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| iPhone 13 |
I'm simply going to say it right now, okay? The majority of people don't change their phones every year, am I correct? Smartphones are undoubtedly a commodity and are widely available, but they have reached the stage where users may essentially decide when they want to upgrade.
Similar to autos. Do consumers
consistently purchase new Toyota Camrys? Of course not, never. Every year,
however, a new one is released that is somewhat superior to the previous model,
allowing owners of older vehicles to do so and purchase the most recent model.
Therefore, the reason why manufacturers keep comparing this year's Camry to
last year's Camry is not to help individuals who just bought last year's car
determine whether or not they want to upgrade. They certainly can, but let's be
honest, it is a relatively tiny group of people.
But it's more of a comparison
for context. It's to put it alongside something that you already know. And so
that's what I'm going to do with this year's iPhone review. Because let's face it,
if you already have an iPhone 12, you can skip the 13. Pretty easy. But there
are a lot of other things that have changed about this phone for people with
older phones. And if you're considering an iPhone 13.
There is the iPhone 13 and the
13 mini. So the funny thing about keeping the same design as last year is
people can immediately dismiss it as a pretty minor update. Which it is, let's
be clear. The phone looks and feels and operates almost the same as last year,
just with a few extra grams, so it feels a little denser in the hand and a
quarter of a millimeter of extra thickness.
But also, they did happen to do
their three biggest upgrades on the 13 on the three most important parts of a
phone: the screen, the battery, and the cameras. It was pretty good for a minor
update. I also like this design a lot already anyway, so I'm kind of glad. It's
the same mostly with the squared-up design, and the matte aluminum rails.
I'll be reviewing the 13 Pro
as well pretty soon and that build is a little more different. But the same
Lightning port down here at the bottom, the same speakers, there's a slightly
lower button placement, and the cameras, which I'll get to, have a diagonal
orientation now.
But let's be real, most of you will be
putting a case on the phone anyway, so you probably won't notice any of these
things for more than a second. Aside from maybe the new colors, which I got to
say, I'm not normally a blue phone guy, but I have been liking this new blue.
So the one part you may or may not care about is the notch at the top. Yes, it
is smaller, but here's how it's smaller. It's all the same sensors, all the
same, Face ID stuff, and the same selfie camera, but they've rearranged them and
compressed them a bit and the earpiece is now up top in the middle.
So the total area is about 20-ish
percent smaller, maybe a little more, but that's entirely in left-to-right
savings. The new notch is slightly taller than last year, which is evidenced by
the fact that it pokes into full-screen videos slightly more. But you know,
honestly, this doesn't matter much. The display being brighter is kind of nice,
but for the extra real estate, Apple didn't do anything with it.
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| iPhone 13 |
It's the same icons up top. There
is no battery percentage option. The icons are the same size. They just
rearranged the notch. Fine. We'll have to wait a little longer for Face ID to
get any faster, or work out more angles, or for them to add maybe a Touch ID fingerprint
reader underneath the glass, or an always-on display, or any of that stuff. For
now, pretty much the same familiar iPhone design. But the insides are where you
start to see those upgrades.
So there's a new chip
inside. It's the A15 Bionic. It's a very powerful, fast, high-end chip again.
And here are your benchmark scores to prove that. The new iPhone is zippy and
quick as usual, but I'm more impressed by its efficiency. So this year, they've
combined the new chip with a physically larger battery, and that's why the
phone is slightly thicker and heavier, but the results are incredible.
The iPhone's battery life got
way better. So Apple in their event was quoting 1 1/2 more hours of use in the
13 mini and 13 Pro, and then 2 1/2 more hours in the 13 and 13 Pro Max. We
weren't exactly sure what that would mean or how that translate, but I am
having a great battery experience with this phone. Five hours of screen time
without a problem. Six hours too pretty regularly before getting down into low
battery and often creeping up towards seven. I only actually killed it in a day
once during my testing with a heavy day with a lot of unplugged, max brightness
navigation. That'll do it. But also, my car has a wireless charger in it, so
it's pretty hard now in my daily use to ever get worried about this phone's
battery life. I'm convinced, I think I could go on a weekend trip and get two
full days of light use out of this phone. That's a really big improvement. I
don't think I've ever said that about an iPhone battery before. And the Pro is
even better, even more impressive. So, the battery is a meaningful change to
something that everyone who gets this phone will care about.
