Apple has shrunk the system so the notch is 20% smaller. I didn't really notice the difference until I placed it next to an older iPhone.
Another minor difference is the notch on the display.
The TrueDepth camera system is unchanged and continues to take great 12-megapixel photos and offer Face ID authentication, but Apple has shrunk the system so the notch is 20% smaller. Honestly, I didn't really notice the difference until I placed it next to an older iPhone.
The iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max are available in four colours. Graphite, Gold, and Silver make their return and joining them this year is the new Sierra Blue finish. Like last year's models, the highly polished finish is achieved using a physical vapour deposition process (PVD). And according to Apple, the Sierra Blue model required an entirely new process that involves placing multiple layers of nanometerscale metallic ceramics to achieve the colour. As for the Pro iPhones, the units I have are the iPhone 13 Pro in Gold and the iPhone 13 Pro Max in Sierra Blue. This year's Gold finish is slightly different from last year's. The polished sides are indistinguishable from one another but the glass back of this year's model is a richer darker shade of gold. As for Sierra Blue, it appears to be a lighter shade of last year's Pacific Blue.
Overall, fans of last year's new design will love this year's phones. But even if you don't fancy the squared-off edges and flat sides, the outstanding build quality of these phones is undeniable. Yes, these phones are expensive but they most definitely look and feel every bit as much as they cost.
DISPLAY & AUDIO
The displays of all of this year's phones have been improved. For the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini, the display is still a Super Retina XDR OLED display and resolution is unchanged but peak brightness has been increased. In typical situations, peak brightness is now up to 800 nits (up from 625 nits). Peak brightness when viewing HDR content remains the same at 1200 nits. Unless you are standing under harsh sunlight, it's hard to appreciate the higher brightness. Overall, it's a fantastic display. My only criticism would be the lack of support for high refresh rates – something that's becoming common place in phones that are in the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini's price range.
Fortunately, the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max addresses this shortcoming by finally supporting ProMotion technology on their Super Retina XDR OLED displays. ProMotion, if you remember, debuted on the 2017 10.5-inch iPad Pro and is the name of Apple's adaptive high refresh rate technology. On the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max it goes up to 120Hz and can get as low as 10Hz. It adjusts automatically depending on the content that's being showed. For example, if you are scrolling through websites or photos, it'll automatically ramp up to 120Hz. And if you just reading text, it'll turn the display's refresh rate down to 10Hz to conserve battery. It takes all of ten seconds of scrolling through photos and websites to appreciate just how much smoother a 120Hz refresh rate display is. Honestly, Apple should have brought ProMotion technology to iPhones last year at the very latest. But hey, better late than never right? I reckon that this alone is enough to get users who are fussy about their displays to upgrade.
All iPhones have incredible speakers and the new iPhones are no different. And if anything, this year's models have more clarity and sound a little better. Like previous generations, they are stereo speakers with speakers positioned above the notch at the top and next to the Lightning port at the bottom. Considering their compromised environment, it's amazing how loud and clear they get. And even at maximum volume, they remain perfectly intelligible. Sure, listen closely and there's noticeable distortion at maximum volume levels but I always use them to play music or podcasts in the background while I'm doing some quick chores and I never found them to be unpleasant.
OTHER FEATURES (5G, MAGSAFE)
The new iPhones all support 5G. While 5G was a big highlight last year, this year Apple only spent about 90 seconds talking about 5G. The big news is that the new
Considering their compromised environment, it's amazing how loud and clear they get. And even at maximum volume, they remain perfectly intelligible.
iPhones will support more 5G bands and will work with about 200 carriers by the end of the year. As for Singapore, last year's iPhones already supported 5G and this year's will no different which means only sub-6GHz support and no 5G mmWave.
MagSafe, which was introduced with last year's iPhones, makes a return too. Having tried a couple of MagSafe accessories, such as Belkin's rather excellent Boost Charge Pro 3-in-1 wireless charger,
I can honestly say it's a great way to charge your iPhones. Granted, it's not as quick as using a Lightning cable but it's so convenient. Apple showed off a new MagSafe wallet during the unveil and while it looks just like last year's wallet, it has added Find My integration that let owners know the last known location of where it was separated from your phone.
UPDATED CAMERA SYSTEMS
There are significant changes made to the camera systems of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro. I'll touch on the former first.
The iPhone 13 has dual 12-megapixel cameras. The camera bump on the back is even larger and keen readers might have noticed that the orientation has changed. The two cameras are now positioned diagonally from each other. This was done because the main wide camera has received significant updates.
