The new Pro models in the iPhone family pull even further ahead of their vanilla counterparts with a faster GPU, improved camera hardware and most importantly the first ProMotion screen on an iPhone.
The new iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max
“ProMotion” is Apple advocating for a high refresh rate screen. On iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, it can go as low as 10Hz and as high as 120Hz. iOS has been reworked to make the best use of the new screen.
The choice of screen sizes is the same – a 6.1 “iPhone 13 Pro or a 6.7” Pro Max. The notch that hosts the TrueDepth camera is now 20% smaller, while the new panels are up to 25% brighter outdoors.
Then let’s talk about the camera. Apple is stuck with 12MP resolution, but improved lenses, sensors and image processing.
The main camera sensor has an impressive pixel size of 1.9 µm and a brighter aperture of f / 1.5. By comparison, the 12 Pro Max had 1.7 pixelsm pixels and an f / 1.6 lens. This means that in low light, the new model can capture up to 2.2 times more light.
The tele camera has a new 77 mm f / 2.8 lens, so it offers 3x optical magnification over the main camera. This is up from 65 mm / 2.5x lens, however with an f / 2.4 aperture.
Next is the ultrawide camera, which also has a better lens — a 6-element f / 1.8 one with autofocus to be exact. This compares with the f / 2.4 lens on last year’s benefits, resulting in up to 92% more light hitting the sensor. And a new trick – autofocus allows the ultrawide module to double as a macro camera. All cameras on the Pro models support night mode, even the telephoto camera.
The new chipset (we’ll get to that) also has hardware support for ProRes video, Apple’s professional video codec. The pros can record at 4K at 30 fps, and you can edit the ProRes videos directly on the phone. Dolby Vision HDR is also supported at up to 4K 60 fps.
Interestingly, the iPhone 13 pros detect a depth map next to the video, which allows you to change the depth of field even after you finish recording a video. Another new feature is Photographic Styles, which automatically edits a photo, one element at a time (for example, by applying various corrections to the subject and background). This will be activated later on the vanilla 13 models.
Now let’s talk about the Apple A15 Bionic chipset. It consists of as many as 15 billion transistors (A14 had 11.8 billion). It’s fabbed on a 5nm process, but Apple offered no further details. The chipset maintains the 2 + 4 CPU structure with two large cores, and Apple advertises it as “50% faster than the leading competition”, although it’s hard to say what constitutes the leading competition for the Cupertino company.
The GPU now has 5 cores, which gives it an advantage over the vanilla phones, which use a version of the chip with 4 cores. The neural engine has also been reinforced and now delivers 15.8 TOPS, up from 11 TOPS on the A14 (we will only point out that a Snapdragon 888+ announces 32 TOPS).
Battery life has been improved thanks to a combination of a more efficient display, more efficient chipset and a larger battery and iOS optimizations. On average, an iPhone 13 Pro lasts 1.5 hours on a single charge compared to a 12 Pro, 13 Pro Max can last 2.5 hours longer than 12 Pro Max. Apple did not mention a faster charging system, so that means 20W cable over Lightning and 15W over MagSafe.
The two Pro phones will be available in graphite, gold, silver and the all-new Sierra Blue color, which required a new process to create more durable layers of coating. The chassis is made of stainless steel, the front is a ceramic screen, the back is frosted glass. The camera lenses are covered with sapphire crystal.
iPhone 13 Pro colorways: Sierra Blue • Silver • Gold • Graphite
Apple also improved the 5G connection with support for more bands. By the end of the year, the iPhone 13 series will work on over 200 carriers around the world, spanning 60 countries. The Smart Data feature switches to 4G to save battery power when a low-latency high-speed connection is not needed.
Before we mention prices, we need to talk about storage. It still starts with 128 GB, goes through 256 GB and 512 GB options and introduces 1 TB storage option.
You will be able to pre-order the new iPhones starting this Friday, the first devices will be available on September 24th. The iPhone 13 Pro starts at $ 1,000, the iPhone 13 Pro Max at $ 1,100. You can find more pricing information here.
