iPhone 14/Plus Disappointment for previous generation A15 in iPhone 14?

[Andeddu]

Your stretching the truth. The A16 will probably only get one more year of extra support over the A15. It is possible it will get 2 more years of support, but it is also possible it will stop receiving support at the same time as the A15.

Apple provides shockingly long software support for their phones. I bet the iPhone 14 and the A15 chip gets at least 5 more years of support, if not more. I am betting on more.


If the iPhone 14 doesn’t seem like good value to you, just get the iPhone SE3. It is half the price and will get the same number of years of software support as the iPhone 14. That is what I plan to get when my iPhone 8 gives out….although honestly my iPhone 8 and its 5 year old A11 still gets software updates and is plenty fast for what most people need from a phone.

Your 8 realistically still has another 3 years minimum of use left in it. I have noticed that third party app support is generally good and will support iOS that’s 2+ years out of date. Even outdated apps seem to work. My Mini 1 on iOS 9 still runs a 5-6 year old version of Netflix which is fully supported.

The people who are moaning about longevity have zero intention of using an iPhone for 8-10 years. Even people who don’t care about phones tend to update within 4-5 years.

The original 6S and SE will realistically provide 2 further years of app support which will provide a total of 8-9 years of operational use. I don’t know anyone who would voluntarily use a 6S or SE in 2024.

 

[one more]

It does not matter to 99% of Apple customers. They care mostly about price, screen size, device colour and (some of them) storage.

In my surroundings we use iPhone 7, 11, 12 mini, iPhone SE 2020, iPad Air 2, 3 and 4. So the most advanced chip there is A14. And guess what? Nobody complains.

 

[xxray]

It makes sense to me. They need to differentiate the Pro and non-Pro lines. The A16 chip costs 2.4 times more money to make than the A15 chip. The people who buy the non-Pro iPhones generally don’t care to have every single latest and greatest feature. And the vast majority of people, including those who own the Pro models, would never be able to tell the difference unless it’s five years from now when the performance starts to make a difference.

 

[Torty]

It makes sense to me. They need to differentiate the Pro and non-Pro lines. The A16 chip costs 2.4 times more money to make than the A15 chip. The people who buy the non-Pro iPhones generally don’t care to have every single latest and greatest feature. And the vast majority of people, including those who own the Pro models, would never be able to tell the difference unless it’s five years from now when the performance starts to make a difference.

So over 100% price hike on an enhanced 5nm A16 and only 3% price hike on brand new 3nm A17? 🤔

New report says Apple has accepted TSMC's proposed price hike

After first reports indicated that Apple was refusing to agree to TSMC's proposed 3% price hike to manufacture the A17 Bionic chip, Apple has reportedly caved.

www.phonearena.com

 

[d5aqoëp]

I think it's a one off this year due to Covid lockdowns and Chip Shortage problem being REAL. Apple couldn't make as many A16 chips in time for iPhone 14 launch. TBH, all the non-Pro iPhones are purposely being made mediocre to push people to buy Pro phones. Classic up-selling strategy.

 

[KOTN91]

What are you talking about? The flagship phones: the 14 pro and pro max have the A16 processor, not the A15 processor.

What are you talking about? The 14 series are all flagship phones. Midrange is the SE

 

[Sami13496]

Ooh so salty. Why you attack Tim on personal level? That’s not nice. Are you implying MBA is loser and some nerdy tech degree is a winner? Well many (most) people see it the other way around. To answer your question: Because Apple CEO job is not to please nerds but make business desicions. iPhone 14 will sell like crazy because normal ppl don’t care about chips and benchmarks. They don’t feel difference between A12 and A14 let alone between A14 and A15. I don’t even care how they call their sweaty hardware peaces, as long as its fast enough and don’t lag like Android garbage. I’m pretty sure no iPhone 14 user will think their phone feels slow.

 

[I7guy]

Why aren’t more people voicing disappointment for Tim Cook blatantly trying to rip off customers by putting the previous year’s iPhone 13 CPU into this year’s flagship iPhone 14?

Apple has never done that before. In fact, all three iPhone SE generations received the latest generation CPU that was in the current flagship iPhone.

Cook puts older hardware into the latest iPhones in order to save production costs to maximize profits. It would be bad enough if he did that to pass the cost savings on to customers by lowering prices, but he doesn’t even lower prices.