The main wide sensor is larger and it captures up to 47% more light for better performance in low-light environments. This sensor also gets sensor-shift optical image stabilisation, a technology that debuted in last year's iPhone 12 Pro Max. This image stabilisation technology is most useful in challenging situations and can be really helpful if you have shaky hands. The ultra wide camera also has a new sensor that captures more light. The lenses, however, are unchanged. Also, both the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini have identical camera systems. So yes, even the smallest iPhone has sensor-shift image stabilisation tech on its main wide camera.
The iPhone 13 Pro has a triple 12-megapixel camera system and a lidar scanner. However, all cameras have either improved sensors or faster lenses. The main wide camera's sensor, with its 1.9 µm pixels, is the largest ever in an iPhone. Coupled with sensor-shift image stabilisation technology
Even the smallest iPhone has sensor-shift IS on its main wide camera.
and fast f/1.5 lens, Apple claims it will offer “massive improvement” in lowlight situations. The ultra wide camera has received perhaps the most significant updates. It has a faster sensor, a faster f/1.8 lens, and a new autofocus system that Apple says enables it to capture 92% more light for more detailed photos especially in lowlight environments. Finally, the telephoto camera now has a 77mm focal length which translates to 3x optical zoom. And for the first time, the telephoto camera supports Night Mode.
The front-facing TrueDepth cameras for all phones are unchanged but the system has been shrunken so the notch is now 20% smaller. You still have a 12-megapixel camera with an f/2.2 lens with support for Night Mode.
Here's a handy table to recap. The items in bold are new.
NEW FEATURES (SMART HDR 4, PHOTOGRAPHIC STYLES, MACRO MODE)
Apart from these hardware improvements, there are also numerous other under the hood updates and new features. To start, the A15 Bionic chip has a new image signal processor with Apple's new Smart HDR 4 technology that has cleverer noise reduction and more natural tone mapping techniques and algorithms.
According to Apple, one big improvement to Smart HDR 4 is the ability to recognise individual subjects in the photo and apply separate tone mappings to them.
Since large group gatherings are not possible, you'll just have to make do with this sample image above from Apple. Notice how the lighting on each person's face is slightly adjusted differently to account for the differences in their skin tones?
One exciting new feature is Photographic Styles. Think of it as a more advanced version of photo filters. Instead of applying the changes wholesale in post-capture, Photographic Styles applies your custom tone and warmth settings in real-time and mixes it into the A15 Bionic's image signal processing pipeline. This means your adjustments are applied intelligently to the right areas and important aspects like skin tones don't get messed up. There are four preset settings to choose from but they can be customised to your preference.
Look at the sample photo from Apple above. It shows the original photo on the left, Rich Contrast settings applied to the one middle, and Warm settings applied to the one on the right. The differences look more obvious in Apple's sample here but I found them to be more subtle in the photos that I've took thus far. Maybe it's just Cartman?
While Photographic Styles is available to all the new iPhones, only the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max will be able to take macro photos. Using the new improved ultra wide camera, the macro mode will let users take photos from as close as 2cm. There's no need for activation, you just bring the phone close to your subject and it will automatically switch to the ultra wide camera. Presumably, it works by making use of the lidar sensor to detect focus distance. And like any kind of macro photography, you need your subject to stay still otherwise the phone move in and out of macro mode – you can tell it is doing that when the preview changes and your perspective slightly shifts which indicates the phone has switched from the ultra wide to wide camera.
Take a look at the sample images below of a vintage watch. Look at how much details is captured is the logo, print, and hands. You can easily make out blemishes on the dial and hands.
NIGHT MODE PERFORMANCE
Now let's take a look at the Night Mode photos. Apple's implementation of Night Mode has typically resulted in photos that look rather natural and this year's iPhones continue this tradition. And thanks to sensor-shift image stabilisation technology, it's easier to get a good shot, especially in very poorly-lit situations when you are using the main wide camera.
The differences are more apparent when taking photos of objects close up. The photos of the maneki-neko were taken in a dark room and the only light sources were street lamps coming from outside the windows and a small table lamp about three metres away. And despite these challenging conditions, the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini both took great photos. The maneki-neko looks sharp and you can clearly make out the Japanese text on the body. But the Pro iPhones produced an even sharper and more detailed image. The outline is more defined, the text on the body is cleaner, and you can even make out the dust that's been captured on the fabric base.
