Apple has released two new Pro edition iPhones, the 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, in addition to the standard and Mini variants. These two models are similar to the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini in that they deliver some pleasant updates without altogether redefining the category.
Let’s look at Apple‘s latest iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max after five days of use to see if they are worthy of the Pro moniker.
(image courtesy of Apple.com)
General information
Those looking for the most incredible camera in an ultra-premium iPhone will be pleased with the new iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max. Specifically, it has three lenses that are among the most adaptable we’ve ever tested, making it ideal for photographers, influencers, and filmmakers.
The characteristics of both Pros are identical since Apple standardized them. The only differences are the battery capacity and screen size. The 13 Pro and the 13 Pro Max include a triple camera setup with a LiDAR sensor, an A15 Bionic with an additional GPU core, Super Retina XDR screens with a 120Hz refresh rate, and a stunning new color called Sierra Blue. In addition, the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max have not increased in price.
Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max are two of the most fantastic high-end mobile devices available. The cameras produce more accurate colors and lifelike photos than rivals like the Z Fold 3, Samsung Galaxy S21, and Pixel 5a. While several phones have attempted macro photography, we believe these are the first to succeed. It’s also on par with the display refresh rates of competing premium smartphones. If you’re looking for an iPhone and don’t care about the improved low-light performance or third lens, the base model 13 is your best pick.
High refresh rate
Why is a refresh rate of 120 Hz noteworthy, exactly? Phones from Samsung and other vendors have touted the fast refresh rate for some time, making it puzzling that Apple waited so long to embrace it. However, Apple did put its own unique twist on things.
Apple’s ProMotion technology allows a display refresh rate range of 10Hz to 120Hz on either the 6.1-inch 13 Pro or the 6.8-inch 13 Pro Max. Adaptive refresh rate is used to tailor the refresh rate to the movement of your finger, similar to the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy Z Fold 3. But it’s possible that the ordinary user won’t even notice that slight distinction.
(image courtesy of Apple.com)
Even with the splash screen coming online, starting apps and navigating through them by swiping appears more snappy. Content, such as an epic fight movie scene or a squad scoring a goal in a live sports game, seems more realistic and action moments are free of stutters. We observed that the iPhone 12 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max lacked this fast refresh rate, so we were pleased to see it included in the iPhone 13.
The OLED screen on the 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max remains unchanged, providing an immersive viewing experience with deep blacks and vivid, true-to-life colors. Anyone who often uses their device in strong sunshine will appreciate the 2021 screen’s capacity to scale brightness even higher, with a limit of 200 nits greater than the 13 or 13 Mini.
The TrueDepth sensor, located at the top, has been reduced in size, making the notch smaller. More room is made available on the left and right, where iOS often places useful status indicators like the network strength, clock, and battery life. iOS 15 allows you to view if the device’s location, cameras, or microphone have been utilized recently.
Cameras
The cameras distinguish the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max from other phones, including the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini. And if you only look at the megapixels, you could believe they are the same. There are still three 12-megapixel cameras included: a wide-angle, an ultra-wide-angle, and a telephoto.
(image courtesy of Apple.com)
To get things off, the 12-megapixel wide-angle camera has a sizable sensor that makes it a solid choice for shooting in a broad range of conditions. Because the sensor is physically more prominent, more light can be caught, resulting in a more realistic picture.
This is coupled with a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera with a field of view that is adjustable up to 120 degrees. You won’t notice strange blurring at the edges as on other devices that use ultrawide. Similar to the primary lens, this one also has a big sensor that helps eliminate grain, blurriness, and other undesirable qualities of the image. The lens flare remains, although it is diminished.
This camera’s most intriguing feature is that the ultrawide lens can also be used as a macro lens, which is the camera’s greatest trick. Apple uses Phase Detection Autofocus, which rapidly adjusts the focus when you get near a subject, rather than a separate 2-megapixel macro camera, as we’ve seen with other phone manufacturers. Consequently, the final image has an insane level of detail with virtually no noise.
It’s video compatible, too, so you can record macro footage at regular speed, slow motion, or time-lapse. Macro shots in the video were a challenge since it often failed to focus even when we were very near to the subject. As macro did not function at the highest recording quality level, the solution was to reduce the recording quality.
Using Apple’s macro mode is equally effortless; merely go closer to an item, and it will intelligently transition to the appropriate shooting setting. This is macro photography at its finest and the significant strength of these lenses.
Last but not least, a 12-megapixel telephoto lens allows for a 3-times optical zoom without introducing distortion, noise, or grain—more than twice as much as the iPhone 12 Pro or the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Compared to competitors like Samsung, whose Space Zoom (a hybrid of optical and digital) goes up to 100x, it falls short.
This lens is better suited for portraits or objects since its framing is slightly smaller than the wide or ultrawide. No blurriness was introduced, and results were precise and color-accurate, independent of lighting conditions. As the zoom factor increases above 3x, however, the image quality degrades due to the introduction of digital noise.
The 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max benefit significantly from the bigger sensors and apertures in the hardware while using Portrait mode and Night mode, two of the phones’ primary shooting settings. It improves the quality of shots taken in both modes, and in Portrait mode, it decreases the number of the “needs more light” alerts. Even though we could produce noticeably better Night mode images than with the 12 Pro or 12 Pro Max, these enhancements are welcome but not always evident in the final product.
In 2021, Apple introduced a feature called “Photographic Styles,” which allows users to apply one of many different looks to their iPhone photos before taking the picture. You can choose neutral, bright, rich contrast, warm, and cool, and then adjust the tonal quality and level of warmth to your liking.
