My (Overdue) Thoughts About the iPhone 13 Series
DISCLAIMER: Not sponsored. Whatever written is 100% based on my honest views, be it good or bad.
Hi guys, Howard here. If this writeup’s title sounds similar to another writeup, that’s because I’ve wrote about my thoughts about the iPhone 12 last year. I know the iPhone 13 series was out since September and I’m very late to the game, but that doesn’t stop me from sharing my thoughts anyway.
Design
The exterior design of the iPhone 13 series is mostly unchanged; having the same boxy design, screen sizes and choice of materials as the 12’s. Only the notch and the camera layout have changed. Something that may not be obvious at a glance is that the phones have become slightly thicker and heavier, more on that in the next section. Oh, and who could forget about the new colours; like pink or midnight-ish black on the 13’s and cloud blu- I mean sierra blue on the 13 Pros?
Battery
The battery life of the 13 series generally sees a much-needed improvement due to larger batteries across the board, from the petite 13 mini to the massive 13 Pro Max. The phones became thicker to make way for larger batteries, and an increase in battery size means an increase in the overall weight as well. For some reason, the 13 Pro has a slightly smaller battery than the regular 13 despite sharing the same dimensions on all three axes, so I’m not sure whether it’ll affect the battery life significantly. The 13 Pro Max once again has the longest battery life in any iPhone, but the 13 mini deserves a mention too for finally having an acceptable battery life.
Usability
Unlike its predecessor, the regular 13’s and the 13 Pros have even more obvious differences that will make a shopper’s decision much easier. The 13 Pros have an adaptive 120-Hertz ProMotion screen as compared to the standard 60-Hertz screen on the regular 13’s, finally catching up with its Android rivals. The high refresh rate screen on the Pro models seems nice, but my existing phone still feels smooth to swipe at this moment. I’m afraid that my opinion might change should I use a high refresh rate screen extensively, but hopefully by not a lot. Oh, a side benefit of having adaptive high refresh rate screens is that it will conserve battery life when there are static images on the screen, which will drop to 10 frames per second. Otherwise, you’re mostly scrolling up to 120 frames per second of content.
And for the first time, the processor used in the regular 13’s and the 13 Pros has a difference. The A15 chip has now three variations: the regular 13’s having 4-core graphics, the 13 Pros having 5-core graphics, and the iPad mini 6 having a nerfed 5-core graphics. Despite the differences, the iPhone 13 series is still plenty fast for most people, but the 13 Pro has an edge over the regular 13 if you are an avid iOS gamer.
Across the board, the notch is definitely smaller but there’s barely any usefulness from the slight increase in screen area. Many people and I thought that the increase in screen area on top would have space for battery percentage or more icons but none of these happened. It still only has Face ID though. We’re still in the midst of a pandemic where everyone’s still wearing masks here. This makes it more inconvenient to unlock an iPhone with a mask on. I’d much rather have Touch ID back so that I can unlock my iPhone easier without pulling down my mask, entering my passcodes or using an Apple Watch.
However, the iPhones still use an outdated Lightning port when even the iPad mini 6 now has a USB-C port to charge its batteries, which some may consider the former as a dealbreaker. I mean, Apple should’ve put USB-C on their iPhones long ago. Heck, it could possibly support faster charging or even faster data transfers too.
But not all hopes were lost, though. Something that Apple didn’t mention in their iPhone event was the improved speakers on the new iPhones, but was discovered by a few well-known tech YouTubers, so that could be something for my ears to evaluate.
Cameras
Now is the part where I’m most looking forward to — the cameras. Hardware wise, all the camera modules received newer sensors and better lenses, hence the need for a bigger camera bump. All four models have sensor shift stabilisation on the main lens, which was originated from last year’s 12 Pro Max exclusively. Software wise, there were two highlight features introduced to the whole iPhone 13 series — Cinematic Mode and Photographic Styles. Cinematic Mode is something like Portrait Mode for videos, but it feels like a gimmick at this moment. As for Photographic Styles, I’m not sure if I’ll use it cuz I’m fine with iPhone’s default colour science. It’s like a filter but not really a filter at the same time. It should hopefully be helpful if I shoot sunrise and sunset photos though.
The 13 Pros see more camera improvements. The ultrawide lens finally has autofocus capabilities, which allows the camera to focus at a very short distance to do macro photography. Macro photography is not really my thing, but this could open to more creative shots from a phone. The telephoto zoom lens transforms into a 3x zoom, so this would be better if I snap objects further away. However, longer zoom means lesser light can enter the sensor, so Apple finally allows the telephoto lens to support Night Mode as well. Exclusive to the 13 Pros is the capability to shoot ProRes videos. It’s like shooting raw images but for videos, which will eat up a lot of the phone’s storage. Most people won’t need it but it’s a good-to-have for professionals to record videos on the go. Both the 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max share the same exact camera system, so you don’t need to get the Pro Max model for the best cameras possible anymore.
The new camera hardware and features may have their quirks, but iPhones still have the best all rounded camera system overall. It has a balance between great photos and excellent videos, unlike most flagship Android phones that focus primarily on excellent photos but ‘meh’ videos. That’s why I use iPhones, it’s for the consistency in quality.
Pros and Cons
Here are a few pros and cons summarised across the iPhone 13 series (with the cons being mostly nitpicky).
Pros:
- Better cameras
- Better battery life
- Smaller notch — looks visually better
- 128 GB base storage on the regular 13’s is a good upgrade
- Adaptive high refresh rate screens on the 13 Pros help to save battery life
- An extra core of graphics on the 13 Pros will benefit iOS gamers
Cons:
- Face ID is inconvenient during the mask-wearing pandemic
- Still uses the outdated Lightning port
- Smaller notch makes no difference in top row icons
- Cinematic mode still feels a bit gimmicky
- 13 Pro Max is at its heaviest yet
Summary
The iPhone 13 series is no doubt expensive, but its features make it more compelling to buy in my opinion. I think it’s high time for me to upgrade to the iPhone 13 series, especially that my current iPhone XS Max always overheats while playing Asphalt 9 and its battery would drain very quickly when I’m out delivering my orders. But then again, my current phone is certainly not a horrible phone, so I’ll see how long it’ll hang onto its dear life before I make the switch. Till then, stay tuned to see what model I’ll upgrade to, and I might just be coming up with a 1-week experience with that chosen model. Howard out!