CLOSING THOUGHTS ON IMAGING PERFORMANCE
As you would expect, these new iPhones have solid cameras and take fantastic photos. But Apple's issue of automatically switching cameras continues to frustrate. For example, selecting the telephoto camera doesn't actually mean you'll use it. If lighting isn't optimal, the phone might instead
If lighting isn't optimal, the phone might instead opt to use the wide lens instead and apply a digital zoom.
opt to use the wide lens instead and apply a digital zoom. The issue arises with the new macro photography mode too. Having the phone automatically switch to the ultra wide camera for macro photography is undoubtedly convenient but it is a double-edged sword because the phone can be too eager to activate the ultra wide camera when it should have stuck with the main wide camera.
For example, in the close-up photos of the maneki-neko shots in the Night Mode section above, the phone would switch to macro mode and the ultra wide camera even though I was at a range where the main wide camera would still work. The result is very noisy and grainy photos. I ended up with the photos I took by using my finger to block off the ultra wide camera and force the phone to rely on the main wide camera. Fortunately, Apple said that a new setting will be added in a software update later this year that turns off automatic camera switching so users can have more control when taking close-ups and macro shots.
At any rate, the crucial thing is that the main wide cameras take excellent photos that are pin-sharp with high levels of detail, and accurate punchy colours. But they aren't a huge step up from last year's iPhones unless the situations are dire. The photos these phones take are good but they aren't significantly better than the competition either. However, like I said in last year's review, and this is subjective I know, the way iPhones render photos often results in more natural-looking and life-like photos. Unless I'm trying to go for an exaggerated stylistic look, I don't feel like I need to do much, if any, editing before I can share them with friends or online. That's a commendable thing.
Still, the larger sensors and faster lenses of the Pro iPhones allow them to deliver higher sharpness and level of details when the going gets tough. In poorly-lit conditions, I found the Pro iPhones to deliver photos that are crisper and have more information in them. Admittedly, these are only very apparent when you pixel peep but that's the whole point of these phones – they are for enthusiasts who care about the little things.
With all that said, the new iPhones have very competent camera systems that are easily some of the best in the business. There's no doubt that they will be front runners for the Best Camera Smartphone award in next year's Tech Awards.
DOLBY VISION & CINEMATIC MODE
Last year's highlight feature was support for Dolby Vision, an HDR format that's superior to the common HDR10 because light data is encoded for every frame. This means more realistic and lifelike HDR videos. And while it is true that some Android phones now support HDR10+, iPhones are the only phones that are capable of recording in full 4K at 60fps with all of their cameras.
Take a look at the sample videos below taken with an iPhone 13 Pro Max. Visuals are crisp and the colours are sharp and vibrant. Colour management as the video transitions from the shaded walkway and into the open is as commendable as ever. The sensor-shift image stabilisation also seems to be a little more effective. Last year's iPhones were also criticised for their lens flare issues and they seem to be a little less obtrusive this year. But we need more time with these phones in the evenings and nights to be certain of that.
The big new feature for videography this year is Cinematic Mode which brings depth-of-field effect to videos. It's a technique that directors and cinematographers use to draw viewers' attention to certain elements in the film. Apple's demo video below is a little exaggerated but it's a showcase of what Cinematic Mode does.
What's most amazing about Cinematic Mode is how easy it is to use. Select the mode in the camera app and the phone automatically detects subjects in the frame. Tap to change focus. Even more amazing is that you can change the subject that's in focus in post-production and even the
What's most amazing about Cinematic Mode is how easy it is to use. Select the mode in the camera app and the phone automatically detects subjects in the frame. Tap to change focus.
amount of bokeh. This is made possible by the A15 Bionic's processing prowess. When Cinematic Mode is enabled, the phone is analysing and recognising subjects and records multiple scenes and frames. That said, when recording in Cinematic Mode, the output is limited to 1080p and at 30fps which is immediately noticeable if you typically shoot in 4K like I do. I'm also not convinced it's doing a good job at focusing on subjects. I'll need more time to be sure. In the meantime, check out my demo video.
PRORES VIDEO
Video professionals will also be happy to know that the new iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max will be the first iPhones capable of recording in ProRes video. Though this feature is not available at launch, Apple says it will be available later this year. In this mode, they can shoot up to 4K 30fps. However, that's only for Pro iPhones with at least 256GB storage. The 128GB versions
The ProRes video mode can shoot up to 4K 30fps, this is only for Pro iPhones with 256GB storage. The 128GB versions of the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max are capped at 1080p at 30fps.
of the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max are capped at 1080p at 30fps. Presumably, it's because ProRes videos take up considerably more storage than even 4K videos recorded in Dolby Vision.