(image courtesy of Apple.com)
Another addition is a new Cinematic video mode, which effectively adds portrait video support. This means that while shooting a group of people, the attention will be on the individual who is doing the most talking or engaged. In contrast, the rest of the group will be blurred out. Focusing on different people in the scene is easy, on-the-fly cut you may do in post-production.
(image courtesy of Apple.com)
5G connectivity
The iPhone’s “Pro” and non-Pro variants have 5G connectivity and support the two primary U.S. protocols, Sub-6, and mmWave. In addition, it might be challenging to locate a 5G signal, at least the kind everyone wants. This is true for most service providers (Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T included).
(image courtesy of Apple.com)
Now, let’s look at the various sorts of 5G connectivity available on the 13 Pro and the 13 Pro Max. Suppose you see 5G in the upper right corner. In that case, it signifies your connection to a countrywide Sub-6 network provided by your carrier. This standard implementation of 5G operating at a lower band capacity makes it simpler to deploy. It’s also not as fast as we believed it would be. Speeds will be comparable to 4G LTE, ranging from 200 to 300 Mbps. Still, the benefit will be additional bandwidth on a particular network.
Although it may be more challenging to track down, 5G ultrawideband (UW) is likely to be the 5G of your dreams. In our tests this year and with the iPhone 12 Pro last year, we found that the ultrawide-band mmWave 5G provided the fastest speeds; however, this type of 5G requires a direct line of sight to a cell tower. The deployment of such a network is more challenging, which is why no service provider can guarantee coverage in every area. Our experiments showed that if a structure stood between the phone and the tower or if the user moved farther down the street; they would lose the connection.
Therefore, it’s possible that you’re not in a region where you can access the super-fast 5G service that you’re hoping for. Apple did well to include it in the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, but you probably won’t use it daily. It’s a proactive measure to ensure success in the years to come.
Battery life and SoC performance
Neither the 13 Pro nor the 13 Pro Max slowed down much throughout our tests. While on a FaceTime chat, we could switch between Focus modes, have as many as 40 programs running in the background, and still multitask. Facebook, Slack, Instagram, Trello, Twitter, Outlook, TikTok, Pixelmator, RFS, Photoshop Express, Word, Catalyst Black, and the rest of the factory-installed apps ran without a hitch.
(image courtesy of Apple.com)
Image exports would complete a second or two quicker, and videogames would open approximately three seconds quicker for major titles. Still, these are hardly noticeable gains over the 12 Mini, 12 Pro, or 12 Pro Max. The improvements are more noticeable on an iPhone 11 or later, especially while performing heavy tasks. However, all of them feel very smooth.
Increases in battery life are particularly noteworthy. The manufacturer advertised that the 13 Pro would last 1.5 hours longer than the 12 Pro and that the 13 Pro Max would last 3.5 hours longer than the 12 Pro Max before their respective releases. We could get 16 hours of life out of the battery when we tested it in real-world conditions.
In addition, we made additional steps to ensure that our testing was valid. With the screen brightness at 50% and the loudness at 30%, we loop a 4K movie in airplane mode. Additionally, we ensure that wireless connections (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) are disabled and play the movie continuously until the battery dies.
As a precaution, we use two cameras to monitor the test. The battery life of the iPhone 13 Pro was 14 hours, 10 minutes, which is an improvement over the iPhone 12 Pro’s 12 hours, 10 minutes. The 18-hour battery life of the iPhone 13 Pro Max is an improvement of two hours over the 12-hour life of the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The battery life on either of these devices won’t be an issue.
A Lightning cable, MagSafe, or the Qi wireless charging protocol may be used to power either device.
New colors
We wouldn’t be surprised if you confused an iPhone 13 Pro with an iPhone 12 Pro since the two phones are virtually indistinguishable from the front and sides.
The new flat design of the 13 Pro and Pro Max makes it comfortable to grip. When using the Pro Max, those with tiny hands will like the button layout since each one is positioned just a little lower than on other models.
The sound mute button, the volume rocker, and the SIM card slot can all be found on the left side of the device. You’ll find the power button and the mmWave band antenna down on the right side. Stainless steel instead of aluminum provides a more premium feel and blends seamlessly with the front display and back frosted glass finish. The bottom, as predicted, has a Lightning port and speakers on either side.
Four brand-new colors will be available in 2021: Sierra Blue, Graphite, Silver, and Gold. The iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, regardless of color, have an IP68 rating, making them safe to submerge in water up to 1 meter deep for up to 30 minutes. Any liquid, including beer, tea, water, Gatorade, or coffee, won’t hurt the phones.
(image courtesy of Apple.com)
While the 13 Pro and 13 are identical in size, the 13 Pro requires a different type of case due to the more significant camera module on the back.
Final verdict
You may make a case for getting a 13 Pro or 13 Pro Max if you’re interested in photography or filmmaking, or even if you’re just a social media celebrity. The three lenses that come with it are among the most adaptable sets of lenses we have evaluated. In addition, it has a brilliant display, fast speed, and very long battery life for its class.
However, we don’t think it’s necessary to rush out and buy the new iPhone if you already own an iPhone 12 Pro or 12 Pro Max and are satisfied with your current camera setup. While having a 120 Hz display has certain benefits, it does not come cheap.
That said, if you own an iPhone 11 Pro or 11 Pro Max, you should upgrade soon.
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