iPhone 13 Announcement Uncorked
This week, Apple held its highly anticipated annual iPhone-centric event. This year they introduced the iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max.
With today marking the first day consumers can pre-order their new phones the biggest question on most peoples mind is: Should I upgrade? IMHO, if you have any of the 12 models, unless you’re into shooting videos, plan to take advantage of macro photography or just love to have the newest tech on the market you can probably hold off on this 13 line-up. If you have an 11 or lower you will see significant benefits in many aspects of your device that warrant the upgrade and, by enrolling in the upgrade program you can always upgrade again to snag the 14 next year.
With that said, there were still a lot of new features announced with the 13 line-up. To name a few: you have a better battery life, faster A15 chip, 20% smaller display notches, upgraded cameras, cinematography mode and, when it comes to the Pro models, a 120Hz ProMotion displays.
Don't get me wrong, the iPhone 13 line-up is a strong line-up and as a die hard Apple fanboy its safe to say its their best iPhone yet (feels like we can say that every year). But there’s a reason the internet is swarming with memes like the one below. That’s because this model could very much be viewed as a 12S seeing as how the 13 and 12 look identical with much of the improvements happening under the hood. Of course, labeling the phone as the 13 vs. 12S is easier to market and will most likely result in an increase in overall sales or at least thats what Apple is banking on.
Now, it shouldn’t be discounted how powerful the new A15 chip is (Side note, I dont know if it was just me, but I found it interesting that Apple did not market how much better the A15 chip was vs. the 12’s A14 chip. Instead, they decided to focus on how much better it is compared to the competition.), that we finally got a 120Hz display on the pro, and impressive updates to the new camera system. It's also fair to say that this is the first time that Apple has truly made the "Pro" line-up live up to its name with some legit pro features. It should be noted that you will get the same camera’s in both the Pro and Pro Max which was something Apple didn’t do last year.
I’d be remiss to not take a minute to talk about the new Cinematic mode. Apple spent a good amount of time talking about this new feature as well as a lot of money on production to really showcase what it can do. Tim Cook said it best in an interview after the event “this new mode is like having a Hollywood rig in your pocket.” For those unfamiliar with what Cinematic mode is, it brings a fun focus trick to the phones to better control focus using AI for depth detection so that when someone you're focused on looks away your device can automatically focus on the new subject. I think its pretty incredible how powerful the devices we have in our pockets continue to become and I look forward to seeing how creators take advantage of this new feature.
Now, Apple’s labeling for the iPhone 13 as the “Everyday Hero” couldn't be more accurate. The iPhone 13 can handle practically any task thrown its way and features a beautiful design in 5 different colors. Oh and the camera can still take stunning pictures and videos. Those who care about 1TB of storage and the best camera in their pocket should opt for the Pro models, or if you like having the 6.7 inch screen (I wish Apple would come out with a 13 Max for people that don’t need the pro’s features but still love a bigger screen in their pockets). However, even with those upgrades I'm personally still finding it hard to get excited about the new 13 line-up.
What do you think about the new 13 line-up? Leave your thoughts in the comments and let me know if you plan to upgrade or not.
Key Updates listed below:
Key updates when upgrading from a 12 to a 13
Cinematic mode
Video recording at 60 fps
A15 Bionic chip
Better battery (this is because the battery is bigger resulting in a slightly heavier device)
A larger 512GB storage option
Brighter display with 800 nits max vs the 12’s 625
Cinematic mode for video recording
New colors (can’t forget the new colors)
Sensor-shift image stabilization
Key updates when upgrading from 12 pro to 13 pro line up
Promotion Display
Cinematic mode
6x Optical zoom range (5x for 12 pro’s)
A15 Bionic chip
Better battery (this is because the battery is bigger resulting in a slightly heavier device)
1TB of storage option available
120Hz refresh
Macro photography
Wider aperture on all 3 lenses
f/2.2 vs f/2.8
f/1.5 vs f/1.6
f/1.8 vs. f/2.4
ProRes video recording