Cook is a greedy suit with an MBA (a degree that is typically a sign of mediocrity). Why do so many people support his unprecedented decision to put last year’s CPU (A15) into this year’s flagship iPhone?

Because to many it just doesn’t matter. It’s about the entire package not one component. You are welcome to send apple a message by voting with your dollars and or writing apple voicing your displeasure.

Maybe apple will design a future iteration of the iPhone to your requirements. But given cook is a greedy suit with an MBA, I doubt it.

 

[StumpyBloke]

What are you talking about? The 14 series are all flagship phones. Midrange is the SE

Wrong but nice try. They are the latest range but the Pro and Pro Max are the flagship models!

 

[Splitrail]

Maybe apple will design a future iteration of the iPhone to your requirements.

..................there would still be complaints! 🤣

 

[Zaydax333]

Why aren’t more people voicing disappointment for Tim Cook blatantly trying to rip off customers by putting the previous year’s iPhone 13 CPU into this year’s flagship iPhone 14?

Apple has never done that before. In fact, all three iPhone SE generations received the latest generation CPU that was in the current flagship iPhone.

Cook puts older hardware into the latest iPhones in order to save production costs to maximize profits. It would be bad enough if he did that to pass the cost savings on to customers by lowering prices, but he doesn’t even lower prices.

Cook is a greedy suit with an MBA (a degree that is typically a sign of mediocrity). Why do so many people support his unprecedented decision to put last year’s CPU (A15) into this year’s flagship iPhone?

Ok first of all I just want to say I agree that Tim Cook’s logistically efficiency approach is hurting apple in providing value in some of places.

HOWEVER, the A15 being in the iPhone 14 doesn’t bother me as much for several reasons.

0) The pro devices are the flagship phones. That’s not an opinion that’s a fact.
They should get the best of the best.

The regular device has always been for “normal people” NOT tech enthusiasts.

1) manufacturing/Supply chain issues are still not back to what they used to be. Apple seems to have protected themselves for a while at the beginning but as they launch newer products the issues become more relevant.

2) the A15 still outperforms the latest chip from Qualcomm in several benchmarks. They have no competition and no incentive to put faster chips in every phone.

3) setting up new fabrication line for new SoC on a new process is more expensive than it’s ever been.

4) It’s not exactly the same though is it? The A15 in the 13 last year only had 4 GPU cores and 4 GB of ram.
It got the chip from the 13 pro with 5 GPU cores and 6 GB of ram. Decent updates IMO.

This also starts a trend of the new base iPhone getting pro features from the previous year. Which makes a lot of logistics sense and builds feature differentiation between the normal and pro devices. Unfortunately this means that at least one year we were going to get some stagnation to set that trend up.

Apple does some ****** things to gimp their products.
This is not one of them IMO.

 

[CrzySxyCl]

When the iPhone 6S with the A9 was released in 2015, 2014's iPhone 6 with the A8 was already faster than most people needed in a phone. But most people don't use their iPhones for only one or two years. The A8 iPhone 6 can only be updated to iOS 12 whereas the A9 iPhone 6S can run iOS 15. So just because last year's A15 is still faster than most people need, it may likely go obsolete a couple of years prior to the A16. That is Tim Crook ripping people off in two ways:
1. He is charging a lot more for a "midrange" iPhone (i.e., the iPhone 14) than flagship iPhones of the past (i.e., the iPhone 6S), and that price increase is much higher than the rate of inflation.
2. In a couple of years if the A15 won't run the latest iOS release while the A16 can run newer iOS releases for a few more years, it will pressure people to prematurely buy new iPhones.

Oh, you are too precious. Your back and forth fodder over silliness certainly brightened my day. Please never change.

 

[JPack]

No disappointment.

1. We knew a year ago this was going to happen. All over the rumour mill on Weibo.
2. Cost increases are doubling with each major node. 7nm was double 10nm. 5nm is double 7nm.
3. If Apple put in A16, they would had to increase price.

 

[ThomasJL]

As for the A16 chip costing more than the A15 chip, since the iPhone 14 is already very overpriced, the ethical thing to do would’ve been including the A16 in it while taking a cut to the profit margin by keeping the iPhone 14 at the same price. But Tim Cook is not an ethical man, at least not toward his potential customers, so it’s no surprise he didn’t opt for the A16 in the iPhone 14.

