This is the brand new iPhone 13.
The S phone generation might be gone in name, but after using this iPhone for a while,
I don't think it's gone in spirit. There's a lot that's familiar with this phone
and there's a lot that's better too. So do these small changes add up to being a great update
or should you get an iPhone 12 instead?
Well, let's take a look at what is really the most important computer of our lives.
The thing we take everywhere and use for everything,
the iPhone.
The headlines with this new model are the bigger battery,
better cameras with some clever processing, new colors and more storage,
all things that'll help you day to day. The notch is slightly smaller and the screen brighter,
going up to 800 nits outside, which is the same brightness as last year's 12 Pro.
The 13's supposed to be brighter, but it doesn't look any brighter than the 12 mini.
And then there's the new A15 chip. The phone opens and runs apps as fast as ever,
but even though benchmarks show that the CPU performance improvements
are less dramatic this time around, I haven't noticed a single hiccup using it.
Where I think the improvements lie in the A15 is in efficiency.
This battery easily lasts me two days. The battery itself is about 13% larger,
which according to Apple means that you can use it for two and a half hours more day to day.
Honestly, battery life is such a hard thing to test
or confirm because everyone uses their phone differently.
For me, it's a big increase from my 12 mini, which lasted more than a day when I first got it.
With this 13, I'm struggling to establish a charging routine
because I seldom have to. When was the last time I plugged this in?
Now this increase in battery does also mean a minor increase in size though.
It's a quarter of a millimeter thicker and 11 grams heavier.
That's barely noticeable in the hand, but what you can feel is that the power
and volume buttons have been lowered for easier reach
and all the colors have changed. On the iPhone 13, blue and midnight shift their color tone
from last year's 12 and two new colors have been added with pink and the color of this model called Starlight.
It has a slight warm golden hue through the glass and aluminum.
Remember in the 90s when everyone was painting their homes off white, like they couldn't commit to something
as bold and as clean and as dark and as daring as white.
That's what this reminds me of. I think I prefer the colors of last year's 12 model more.
There are multiple strong options to choose from unlike this year.
But I'd probably go with the blue 13, mainly because it's the most assertive color.
Oh, I gotta take a photo of this.
Cameras are a big part of the iPhone and the 13 has received some pretty compelling upgrades.
The camera bump is bigger and taller, meaning this won't fit in any iPhone 12 cases
and the lenses are now mounted diagonally. This is because the 13's main wide camera
is the same one that was found in last year's super priced 12 Pro Max.
With a larger sensor, it captures more light and with sensor shift optical image stabilization,
you should get clearer photos when the lighting conditions get challenging, like at night.
I found that with night mode, the 13 held the shutter open
for a shorter time than the 12. This means the photos come out a little darker,
but they're also easier to capture, truer to life and clearer
because there's less time for motion to blur. I think the bigger sensor helps here,
allowing Apple to quicken the shutter speed without losing the picture completely to darkness.
Meanwhile, the 10R without night mode is a grimy mess.
During the day, the 13's smart HDR 4
does make the photos look quite vibrant and crisp.
In normal daytime conditions, the difference between it and last year's 12 camera
are harder to spot, but it chooses a more dramatic HDR look
than compared to the Google Pixel 5's photos, which feel a little more natural.
The toggle to turn off smart HDR is no longer available in the camera settings.
Also missing is scene detection. In their place is Apple's new photographic styles option.
Up until now, the iPhone's photo processing has been decided by a bunch of very smart Apple employees
in a Californian spaceship, but now they're giving you a little bit of control
of how the phone processes your photos. You can choose between five preset settings
or dial in your own by adjusting tone and warmth.
The choice is destructive, a photographer term meaning
that it's burned into the photo forever. Your photographic style choices will be applied
in Apple's image processing pipeline. The looks are neat,
but I'm still gonna have to play around to dial in my preferred style.
I think it'll probably weigh towards the cooler contrasty look.
On the photo front, there doesn't appear to be any improvements to portrait mode,
but Apple has added what is effectively portrait mode
for video dubbed cinematic mode. The feature ups the depth of field for that filmic feel
and then helps process smooth and silky focus pulls.
