Not so long ago, the iPhone and its Android-powered rivals from Samsung, Google and the like existed on a level of near-parity. Apple’s handsets generally had the edge in terms of design, ease of use and that oh-so-tempting ecosystem of apps and connected devices. But if you wanted the absolute cutting-edge tech? You were probably looking elsewhere instead of waiting a couple of years for it to make it over to the iPhone in a slightly more refined form.
Having used the iPhone 13 Pro for just under a week now, my biggest takeaway is that that old state of play no longer applies. This new handset is great at all the Apple stuff you’d expect and it also leads the field in most of the geeky stuff to an extent that’s existentially problematic for many of its rivals. It’s the best smartphone you can buy by almost any metric you could care to think of, even if its upgrades from last year’s iPhone 12 Pro aren’t quite as immediately apparent.
World in (Pro)Motion
A very “Apple” new feature that’s illustrative of its broader smartphone dominance is the Super Retina XDR display tech with ProMotion that’s exclusive to both the 13 Pro and larger 13 Pro Max over the less luxe iPhone 13 and 13 mini. In non-proprietary double-talk, these are the only iPhone 13 devices to get an AMOLED screen with a high refresh rate: something that’s been present in rival Android devices for a fair few years now. The internet being the internet, this omission has been used as a stick to beat the iPhone with for almost that entire timeframe.
What “ProMotion” means in practice is that any chug you might have noticed when scrolling through a wall of text or imagery via Twitter, Instagram or The Athletic is no longer present. Personally, this was only ever a minor irritation to begin with but there’s no denying that this ‘nice to have’ is very pleasant to behold in practice. Especially given the ongoing finesse and fidelity of Apple’s screen tech. There’s a slickness in using the iPhone 13 Pro that wasn’t there before and, on a broader level, the greatest “technical deficiency” in Apple’s smartphones is no longer a factor. And so this seemingly minor upgrade is a substantial problem for any company that’s trying to convince you its product is meaningfully different to the iPhone 13 Pro.
None of this is to say that great Android phones don’t exist – Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra from earlier this year is a particularly strong effort – but the fact is that most iPhone competitors are stuck playing catch-up for now. Case in point: Google’s Pixel phones initially made a big splash with their photographic abilities but that dominance was gradually eroded by Apple’s “Bionic” SoC (system on a chip) set-up. This year’s A15 Bionic chip seen in the 13 Pro and Pro Max is claimed to offer 50 per cent faster graphics than the competition. In response, Google’s forthcoming Pixel 6 handsets will feature a custom SoC for the first time. Maybe that’ll do the job but the fact is that Pixel is one of many flagship phones that has been forced on the defensive on what was once its home turf.
In the meantime, Apple’s devices are running up the board with a slew of incremental improvements that aren’t just window dressing. You’ll get about 1.5 hours extra battery life from the 13 Pro compared to last year’s model and a further 2.5 hours from the Pro Max with the biggest gains being related to video streaming. Given my iPhone 12 Pro Max can still go for the best part of a day before demanding a recharge, any improvement is only going to strengthen the longevity of these devices. As will the fact that all iPhones are currently supported for six years’ worth of software updates so you can hold onto them for as long as you like.
Less notch. More greenery
What’s impressive about both new Pro iPhones is that they do all this stuff without managing to feel like “yet another smartphone”. As with most handsets in Apple’s traditional two-year tik-tok upgrade cycle, all iPhone 13 models carry over the same flat-edged aesthetic of their iPhone predecessors, which itself brought back a lot of design elements from the iPhone 4. For me, this is the definitive iPhone look: sleek, compact and easy to hold. You can enjoy it in a dreamy new Sierra Blue (read: sky blue) colour, but most people who walk into a phone shop are going to struggle to tell the difference from last year’s Pro models. This is presumably why they’ve been discontinued already.
The most notable design tweak for 2021 is a Face ID and selfie camera notch that’s 20 per cent smaller than before. Whether you opt for the 6.1-inch iPhone 13 Pro or 6.7-inch Pro Max, I think it’s unlikely you’ll see much benefit from this change, because what sane app developer puts their most important inputs at the top of your screen?
An area of design that is considerably more significant is Apple’s ongoing commitment to using an increased variety of sustainable materials in its devices. Upcycled plastic bottles are used in every iPhone 13 model’s antenna lines, while you can find 100 per cent recycled gold in both its logic board and camera wires. The plastic wrap has also been eliminated from these phones’ packaging. All of this and more goes to show Apple is actually walking the walk in its attempt to go carbon neutral by 2030. Tim Cook’s company by no means gets everything right, but in this area it’s lapping the field without much pressure or incentive to do so at all from the competition.
