iPhone 13 Review - Is it good enough?
Mac Address
·Mac Address
·2022-05-05
·
1,967 words · ~9 min read
0:00
(gentle music) - This is the brand new iPhone 13.
0:04
The S-phone generation might be gone in name, but after using this iPhone for a while,
0:09
I don't think it's gone in spirit. There's a lot that's familiar with this phone
0:12
and there's a lot that's better too. So do these small changes add up to being a great update
0:17
or should you get an iPhone 12 instead?
0:20
Well, let's take a look at what is really the most important computer of our lives.
0:26
The thing we take everywhere and use for everything, the iPhone.
0:36
The headlines with this new model are the bigger battery,
0:41
better cameras with some clever processing, new colors and more storage,
0:45
all things that'll help you day to day. The notch is slightly smaller and the screen brighter,
0:50
going up to 800 nits outside, which is the same brightness as last year's 12 Pro.
0:55
The 13's supposed to be brighter, but it doesn't look any brighter than the 12 Mini, hmm?
1:01
And then there's the new A15 chip. The phone opens and runs apps as fast as ever.
1:06
But even though benchmarks show that the CPU performance improvements
1:09
are less dramatic this time around, I haven't noticed a single hiccup using it.
1:14
Where I think the improvements lie in the A15 is in efficiency.
1:18
This battery easily lasts me two days. The battery itself is about 13% larger,
1:24
which according to Apple means that you can use it for two and a half hours more day to day.
1:29
Honestly, battery life is such a hard thing to test
1:32
or confirm because everyone uses their phone differently.
1:35
For me, it's a big increase from my 12 Mini, which lasted more than a day when I first got it.
1:40
With this 13, I'm struggling to establish a charging routine
1:44
because seldom don't have to. When was the last time I plugged this in?
1:48
(exhales sharply) Now, this increase in battery does also mean a minor increase in size though.
1:54
It's a quarter of a millimeter thicker and 11 grams heavier.
1:57
That's barely noticeable in the hand, but what you can feel is that the power and volume buttons
2:02
have been lowered for easier reach. And all the colors have changed,
2:06
like the colors of this video sponsor, the brand new Anker Nano Pro charger.
2:11
Available in four new colors: glacier blue, cool lavender, Arctic white, and black ice,
2:16
this little guy is the same size as Apple's old five watt charger, but three times faster.
2:22
That means it'll charge an iPhone 12 to 50% in 25 minutes.
2:27
It's all thanks to a power chip tuner that adjusts the current to get the fastest charge.
2:31
As we all know, iPhones no longer come with a charger
2:34
in the box, so if you're looking for one, check out the Anker Nano Pro charger at the link below.
2:41
On the iPhone 13, blue and midnight shift their color tone
2:44
from last year's 12. And two new colors have been added with pink
2:48
and the color of this model called starlight. It has a slight warm golden hue
2:52
through the glass and aluminum. (exhales sharply) Remember in the '90s
2:56
when everyone was painting their homes off-white? They couldn't commit to something as bold
3:01
and as clean and as stark and as daring as white?
3:05
That's what this reminds me of. I think I prefer the colors of last year's 12 model more.
3:10
There are multiple strong options to choose from, unlike this year.
3:14
But I'd probably go with the blue 13 mainly because it's the most assertive color.
3:18
Oh, I gotta take a photo of this. (train rattling)
3:24
Cameras are a big part of the iPhone, and the 13 has received some pretty compelling upgrades.
3:30
The camera bump is bigger and taller, meaning this won't fit in any iPhone 12 cases.
3:34
And the lenses are now mounted diagonally. This is because the 13's main wide camera
3:39
is the same one that was found in last year's, super priced 12 Pro Max.
3:44
With a larger sensor, it captures more light. And with sensor-shift optical image stabilization,
3:48
you should get clearer photos when the lighting conditions get challenging,
3:52
like at night. I've found that with Night mode, the 13 held the shutter open for a shorter time than the 12.
3:59
This means the photos come out a little darker, but they're also easier to capture, truer to life and clear
4:05
because there's less time for motion to blur. I think the bigger sensor helps here,
4:09
allowing Apple to quicken the shutter speed without losing the picture completely to darkness.
4:13
Meanwhile, the XR, without Night mode, is a grainy mess.
4:17
During the day, the 13's Smart HDR 4
4:21
does make the photos look quite vibrant and crisp. In normal daytime conditions,
4:24
the difference between it and last year's 12 camera are harder to spot,
4:29
but it chooses a more dramatic HDR look than compared to the Google Pixel 5's photos,
4:34
which feel a little more natural. The toggle to turn off Smart HDR is no longer available
4:39
in the camera settings, also missing is Seen Detection.
4:43
In their place is Apple's new Photographic Styles option.
4:46
Up until now, the iPhones photo processing has been decided by a bunch of very smart Apple employees
4:52
in a Californian spaceship. But now they're giving you a little bit of control
4:57
of how the phone processes your photos. You can choose between five preset settings
5:01
or dial in your own by adjusting tone and warmth.
5:05
The choice is destructive, a photographer term meaning
5:10
that it's burned into the photo forever. Your photographic style choices will be applied in Apple's image processing pipeline.
