Apple’s entry-level iPhone 14 lineup this fall could look a lot like last year’s premium iPhone 13 Pro. Two hardware features previously reserved for Pro models are rumored to find their way to non-Pro iPhones this year.
ProMotion, Apple’s marketing name for its variable refresh rate display feature, was exclusive to iPad Pro until last fall. That’s when Apple brought 120Hz refresh rate support to the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. Apple kept this hardware detail exclusive to the Pro line, however, and made no change to the iPhone 13 refresh rate. ProMotion has since appeared on the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro as well.
According to supply chain analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong International Securities (via MacRumors), iPhone 14 buyers won’t need to choose between the Pro and non-Pro models this fall for ProMotion. Pu expects all iPhone 14 models to support ProMotion this year. That means customers won’t need to spend $999 and up to see smoother motions and benefit from more power-efficient refresh rates.
Pu goes on to predict that non-Pro models will see an upgrade from 4GB to 6GB of RAM starting with the iPhone 14. That matches the memory introduced with the iPhone 12 Pro two years prior. iPhone 14 Pro is expected to match the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro with 6GB of RAM for another year.
While Jeff Pu of Haitong International Securities hasn’t been on the scene as long as Ming-Chi Kuo, these supply chain reports that point investors toward which companies to back are often quite credible.
Admittedly, it is a bit of a surprise to imagine ProMotion going from an iPhone Pro feature to an iPhone feature after just one year. It’s also a power-saving feature that could help increase battery life, however, and marketing iPhones with longer-lasting batteries is always well received.
Pu’s RAM prediction is much easier to concur with, especially since the last RAM increase for non-Pro phones happened between the iPhone XR and iPhone 11.
The other angle on this, if accurate, is that Apple will have one less feature to market as a reason to go for a more expensive Pro phone (RAM is never advertised on iPhones). That should be fine this year as we expect a redesigned sensor housing and massively different camera system on iPhone 14 Pro this fall.
