Apple is well-known for its phones. They usually refresh their flagship line every year and this year, they have finally announced the iPhone 13 series.
The Apple brand is positioned as a premium brand and thus, they only make phones for the premium end of the market. Every iPhone ever made is a high-end flagship phone and the iPhone 13 series is no different.
Once upon a time, iPhones were the bleeding edge of smartphone technology and innovation. Androids have caught up and have left iPhones behind in terms of technology and innovation, both in hardware and software.
Read more: iOS vs Android
So with the new iPhone 13 series, there is a bit of excitement to see what Apple has to offer. There are four phones in this series, they are the iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
The iPhone 13 series
iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13
These two phones share nearly the same specs and features with a few differences.
Both devices are made with an aluminum frame with gorilla glass protection both at the front and the back. They also retain last year’s design and weigh 141g. There is an IP68 rating for water and dust protection here.
As is to be expected from an iPhone, they both use an Apple A15 Bionic SoC with an Apple GPU (4 cores). This SoC is said to be the fastest mobile SoC on any smartphone in existence. The new A15 Bionic leaves its predecessor far behind in terms of speed and performance. Both devices also run on the latest iOS 15. For memory, they use LPDDR RAM and NVMe internal memory. The memory variants are 4GB RAM with 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB of storage.
Cameras
There is a dual 12MP (main) + 12MP (ultrawide) camera for pictures as well as a dual 12MP + SL 3D sensor for selfies. The displays are where the iPhone 13 justifies its increased price over the iPhone 13 mini.
Display
The iPhone 13 mini has a 5.4″ Super Retina XDR OLED display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080p (FHD+). The pixel density is 476ppi, a refresh rate of 60Hz, and a max brightness of 1200 nits.
The iPhone 13 on the other hand has a much bigger 6.1″ Super Retina XDR OLED display with a sharper resolution of 2532 x 1170p (FHD+). The refresh rate remains the same at 60Hz but due to the larger screen, the pixel density falls slightly to 460ppi. The iPhone 13 display also maxes out at 1200 nits of brightness.
Battery
Apple has suspiciously been mute about the battery capacity but it is a Li-Ion battery. They have confirmed that both phones will support 20W fast charge, USB PD 2.0, 15W MagSafe, and 7.5W Qi charging. Both phones will also support 3G, 4G, and 5G networks worldwide.
Read more: Apple’s Bionic SoCs explained
iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max
These two are the premium phones in the line-up and they are also the costliest. They also share similar specs, not only between them but also with the other two phones. There are also some differences between not only these two but also with the other two (iPhone 13 and 13 mini).
Body
Both the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are built with a stainless steel frame and have full gorilla glass protection, both at the front and back. There is an IP68 rating here, last year’s design and they both weigh 240g which is rather hefty.
Performance
They both use the A15 Bionic SoC but the Apple GPU included has an extra core, so it is a 5 Core GPU. Notebook Check has an excellent article on the performance of the A15 so you could check that out as well. Both phones run on iOS 15. For memory, they use LPDDR RAM and NVMe internal memory. The memory variants are 6GB RAM with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB of storage.
Cameras
In the camera department, there is a quad-camera setup here. Both phones have 12MP (main) + 12MP (telephoto), 12MP (ultrawide), and a time-of-flight 3D Lidar scanner for depth. For selfies, there is a dual 12MP + SL 3D sensor just like the earlier mentioned 13 and 13 mini phones.
Display
Like with the iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13, the displays are where both the iPhone 13 Pro Max rise above the iPhone 13 Pro.
The iPhone 13 Pro has a 6.1″ Super Retina XDR OLED display with a resolution of 2532 x 1172p (FHD+). The pixel density is 460ppi, a refresh rate of 120Hz, and a max brightness of 1200 nits.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max on the other hand has a much bigger 6.7″ Super Retina XDR OLED display with a sharper resolution of 2778 x 1284p (FHD+). The refresh rate remains the same at 120Hz but due to the larger screen, the pixel density falls slightly to 458ppi. The iPhone 13 Pro display also maxes out at 1200 nits of brightness.
Both displays support HDR 10 and Dolby Vision. They are also protected by Apple’s ceramic glass shield in addition to the gorilla glass.
Charging
Both phones share the same charge speeds for fast charge, USB PD, MagSafe, and Qi standards with the iPhone 13 and 13 mini.
Read: Fast Charge Technology Explained
Other features
Other features that all four phones share include: spatial audio, Dolby Atmos, stereo speakers, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, NFC, GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, light/ambient sensors, OIS, face ID etc. They all also lack support for FM radio, 3.5mm Audio jack and an IR blaster.
The prices for all four phones are as follows: the iPhone 13 mini which is the most affordable starts from $729 and the iPhone 13 starts from $829. The iPhone 13 Pro starts from $999 and the iPhone 13 Pro Max starts from $1099.
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