Now it still charges pretty slowly, 20 watts over Lightning, 15 watts over MagSafe, and only 12 for the mini, and nothing else about this battery experience has changed. There is no split, superfast charging batteries or stronger magnets for MagSafe. It's just the simple stuff, just a straight-up bigger battery, and a more efficient chip. It just does. The battery life of the 12 mini was its weak feature, but it is now much improved, so if you were considering purchasing an iPhone mini, this would be the greatest year to do so. From awful to totally normal, it changes. Additionally, it's believed that due to the small iPhone's dismal sales, this will be the final year that Apple produces one. This means that it is likely the last of a rapidly extinct species of relatively compact, pocketable phones with flagship specifications and cameras. Therefore, it is a wonderful time to get a small. The cameras are the main focus of this year's iPhone. The entire range of iPhone 13 has brand-new cameras, and there is a discernible difference in camera functions and quality. To start with quality, all of the sensors have been increased in size, and the primary camera now incorporates sensor-shift stabilization, which was previously only available in the Pro Max. Because it is so much larger, it is offset in this manner. And those new sensors are letting in a lot of light and have enormous pixel sizes. It won't make a significant difference in normal illumination. They've been excellent for a while. Therefore, if anything, they're a little bit sharper, but it does mean that, in comparison to the 12, I was able to observe significantly faster shutter rates in low light. That's awesome, then. The 4K video still appears to be quite impressive. I was hoping that the new sensor-shift stabilization would make a visible improvement in the stabilization, but it also appears to be about the same as last year. Again, keeping that shutter speed quick in low light will make a bigger effect. Sadly, the evening video still contains a lot of flares. That still exists. Going to the 13 Pro results in the biggest quality improvement.
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| iPhone 13 |
The camera technology in the 13 Pro is the greatest I've ever tried in a phone. Just to be clear, it is. Now that it lacks a telephoto lens and has a somewhat inferior ultra-wide angle, this shot isn't quite as good. But yet, it's quite awesome. It can alter within a week or two. I'm just letting you know how I feel about the Pixel 6 whenever it is out. But let's talk about the new features instead, since I believe they are more significant than quality improvement. There are some new camera functions, the most intriguing of which is something called Photographic Styles. Consequently, the Camera app now has yet another new button. When you click the arrow to expand the options, a multi-frame-looking object appears. And with this, you may choose from five pre-set "Photographic Styles" that Apple calls them, each of which is distinctly but subtly different. There is the Standard style, which is fairly flat and identical to every other iPhone. Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm, and Cool are other options. As a result, it indicates tone and warmth are being adjusted, and you can tweak these further with the slider to get the sound you want. Once you've done that, you can start snapping photos, and that setting remains. Until you go back in and update it again, the photo profile will remain no matter how many times you close and reopen the Camera app. Why is this so fascinating, then? This aesthetic is built-in.
It's not a filter that you can apply to a neutral capture and adjust later. No, this is a permanent change to how the photo is processed. So I realized that even though the daylight image quality on the Pixel and the iPhone may be pretty similar, someone like me will always gravitate to the Pixel because of its nice, confident contrast appearance. Now you can sort of tweak the iPhone's processing to make it resemble the Pixel. To me, the Rich Contrast visual style resembles the Pixel and it looks fantastic. Because it does produce a similar effect, I've been leaving it on continuously. The general tone of the photographs is a little deeper in the shadows and a little brighter in the highlights, yet it keeps all that information without significantly changing the appearance of faces or skin tones. And with the iPhone photo, that matters more to me than perhaps the larger sensor does in many of my pictures. It makes me think of the photo profiles on a DSLR or mirrorless camera. You can choose from PP1 or PP3, and each of these photo profiles has somewhat different settings for contrast curve, sharpness, and color. From there, you can continue with the editing. But you have Rich Contrast, which, in my opinion, feels like the Pixel, in place of PP1, PP2, and PP3. Vibrant mode is available; perhaps a Samsung phone is the one you have. You can set it warmer and cooler according to your preferences. I find the actual processing of the photo tuning to be interesting. So it's odd that this won't be in earlier iPhone models. For a single shot, I assumed it would be quite simple, but it's not.
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| iPhone 13 |
The contrast curve,
sharpness, and color parameters for each of these photo profiles-PP1 or PP3-are
slightly different. You can then carry on with the edits. But instead of PP1,
PP2, and PP3, you got Rich Contrast, which, in my opinion, feels like the
Pixel. There is a vibrant mode; possibly you have a Samsung phone. Warmer and
cooler settings can be adjusted to suit your preferences. I find the actual
photo-tuning processing to be fascinating. So it's strange that earlier iPhone
models won't have this. I thought it would be quite easy for a single shot, but
it's not. Cinematic Mode for a YouTube creator sounds great. Well, first of
all, Cinematic Mode is shooting Dolby Vision HDR and is doing constant
processing to add that fake blur behind subjects. It's like portrait mode but
for every frame. That's a lot of processing. So it's limited and completely
locked to 1080p 30fps. Checkmate 24fps Stans. Apple thinks cinematic mode is
30p. But also why isn't there a 24fps option? Not that I would use it, but
that's less processing, right? And then you start shooting with it, and even if
you can get over the kinda shaky focus tracking that's supposed to track faces
and how hard it struggles in lower light, and the fact that you can't use the
ultrawide at all, and the fact that the depth of field is only adjustable in a
post in Apple-made apps, there's just not enough manual control for me to
consider this particularly cinematic. Or maybe you can call it cinematic mode
since the blur is all nice to look at, but maybe I was hoping for a manual
mode. Or I know, maybe a pro mode, but that's still not here.
