The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro series are now available for pre-order in Malaysia with stocks expected to be available starting this Friday, 23rd September. Among the four new models, the iPhone 14 Plus is Apple’s brand new model which supposedly offers a larger screen without the expensive “Pro Max” price tag. The 6.7″ iPhone 14 Plus replaces the previous 5.4″ iPhone mini series and from recent reports, the new Plus model isn’t doing as well as expected. Looking at the current iPhone lineup, we can probably see why the iPhone 14 Plus just doesn’t make sense if you’re looking for a new iPhone with a large screen.
iPhone 14 Plus starts from RM4,699 in Malaysia
Getting a new iPhone is certainly a costly affair and Malaysians would have to fork out even more no thanks to inflation and our weak Ringgit. At the time of writing, 1 USD converts to RM4.57, which is the biggest decline since the 1998 Asian financial crisis. The new iPhone 14 Plus in Malaysia starts from RM4,699 for the base 128GB model and it goes up to RM5,199 for 256GB and RM6,199 for 512GB. Unlike the other iPhone 14 models, the iPhone 14 Plus will be available later in Malaysia starting 7th October 2022.
The iPhone 14 Plus is RM1,100 cheaper than the latest iPhone 14 Pro Max across all storage capacities, but there’s currently a better large screen iPhone for a mere RM50-RM150 more.
Huge discounts for iPhone 13 Pro Max
During the launch of the iPhone 14 series, Apple officially discontinued several models including the iPhone 11 and the iPhone 13 Pro series. However, if you look around, several authorised Apple resellers are selling their remaining iPhone 13 Pro Max stocks at a significant discount. The iPhone 13 Pro Max 128GB which was launched for RM5,299 for the 128GB model is now going for RM4,849 at Machines. That’s RM450 off and it is only RM150 more than the iPhone 14 Plus for the same storage capacity.
If you want the biggest storage, Machines is offering iPhone 13 Pro Max 512GB for RM6,249 which is only RM50 more than the iPhone 14 Plus 512GB.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max is overall a better phone than the iPhone 14 Plus
For an extra RM50-150, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is definitely a class above. Instead of using aluminium, the Pro Max feels more expensive in the hands as it uses a more premium stainless steel frame. On top of that, the iPhone 13 Pro Max comes with a superior Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion technology, which offers a fluid 120Hz refresh rate.
Even in the camera department, the iPhone 13 Pro Max gets a more versatile triple-camera setup with the inclusion of a telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom which is missing on the iPhone 14 Plus. Since this is the Pro model, the iPhone 13 Pro Max supports ProRAW, ProRes video recording and you can even do macro shots as well. Even the screen brightness is higher on the iPhone 13 Pro Max pushing up to 1000 nits while the iPhone 14 Plus does 800 nits for max brightness.
Despite being an older model from 2021, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is actually running on the same processor as the iPhone 14 Plus. Both are using the A15 Bionic chip with a 6-core CPU and 5-core GPU. In case you missed it, Apple is only offering its latest A16 Bionic chip on their iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
However, it is still worth pointing out that the iPhone 14 Plus does offer a couple of things not available with the iPhone 13 Pro Max. This includes the new Crash Detection feature which allows your iPhone to automatically contact emergency services when it detects a high-impact car crash. In addition, the iPhone 14 Plus gets an upgraded selfie camera with autofocus and it also gets the new Photonic Engine which promises to offer better detail and colour to your pictures.
Initially, we thought the iPhone 14 Plus would have offered better battery life as it uses a standard 60Hz OLED display. Interestingly, none of the new iPhone 14 lineup has a bigger battery than the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Even on Apple’s spec sheet, the iPhone 13 Pro Max offers up to 28 hours of video playback which is two hours more than the iPhone 14 Plus. You can learn more about the iPhone 13 Pro Max in our full review.
If you don’t need such a big screen and want to save some money, the 6.1″ iPhone 13 Pro 128GB is currently going for RM4,449 at Machines and Switch while stocks last. That’s RM250 more than the current iPhone 14 128GB which retails for RM4,199. If you’re interested in the iPhone 13 Pro series, you’ll have to act quickly and at the time of writing, it appears that only Alpine Green is available for the base 128GB storage option.
Would you still get the iPhone 14 Plus over the iPhone 13 Pro Max? Let us know in the comments below.
