Are we at peak smartphone, or it just a hiccup from the chip shortage?
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All right so truth is there really is only one spec of the iPhone 14 that I find really interesting, right, now., But first a question: are we at peak smartphone? I mean at this point it's a classic question and the gut reaction is usually yes feels like we are., But I've always said no, we are not at peak smartphone just as long as things are objectively getting better every single year, just getting slightly better over and Over again, we keep getting more processing power, more memory, higher resolutions and more intelligence, and we keep getting new features. Recently. There's cameras underneath displays and fingerprint readers underneath the screens that are getting better.. Just recently.

We started getting phones folding in half., So if we are defining peak smartphone as having reached the apex where phones are no longer getting better and it's flat, then amazingly we're still not there yet. But I think we all have the same feeling, which is clearly they have slowed down a lot since the beginning., The 2007s and 2009s early smartphones were making huge leaps.. I got the first HD screen and then the first selfie camera and then the first 8K video.. Now we're getting little things., It's slowed down..

So now it's the middle of 2022 and the iPhone 13 is eight months old, which means there's already a bunch of rumors about the next iPhone coming right, up. And just one of those rumors one of those rumored specs stands out as really interesting, because it's the Same as last year., So, first of all, just FYI, it looks like the mini iPhone will be gone and it will be replaced actually by a larger version of the base. Iphone. And if I was a betting person I'd say that's probably gon na be the most popular one., So the iPhone 14 lineup will allegedly be iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Max, then iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max..

We also know that every year Apple has a challenge to try to differentiate between the Pro iPhones and the non-Pro iPhones. To try to give you reasons to spend the extra money to upgrade.. We've talked about pricing ladders before in a video. I'll link it below the.

Like button, if you haven't seen it already. So with the iPhone 13 series, the whole lineup was pretty solid and there were a few differentiating factors. For the extra money. The Pro iPhone had the extra telephoto camera plus LiDAR..

It had the stainless steel around the outside. The ProMotion display up front the extra RAM, the higher max storage and a couple other smaller features like ProRes et cetera.. So naturally, some of these features are enough to pull people up to a more expensive Pro iPhone. This year.

So the iPhone 14 has rumored to be a slightly bigger gap between the regular iPhone and the Pro iPhone.. So take all the same stuff that I just talked about with last year's phones., Plus the new Pro iPhone is rumored to be getting this new pill-shaped cutout. At the top for Face ID and the selfie camera., So finally getting rid of the notch, although it really is just an aesthetic difference., It gets you some of those precious pixels back and that's about it., And the Pro iPhone should get a new higher-end 48-megapixel main Camera, while the regular iPhone still sits at 12. Now, the Pro will probably also still bin to 12 megapixels, but at least you can get more detail out of it and potentially higher resolution video..
But the most interesting rumor of all of the potential iPhone 14 stuff is that only the Pro iPhone will get the chip upgrade.. So the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max will get a shiny, new A16 Bionic chip and the non-Pro iPhone 14 and 14 Max will actually have the same one-year-old chip. That's in the phone, I'm already using the A15 Bionic., And this to me is fascinating. For so many reasons., Where do I even start? First of all, when have we ever seen, two phones launch an entire year.

Apart with the exact same SOC, the exact same chip and spec, I don't think we've ever seen, that. And I think, just out of principle hearing that a lot of nerds and tech people are gon na have a pretty big reaction.. I feel like. I can basically see the comments already like ``.

Why would Apple do this? How are they gon na sell us, basically the same phone with a new name and try to pretend like it's something new, So greedy of them. Such an Apple thing to do.''? But then again, I can also kind of see all of the defenses already too.. First of all, there's a chip shortage and shocker. No one is immune to it., But then also, let's be real for a second..

If I handed you a phone with an A15 Bionic and another identical phone with an A14 Bionic aside from running a benchmark, how long would it take you to actually notice the difference, And it would probably take you a really it would take you years down the Line to actually start to ever see a difference, there. And really that's been a huge feature of Apple's super high-end chips, which is they give you these years of headroom., And so maybe it feels kind of like you're shorting. These new iPhone 14 users of one year of headroom by not upgrading the chip., So yeah. Both sides clearly have a point, and it is very interesting and a bit unprecedented to have a brand-new flagship, iPhone shipped with the same exact chip as an old flagship iPhone..

It's just never happened., But it does make a lot of sense. We've seen. The A15 Bionic is obviously a very powerful chip and more than enough for most normal people for a long time. - And it is also very common for a manufacturer to ship a slightly lower-end chip in their lower-end phone..

So high-end ship gets maybe the best Snapdragon, 8 Gen, 1 or Snapdragon 865+ or whatever, and then their lower tier phone will have a lower tier chip.. So, for me, I'm left with one statement and one question. The statement, just being the fact that I've been saying we are not at peak smartphone yet.. If Apple does this, that statement does get a bit weaker, of course, shipping the same flagship chip., Although there are some rumors saying there may be two extra gigs of RAM alongside the A15 Bionic.
So it's not the exact same chip as last year., But you get the point that it's been flattening very much and it feels more than ever like we're at peak smartphone.. But my one question is: how is Apple gon na get on stage and talk about the iPhone 14, like it's not basically the same phone as the iPhone 13 right? Unless I'm missing something - and there are some really big features that I am not seeing yet - that aren't rumored yet. The Apple way is usually just praising their old phone all the time because it sold really well but then selling it again with a new name and Higher price just doesn't ..., I don't know if that's gon na work., You know how every year on stage they have that slide where, after they reveal the price, they show the whole lineup of all the different phones. They sell at all the different price brackets.

