As the protagonist of the Spring Festival Gala of Science and Technology, the top iPhone of each year is synonymous with the flagship mobile phone, and the top hardware and nanny-style family barrel experience have always been difficult for other mobile phones to reach. In the past many years, imitating the iPhone has become an effective product strategy for mobile phone manufacturers.
But in 2021, everything seems to have changed. The iPhone is still good, but it may no longer be "everywhere is good." Lei Jun, founder and chairman of Xiaomi, said at the Xiaomi 12 series conference: Benchmark Apple and learn from Apple. This sentence is very pertinent, Apple has many leading points worth learning, but it is not impossible to look at Apple. Let's witness the competition between manufacturers this year.
01. Who can match the iPhone?
First of all, Apple, where is this year's flagship iPhone strong? We believe that the focus is on these three major upgrades: ProMotion adaptive refresh rate, A15 chip, and imaging system. One of the most eye-catching, of course, is the late but arriving high brush screen, Apple with the adaptive refresh rate perfectly balances high brush and battery life, so that the battery capacity of 3000mAh in the head of the iPhone 13 Pro can also be controlled.
In comparison, the A15 and the imaging system have some conventional upgrade meaning, but the former helped the iPhone to control the running score game "Original God", and the latter allowed the iPhone 13 Pro to regain the DXOMark's video shooting score from huawei, millet and other domestic flagship mobile phones, and the performance was remarkable.
But this also shows a problem - in addition to the soC performance, domestic mobile phones already have the ability to break the wrist with the flagship iPhone.
Let's start with the imagery. Xiaomi 11 Ultra, as its high-end image flagship, also once topped the list with a huge camera module and a comprehensive and short-board camera system, bringing Xiaomi's camera performance to a record high. The Huawei P50 Pro, which has undergone sanctions, took out computational optics technology this year, regained the first place in the DXOMark mobile phone camera, and even surpassed the iPhone 12 Pro Max in video shooting, once rewriting the order of the video field of the iPhone's dominance.
In addition to Huawei and Xiaomi, on this track, the figure of domestic mobile phones is also everywhere. OPPO this year came up with a full-link 10bit image and display system, the main word is "color". Vivo continues to work with ZEISS to upgrade the micro-gimbal camera system and develop its own ISP chip, which is full of competitiveness.
The second is the screen. The iPhone's high brush screen is very mature, but it is not without opponents in the Android camp. Leaving aside the xiaomi mi 12 pro that has just been released, the OPPO Find X3 series, the oneplus 9 Pro, the vivo X70 Pro+ and several flagships of Samsung all support similar technologies - all thanks to the support of the Samsung LTPO panel. In terms of screen quality indicators, Android flagship mobile phones are not inferior to Apple, and it is basic operation to get high ratings from DisplayMate and DXOMark.
02, breakthrough new technologies are competing
Putting your eyes back on the chip field, Apple's dominant position is difficult for many manufacturers to reach. In addition to the A15 this year, Apple also launched the M1 Pro and M1 Max SoC for the MacBook, directly making the set display into a "productivity version" RTX 3080. In Apple's eyes, the three chip giants of red, blue and green may be the biggest opponents.
But on the chip track, domestic manufacturers have not given up, but are struggling to catch up. After the initial setback in chip design, Xiaomi has launched a self-developed surging C1 ISP chip and a P1 charging chip this year, which is stable and steady. Vivo self-developed image chip V1, OPPO self-developed MariSilicon X image NPU, the efforts of manufacturers, so that 2021 has become a chip year.
In addition to chips, Android manufacturers, especially Chinese manufacturers, have been ahead of Apple in two breakthrough areas. One is the form of mobile phones, when the iPhone 13 series is still a big bangs, Android manufacturers have long popularized the digging screen, and gradually moved to the front camera under the screen. Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, Huawei several manufacturers, this year brought their own folding screen flagship, and the folding screen iPhone is still in the polishing stage.
The second is charging, for domestic Android high-end and flagship, 60W is almost standard, 120W is also becoming more and more popular. Xiaomi also launched a prototype device of 200W fast charging and "true wireless charging" this year, although it has not been mass-produced, it undoubtedly makes domestic brands stand at the commanding heights of technology. On the other hand, the iPhone, although 20W, 27W is very stable, but can not always hold the "fast charge battery" such a statement for a lifetime, right?
03. Who is the best in your heart?
This scene is the epitome of the entire smartphone circle this year. Apple and the iPhone are still very strong, but in the whole industry's internal roll situation, it no longer has an absolute overwhelming advantage. Although the iPhone is still selling well this year, we are increasingly seeing that the family barrel ecology has become Apple's last "moat".
Apple, aware of the intensification of competition, naturally did not slow down, and the hole screen, the front camera under the screen and Face ID, and the folding screen are all in its plan. The Mac product line embraces self-developed Arm chips to attract more users with the advantage of productivity and energy consumption. If the action is fast enough, Apple AR/VR glasses and Apple cars will come out next year.
Looking back at domestic manufacturers, Lei Jun's sentence at the Xiaomi 12 press conference "benchmark Apple, learn from Apple", heroic and realistic. Looking back at this year, we see Xiaomi benchmarking the iPhone on the mobile phone, returning to the chip track, and setting a goal for its own new decade. Huawei, which has been sanctioned, has also made efforts to coordinate the ecology, enter the intelligent driving, and use the intelligent cockpit to "help car companies build good cars". OPPO explores folding screens, chips and charging, bringing a new generation of smart glasses from toys to tools.
So who deserves the best of the year? This ticket will be handed over to you who are reading the article.
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