First contact with the iPhone 13: similarities and differences before choosing

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Came the day: the new iPhone 13 arrive in stores in Spain. They do so at the same time as the iPad mini and the ninth-generation iPad, devices that were introduced last week. The new Apple phones arrive on the market with a continuity design inherited from the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro but with greater renewal than they appear at first glance.

In EL ESPAÑOL – Omicrono we have already had a first contact with the four new Apple phones and we tell you what our first impressions have been, where is the evolution with respect to the models launched last year as well as what are the similarities and differences before going to buy them.

The main improvements that come with the iPhone 13 are focused on the camera, battery and, in the Pro models, also the screen. Three pillars in the user experience with which Apple evolves a phone concept that has already been established for more than a year.

Cameras in a big way

The design of the iPhone 13 has hardly changed with respect to the iPhone 12 and Apple has maintained the line of four devices– Released a 5.4-inch iPhone 13 mini, 6.1-inch iPhone 13 and 13 Pro, as well as 6.7-inch iPhone 13 Pro Max. They have almost traced dimensions and where the only alteration is in the thickness that is minimally greater.

We tested the new iPhone 13

Javier Carbajal

The biggest change on an aesthetic level is in the camera module, which are now much larger. On the Pro models it is more difficult to appreciate, but both the iPhone 13 and 13 mini have changed the arrangement of the lenses and now are diagonal, instead of vertically.

The cameras are the great claim of the new generation of iPhone and is where these phones really shine. The iPhone 13 and 13 mini have a dual camera system capable of capturing 47% more light than the previous generation. This means that they are able to take pictures with greater detail and less noise in environments with worse light. In addition, they inherit the stabilization of the sensor that released the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

On the other hand, the models with the surname Pro have an even greater photographic jump and the improvement in the ultra wide angle and in the telephoto lens is palpable. The first is now able to capture 92% more light than the past model, allowing iPhones to take video and macro photography for the first time. The optical zoom for its part now goes further with a focal length of 77 mm thus going up to 3x.

Beyond the hardware potential, the new iPhone 13 have technology HDR 4 which now represents each person in a group photo individually, enhancing color, contrast, and lighting for each subject, making images more lifelike. In addition, all cameras have Deep Fusion that enhances the textures of the images.

Another novelty of this generation of photographic software are the styles. Individualized preferences thinking that the user can give a more personal touch to the photos taken by the iPhone. This is not a filter, but rather a calibration of hue, brightness or warmth that the user can adjust and select to further suit their taste.

Cinema mode, the great claim

But if there is a star functionality in the new iPhone 13, of those that by themselves serve to sell phones, it is cinema mode. Dubbed Cinematographic in the phone’s camera app, this technology brings portrait mode to video recording, but it does it in a big way.

In other Android phones we have already seen the possibility of focus the recording on a subject and make everything around it out of focusBut now Apple takes it a step further. The camera not only detects and focuses on people, objects or animals but also recognizes what type of scene we are recording to move the focus if it understands that the situation requires it.

However, the iPhone does not rule here. It is the user who has the control to decide what is focused and what is not. While recording, the user can choose both the object on which to focus, as well as set it so that the iPhone always follows it. The real magic happens once the shot is recorded.

The user can change where the camera focuses as well as the amount of blur after recording. This way you can better match the video to the story you want to tell. The iPhone 13 is thus the only device on the market capable of editing this effect, the bokeh and where it is applied in every second of recording on the market.

It should be noted that Cinema Mode, which records in Dolby Vision HDR, is available on both the rear cameras and the front TrueDepth camera. In addition, the iPhone 13 Pro can also use this mode with the telephoto lens, thus getting closer to the scene, although they cannot alternate between lenses as they can with regular video.

Beyond Cinema Mode, the other great video novelty is in the iPhone 13 Pro. Thanks to its new ultra-wide-angle lens, it can record in macro mode capturing the smallest details with a closeness of up to 2 centimeters. As was the case with the iPhone 12 Pro, the user can make a smooth transition between lenses to go from a macro shot to a more general one, for example.

An important detail of the iPhone 13 Pro in video recording is that will be compatible with ProRes, a format widely used by professional video editors, which is very faithful to colors and can record in 4K at 30 fps. This functionality, which will arrive soon, you need a 256 GB model to operate at maximum performance, since if it does not record at 1080p. The reason? the files are too large and around 1 minute of recording is about 6GB of storage.

More powerful, more battery

The new software functionalities, image processing and cinema mode that the iPhone 13 cameras now have have a person responsible: el A15 Bionic. Apple’s new chip underpins and improves on the excellent previous generation A14 Bionic to be even more powerful, capable and efficient.

The 5 nanometer chip is not a revolution, but it is a great step forward with respect to what Apple has been demonstrating in its latest models: your ‘brain’ is ahead of the competition. The truth is that the new iPhone not only move with ease but heavy processes such as blur management and recognition of the cinema mode in real time leave you truly amazed at what the A15 is capable of.

Beyond the extremely powerful muscle in CPU and GPU (which is superior in Pro models), what makes the A15 unique is how it integrates machine learning processes in the daily tasks of the users. The phone adapts to the person and not the other way around.

However, the great point in favor of the new chip is not only that it is more powerful, but that it is more efficient, allowing it to gain autonomy, although it does not do it alone. Every iPhone 13 has been redesigned on the inside to integrate a larger battery. Apple explains that this combination of chip management and more milliamps allows to gain an hour and a half more use per day in the iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13 Pro, and two and a half hours more in the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro Max, with respect to to the previous generation.

A smoother screen

This greater efficiency is not only notable for the growth of autonomy in all models, but because in the Pro and Pro Max versions Apple incorporates something that until now we had only seen in its ecosystem in the iPad Pro: ProMotion technology.

This technology comes to answer one of the great requests of users: bring the refresh rate of 120 Hz to an iPhone screen. At the moment it remains only in the Pro models. Apple, however, does it differently from how other Android manufacturers do, thus defending that it better manages battery consumption.

The Super Retina XDR screen can be updated from 10 Hz to 120 Hz depending on the content. It is designed to respond dynamically to what is being seen on the screen, no matter what the application. The truth is that it feels really fluid in the game, in the navigation or in the transitions. It’s a feeling that when you try it you don’t want to go back.

In addition, the new screen of the iPhone 13 Pro has a maximum brightness 25% higher than the previous generation, reaching up to 1,000 nights outdoors, being able to support up to 1200 nits for photos and videos in HDR.

I buy it?

The new iPhone 13 have a clear objective: remain settled in the high-end of telephony in general and video recording in particular. At a time when the vast majority of content we consume on social networks is video, the new Apple phones are focused on marking the distance in this key aspect.

As it is usually not a phone designed for the vast majority of people who bought an iPhone 12 or 12 Pro last year, but it is for who want the ultimate in photography and video or they come from an iPhone two or three generations back. The quality jump when creating content is noteworthy with the previous generation with the cinema mode, as well as the possibility of having macro and a larger zoom in the Pro models.

The new iPhone 13 keep the price With respect to the last generation, thus having a base price of 809 euros for the iPhone 13 mini and 909 euros for the iPhone 13, while the Pro models go up to 1,159 euros for the iPhone 13 Pro and 1,259 euros for the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

This year for the first time all iPhone models go up to 128 GB of minimum storage, which gives an idea of ​​the requirement of photographic and video files that the iPhone 13 are capable of managing. Thus, the most demanding models, designed for professionals, also increase their capacity above and reach 1 TB of storage for 1,739 and 1,839 euros for the Pro and Pro Max, respectively.

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