Let me spoil the review right away: The best reason to upgrade to the iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 mini is the improved battery life.
Despite how boring that may sound, it's a big deal.
I'm coming into this review after using the iPhone 12 Pro as my daily driver for nearly a year. By far my biggest issue with this otherwise great phone was its battery. I'd charge it in the morning and it would barely last me until the end of the day.
Knowing that the iPhone 13 and 13 mini do not bring anything radically new to the table, I was primarily interested in whether Apple's claims of "impressive" leaps in battery life were real. The answer is yes, they were.
Subtle design changes
This is the new iPhone, so every detail counts. Visually, it boils down to two things: New colors (namely: Starlight, Midnight, blue, and pink, as well as good old red), and the rear camera modules being arranged diagonally instead of one above the other. My iPhone 13 unit came in pink, while the iPhone 13 mini came in the new Starlight color. Both are very subtle — from afar, they might even appear identical. As for the freshly rearranged rear camera modules, I prefer the new look, but let's face it, most people won't even notice the difference.
On the front, there's one change: Both the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini have a noticeably narrower notch than their predecessors. Functionally, it's a very small difference — no, the phones don't show you the battery life percentage in the status bar — but it feels like progress.
Other than that, the iPhone 13 and 13 mini are nearly physically identical to the iPhone 12 and 12 mini. Their displays are exactly the same size (6.1 and 5.4 inches diagonally, respectively) and have the same resolution (2532x1170 and 2340x1080 pixels, respectively). They have the same water and dust resistance rating, IP68. The display is protected by Apple's Ceramic Shield. The back is made of glass, and the frame is made of aluminum.
There are some changes that are invisible to the eye. The new iPhones are slightly heavier than the old ones. The iPhone 13 mini weighs 0.21 ounces more than the iPhone 12 mini. Similarly, the iPhone 13 weighs 0.36 ounces more than the iPhone 12. The change is noticeable if you look for it, but I doubt many users will care.
128GB for starters? Yes, sir!
On the inside, you won't find any revolutionary new technology, but there are improvements. By far the most important is that Apple doubled the entry-level storage capacity, meaning that the iPhone 13 and 13 mini both start with 128GB.
This change makes some variants of the iPhone 12, which Apple still sells on its website, very hard to recommend. For example, the 128GB iPhone 12 costs just 50 bucks less than the 128GB iPhone 13. Given all the other advantages the new model has over the old one, the iPhone 13 is a vastly better option.
The A15 Bionic processor is Apple's latest and best mobile chip, and it's the fastest on the market, according to Geekbench 5 software, which computed that the new iPhone bests previous models by roughly 10 percent. In day-to-day usage, I could tell no difference between the A15 and the A14 on my old iPhone 12 Pro, but that's probably because the old chip is also very fast.
With Apple's latest processor, these phones will probably be fast enough for most people even three or four years down the line. Notably, the iPhone 13 and 13 mini have one less GPU core than the Pro models, though you might only feel that if you're an avid gamer.
Finally, while the display on these phones still caps out at 60Hz (the Pro models get the new 120Hz display), it has been improved with better brightness. I've tested it against the one on the iPhone 12 Pro, and it does appear to be brighter, if only marginally.
A leap in battery life
The iPhone 13's battery lasted a lot longer than my iPhone 12 Pro's battery. Typically, at the end of the day, the iPhone 12 Pro would be at 10-20 percent; the iPhone 13 was around 40 percent every night.
The battery on my old phone is in perfect condition, and I copied and used the exact same apps on the new phone, so there should be no discrepancies. The iPhone 13 simply has a longer-lasting battery, and not by a small amount.
I had a little less time with the iPhone mini, but it also did well, lasting me through the day with roughly 20 percent battery left. So, back to where I was with my old phone, but still better than having to charge it mid-day.
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While everyone's preferences regarding smartphones are slightly different, battery life is the one feature that's important to everyone. The iPhone 13 is an all-day phone, meaning I can charge it overnight and it'll last me into the next day.
This is also where the iPhone 13 and the iPhone 13 mini differ. The mini also has a much-improved battery life compared to the last generation, but it's not as good as its bigger brother. If you're in love with its size — after using humongous phones for years, I am — it's a good option, but do know that it might not last a full day of intense usage.
All the small things in iOS 15
iOS 15, which became available a week ago, is similar to the iPhone 13: It's not a massive upgrade, but it improves the overall experience in little ways.
