The very first thing I observed once I picked up the brand new iPhone 13 Professional was the load. This telephone is a half-ounce heftier than its predecessor, and it’s barely thicker. The added dimension and weight is there to beat consumer considerations about battery life by putting in a much bigger battery.
Flip the iPhone 13 Professional round and take a look at the again, and also you’re certain to note that the three digicam lenses protrude farther from the again than they did within the earlier mannequin. Additionally they take up more room, which suggests your iPhone 12 Professional case received’t match the brand new telephone despite the fact that they give the impression of being loads alike.
Storage and Quicker Processor
As is all the time the case, there’s much more to an iPhone Professional than what you see within the first impression. For instance, the brand new iPhone Professional can now have as much as one terabyte of storage, which is twice as a lot because the iPhone 12 Professional. It’s bought a sooner processor within the A15 Bionic chip which encompasses a 6-core CPU, a 5-core GPU and a 16-core neural engine.
Apple additionally sells the iPhone 13 Professional Max, which has a 6.7-inch display in comparison with the 6.1-inch display of the iPhone 13 Professional. Aside from the bigger dimension of the iPhone 13 Professional Max, and the corresponding bigger battery, the 2 iPhones are the identical. You’ll actually discover that the notch on the prime of the display remains to be there. The notch incorporates cameras for facial recognition in addition to for photos and video. Apple mentioned it’s about 20 p.c smaller.
In use, you’re prone to discover that the display scrolls extra easily because of the adaptive refresh fee that goes as much as 120 Hz. The adaptive display refresh fee implies that the telephone can change the display refresh fee to satisfy the wants on the time. When taking a look at pretty static screens, for instance, the refresh fee will be as gradual as 10 Hz. This helps the telephone save energy, which in flip helps protect battery life.
The design of the A15 processor additionally helps scale back energy use. It has 2 efficiency cores with 4 effectivity cores. Likewise it could actually scale back the brightness of the display as wanted. Apple says that the iPhone 13 Professional has 1.5 extra hours of battery life, with 2.5 extra hours on the iPhone 13 Professional Max.
My expertise bore this out. I observed that the telephone by no means reached the midway level on battery use by the point it was able to be charged every night time. Like its predecessors, the iPhone 13 helps wi-fi charging in addition to permitting a plug-in charger via its Lightening port.
Greater Sensors, Higher Lenses
As you possibly can inform from the prominence of the cameras, these are the place Apple (ahem) targeted its efforts. The brand new cameras have greater sensors, higher lenses and higher software program than earlier iPhones. Severe photographers received’t mistake the iPhone pictures for one thing from knowledgeable grade SLR, however the cameras on the iPhone 13 Professional are excellent. What’s extra, Apple has improved the already good low-light functionality and the stabilization.
The three cameras are a telephoto, vast angle and extremely vast angle, all with 12 megapixel sensors. The vast angle digicam additionally helps macro images. The macro images mode occurs mechanically when the digicam is requested to deal with one thing very shut. There’s additionally a 12 megapixel digicam on the entrance of the iPhone 13 Professional which is used for facial recognition and for photographs and video.
All the cameras will assist 4K video recording in addition to full excessive definition. Apple has launched a function known as Cinematic Mode, which might report video with a shallow depth of subject, much like how Portrait Mode labored within the iPhone 12.
These photographs and movies will profit from the iPhone 13’s assist for 5G communications. Relying in your service of selection and your location, you could discover quick 5G in your space. Checks within the Washington, DC, Metro space confirmed that the iPhone 13 Professional may attain speeds of just below a gigabit per second utilizing T-Cellular’s 5G community. Related speeds will be reached with WiFi 6 which the iPhone 13 additionally helps. The distinction in comparison with the iPhone 12 is that the iPhone 13 helps extra 5G bands, however you’re nonetheless on the mercy of your telephone service whether or not you’ll be capable of use them.
The iPhone 13 Professional prices the identical because the iPhone 12 Professional did final yr, beginning at $999.00. Nevertheless carriers are providing large reductions in return for a contract. This yr, the Professional line is available in 4 colours with gold and Sierra Blue being added. Should you’ve already bought an iPhone 12 Professional, the one cause to improve is that if you really want one of many new options. In any other case you may wish to wait.
That is my final column for eWEEK. It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to jot down for you over all of those years. After I wrote my first story in what was then PC Week in 1983, I by no means would have guessed that I’d nonetheless be right here in 2021. Thanks for studying.
(Editors notice: Thanks Wayne! You’re a professional!)
