The latest iPhone 14 rumour is getting the internet in a tizzy: apparently Apple has decided that the next iPhone, the iPhone 14, will stick with the current A15 processor. If you want the even more powerful and yet to be launched A16, you'll need to buy one of the Pro models.
You may be thinking "boo!" and maybe also "hiss!" But hang on a moment. Is this really bad news, or just a sign that Apple's processors are so good now that they're already fast enough? My money's on the latter.
How much power does your phone really need?
I've recently upgraded from the iPhone 12 Pro to the iPhone 13 Pro, so I've upgraded from the A14 to the A15. And I can't say I've noticed any difference whatsoever in terms of speed. My new phone has a better zoom and a nicer display, both of which matter to me and both of which make a difference every single day. But marginal speed improvements in heavyweight apps or intensive games? I don't use those apps or play those games so I don't care. And chances are, you don't and won't either.
In terms of sheer performance, there wasn't a huge difference between the A14 and the A15 anyway: Apple's focus was more on energy saving, so in benchmarks the improvement from A14 to A15 was marginal. The A16 will no doubt be a little bit faster too, but how fast do you really need? If you're like me and spend most of your time on social media, streaming media and other similarly straightforward apps, your phone's processor is barely waking up. And when I do need it to wake up, for example when I'm messing around with Cinematic Mode, it's absolutely fine.
I'm not saying that performance doesn't matter. Of course it does. But it's a bit like money: it's only when you don't have enough that there's a problem. And with the Apple A15, I think there's more than enough for most of us.
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Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).
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