Has Apple’s iPhone 14 made its fan base a divided house?

The scaled down approach towards the base variants contrasts with Apple’s focus on the Pro models, which get an altogether different display design with the ‘dynamic island,’ that has many use cases

September 08, 2022 05:00 pm | Updated 05:04 pm IST

Has Apple’s iPhone 14 made its fan base a divided house?

Has Apple’s iPhone 14 made its fan base a divided house? | Photo Credit: Apple

Apple on Wednesday announced four new handsets under the iPhone 14 series, which may have split its fan base. The division stems from the company’s plan to bifurcate its latest smartphone between base variants and Pro models. A deep dive into the device specifics reveals a stark contrast between the variants - the system on chip (SoC).

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Apple has placed the A15 bionic processor in the base variants of iPhone 14. This same chipset powers its predecessor and the iPhone SE 2022. The phones use the same lens set-up as the previous iPhone 13 series and there are only a few incremental changes. 

Also, Apple has killed the mini variant of the iPhone with series 14 and replaced it with iPhone 14 Plus, which has a 6.7-inch notch display. The basic models ship with satellite connectivity, which may not be available everywhere, and the crash detection sensor. The OLED display units generate 1200 nits of peak brightness and have Dolby Vision. For a change, both iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus will get the iOS 16 out of the box.

For the Indian market “base models will feed up the aspirants who want to join Apple family,” said Faisal Kawoosa, founder and Chief Analyst at Techarc. 

The scaled down approach towards the base variants contrasts with the company’s focus on the Pro models, which get an altogether different display design with the ‘dynamic island’, that has many use cases.

A handset in the iPhone 14 series showing the pill-shaped ‘dynamic island’

A handset in the iPhone 14 series showing the pill-shaped ‘dynamic island’ | Photo Credit: Apple

Leg-up for Pro

For the first time in three years, Apple has changed the rear camera pattern. Now, it has included a 48MP main lens accompanied by a 12MP telephoto camera and 12MP ultra-wide sensor. 

The iPhone 14 Pro series will be powered by the A16 Bionic SoC, which is said to improve performance and battery life. The screen size is similar to the base variants; but the peak brightness goes up to 2000 nits. 

Apple is finally offering a “significant value addition for someone planning to upgrade from previous generation,” Mr. Faisal said, highlighting the nits value doubling to 2000 in the Pro version.

The company is likely to see its highest ever market share and revenue this year in India from sale of premium devices, said Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint Research.

“Around 4% share by volume and 47% share in the premium segment, and leading the premium segment for the third consecutive year,” Mr. Pathak added. 

Easy finance, buy now pay later, and the shift from mid-tier to premium trends are enabling Indian consumers to buy premium smartphones. The market for this segment could reach 10% in 2023, from 7% now, according to Counterpoint Research. 

“The existing users will find good incremental jump in experience when moving to Pro,” Mr. Faisal noted. 

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