The iPhone 13 Pro has a few changes, but it looks great

The iPhone 13 Pro is one of the greatest smartphones of 2021, even if it doesn’t do enough to justify upgrading from the 12 Pro. The battery life is the best we’ve seen in Apple’s Pro iPhone, and you also get top-tier performance, a fantastic camera package, and a super-smooth 120Hz display. While none of the 2021 upgrades are significant, they provide an excellent smartphone experience when combined.

The iPhone 13 Pro introduced several firsts for Apple’s flagship smartphone, and even after a year, it is still an amazing phone that we can recommend. Big features included with the iphone 13 Pro included an entirely new screen technology, a considerable improvement in low-light camera performance over the 12 Pro, and significantly longer battery life. The phone is no longer available from Apple, which replaced it with the iPhone 14 Pro in September 2022, but if you can find one for a lower price, it remains a strong phone capable of running the most recent iOS 16 software.

Price when reviewed: €560.00 | Check price at Amazon

iPhone 13 Pro KEY FEATURES

The ‘largest camera update ever’ on an iPhone does not have to be in a large iPhone, at least not a Max-sized one; the iPhone 13 Pro will suffice. Unlike last year, when only the 12 Pro Max received the ultimate camera system, the distinctions between the two Pro sizes are now purely quantitative, not qualitative.

The tiny Pro features the all-new main camera with a bigger sensor that rotates around for image stabilization, the same unit found in the Max. It also boasts the Max’s longer 3x telephoto. Last year, the iPhone 12 Pro was hampered in these two areas compared to the 12 Pro Max, and we’re glad Apple has closed the gap. The two Pros also share the new ultrawide with autofocus and close-up shooting capabilities. It’s not only the cameras, though; the 13 Pro also receives the ProMotion display.

Other enhancements from the lineup also make their way to the 13 Pro. Although the increase in battery capacity is only 10%, the adaptive refresh will help to improve longevity. The A15 chipset is, as always, slightly more powerful than the previous one, possibly excessively so when compared to non-Apple devices. The 20% drop in notch size is also worth noting, albeit for the humorous value of the statement rather than the significance of the advancement.

APPLE IPHONE 13 PRO UNBOXING

The Apple unboxing experience from 2020 returns in 2021, with a twist. There is still color coding – the black box denotes Pro, the white box implies vanilla, and the top has a likeness of the phone printed in the same color as the unit inside. Perhaps you’ll love the pleasant way the paper seal breaks along its dotted line, a novelty caused by a shift in packaging that eliminated the plastic outer sleeve.

All of this is secondary to what’s within the flat box, and there isn’t much. Aside from the iPhone 13 Pro, you only get a USB-C to Lightning cable, a SIM pin, and an Apple sticker; everything else is documentation.

CAMERA

• Three 12MP rear cameras: main, 0.6 ultrawide, and 3x telephoto
• 3D LiDAR scanner for depth sensing.
• Sensor-shift optical image stabilization.

The iPhone 13 Pro’s camera configuration includes three 12MP shooters: a primary wide camera with an f/1.5 aperture, a telephoto camera with Apple f/1.8 aperture capable of 3x optical zoom, and an ultra-wide camera with an f/1.8 aperture and a 120-degree field of view.

There is also a 3D LiDAR scanner to measure depth. This increases focusing accuracy and the precision of Portrait mode bokeh effects by discriminating between a subject and its background. Aside from photography, the scanner is also compatible with a variety of augmented reality apps.

The main camera is excellent, and while it does not appear to be substantially different from the iPhone 12 Pro’s primary camera on paper, it does provide some significant improvements that elevate it to the ranks of the greatest smartphone photographers. Overall, picture quality is great, with shots taken in good light displaying plenty of color and depth, as well as a fantastic night option for shooting in low light.