 

[aParkerMusic]

There's a reason Apple is halting production of the 14. That's to keep the inventory level sufficient, but not overstuffing the channels.

The market speaks for itself. Apple cannot make enough of the 14 Pros. 14 Pro models give Apple more margins, so yeah, Apple would prefer most people buy the 14 Pros/Pro Maxes. But most people wouldn't just spend $1000+ on a phone willingly right out off the gate. They need some persuasion. That's the technique of upselling.

Apple is basically doing the same thing as McDonalds, albeit a more advance version. Upsize your happy meal.

But no one said Apple wouldn’t like to upsell, in line with what you’ve shared. We have been saying that the iPhone 14 line doesn’t just exist to upsell to the 14 Pro line. Apple would also like to sell a less expensive phone to those who really will NOT consider, or be nudged up to, a line that starts at $999. So, I’d wager that’s the more important reason for the less expensive line to exist.

 

[bruinsrme]

I’m just disappointed.

 

[I7guy]

As for the A16 chip costing more than the A15 chip, since the iPhone 14 is already very overpriced, the ethical thing to do would’ve been including the A16 in it while taking a cut to the profit margin by keeping the iPhone 14 at the same price. But Tim Cook is not an ethical man, at least not toward his potential customers, so it’s no surprise he didn’t opt for the A16 in the iPhone 14.

Overpriced is a value judgment. Apple doesn’t have to design a phone for you at a price point for you. There is multiple handset manufacturers you can buy instead of apple products. Vote with your $$$. If enough feel like you do apple will change.

 

[Saladin12]

Apple has never done that before. In fact, all three iPhone SE generations received the latest generation CPU that was in the current flagship iPhone.

You mean the phone series that launched under Tim Cook???

 

[Scipster]

Look on the brightside, both options are better than a Snapdragon

 

[ian87w]

Look on the brightside, both options are better than a Snapdragon

It's "better" for now since Snapdragon 8gen1 is using Samsung fab, and it sucks. But the 8+ gen1 and 8gen2 onward will be using TSMC 4nm process, and I can see Qualcomm starting to catch up with their custom oryon cores. Although Apple will still have a lead, that gap will narrow down bit by bit.

 

[bluecoast]

I don't think that this is an issue - I'd imagine that the user profiles that Apple has of what their typical 'regular phone' customers do, tell them that the A15 is more than powerful enough.

I think that we can expect this to be a trend.

The pro iPhones will obviously be using most of that power for more advanced photography and AVR features in the future, so we can expect only these to get the latest chip.

I would like to see the regular phone's price go down a little though, as the relative lack of features mean that the 13 is a better buy for most people (although the new front and back opening chassis on the 14 might make this a more compelling option re. repairs).

Perhaps when there starts to feel like there's a big feature gap between the regular and pro phones, we'll see a regular phone price drop.

Although knowing Apple, it's more likely that the pro models will get even more expensive and the regular phone will hold the same price.

 

[snipr125]

It does suck that they put the previous gen A15 in the ‘new’ iPhone 14, however the flip side to this is that the iPhone 13 range (which have the same A15 chip minus 1 gpu core) are now very compelling and cheaper options without really missing out on anything.

 

[Torty]

It does suck that they put the previous gen A15 in the ‘new’ iPhone 14, however the flip side to this is that the iPhone 13 range (which have the same A15 chip minus 1 gpu core) are now very compelling and cheaper options without really missing out on anything.

Good point. Just checked, there are some differences like SOS function, photonic engine, 4K cinematic mode, one more GPU Core etc and price difference is 100 Euros. No one knows today what model will be dropped when from IOS support.
Apple is smart I would prefer the 14 over the 13 and pay the premium despite having the same gen SOC.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Good point. Just checked, there are some differences like SOS function, photonic engine, 4K cinematic mode etc and price difference is 100 Euros. No one knows today what model will be dropped when from IOS support.
Apple is smart I would prefer the 14 over the 13 and pay the premium despite have the same SOC.

It depends if the person is keeping the phone a couple of years or until it dies. I’m happy to buy last years model and keep 2 years as I don’t notice any performance or support issues. I save a bit of money too.

 

[Atomic1977]

In my opinion there is nothing wrong with having older technology as long as it works it works and does what it’s supposed to do. Just look at the iPad 9 that’s a a13 chip and it work’s great.