Also Apple it obviously hasn’t been idle this year and has released a big load of new hardware. In this, the tech giant is starting to market more and more products in different price ranges, so there is something for everyone, but at the same time it seems that they are increasingly entering their own waters with some of these.
iPad Air 2022 – The smarter choice right now
Let’s take a look at the iPad Air that released earlier this year. Compared to 2021’s iPad Pro, this year’s iPad Air was already the financially better choice. Both had the powerful M1 chip inside, and the only thing you compromised on was the smoother 120Hz ProMotion display that the Pro had. And that for a few hundred euros less!
iPad Air is fast, works with both Apple Pencil 2 and previous iPad Air and Pro cases via the Smart Connector on the back, so you can continue working on your Magic Keyboard. In addition, it is equipped with USB-C and TouchID (the Pro has FaceID) and from iPadOS 16 it also accesses the new Stage Manager for multitasking.
This year, Apple went wild with the iPad and released not only the new Air, but also a new Pro and a basic iPad. However, the fifth-generation iPad Air is still the best choice if you’re looking for a new iPad, even though a new Pro with a faster M2 chip was released this year.
All good and good that the chip in the Pro is much faster and supports WiFi 6e, but really you’ll only need that chip if you want to edit large scale 3D files or want to export large video files and WiFi 6e is more of something for the future. You should therefore really consider your use if you are “professional” enough for the new iPad Pro and if you use the second generation Apple Pencil. This has a unique hover feature on the Pro, so it already registers when you approach the screen with the pencil. Useful if you want to preview a filter in ProCreate, for example, before applying it.
On the other, there’s the new iPad. It is the cheapest of the three, but at the same time you sacrifice a lot. It now has the more modern design of the new iPads, so it no longer has a home button and USB-C port, but it also has a drawback. The basic iPad only works with the first Apple Pencil which still used Lightning, so you need a dongle to charge it through the iPad. Also, the screen is inferior, it works with the old A14 chip and the Smart Connector accessories are not compatible. An excellent iPad solely for backyard kitchen use, but even then I’d rather consider the new iPad Air.
iPhone 14 Pro – Hello Dynamic Island!
Moving on to iPhones where I’ll start with the flagship; the pro. The attraction of the iPhone 14 Pro is the lack of a notch. Instead of the large notch, Apple has opted for a pill-shaped black spot at the top of the screen that hides the selfie camera and infrared modules for FaceID. But then we still have kind of a notch, don’t we? Agreed, but Apple thought it smart and made the black square interactive. They call it the dynamic island. Two currently running apps can hide in the dynamic island for private access. For example, think of a timer ticking, your music playing, or both at the same time. It looks like something very simple, but it’s innovative and I use it on a daily basis.
The Pro’s screen also got a little boost. The 120Hz OLED panel is still a pleasure to look at, and since the brightness has now been bumped up to 2000 nits, you can use it even better in direct sunlight. After all these years, Apple has finally chosen to adopt one of the most famous features of Android; an always-on display. Obviously Apple wouldn’t be Apple if they didn’t give it their own twist and it didn’t work out well at first. The always-on iPhone was basically just the lock screen but dimmed. Your weather, but also your wallpaper and notifications were all visible, so I constantly had the idea that it was still active. You will probably understand then that I had already turned it off after a week. However, in a recent update, they added options to only show the time. It’s nice to see that Apple listened to the feedback almost immediately and corrected it.
Also new is crash detection. Using gyrometers and microphones, iPhone can detect if you’re in a car accident and then immediately notify your emergency services and your emergency contacts. For reasons I probably don’t need to explain, I haven’t tried it, but I believe Apple will work.
Like every year, the cameras also got a boost. The 14 Pro has a 48MP camera with a quad pixel sensor, which results in sharper photos, thanks in part to built-in image stabilization. Every year I wonder how Apple can make their cameras even better, and every year they do. Low-light photos look better and are taken faster thanks to the more powerful A16 Bionic chip, and in the field of video there are new gadgets for the filmmakers among us. While I myself will never shoot 4K images at 24 frames per second with the cinematic mode, I am satisfied with the action mode, which improves image stabilization significantly. With three young children who are quite energetic and agile, this made the videos where I chase them so much smoother!
iPhone 14 – Go for an 13 Pro (Max) instead
Finally, I want to talk briefly about the iPhone 14. Why so briefly I hear you ask. There are so few innovations added to the iPhone 14 to justify a purchase. The “regular” 14 may have Crash Detection and Action mode on the camera, but not Dynamic Island, which is this year’s big plus. Instead, there’s just one more notch up.
If you’re in doubt about an 14, but don’t have the money for an 14 Pro – which isn’t very surprising given the highest device costs in Europe – then you’d better opt for a (refurbished) iPhone 13 Pro. Both have a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED screen, but the 13 Pro has a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. Additionally, the inside of both the 13 Pro and 14 contain the A15 Bionic chip, which offers the same performance. And very honest? Those cameras on the 13 Pro were already great, you won’t notice that difference with the iPhone 14.
Mark de Haas