The telephoto camera on the iPhone 13 Pro can achieve 3x optical zoom, whereas the 2020 handset just has 2x – the difference isn’t significant, but we found the quality of zoomed-in photographs to be high. Apple has also added sensor shift optical image stabilization to the Pro model, making it easier to shoot rapid photos without the image appearing blurry. We found this to be significantly better than the stabilization on the iPhone 12 Pro, but it’s worth noting that optical stabilization is also available on the less expensive iPhone 13. The new macro mode is a significant improvement, allowing you to take stunning close-ups of flowers, insects, and other smaller things. It’s a feature we’ve seen on many Android phones, and it’s fantastic to see Apple include it here.

To use macro mode, simply move the camera lens closer to the subject, and it will activate immediately. It can be difficult to keep the camera motionless for these shots, but we were able to get some interesting images, and this is one of Apple’s more accessible camera settings. Photographic Styles is another new feature on the iPhone 13 Pro, allowing you to apply creative looks to your photographs, including Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm, and Cool options.

Unlike filters, these make alterations to specific portions of the image rather than the entire shot. The concept here is that you can give your photographs a unique style, such as warming up portraiture or increasing the colors in landscapes.

This isn’t going to revolutionize the way you photograph with your regular camera, but it’s a fun tool to try out. It’s difficult to tell how this varies from a regular filter, but it could be useful in your photography arsenal. The phone’s front camera is a 12MP f/2.2 wide camera (‘wide’ is what Apple calls its primary phone cameras, as opposed to ‘ultra-wide’), which we found to be useful for video chats and taking the occasional selfie. It isn’t as feature-rich as the back camera, but it’s easy to activate modes like Portrait mode and take a fantastic photo.

If you have a recent iPhone, don’t expect any changes to the selfie camera, but you’ll still get outstanding image quality in all of the situations you’d want to use it in. The iPhone 13 Pro can record videos in 4K at 24, 30, and 60 frames per second, as well as Full HD at 30, 60, 120, and 240 frames per second. It features Dolby Vision HDR compatibility, which produces visually stunning video. Apple’s new Cinematic Mode, meanwhile, allows you to capture video with a bokeh effect, with the subject centered and the background blurred, as well as automatically switching focus between subjects for a ‘focus-pull’ effect.

In our tests, the camera correctly identified who we wanted to focus on in a scene. If this does not function exactly as expected, you can fine-tune the focus once the video has been recorded. It’s a feature that filmmakers, vloggers, and other content creators will undoubtedly enjoy, but individuals who simply shoot videos on occasion will probably be less interested. Right now, it’s similar to the first iteration of Portrait mode for images, but we expect it to evolve fast in future generations.

If you want to shoot 4K ProRes footage, don’t buy the iPhone 13 Pro’s smallest, 128GB storage variant, as Apple has confirmed that the format is incompatible with it. This implies that ProRes footage will require a significant amount of storage space, so if this functionality appeals to you, you should choose 512GB or 1TB.

DESIGN AND SCREEN

It’s difficult to explain the benefits of greater refresh rate screens like 120Hz. It’s one of those things you have to test in the shop to get a sense of what it contributes. All previous iPhones (including the iPhone 13) use 60Hz displays, which aim to refresh 60 times per second. However, with the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro, the panel can now refresh up to 120Hz, or 120 times per second. At its most basic, this makes actions seem faster. There’s no jarring as you move across a website or navigate the home screen, and apps appear smoothly.

My only little disappointment is that the screen cannot be set to 1Hz, which would have allowed for a brilliant always-on display to keep the time and notifications visible at all times. Apple used a similar method on the Apple Watch, and with so many Android phones featuring these always-on displays, it feels like a missed opportunity on the iPhone 13 Pro.

I recognized the benefits of ProMotion from the setup screen, and even after a week of use, the effects are still noticeable. The speedier scrolling is visible everywhere (especially in Apple’s apps that have been upgraded to fully take advantage), and now when I pick up the iPhone 13 or iPhone 12 Pro, it simply feels slower. Apple is far from the first to use such technology. There were 90Hz screens on Android phones in 2017, and all of the greatest Android phones in 2022 have them. I’m just delighted Apple finally added the technology to the iPhone, as it has always felt like a missing component.

