iPhone 13: 6 things we love (and 3 things we don't)

iPhone xiii: 6 things we dearest (and iii things nosotros don't)

(Prototype credit: Tom's Guide)

The iPhone xiii has arrived, with all iv new models hitting stores today (Sept. 24). If you lot didn't preorder your new iPhone, you can caput downwardly to the nearest Apple Store or your favorite carrier to run into if the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini or either iPhone 13 Pro model is in stock. (Just be sure to cheque out our guide to the best iPhone xiii deals before you beginning shopping.)

We're big fans of the latest iPhones, in case yous haven't heard, with the iPhone 13 Pro Max earning our highest rating. Just the other iPhones won rave reviews, as well, earning praise for some welcome new features that tackled the few flaws from terminal year'south phones while also expanding the iPhones' capabilities.

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Plus: iPhone xiv: 7 biggest upgrades nosotros want to see

If you're still on the debate well-nigh whether to get an iPhone 13, nosotros tin can help y'all make up one's mind if whatsoever of the new phones is the right choice for you lot. Below we'll talk most the features that place the various iPhone xiii models loftier on the list of best iPhones also every bit some things we don't like about the latest devices from Apple.

iPhone 13: What we like

There's a reason the iPhone 13 models got summit marks in our reviews, with the iPhone 13 Pro Max vaulting to the top of the listing for best phones. Hither'due south a summary of what Apple got right with this round of updates.

More storage on the iPhone 13 base of operations model: Our biggest ongoing complaint with iPhones has been Apple's stingy attitude toward storage, especially with its entry-level models. While the iPhone Pro series had joined the residuum of the world in offer plenty onboard capacity, last year'southward iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini started with just 64GB of storage.

Apple inverse that with the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini, upping the amount of storage in the base of operations models to 128GB. At present when determining how much iPhone storage you need at the time of purchase, you can opt for the starting cost in many cases, gratuitous from the fear that you're being shortchanged.

The iPhone Pro models already had 128GB of storage in their base models, and so Apple went the other management. You can get a 1TB iPhone 13 Pro or iPhone 13 Pro Max — if yous don't mind paying MacBook Pro prices.

Photographic camera hardware improvements: These days, smartphones are pretty camera-centric, and Apple makes the near of that with the iPhone 13 release. The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone xiii Pro Max go the more extensive updates with a larger chief sensor and wider aperture, plus a more powerful optical zoom and an ultrawide angle shooter with that has a bigger aperture and a wider field of view.

iphone 13 pro back showing camera array — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The iPhone xiii and iPhone 13 mini get improvements of their ain, importantly a larger main sensor that lets in 47% more low-cal than the iPhone 12 did. The ultrawide bending lens on these phones can capture four times more scene than earlier.

The bottom line for these improvements is that the iPhones should perform ameliorate when information technology comes to taking photos in darker settings, as the larger sensors and wider apertures permit in more low-cal. That usually translates to brighter pictures and less noise.

Certainly, our testing backs that upwardly, as the various iPhone 13 models match and surpass some of the best photographic camera phones we've tested in the past year. A lot of that comes down to software tweaks — we'll talk well-nigh an exciting new characteristic in a moment, but the new camera hardware plays a big role, as well.

Cinematic manner: Speaking of software improvements to the iPhone's picture-taking capabilities, the most eye-catching feature added to the iPhone this year is Cinematic fashion. Actuate Cinematic mode when shooting video, and you can add Hollywood-style rack focus to your video, where the primary bailiwick appears in focus while the groundwork is blurred.

Information technology gets amend — if the person you're shooting turns to await at something else, the focus automatically shifts besides. Or y'all tin can manually change the focus from the foreground to the background, depending on what you want to emphasize.

Cinematic manner isn't flawless, and you're express to shooting at 1080p resolution instead of 4K. But male child, is information technology a lot of fun to play with, and we expect a lot of Cinematic fashion videos from early on iPhone thirteen adopters to popular up in the next few weeks.

120Hz displays on the iPhone 13 Pro: Apple may be late to the loftier refresh charge per unit party that Android phones have been dropping in on for more a twelvemonth, but it certainly did the feature right when it added ProMotion displays to the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Prom Max. Thanks to this feature, the 6.1- and 6.7-inch screens on the Pro and Pro Max will dynamically accommodate their refresh rate, ramping things up to 120Hz when you tin can reap the benefits of smoother scrolling and richer graphics or scaling down to 10Hz to preserve battery life.

Fast-refreshing screens make a world of divergence when it comes to the overall smartphone experience, and the ProMotion displays on the iPhone xiii Pro models certainly give those phones a more professional sheen. It's just a shame that not every new iPhone owner is going to go to experience this particular addition. (Just we're getting alee of ourselves.)