I mean, the autofocus tracking is
a pretty cool trick and it looks pretty dramatic and fun when you turn the blur
up. And sometimes it does nail a focus transition when people look at the
camera the right way and then look away from the camera at the right times. But
if you're a creator looking to get started and use the iPhone as your only
camera and learn the fundamentals of audio levels and ISO and shutter speed and
things like that, this isn’t it. Cinematic Mode for now is a really basic 1080p
portrait mode video with a manual exposure slider.
I should remark that the iPhone 13 is a
decent smartphone or a good Camry. They took a phone that was already quite
good the year before, made a few cosmetic changes, added some new colors, and
changed the three features that matter most to the user: the screen, battery,
and cameras. That's a nice little update. Funny how so many people express
dissatisfaction by saying, "It's called the 13 but looks like the 12, thus
it should have been called the 12S." Apple, however, has abandoned the S
names. And to be quite honest, I wouldn't be surprised if they soon stopped
giving it numbers entirely and just referred to it as the new iPhone,
regardless of the current year. However, even though I've said a lot of
complimentary things about this phone, As I mentioned, I believe it is safe to
say that this phone has the greatest camera available. It also has even more
outstanding battery technology.
Apple iPhone 13 - Full phone specifications
| BODY | Dimensions | 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.7 mm (5.78 x 2.81 x 0.30 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 174 g (6.14 oz) | |
| Build | Glass front (Corning-made glass), glass back (Corning-made glass), aluminum frame | |
| SIM | Nano-SIM and eSIM or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | |
| IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 6m for 30 mins) Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified) |
| DISPLAY | Type | Super Retina XDR OLED, HDR10, Dolby Vision, 800 nits (HBM), 1200 nits (peak) |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 6.1 inches, 90.2 cm2 (~86.0% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1170 x 2532 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~460 ppi density) | |
| Protection | Ceramic Shield glass |
| PLATFORM | OS | iOS 15, upgradable to iOS 16.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Apple A15 Bionic (5 nm) | |
| CPU | Hexa-core (2x3.23 GHz Avalanche + 4x1.82 GHz Blizzard) | |
| GPU | Apple GPU (4-core graphics) |
| MEMORY | Card slot | No |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | 128GB 4GB RAM, 256GB 4GB RAM, 512GB 4GB RAM | |
| NVMe |
| MAIN CAMERA | Dual | 12 MP, f/1.6, 26mm (wide), 1.7µm, dual pixel PDAF, sensor-shift OIS 12 MP, f/2.4, 120˚, 13mm (ultrawide) |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Dual-LED dual-tone flash, HDR (photo/panorama) | |
| Video | 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, HDR, Dolby Vision HDR (up to 60fps), stereo sound rec. |
| SELFIE CAMERA | Single | 12 MP, f/2.2, 23mm (wide), 1/3.6" SL 3D, (depth/biometrics sensor) |
|---|---|---|
| Features | HDR | |
| Video | 4K@24/25/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS |
| SOUND | Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 3.5mm jack | No |
| COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, hotspot |
|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE | |
| Positioning | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS | |
| NFC | Yes | |
| Radio | No | |
| USB | Lightning, USB 2.0 |
| FEATURES | Sensors | Face ID, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer |
|---|---|---|
| Ultra Wideband (UWB) support |
| BATTERY | Type | Li-Ion 3240 mAh, non-removable (12.41 Wh) |
|---|---|---|
| Charging | Wired, PD2.0, 50% in 30 min (advertised) 15W wireless (MagSafe) 7.5W wireless (Qi) |
| MISC | Colors | Starlight, Midnight, Blue, Pink, Red, Green |
|---|---|---|
| Models | A2633, A2482, A2631, A2634, A2635, iphone14,5 | |
| SAR | 1.18 W/kg (head) 1.19 W/kg (body) | |
| SAR EU | 0.99 W/kg (head) 0.98 W/kg (body) | |
| TESTS | Performance | AnTuTu: 775519 (v9) GeekBench: 4645 (v5.1) GFXBench: 59fps (ES 3.1 onscreen) |
|---|---|---|
| Display | Contrast ratio: Infinite (nominal) | |
| Camera | Photo / Video | |
| Loudspeaker | -25.5 LUFS (Very good). | |