Aside from ProMotion, the iPhone 13 Pro’s screen is excellent, on par with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra in terms of quality. The OLED panel produces deep blacks with endless contrast, and the brightness levels make outdoor reading among the best I’ve ever seen. While the larger 6.7-inch Pro Max is undoubtedly the better option if you watch a lot of videos on your phone, the 6.1-inch isn’t bad either. I watched a couple of episodes of Our Planet on Netflix and Foundation on Apple TV Plus, and the colors are incredibly vibrant. To my eyes, the display is less saturated than the Samsung flagships, with more natural tones.

One of the most noticeable cosmetic differences is the narrower notch that houses the TrueDepth front camera system. Apple claims it’s 20% smaller, although it’s narrower rather than smaller overall. If you’re not a fan of the notch, you’re unlikely to be won over here. If it didn’t upset you before, you’ll probably be unaffected here. Apple finally abandoned, or at least significantly revised, it with the release of the iPhone 14 Pro, which had Dynamic Island.

It’s significantly thicker and heavier (the Max is especially heavy; see below for all weights and measurements), with a much larger camera module to accommodate the new shooting arrangement. Everything else, from the gleaming stainless steel sides to the frosted rear and Ceramic Shield front, is identical. It retains its IP68 classification.

HOW’S THE PERFORMANCE?

• The new A15 Bionic chipset is speedy, even though the gains are primarily for the increased features.
• 6GB RAM and up to 1TB of storage.
• More 5G bands.

The phone is powered by the A15 Bionic processor, which includes a six-core CPU, a five-core GPU, and a 16-core neural engine for AI activities. Apple has equipped the Pro versions with a five-core GPU rather than the four-core GPU seen in the iPhone 13, albeit the merits of this remain unclear. There’s also 6GB of RAM, a 2GB increase over the ordinary iPhone 13 models.

Interestingly, Apple used the same CPU for the iPhone 14, thus the 13 Pro functions similarly to the newer phone.

I ran through the Geekbench 5 synthetic benchmarking tool to obtain a fast overview of the A15 Bionic’s performance, and the results were impressive. In the multi-core test, the 4791 result comfortably outperformed the finest Android phones including the iPhone 12 Pro’s 4007 score.

However, benchmarks only tell part of the picture; day-to-day gains are usually more significant. I can’t say that the A15 Bionic makes it feel any faster than before, but it doesn’t mean that more power isn’t necessary. It drives the Cinematic mode, the Live Text feature, and the ability to shoot in ProRaw and ProRes. It also guarantees that the ProMotion screen performs as well as possible.

All of the games I tried from Apple Arcade (The Pathless, Asphalt 8+, and Sayonara Wild Hearts) ran smoothly. Some games can even use the ProMotion refresh rate to play at 120Hz while menus run at 60Hz to save battery life.

This year, a new 5G modem has expanded the number of 5G bands available, and some regions, such as the United States, will receive a model with mmWave 5G support. However, there is no Wi-Fi 6E support, which may bother people who purchased a suitable router early on. Call quality and Wi-Fi reception are both exceptional.

Buy it if...

• Outstanding design: robust and waterproof.
• One of the few high-end phones that can be considered ‘compact’.
• The brightest OLED panel we’ve seen, with super-accurate Dolby Vision and a 120Hz refresh rate.
• Loud stereo speakers.
• 5G delivers unparalleled performance.
• Excellent overall photo and video quality across all four cameras.

Don't buy it if...

• Stale appearance; the notch should have been removed by now.
• Despite its compact size, the small 13 Pro weighs a lot.
• At the time of launch, third-party apps did not support the 120Hz refresh rate.
• Battery life is not up to the Max’s standards.
• The chipset is prone to severe throttling when loaded to its limits.
• The fast charging isn’t particularly rapid, and the charger is not included.
• iOS (with its restrictions) is still a love-it-or-leave-it proposition.

FULL SPECIFICATION