Teenage kicks
The iPhone 13 wasn’t the only thing offered up at Apple’s latest launch event
WHEN the iPhone 12 was unveiled around 11 months ago Apple described the event as a ‘leap year’ – everything was new about the device.
This year we’re taking smaller steps forward – with the iPhone 13 everything is better, but to the passing observer not a lot has changed.
But the iPhone 13 in all its variants was revealed this week in another glossy presentation film broadcast online. The phone was not the only thing Apple CEO Tim Cook and a parade of top execs from the company showed off during the event.
Here’s what’s new from Cupertino this autumn.
iPhone 13
Design-wise not a lot has changed with the iPhone 13 – the only way to tell them apart from the 12 is the smaller notch on the front-face to house the True Depth camera system, and the diagonal arrangement of the dual-lens camera system on the back.
There are new colours, of course – pink, blue, midnight, starlight, and (PRODUCT)RED for the 13 while the 13 Pro will come in graphite, gold, silver, and the allnew sierra blue.
But what’s really new this year is all on the inside. While the updates could be seen as incremental, they are far from insignificant.
The new chip at the heart of both phones is the A15 Bionic, the latest in a long line of Apple-designed chips that make the iPhone the fastest smartphone you can buy.
Everything else these new iPhones can do flows from that power. As well as general processing duties, the A15 also houses dedicated hardware to process images – which makes the computational photography features of the new phones possible.
Paired with the extraordinary new camera units, the image processor arguably makes the devices more cameras than phones.
The 13 houses ultra-wide and wide camera units which have improved a lot on last year’s.
The 13 Pro adds a telephoto lens to the mix.
They are great cameras, but what they and the power increase mean for users is new features in software.
Chief among those is the new Cinematic Mode. The phones will shift focus from one subject to another in shot automatically, according to what happens on screen. Say one person turns to look at someone else who is blurred in the background, the focus will shift from them to the person in the background. You can even edit these transitions after shooting.
The still images get new ‘photographic styles’. You can set up the character of your photos in terms of tone and warmth and the camera will remember your style, while still applying its software smarts to keep skin tones natural.
The other big upgrade this year comes in the Pro, which now features a display with a variable refresh rate. It can switch between refreshing the screen 10 times a second and 120 times a second depending on what you are doing, which helps to save power.
Battery life on all the phones is better than previous models too.
The phones come in the same sizes and variants as the 12, so we have the 13 Mini with a 5.4in screen, a 13 and 13 Pro with a 6.1in screen, and a 13 Pro
Max with a 6.7in screen.
The 13 Mini starts at £679, with the 13 from £779. The Pro starts at £949 and the Pro Max at £1,049. Storage tiers start at 128GB, while the Pro model is now available with 1TB of storage.
Should you pro-order? I’d say if you have any 12 model you’ll still be happy with that. But these new phones will feel like a massive upgrade to anyone else.
You can pre-order all four models of the iPhone 13 now for delivery on September 24.
iPad mini
The iPad mini has received a big redesign that means it’s now more the baby brother of the iPad Air than the base-model iPad.
It’s got the flattened edges and the Touch ID button on top, and it supports the second generation Apple Pencil, which attaches magnetically to its side.
The new design allows for an allscreen front – and that allows for a bigger 8.3in screen. There are four new colours, too – pink, starlight, purple, and space grey.
Inside the mini rocks the same super-fast A15 chip in the new iPhones.
There’s also 5G support for fast data, making this the most portable iPad you can get.
It’ll start at £479 and hit shops on September 24, but you can pre-order now.
Apple upgraded the base model iPad as well – it now sports the faster A13 Bionic chip, and adds an ultra-wide FaceTime camera for the Centre Stage feature which zooms in on faces to keep you in shot during video calls. The feature is also coming to the iPad mini.
Apple Watch Series 7
The new Apple Watch defied the pre-event rumours – it does not feature the flatter sides many had predicted. What the Series 7 does have, though, is a bigger screen – about 20% bigger than the Series 6.
This has allowed the software engineers to add features like a QWERTY keyboard. They’ve also optimised things like buttons for the larger display and there are new colours, too – the Series 7 will come in green, blue, starlight, midnight and PRODUCT(RED).
Software updates include new pilates workouts, as well as fall detection while cycling. If you fall off your bike it’ll ask you if you’re OK and can call an ambulance for you. The Series 7 is also more durable with a stronger screen.
There’s also faster charging – the battery can go from zero to 80% in around 45 minutes.
There’s no price yet, and Apple’s vague release date for the device is ‘later this autumn’.
The all-new operating systems
We now know when the new operating systems for Apple devices will arrive.
iOS 15 for iPhone, iPadOS 15 for iPad, and watchOS 8 for Apple Watch will be available for free download on September 20, bringing new features and upgrades.