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This is the brand new iPhone 13.

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The S phone generation might be gone in name, but after using this iPhone for a while,

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I don't think it's gone in spirit. There's a lot that's familiar with this phone

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and there's a lot that's better too. So do these small changes add up to being a great update

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or should you get an iPhone 12 instead?

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Well, let's take a look at what is really the most important computer of our lives.

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The thing we take everywhere and use for everything,

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the iPhone.

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The headlines with this new model are the bigger battery,

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better cameras with some clever processing, new colors and more storage,

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all things that'll help you day to day. The notch is slightly smaller and the screen brighter,

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going up to 800 nits outside, which is the same brightness as last year's 12 Pro.

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The 13's supposed to be brighter, but it doesn't look any brighter than the 12 mini.

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And then there's the new A15 chip. The phone opens and runs apps as fast as ever,

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but even though benchmarks show that the CPU performance improvements

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are less dramatic this time around, I haven't noticed a single hiccup using it.

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Where I think the improvements lie in the A15 is in efficiency.

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This battery easily lasts me two days. The battery itself is about 13% larger,

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which according to Apple means that you can use it for two and a half hours more day to day.

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Honestly, battery life is such a hard thing to test

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or confirm because everyone uses their phone differently.

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For me, it's a big increase from my 12 mini, which lasted more than a day when I first got it.

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With this 13, I'm struggling to establish a charging routine

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because I seldom have to. When was the last time I plugged this in?

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Now this increase in battery does also mean a minor increase in size though.

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It's a quarter of a millimeter thicker and 11 grams heavier.

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That's barely noticeable in the hand, but what you can feel is that the power

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and volume buttons have been lowered for easier reach

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and all the colors have changed. On the iPhone 13, blue and midnight shift their color tone

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from last year's 12 and two new colors have been added with pink and the color of this model called Starlight.

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It has a slight warm golden hue through the glass and aluminum.

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Remember in the 90s when everyone was painting their homes off white, like they couldn't commit to something

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as bold and as clean and as dark and as daring as white.

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That's what this reminds me of. I think I prefer the colors of last year's 12 model more.

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There are multiple strong options to choose from unlike this year.

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But I'd probably go with the blue 13, mainly because it's the most assertive color.

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Oh, I gotta take a photo of this.

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Cameras are a big part of the iPhone and the 13 has received some pretty compelling upgrades.

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The camera bump is bigger and taller, meaning this won't fit in any iPhone 12 cases

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and the lenses are now mounted diagonally. This is because the 13's main wide camera

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is the same one that was found in last year's super priced 12 Pro Max.

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With a larger sensor, it captures more light and with sensor shift optical image stabilization,

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you should get clearer photos when the lighting conditions get challenging, like at night.

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I found that with night mode, the 13 held the shutter open

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for a shorter time than the 12. This means the photos come out a little darker,

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but they're also easier to capture, truer to life and clearer

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because there's less time for motion to blur. I think the bigger sensor helps here,

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allowing Apple to quicken the shutter speed without losing the picture completely to darkness.

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Meanwhile, the 10R without night mode is a grimy mess.

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During the day, the 13's smart HDR 4

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does make the photos look quite vibrant and crisp.

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In normal daytime conditions, the difference between it and last year's 12 camera

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are harder to spot, but it chooses a more dramatic HDR look

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than compared to the Google Pixel 5's photos, which feel a little more natural.

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The toggle to turn off smart HDR is no longer available in the camera settings.

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Also missing is scene detection. In their place is Apple's new photographic styles option.

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Up until now, the iPhone's photo processing has been decided by a bunch of very smart Apple employees

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in a Californian spaceship, but now they're giving you a little bit of control

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of how the phone processes your photos. You can choose between five preset settings

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or dial in your own by adjusting tone and warmth.

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The choice is destructive, a photographer term meaning

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that it's burned into the photo forever. Your photographic style choices will be applied

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in Apple's image processing pipeline. The looks are neat,

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but I'm still gonna have to play around to dial in my preferred style.

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I think it'll probably weigh towards the cooler contrasty look.

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On the photo front, there doesn't appear to be any improvements to portrait mode,

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but Apple has added what is effectively portrait mode

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for video dubbed cinematic mode. The feature ups the depth of field for that filmic feel

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and then helps process smooth and silky focus pulls.

