The iPhone 14 is the most disappointing iPhone in a decade for consumers, according to a new report from PerfectRec.
The report, which analyzes more than 669,000 user-generated reviews, has found that one of the best iPhones at the moment, the iPhone 14, has seen a huge decline in opinion versus its predecessor - for the first time since 2012.
"Economists and data scientists at the new product review website PerfectRec have analyzed 13 years of user-generated iPhone reviews, tracking consumers' changing perception of the world's most successful technology product over time. We found that from 2012 to 2021, starting with the iPhone 5, consumers rated every new generation of iPhones better than the preceding one."
"But with the iPhone 14, released in September 2022, that changed."
Apple loves to showcase consumer opinion in keynotes, but the iPhone 14 results in this report wouldn't be something worth writing home about.
Why is the iPhone 14 so disappointing?
There could be many reasons for the widespread lack of positive opinion on the iPhone 14. For starters, the average price of iPhones across the globe is on the rise, and with a cost of living crisis, consumers might find the upgrade a little too minimal to warrant the cost.
Add to that the lack of stand-out improvements of the iPhone 14 versus last year's models like the iPhone 13 Pro (which I think is still a better buy), and there's no real excitement around the baseline 2022 iPhone model.
Additionally, we're at a point where annual upgrades to iPhones don't have the same weight they used to. For consumers upgrading every four or five years, there's huge incentive to get the latest and greatest, but for those that upgrade annually, the iPhone 14 leaves a lot to be desired.
With September fast approaching, we don't have long to wait for the new iPhone 15 to be revealed, and we can't wait to see if the new iPhone pushes consumer opinion back toward the green. For now, there are iPhone 14 deals around if you simply can't wait.