Notifications, for one, have been improved, with larger icons, a better, more customizable notification summary, and the ability to mute notifications for a while.
The camera app is smarter; you can now point it at text and it will allow you to copy and paste it. It can recognize specific information in text, too; for example, if it detects a phone number, it'll let you immediately place a call.
One new feature that didn't sit well with me was Focus, which allows you to filter certain notifications to reduce distractions at different times of day. For something that should make your life easier, it just seemed unnecessarily complicated.
There aren't many software features that are specific to iPhone 13 models. The most noticeable one is the camera's Cinematic mode, which you won't find on the iPhone 12 models (more about that later).
Finally, some features are missing. For example, SharePlay, which lets you watch videos and share your screen with others in a video call, will come "later this fall." It's a bummer, but the feature has been added to iOS 15.1 beta, so it's probably coming soon.
iPhone 13 camera
Over the years, Apple has become masterful in upgrading its mid-tier phones just enough to make it count, but not enough to eclipse the Pro models. This has never been more visible than in the case of the iPhone 13 and 13 mini.
Let's get this out of the way: The iPhone 13 doesn't have a telephoto lens. You can still zoom in while taking a photo, but it's digital instead of optical zoom, and most of the time it won't look very good. The iPhone 13 Pro's macro mode is also missing, as is the ProRes format (which really is a feature for professionals).
What you do get are a pretty good main rear camera, a decent ultra-wide camera, and the same selfie camera you get on the Pro models.
In the daylight, this phone will take great photos and selfies, with vibrant colors, and just a tad of over-sharpening, as is typical of the iPhone.
I saw no discernible difference between the iPhone 13 and the 13 mini, which was to be expected given their camera specs are exactly the same.
Come night, and the iPhone 13 performs very well, too. I couldn't test it against the new Pro models, but it performed nearly identical to my iPhone 12 Pro.
The older phone was seemingly able to capture a little more light, but thanks to Apple's AI wizardry, the resulting photos looked great on both phones. In fact, if I had to choose a winner, it'd be the iPhone 13, which consistently took slightly sharper photos with more accurate colors.
You'll get by far the best results with the main camera; the ultra-wide and selfie cameras can take photos at night but the quality won't be great.
Probably the most interesting new feature is Cinematic mode. It allows you to take a video with the background behind subjects automatically blurred.
Even better, when the camera detects the focus of the video has switched to a different subject, such as another person waving in the background, it will sharpen that person and blur everything else. The effect is really cool, allowing users to create clips that are sometimes almost Hollywood-like in quality. It's not something you'll use every day, but influencers will be all over this thing.
Another cool new feature is called Photographic Styles, allowing you to choose from profiles such as Rich Contrast, Warm, or Cool. I preferred to stick with the Standard profile, as you can always adjust contrast and colors afterwards, but if you prefer a certain style of photo, now you can set a matching style to be your default.
The iPhone 13 takes great photos, no matter if it's day or night. It doesn't get all the bells and whistles of the Pro models, or, to be fair, the latest Android flagships. But if you're the type of user that likes to pull out their phone, point it at something, and take a photo without too much tinkering, the iPhone 13 is a great choice.
No shiny new things, but that doesn't matter
In this review, I set out to answer three basic questions. Are the iPhone 13 and 13 mini good phones on their own? Are they a good upgrade from the earlier generation? And finally, how do they compare to Apple's Pro models?
On the first count, the answer is simple: Both the iPhone 13 and 13 mini are great phones. They'll last you through the day (the 13 mini might be cutting it close for some users, though), they have Apple's latest A15 Bionic chip, meaning they are very fast now and will likely be fast enough in 3 to 4 years, and they start at 128GB, a big leap for Apple and plenty of space for most users. Sure, you can get an Android with a lower price tag and better battery life, but Apple's ecosystem and the longevity of its phones — thanks to their fast chips and continuous upgrades — make the iPhone 13 and 13 mini a great option.
Upgrading from the iPhone 12 or 12 mini wouldn't be worth it if not for the improved battery life and starting storage capacity. For those reasons, and especially if you can get a good deal from your carrier, you should definitely consider switching to Apple's latest.
Finally, after using the iPhone 13 and 13 mini for the better part of a week, I didn't really miss many of the options from Apple's Pro line. The camera was a step back, but such a gentle one, that I barely noticed it. The upgraded display, the lidar, the slightly fancier materials on the Pro — none of that makes a huge difference. Put it all together and yes, the Pro is a better phone, but the iPhone 13 is a better deal.
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