It’s that time of the year again – Apple has finally announced this year’s follow-up colour variant of its current-generation phone, the iPhone 14. The new variant will come in yellow, adding to the pre-existing lineup of colours which already include staples such as black, blue, and white. it will also be available for the “Plus” model, as the Pro model iPhones typically come with their own set of colours.
As per a statement from Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing:
“People love their iPhone and rely on it every day for all that they do, and now there’s an exciting addition to the lineup with a new yellow iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. The extraordinary battery life, lightweight design, pro-level camera and video features, groundbreaking safety capabilities like Emergency SOS via satellite, and all iOS 16 has to offer make iPhone 14 a great option for anyone in the market for a new iPhone.”
Launched late last year, the iPhone 14 comes with a design that’s rather similar to the iPhone 13, with a slight difference in the camera bump’s size at the back. It also comes with the same A15 Bionic chipset that was first featured on the iPhone 13 models, the same size display and refresh rate, and even the same overall physical chassis. Some differences are present though, which include built-in satellite connectivity, Apple’s Photonic engine for camera performance, and an additional GPU core.
In other related Apple news, a study from Counterpoint Research shows that the top ten selling smartphones worldwide were led by Apple, followed by a couple of Samsung models. In first place was the iPhone 13, which still managed to snag the number one spot despite being a somewhat older device. Meanwhile, the newer iPhone 14 Pro ranked eighth, despite being a generation newer.
Meanwhile, Samsung came in fourth and tenth place with its Samsung Galaxy A13 and Galaxy A03 handsets. Despite heavy marketing of its Galaxy S-series phones, the Korean brand makes a majority of its profits from entry-level and even midrange smartphone sales.
Counterpoint adds that the share of the top ten smartphones will increase in this year, as companies move towards clearing their inventory and optimizing future device launches. Counterpoint also predicts that brands will make their portfolios leaner in 2023 in an effort to minimize cannibalization between devices.
Going back to the iPhone 14, the device’s initial reception was somewhat mixed, given that there wasn’t much of a difference compared to its predecessor. Apple even had to cut production of the iPhone 14 Plus following weak demand, perhaps an unexpected outcome given the decision to end the iPhone “Mini” line. With all that being said though, this new yellow variant should at least win some customers looking to score another iPhone colour to add to their collection, or newcomers in the market for a smartphone with a more “upbeat” appearance of sorts.
In terms of availability, the new yellow iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus will be available to pre-order on Friday, March 10, with availability starting Tuesday, March 14.
