Hi all.
So I'm using an iPhone XR. My wife has an iPhone 14 Pro for work, and foolishly, she offered to let me mess with it a bit. This is because they're up for new phones this year and they have the option to buy their old one, so we're looking at it as a potential upgrade for me.
I didn't do much with it yet, I opened the Weather app and honestly it didn't seem any faster. So I figured rather than trying to figure this out myself, I'd ask here. Without installing a ton of apps or something, what are some things I can try to notice the differences between the two phones?
I mean, basically I'm assuming a 14 Pro will be all kinds of better than the XR. I'd just like to have some stuff to test between the two to see those differences. Though I can think of some stuff, e.g. maybe the microphone(s) are better on the14 Pro so I'd get way better recordings in Voice Memos, better speakers, that's about it, off the top of my head. I'm drawing a blank on daily VO usage or the like.
Comments
Lots for the sighted, not too much for us but...
There isn't much that the 14 Pro has which the XR doesn't which is of benefit to us. A bigger battery, better speakers/microphone, etc.
The only real useful new thing is the LIDAR sensor, which can help with spacial awareness in apps like Seeing AI.
Otherwise, voiceover functions identically across both devices.
Procesor
One has a better procersor and the other does not. Also one has a R and the other does not.
I wasn't expecting different Voiceover functionality.
I was thinking more like, it's got a much better processor, in theory anyway, so anywhere I'd notice an improved response, stuff like that? Newer Bluetooth, so I'd get more solid connections for something like a BT keyboard, faster typing response, fewer dropped characters, and so on?
I'd certainly appreciate better speakers and microphone, probably the microphone more than the speakers. I haven't been particularly impressed with stuff like object identification, e.g. in Be My Eyes or Seeing AI, so that's not really a reason to upgrade for me, I don't really use it. I guess I can try it out and see if it's better though. But that's why I was wondering about more, I don't know, every day stuff I suppose you'd call it.
Khomus
Yes. When the r came out and the other. That would be like comparing 13 pro to 16 pro. Big difference.
Dynamic island
On te status bar, you get the dynamic island which will help you track live events like Uber, Lyft, or live sports scores. Also, security updates will last you till probably 2028.
4 Years Newer Processor
The iPhone XR is from 2018 and the iPhone 14 Pro is from 2022, so the processor is 4 years newer. I believe I saw an article that the iPhone XS (and, by association, the iPhone XS Max and XR) won't get iOS 19, whereas the iPhone 14 Pro certainly will. I concur with Justin that the iPhone 14 Pro will get updates until at least 2028, if not even longer. Depending on which TTS voice you use, you may find that VoiceOver is more responsive, especially when you swipe around the screen. I would also expect apps to load somewhat faster than on your XR, simply because it's newer tech using the same OS. Hope this helps!
Yeah I definitely need an upgrade soon.
Thanks for all of the responses so far. I definitely need to upgrade, so it's kind of just figuring out what makes sense. And since I have a much newer phone to experiment with a bit, not too much of course because it is my wife's work phone, I figured it makes sense to see if I can hit some things that might be noticeable, that are good indications of what upgrading might get me, aside from updates, of course! They're obviously important, but a smoother experience might be nice.
Heh, the island probably won't do much for me then. I don't follow news, or sports, or stocks, or anything like that. One thing I do want to try is pairing a keyboard with it. I almost feel like mine is getting worse, I used the web here and there but the other night I tried to come here in Firefox, and single letter quick nav didn't seem to work at all, even after toggling it off and on a couple of times, which you sometimes have to do on Mac every once in a while.
That could be a Firefox problem of course, but it's something that would be worth checking anyway. There was also just some general weirdness, once hitting left and right at the same time didn't seem to toggle quick nav, the next time I paired the keyboard, it made the sound telling me that it was toggled, but not the announcement. The keyboard is solid, I'm using it with the Mac right now and i use it all day every day. So I'm kind of wondering if my phone's Bluetooth hardware is just having issues and is slowly dying.