Neat or still, you can adjust those pulls and the depth of field after the fact too,
as the iPhone keeps the depth information.
For much of my career, I've spent time shooting video professionally
and I have to say that nailing a perfect focus pull is immensely satisfying.
Amateurs playing around with cinematic mode will get to experience a bit of that.
However, for professionals like me, it does fall short in a few places.
I'm sure you've seen portrait mode struggle with edges. Well, that happens here when motion gets tricky
and the phone's attempts to separate the blurry background are noticeable.
Another issue is with the feature that lets you readjust pulls in post.
It's really cool that it's possible, but that doesn't mean the execution is going to be perfect.
Getting the pacing of your pulls done in camera is essential.
Even a tiny little camera like this one has a depth of field.
So if you want to shift cinematic modes focus to something that the camera itself
wasn't focused on on the first place, well, it's going to be soft.
Oh, and one last thing about cinematic mode is that it only shoots in 1080p 30 frames per second.
Now, I get the lower resolution. This is a lot for a phone to process,
but the fact that something dubbed cinematic doesn't shoot in cinema's traditional 24 frames per second
is really weird. Makes me think that it's going to be used less by serious filmmakers and more by TikTok O-Tours.
So, should you upgrade? Well, that depends on what device you're upgrading from.
If you're running an iPhone XR or older, this iPhone 13 will be a really exciting upgrade.
If you still love Touch ID over Face ID, I'm sorry.
Now, if you're coming from an iPhone older than a XR,
you might be wondering if it'd be better to save $100 and simply go for a 12.
Surprisingly, I'm going to say no, because base storage of the iPhone 13
is up to 128 gigabytes. Finally, it still costs $800.
If you're signed up for one of the big four American carriers. If not, it's another $30 more,
more on this nonsense in a minute. But an iPhone 12 starts with only 64 gigabytes of storage.
So, if you compare apples to apples, the difference is only $50.
And I think the upgrades on the 13 are worth it.
The only reason to stick with the 12 would be because you like its colors more.
Now, while the case to upgrade might be clear,
what isn't is the state of purchasing a new phone these days
because it's complicated. With trade-ins, carrier contract incentives, and more,
it feels like we're returning to the dark ages of mobile phones
with three-year contracts and opaque plans.
Just look at what happens when you click the See All Deals
or Explore Pricing and Special Deals buttons on the iPhone purchase page.
You can finance or lease your phone and use your old one as a down payment.
It's all there with all the fine print to go along with it.
Apples charts show the cost of the phone, but you should still factor in the phone plans.
To help American consumers, the Verge even put out a super complicated table
to figure out total costs. It's not pretty.
Effectively evaluating the value of a new phone purchase is fraught.
If you want to get the best deal, you're going to have to do a bunch of math
in an Excel spreadsheet probably, factoring in the plans that are available
versus the plan you might have now. And don't forget to read the endless fine print.
Sometimes it might be better to take advantage of the carrier promo
because they're discounting the phone or giving more with trade-in.
And other times it's not. From what I can see though, if you have a good plan, you don't want to change.
It might be worth sticking with Apple's financing since right now it's 0% APR,
especially if you're not looking to trade in your old phone.
Oh. As I determined a few weeks ago,
iPhones last a long time now. And for many, choosing an iPhone upgrade
is a three-year plus commitment. I'm certain this 13 will stand the test of time
if you protect it and it offers another solid choice for those looking to upgrade,
especially with the increased base memory. But I think this generation
will be about the different tertiary models. So stay subscribed
because I'll be giving them some deserved attention in the coming weeks.
Thanks for renewing your Mac Address contract. I hope you liked this new video.
If so, let us know below by commenting or clicking the like button.
A lot of people in this office have pushed the button and upgraded to this generation of iPhone.
My curiosity is if you're a 6.1-inch mainstream iPhone user
or someone who wants something specific, like a Pro, Macs, or mini, comment below.
Oh, phone call. Who could it be?