I (Josh Render) have just decided to upgrade my iPhone 12 to the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The result is a significant difference in performance – the larger screen makes it easier to operate, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is faster, and not to mention the battery life.
Overall, it’s a worthwhile upgrade and I can see the benefits of switching between these two iPhone models.
However, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is not the latest iPhone from Apple. In just a few months, they will announce a newer model and of course I’m talking about the iPhone 16.
Since I skipped a generation (iPhone 15), it makes sense to talk about the upgrade, but the question is I don’t think what Apple has done – based on the rumors about the iPhone 16 Pro Max – is enough to convince me to switch phones.
And here are the reasons:
A18 Pro Chip
One of the main reasons for users to upgrade their phones is the power and this usually depends on the chip. Apple uses its own A series chips and the “heart” of the iPhone 16 Pro is the A18 Pro.
However, the Geekbench score that the A18 Pro is getting is concerning.
It should be noted that the Geekbench score is a software that tests the CPU’s single-core and multi-core streams to measure performance. The higher the score, the better the phone can handle data for the applications it runs.
Typically with each chip generation, Apple can increase the Geekbench score by about 15% for each chip upgrade but that doesn’t seem to be happening.
Although the Geekbench score is not the sole indicator of a phone’s power, it is a good measure of hardware progress and directly affects the next issue below.
Hardware
10 years ago, I upgraded from an iPhone 3GS to an iPhone 4 and the difference between them was astonishing. It could be seen with the naked eye that these were two completely different iPhones in terms of design, display, and functionality.
That is no longer the case today and most generations of iPhones look almost identical to each other.
This is a significant issue because it raises the question of why you need to upgrade.
Clearly for the iPhone 16 to get my attention, it needs to have something different from previous models.
By now you can say that the rumors suggest that Apple will increase the screen size of the iPhone 16 Pro from 6.1 to 6.2 inches and with the iPhone 16 Pro Max from 6.7 to 6.9 inches.
But for me, that is still not enough to be interested.
Tetraprism Camera
There are quite a few rumors about the camera cluster on the iPhone 16 Pro and they sound interesting. Most notably is the Tetraprism telephoto camera that enables 5x optical zoom.
This is a pretty cool design, but the question is we don’t know how much it will increase the cost. I rarely use the camera on my phone and if Apple wants me to pay more, they need to have more breakthrough improvements.
Another issue is that while the rear camera cluster can be improved, the front camera cannot.
One of the difficulties Apple is facing is that competitors have realized that they can improve the camera simply through software.
Take the Galaxy S24 for example, the difference in its camera has helped Samsung escape from stagnation when it comes to this aspect of the Galaxy. This is exactly what Apple is lagging behind.
AI (Artificial Intelligence)
When most manufacturers talk about smartphone AI, it’s clear that Apple is falling behind. However, they are aiming to make a breakthrough in this area – something that could convince me to upgrade.
First and foremost, iOS 18 is said to be one of the biggest software updates in iPhone history.
There have been reports about improvements to the Siri virtual assistant with a dedicated private chatbot called “SiriSummarization” with similar features to ChatGPT. In addition, there are also rumors that Apple is developing AI-powered photo editing capabilities.
The important thing is that it seems like the AI features mentioned above work without the need for the iPhone 16 to be connected to the internet.
But the question is if these AI features come to older iPhones through iOS 18, there won’t be much incentive for users to invest in new hardware.
Conclusion
As mentioned at the outset of the article, I have only recently upgraded my phone, so Apple will have to do more to make me spend money. If based on the current rumors, it seems like Apple has failed to do that.
I think we have reached a time when iPhone users upgrade their phones every few generations instead of every year. And I may have to wait until the iPhone 17.
Hoài Giang