INTRODUCING A15 BIONIC
As with every generation of new iPhones, we have a new processor. Powering the new iPhones is Apple's A15 Bionic chip. And as usual, Apple does not reveal much about the inner workings of its chips so here's what we know.
It's built on a 5nm process but it has a lot more transistors. It has nearly 15 billion transistors, which is roughly 27% more than the A14 Bionic. The CPU core configuration is unchanged so we have a 6-core CPU with two performance cores and four efficiency cores. Apple says the CPU is up to 50% faster than “the competition” but didn't say who the competition specifically was. The GPU still has four cores but Apple says it's up to 30% faster than “the competition.” Again, no idea who they are referring to.
And for the first time, the Pro iPhones will have a slightly different processor. Though the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max have A15 Bionic chips, their chips have five GPU cores instead of the usual four. Naturally, the extra GPU core will give better graphics performance and Apple says the Pro iPhones will deliver up to 50% more graphics performance than “the competition.” If Apple is referring to the same competition, then we can expect the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max to have up to 15% better graphics performance than the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini.
A15 Bionic also has enhancements in other areas. It has a new image signal processor (Smart HDR 4), a new video decoder and encoder, double the system cache, and a new 16-core Neural Engine that is now capable of up to 15.8 trillion operations per second (up from 11 trillion operations per second). The Neural Engine is critical because the iOS 15 does a lot more processing on-device such as Siri and Live Text.
3DMARK WILD LIFE UNLIMITED
3DMark Wild Life is a new cross-platform GPU benchmark that was released only days before this review and it measures graphics performance on iOS, Android, and Windows devices. This means you can compare scores of devices regardless of platform. On iOS devices, it runs Metal; and on Android and Window devices, it runs Vulkan. This benchmark comes at a good time because prior 3DMark GPU benchmarks for mobile devices (like Slingshot and Ice Storm) are woefully old and use outdated graphics engines and rendering techniques. The benchmark is ran in Unlimited mode which renders the test offscreen and maximises the performance of the GPU.
Here, we can see that extra GPU core of the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max is giving them a leg-up on the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini. The iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max's scores on 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited were about 15% better than the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini. As for the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini, their scores were about 8% higher than the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Incredibly, the new iPhones' scores were at least 70% better than flagshipclass Android phones.Android phones.
BATTERY LIFE
Our standard battery test for mobile phones has the following parameters:
Looping a 720p video with screen brightness and volume at 100%.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
Constant data .streaming through email.
Thanks to larger batteries and more efficient components, the new iPhones will deliver better battery life. Here are Apple's claims:
iPhone 13 Mini - 1.5 hours longer than iPhone 13 Mini
iPhone 13 - 2.5 hours longer than iPhone 12.
iPhone 13 Pro - 1.5 hours longer than iPhone 12 Pro.
iPhone 13 Pro Max 2.5 hours longer than iPhone 12 Pro Max.
In our battery test, which is admittedly quite extreme given that we run the phones at maximum screen brightness, the gains are more modest. We saw gains from 10% to as much as 32%. Lovers of smaller phones will be happy to see that the iPhone 13 Mini gained over an hour in battery life in our tests. At 313 minutes, it lasted nearly as long as an iPhone 12.
PRICE
Let's talk prices. I hope you have been saving up because like last year's models, this year's iPhones are all four-figure phones with the most affordable being the iPhone 13 Mini which starts at S$1,149.
But if it's any consolation, this year's iPhone 13 and 13 Mini are better value than last year's models because the entry-level storage is 128GB – up from 64GB. And if you look at prices of the 256GB models, they are actually S$70 less than last year.
Prices of the Pro iPhones are unchanged but there's now a 1TB option for users who need more storage. But be warned, the 1TB phones will leave huge holes in your pocket.
This year's iPhone 13 and 13 Mini are better value than last year's models as the entrylevel storage is128GB.
GENERAL CLOSING THOUGHTS
Apple rarely makes big changes to their phones and it's no different this year. The design is the same and while there are a couple of significant improvements and interesting new features, these new phones are fundamentally iterative updates of last year's phones. But that's just the way smartphones are. As I said before, gone are the days when you see huge leaps in performance and features year-onyear.
Ultimately, this year's phones build on the strengths of last year and rectifies some of their weaknesses. They look and feel expensive, performance is peerless, the displays are better, the cameras take nicer photos, and battery life is even longer. These are just very solid well rounded phones that are capable of doing many things very well. Those who decide to splash the cash will be very happy with their purchase.
I only wished they got rid of that cursed Lightning port.
These are just very solid well rounded phones that are capable of doing many things very well.