to film myself in a selfie, for example, was quickly painful.

Third big shock: the difference in the quality of the photos. Really, I was blown away. Simply having multiple photo modules changes everything. As for the quality itself … see for yourself.

The iPhone XR doesn’t have a night mode, so I don’t share low-light photos with you. My old phone renders a pixel mash where the iPhone 14 Pro shows a rather polished result.

I’ve never been one of those who are bothered by the notch of iPhones. Honestly, I find it has been forgotten with use. On iPhone 14 Pro, no more notches, let’s go to “Dynamic Island”. And this time, it’s not about forgetting it.

A lot is happening on this little black island. After a few days, I don’t think I’ve seen all the possible uses of this new feature. All I know is that I am amazed every time I discover a new one.

Battery level, that’s a huge relief going to bed at night without being afraid once of not having enough juice to finish the day. It may not seem like much, but it frees me from my daily mental workload.

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Of course, the differences between iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone XR don’t end there. The purpose of this article is not to list them all but to tell you about my feelings in use. Anything that was not mentioned did not particularly impress me.

Let’s take a concrete example: I thought I could hear the difference in power between the processors of the two phones. Between the A12 Bionic chip and the A16 Bionic, there should be a huge difference. So yeah, when I put the two phones side by side and launch the apps, I see a noticeable lag. However, I’ll be honest: I don’t really realize this on a daily basis.

Let’s take stock. Going from a decaying iPhone to a war machine slapped me in the face. I was experiencing daily frustrations from my phone, without even realizing it. Today everything is beautiful, everything is fluid. It is a joy.

Check out all the iPhone 14, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max on Amazon

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