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Neat or still, you can adjust those pulls and the depth of field after the fact too,

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as the iPhone keeps the depth information.

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For much of my career, I've spent time shooting video professionally

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and I have to say that nailing a perfect focus pull is immensely satisfying.

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Amateurs playing around with cinematic mode will get to experience a bit of that.

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However, for professionals like me, it does fall short in a few places.

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I'm sure you've seen portrait mode struggle with edges. Well, that happens here when motion gets tricky

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and the phone's attempts to separate the blurry background are noticeable.

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Another issue is with the feature that lets you readjust pulls in post.

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It's really cool that it's possible, but that doesn't mean the execution is going to be perfect.

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Getting the pacing of your pulls done in camera is essential.

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Even a tiny little camera like this one has a depth of field.

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So if you want to shift cinematic modes focus to something that the camera itself

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wasn't focused on on the first place, well, it's going to be soft.

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Oh, and one last thing about cinematic mode is that it only shoots in 1080p 30 frames per second.

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Now, I get the lower resolution. This is a lot for a phone to process,

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but the fact that something dubbed cinematic doesn't shoot in cinema's traditional 24 frames per second

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is really weird. Makes me think that it's going to be used less by serious filmmakers and more by TikTok O-Tours.

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So, should you upgrade? Well, that depends on what device you're upgrading from.

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If you're running an iPhone XR or older, this iPhone 13 will be a really exciting upgrade.

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If you still love Touch ID over Face ID, I'm sorry.

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Now, if you're coming from an iPhone older than a XR,

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you might be wondering if it'd be better to save $100 and simply go for a 12.

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Surprisingly, I'm going to say no, because base storage of the iPhone 13

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is up to 128 gigabytes. Finally, it still costs $800.

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If you're signed up for one of the big four American carriers. If not, it's another $30 more,

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more on this nonsense in a minute. But an iPhone 12 starts with only 64 gigabytes of storage.

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So, if you compare apples to apples, the difference is only $50.

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And I think the upgrades on the 13 are worth it.

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The only reason to stick with the 12 would be because you like its colors more.

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Now, while the case to upgrade might be clear,

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what isn't is the state of purchasing a new phone these days

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because it's complicated. With trade-ins, carrier contract incentives, and more,

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it feels like we're returning to the dark ages of mobile phones

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with three-year contracts and opaque plans.

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Just look at what happens when you click the See All Deals

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or Explore Pricing and Special Deals buttons on the iPhone purchase page.

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You can finance or lease your phone and use your old one as a down payment.

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It's all there with all the fine print to go along with it.

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Apples charts show the cost of the phone, but you should still factor in the phone plans.

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To help American consumers, the Verge even put out a super complicated table

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to figure out total costs. It's not pretty.

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Effectively evaluating the value of a new phone purchase is fraught.

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If you want to get the best deal, you're going to have to do a bunch of math

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in an Excel spreadsheet probably, factoring in the plans that are available

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versus the plan you might have now. And don't forget to read the endless fine print.

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Sometimes it might be better to take advantage of the carrier promo

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because they're discounting the phone or giving more with trade-in.

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And other times it's not. From what I can see though, if you have a good plan, you don't want to change.

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It might be worth sticking with Apple's financing since right now it's 0% APR,

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especially if you're not looking to trade in your old phone.

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Oh. As I determined a few weeks ago,

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iPhones last a long time now. And for many, choosing an iPhone upgrade

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is a three-year plus commitment. I'm certain this 13 will stand the test of time

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if you protect it and it offers another solid choice for those looking to upgrade,

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especially with the increased base memory. But I think this generation

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will be about the different tertiary models. So stay subscribed

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because I'll be giving them some deserved attention in the coming weeks.

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Thanks for renewing your Mac Address contract. I hope you liked this new video.

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If so, let us know below by commenting or clicking the like button.

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A lot of people in this office have pushed the button and upgraded to this generation of iPhone.

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My curiosity is if you're a 6.1-inch mainstream iPhone user

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or someone who wants something specific, like a Pro, Macs, or mini, comment below.

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Oh, phone call. Who could it be?