It’s also worth mentioning that, despite a few rumours to the contrary, you still get a Lightning cable charging port on every iPhone 13 going. So that means no USB-C port for improved data transfer à la iPad Pro, but none of the faff of a potential port-less design either. MagSafe wireless charging also makes a return, which I’ve used a good deal in the past year, even if it is definitively slower than “normal” charging. Having one of Apple’s MagSafe pucks or even a full-on Belkin charging dock sat on your desk just feels very ritzy and convenient.
That all said, it does feel like MagSafe hasn’t yet lived up to the hyperbole it was delivered under. Even Apple’s own card holder, which sticks magnetically to the back of your iPhone, has been revised after one year of existence to provide its last known location should you lose it. Something that should have really been achievable when the iPhone 12 came along.
A macro photos pro
If the iPhone 13 Pro’s redesign is incremental to the point of anonymity – at least until you live with it for a bit – then the same can’t be said of its camera array. There’s a lot going on with its triple-lens setup, but the TL;DR version is that most of the changes to its wide, ultra wide and telephoto photography are designed to gather more light through the use of bigger pixels and wider apertures. The more light a camera can gather – especially in scenarios where there’s not a lot of it around – the more detail you’ll see in your photos.
Now I know that every new phone camera promises exactly this dramatic improvement over its previous incarnation, but unless you want me to explain the intricacies surrounding f-stops and microns, then you’ll have to trust me that all three 13 Pro cameras are pretty stellar. Besides, you don’t really need to understand that stuff to notice that zooming in further than before or having to hold your phone still in fewer circumstances are pictorial upgrades to aspire to. Even if you’re a photographer of dubious talents like myself, you’ve got plenty of tools to hand and a bunch that are hidden away in the background that all work in your favour. That’s why I’ll always stomach the extra cost and opt for the Pro over the standard iPhone. Also I just like taking photos of my dog doing dumb things, OK?
Away from the numbers there are a couple of new camera features that I’ve been messing around with a lot over the last few days. The Pro exclusive one is macro photography for super close-up pictures. If you’ve tried this before on an iPhone, then you’ll know the end result is typically a blurry, unfocused mess. Now when you stick either phone 2cm away from their subject or under, their ultra wide lens will kick into action and focus properly. So long as there’s an absolute minimum of movement for you to contend with, then the results are just a tonne of fun. I had a great time wandering around a vintage furniture store this weekend and seeing what would come of it. The clarity of lettering from an antique globe below is really quite extraordinary.
As for the other big new trick? That’s called Cinematic video mode, it’s available across all iPhone 13 devices and it works like Portrait mode for photos where you get a subject that’s in focus and a creamy, bokeh-filled background behind them. If two people are in shot you can also change the point of focus after the video is taken, thanks to some AI-enabled smarts. Trust me, this thing is going to be all over your timeline once these phones make it out in the wild. Even if the effect isn’t perfect – you may notice some soft edges around your subject and a jot of focus-hunting when switching between subjects – it’s still ridiculously impressive and a blast to play around with.
What the iPhone camera remains especially good at is being idiot-proof, while still offering actually talented people to get some proper mileage out of it. Indie and budget-minded film makers are increasingly using these devices as another tool in their arsenal. Not as a gimmick and not necessarily as their main camera, but the Rubicon has well and truly been crossed. All of which underlines just how capable a piece of technology the Pro is, and how it operates on an echelon above its rivals.
iPhone 13 Pro verdict
If the standard iPhone 13 feels like an extended victory tour for the iPhone 12, the iPhone 13 Pro is a more definitive evolution. One that sands off a few leftover rough edges while also markedly improving on what came before in a meaningful if incremental manner. Its ProMotion display is a delight, its camera has even more means to inspire your creativity and who doesn’t want an extra hour or so of battery life from their phone? When you consider that previous follow-up iPhones majored on features such as Siri, 3D Touch and wireless charging, then it feels like Apple has gone out of its way to make changes that everyone will appreciate day in and day out.
While I don’t think anyone but the absolute Apple hardcore will be rushing to trade-in their year-old iPhone for a 13 Pro, I also think that’s an incredibly wasteful idea in the first place. These handsets are meant to represent a meaningful boost on older handsets and they do so in almost every respect but their design. Plus, there’s an ever increasing amount of stuff that the iPhone does that you can’t get anywhere else. Apple hasn’t always been the most innovative player in its field, but right now it’s running rings around the competition.
From £949. apple.com
Sonos’ new Beam soundbar gets a welcome Dolby Atmos upgrade
Ben Wheatley: ‘If you shoot on a beach, it’s always a disaster’