So this is how that exact slide. Looked in 2021., I'm trying to figure out what the 2022 version is. Gon na look like.. So we have the new iPhone SE already with 5G., That's 429.

Slot's in the bottom. There that's fine., Then I assume we'll have the new iPhone 14.. Let's say that starts at 699 and the 14 Pro starts still at 999.. They can keep selling the iPhone 12 with the older specs for 499, but then do they keep the iPhone 13 around for 599.

Can they do that? I mean what's the difference here. What's that difference For 100 extra dollars, you should never get the iPhone 14 right. What's the explanation on stage going to be: Are there some new iPhone 14 exclusive software features in the pipeline, even though they have basically the same specs? Maybe you'll get one more year of software updates out of it than a 13.? Maybe those two extra gigs of RAM will enable a little bit better, headroom and future-proofing, but that by itself doesn't seem like it's worth: 100 bucks.. So that is going to be a really interesting detail to pay attention to..

You know what else is an interesting detail to pay attention to This lower third over here, which comes from the MKBHD plugin that we just made with MotionVFX for Final Cut Pro Premiere and Resolve.. That's right. We have made our own video editing, plugin, that I've been using and making stuff like that and all kinds of stuff in our video for the past couple weeks. The link is below..

I think it's awesome.. If you're a creator, fellow video maker, definitely check it, out. I'll put a link in the description but yeah just a little quick shout-out to our brand-new video editing plugin.. Anyway.

Let me know what you think of the way the iPhone 14 is shaping up, especially versus the iPhone 13, and how those could differentiate themselves. Aside from some new colors maybe. Thanks for watching. Catch, you guys in the next one and in the comment: section.
Peace.

By MKBHD

15 thoughts on “What happens when the iphone peaks?”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Bigtumgo says:

    Have you heard the Gospel we are all enemies with God unless we are right with God. and Jesus died for us wile we are still enemies with God. Trust in Jesus please alone please

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Andrew Muljadi says:

    Honestly, if the iPhone 14 max rumors are true. I’ll buy it, because I don’t need the pro line up but i need a bigger battery like the pro max. So with the iPhone 14 max it’s a win win for me

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Oshexb says:

    The iPhone 13 Pro Max is one of the best devices I've ever owned. The battery life makes the phone just a pleasure to use, especially when traveling.

    Foldable phones are great. I think Apple's team is developing that device and is still working out all the quirks. That form factor could introduce so many cool new features with iOS.

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Mark Lumsley says:

    Higher resolutions will only produce diminishing returns when it comes to pixel density vs. battery life – especially on a screen as small as a smart phone's.
    Anything more than 1080p on a phone is a waste of effort. If you're seeing pixels when your face is inches from the display then maybe your face isn't meant to be that close…

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Stallzy says:

    has there really been any substantial improvements from iPhone 11 to iPhone 13 though? because like I've owned my Galaxy S7 ever since the iPhone 7 came out and it's kinda crazy that I'm still using it that many generations of iPhone later but 11-13 all look very similar

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars anthonydude says:

    Why would we ever reach 'peak' smartphone? Have we reached 'peak' car? That's such a silly notion. Of course computing power, battery life and charging speed, camera quality etc is just going to keep improving

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars J Barker II says:

    I expect them to differentiate the 13 & 14 with memory or something like that. Like possibly the 13 will start at 64gb or something low and have limited upgrade options, to push customers towards the 14

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Rico The Beast says:

    I think that foldables and rollables are definitely the future. In terms of the typical slab smartphone I do believe the reak has been reached. I'm looking at a phone like the Samsung Galaxy s22 ultra and thinking that Samsung is now going to primarily focus on their foldables and eventually their rollable phones since it doesn't seem they can make much of a difference for their conventional phones, and the same can be said for the iPhone.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Vandi says:

    Peak smartphone is when you dont have to tap through multiple things only to get 1 job done. Google's voice command on their Pixel is one example. But on the hardware, yes we might already be at peak smartphone form.

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars FOU ALTER says:

    for this year, if youre not going with the iphone 14 pro models, and still using an older version of iphone (iphone 12 below), i think its the best to just purchase the iphone 13 pro models instead of the iphone 14 entry levels

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars محمد says:

    They have definitely peaked but smartphone corporations use marketing and advertising to convince you that whatever small change they make is justified the min $1000 price tag every year. They want to make the most amount of money from you with the least amount of changes possible.

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars DV says:

    One thing to note is that the Mini is what starts at 699.
    If this pricing model holds then the bigger 14 would start at the same price.
    So if the 13 mini drops 599, then what would the normal 13 be? 699? wait what?
    Nah they're definitely discontinuing something lol

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Joseph DIAO says:

    In my opinion you can’t be at peak smartphone until an under display camera becomes a standard for flagships. Right now the flagships are all punch hole displays. That’s when you don’t consider rollable foldables as cellphones. IMO I don’t consider any of them as cellphones besides the new huawei mate xs2 due to the weight making them a different category of devices.

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Gerardo Baro says:

    This is worrying, since it will certainly have ripples through the smartphone market. Imagine 4 years from now, and getting the exact same phone but in different colors every year.

  15. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars GiltyAsCharged says:

    at this point i think software is more important.. but after a couple years . youll need more processing power for newer .. certain features.. but as far as physical … i think we plateaued .. maybe in like 10 years form now.. phones will be like.. Tony Stark's phone was in Iron Man 2.. thin piece of glass.. see through.. and somehow still have a full battery to run for a day or two.. i think now.. if a phone came out that could last a week without charge.. that would be cool.. but same time.. there wouldnt be any new 'omg' factor like it was back when the first iphone came out

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