5:16
The looks are neat, but I'm still gonna have to play around to dial in my preferred style.
5:20
I think it'll probably weigh towards the cooler, contrasty look.
5:24
On the photo front, there doesn't appear to be any improvements
5:27
to Portrait mode, but apple has added what is effectively Portrait mode
5:31
for video dubbed "Cinematic mode". The feature ups the depth of field for that filmic feel,
5:37
and then helps process smooth and silky focus pulls.
5:41
Neater still, you can adjust those pulls and the depth of field after the fact too
5:45
as the iPhone keeps the depth information.
5:49
For much of my career, I've spent time shooting video professionally,
5:52
and I have to say that nailing a perfect focus pull is immensely satisfying.
5:56
Amateur's playing around with Cinematic mode will get to experience a bit of that.
6:00
However, for professionals like me, it does fall short in a few places.
6:05
I'm sure you've seen Portrait mode struggle with edges, well, that happens here when motion gets tricky,
6:10
and in the phones attempts to separate the blurry background are noticeable.
6:14
Another issue is with the feature that lets you readjust pulls in post.
6:18
It's really cool that it's possible, but that doesn't mean the execution is going to be perfect.
6:24
(clicks lips) Getting the pacing of your pulls done in camera
6:27
is essential. Even a tiny little camera like this one
6:30
has a depth of field, so if you want to shift Cinematic modes focus
6:35
to something that the camera itself wasn't focused on on the first place, well, it's going to be soft.
6:41
Oh, and one last thing about Cinematic mode, is that it only shoots in 1080p/30 frames per second.
6:47
Now, I get the lower resolution, this is a lot for a phone to process,
6:51
but the fact that something dubbed "Cinematic" doesn't shoot in cinema's traditional 24 frames per second
6:56
is really weird. Makes me think that it's gonna be used less by serious filmmakers and more by TikTok auteurs.
7:03
(soft bright music)
7:08
So should you upgrade? Well, that depends on what device you're upgrading from.
7:14
If you're running an iPhone XR or older, this iPhone 13 will be a really exciting upgrade.
7:21
If you still love Touch ID over Face ID, I'm sorry.
7:24
Now, if you're coming from an iPhone older than a XR,
7:27
you might be wondering if it'd be better to save a $100 and simply go for 12?
7:32
Surprisingly, I'm going to say no, because base storage of the iPhone 13
7:37
is up to 128 gigabytes, finally. (exhales sharply)
7:41
It still costs $800, if you're signed up for one of the big four American carriers.
7:46
If not, it's another $30 more, more on this nonsense in a minute.
7:50
But an iPhone 12 starts with only 64 gigabytes of storage.
7:54
So if you compare apples to apples, the difference is only $50,
7:59
and I think the upgrades on the 13 are worth it.
8:02
The only reason to stick with the 12 would be because you like its colors more.
8:06
Now while the case to upgrade might be clear,
8:10
what isn't is the state of purchasing a new phone these days, because it's complicated.
8:15
With trade-ins, carrier contract incentives and more,
8:18
it feels like we're returning to the dark ages of mobile phones with three-year contracts and opaque plans.
8:25
Just look at what happens when you click the See All Deals
8:28
or Explore Pricing and Special Deals buttons on the iPhone Purchase page.
8:33
You can finance or lease your phone and use your old one as a down payment.
8:37
It's all there with all the fine print to go along with it.
8:40
Apple's charts show the cost of the phone, but you should still factor in the phone plans.
8:46
To help American consumers, "The Verge" even put out a super complicated table
8:50
to figure out total costs, it's not pretty.
8:54
Effectively evaluating the value of a new phone purchase is fraught.
8:58
If you wanna get the best deal, you're going to have to do a bunch of math
9:01
in an Excel spreadsheet, probably factoring in the plans
9:05
that are available versus the plan you might have now, and don't forget to read the endless fine print.
9:11
Sometimes it might be better to take advantage of the carrier promo because they're discounting the phone
9:15
or giving more with trade-in, and other times it's not.
9:19
From what I can see though, if you have a good plan, you don't want to change,
9:23
it might be worth sticking with Apple's financing since right now it's 0% APR,
9:28
especially if you're not looking to trade in your old phone.
9:31
(exhales sharply) As I determined a few weeks ago,
9:34
iPhones last a long time now, and for many choosing an iPhone upgrade
9:39
is a three-year plus commitment. I'm certain this 13 will stand the test of time
9:43
if you protect it, and it offers another solid choice for those looking to upgrade,
9:47
especially with the increased base memory. But I think this generation
9:51
will be about the different tertiary models, so stay subscribed
9:54
because I'll be giving them some deserved attention in the coming weeks.
9:58
Thanks for renewing your Mac Address contract, I hope you like this new video.
10:02
If so, let us know below by commenting or clicking the Like button.
10:06
A lot of people in this office have pushed the button and upgraded to this generation of iPhone.
10:10
My curiosity is if you're a 6.1 inch mainstream iPhone user,
10:15
or someone who wants something specific, like a Pro, Max or Mini, comment below.
10:20
(iPhone ringtone) Oh, phone call, who could it be?