A15 Bionic performance: At this point, it's fairly predictable when a new iPhone comes out to find that aye, the processor in the new models outperforms everything else on the marketplace. Still, nosotros should never accept for granted how skilled Apple is at designing high-performance processors for its phones. The A15 Bionic chipset is another example of that.

Every bit seen in our iPhone 13 benchmarks, the gap isn't that broad between the A15 and A14 Bionic that powered the iPhone 12 lineup. But information technology is in that location. More chiefly, the new chip continues to keep Apple streets alee of the all-time chips fueling leading Android devices.

And there'due south more than only a performance boost here. The neural engine on the A15 Bionic has as well been beefed up, and that'southward powering a lot of new capabilities that rely on the chip'southward added smarts. Cinematic manner is a perfect example of this.

Best of all, Apple continues to use the same chip in all four iPhone models. Apart from differences in RAM and an actress core in the GPU of the iPhone 13 Pro models, y'all're going to get the same blazing-fast performance on the cheapest model as you lot would on the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Better battery life than last year: If we had to pick simply one thing about the iPhone 12 family unit that we didn't much treat, it would be the disappointing battery life on three of the four models. (iPhone 12 Pro Max, you are excused from this discussion.) Apple clearly wasn't that impressed by the battery life, either, every bit it increased the bombardment sizes beyond all four phones relative to their iPhone 12 counterparts. (Just how much bigger, Apple won't say.)

iModel	iBattery life (hours:mins)
iPhone xiii Pro Max	12:16
iPhone 12 Pro Max	x:53
iPhone 13 Pro	eleven:42
iPhone 12 Pro	nine:06
iPhone 13	ten:33
iPhone 12	viii:25
iPhone xiii mini	eight:41
iPhone 12 mini	vii:28

Those big batteries forth with better power consumption past the A15 Bionic ways that the iPhone 13 models last longer than last year's phones. in our iPhone 13 battery testing, all four new phones posted ameliorate times than their predecessors. The iPhone thirteen Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max improved so much, they're at present on our best phone battery life rankings. The iPhone 13 finished ahead of the average time for smartphones, too. Only the iPhone 13 mini withal lags behind the boilerplate, just it certainly outlasts the iPhone 12 mini.

iPhone 13: What we don't like

As much as we capeesh the iPhone 13, Apple'south phones aren't flawless. There are a few things we would like to have seen in this yr'south models, and their absence is all the more glaring given how Apple nailed it with most always attribute of its phones.

No 120Hz displays for the iPhone 13: The ProMotion displays on the iPhone 13 Pro models are great, like we said. So it'southward a shame that the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini can't reap the same benefit. Instead, those phones characteristic OLED panels that are stuck at 60Hz.

iphone 13 mini display on laying on desk — (Image credit: Tom'south Guide)

At that place's probably a practical explanation for this. Reportedly, the suppliers that make Apple tree's displays couldn't provide fast-refreshing screens in enough volume for all four phones, so the decision was fabricated to focus on the Pro models. By this fourth dimension adjacent year, it's rumored that all the new iPhone models will offer some sort of fast-refreshing capability. But that'due south of trivial alleviation if yous pick up an iPhone xiii or iPhone 13 mini.

No Touch ID: We've mentioned before the hassle of trying to unlock your iPhone in the era of face up masks — Face ID but doesn't allow information technology, and since there's no Touch ID sensor included on the iPhone 13, you're still stuck tapping in your passcode. With Apple finding a way to include Touch on ID on its new iPad 9, the lack of a solution for iPhones is especially glaring.

Maybe there'due south a software workaround in the time to come, possibly at that place isn't, but if you're looking for iPhone thirteen flaws, this is one of the biggies.

Charging speeds oasis't improved: The iPhone is a speed demon in many respects, but charging speed isn't one of them. Wired charging tops out at 20W, while MagSafe wireless charging offers 15W speeds.

That's pretty tiresome, simply it seems especially pokey when you lot come across what Android phones are doing with charging speeds these days. I of the major selling points for the OnePlus 9 serial is the phone maker's 65W fast charging technology. You're seeing other phone makers adopt these faster speeds, too. Get the iPhone xiii, though, and you'll discover that Apple isn't amid them.

iPhone 13 outlook

Every bit we said at the start, nosotros're big fans of the iPhone 13, and we tin can testify you the glowing reviews to testify it. For most people, the iPhone thirteen gets plenty right to make an upgrade a no-brainer. But there might be some people who run across the flaws listed above and decide to take a pass on this year'south model — at to the lowest degree for now.

Philip Michaels is a senior editor at Tom's Guide. He has strong opinions almost Apple, the Oakland Athletics and onetime movies. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.