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New iPhones for 2021: iPhone 13, Mini, Professional and Professional Max defined

In the early days of the iPhone, Apple only asked a few questions of potential buyers: What color and what capacity?

Unfortunately, what used to be easy now requires a full analysis of spec sheets, dimensions and marketing lingo to determine which of the four iPhone models ticks your boxes. And even once you’ve decided between the iPhone 13, the Mini, the Pro, and the Pro Max, you still have two important questions to answer: which color and which capacity?

Overwhelmed by options? We’ve done the research for you, combing through all the dirty details to see how each of the latest iPhone variants stacks up against its siblings. Including, you guessed it, the color and capacity options.

Theme: Identity Parade

All four iPhone 13 models stick to the same styling approach as last year’s iPhone 12 lineup. That means flat aluminum sides, glass on the back, and Ceramic Shield protecting the OLED panels. Nothing new – but still neat, sleek and in line with Apple’s contemporary design language.

A notable novelty across all four devices is the reduced notch at the top of the display, which is now a sliver taller but 20% slimmer. It doesn’t completely rid the screen of a cutout, but it definitely looks neater, especially on the big iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Speaking of dimensions, the relative proportions of each device remain essentially the same as last generation. The Mini is, as you’d expect, the smallest – measuring 131.5mm high and 64.2mm wide. As with the iPhone 12, the standard iPhone 13 has identical dimensions to the Pro version: both are 146.7mm in height and 71.5mm in width. And the Pro Max remains the biggest of the bunch at 160.8 mm high and 78.1 mm wide. Impressively, all four devices are only 7.65mm slim.

As for the hues, the iPhone 13 and Mini ship in five hues: Pink, Blue, Midnight, and Starlight — plus the special (Product) Red Edition. With the Pro and Pro Max, you only have four colors to choose from: Sierra Blue, Silver, Gold, and Graphite. Nothing too crazy – and maybe a little more vanilla than some would like.

Screen: Go Pro for ProMotion

On paper, the OLED displays across the iPhone 13 range are basically identical to their iPhone 12 equivalents. That means a 5.4-inch panel for the iPhone 13 Mini (with a 2340×1080 resolution) and a 6.1-inch screen for the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro (with a 2532×1170 resolution). The iPhone 13 Pro Max is again the largest at 6.7 inches, with an unchanged resolution of 2778×1284.

However, there are some display differences in the lineup. For the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini, Apple has increased the brightness. It’s reportedly 28% brighter outside (at 800 nits versus 625). Apple also claims peak brightness is higher for HDR content, which should improve contrast.

But it’s the Pro variants that are now offering a real treat for your viewers. Both ship with ProMotion support, which translates to adaptive refresh rates outside of the Apple universe. This means the updated displays can intelligently drop down to a super-efficient 10Hz for maximum battery conservation, or boost frame rates to a silky-smooth 120Hz when needed – ideal for smooth in-game visuals.

These Pro panels are also the brightest ever put on an iPhone. With 1000 nits, the brightness is up to 25% higher outdoors.

Camera: double or triple

As with the previous generation, the “standard” iPhone 13 and its mini sibling come with one pair of lenses, while the Pro and Pro Max versions have three. And the resolutions haven’t changed: front and back, every camera on every iPhone 13 model has a 12-megapixel sensor. But the pixels on these sensors have changed – as have many photographic tricks.

On the iPhone 13 and Mini, the main cameras are now aligned diagonally (rather than stacked vertically), possibly to make room for the additional tech below. The updated wide-angle camera comes with the largest sensor ever seen on a dual-camera iPhone, with larger pixels that can capture more light in dimly lit scenes. It also now comes with sensor-shift optical image stabilization, while the ultra-wide sensor has also been improved. As for footage, both the iPhone 13 and Mini can record 4K HDR with Dolby Vision at up to 60 fps.

Sound impressive? The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max tick even more boxes for photographers. All three rear gunners have been reworked to make them more advanced than ever. The wide-angle lens uses the largest pixels on any iPhone, which should mean immense low-light performance (especially paired with an f/1.5 aperture). The ultra-wide angle is similarly enhanced with an f/1.8 aperture, along with autofocus unlocking macro stills and video for the first time. The trio is rounded off by the new 77 mm telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom.

Powered by the new A15 Bionic chip (see below) and a fresh image signal processor, the new iPhone 13 models also get plenty of fresh software tricks. Night mode is available for all Pro and Pro Max cameras – and these models now also support the ProRes video codec. Each model benefits from the mesmerizing Cinematic mode (which lets you easily recreate Hollywood rack focus depth of field effects) and new Photographic Styles presets that cleverly apply custom editing settings to the right parts of your images.

Selfie devil? All four iPhone 13 models share the same 12MP TrueDepth front camera for Face ID, Animoji, and the rest.

Performance & Battery: Take the A15

All four iPhone 13 models are equipped with the latest A15 Bionic processor. While Apple is always shy about releasing RAM stats, it claims the new chip will make any iPhone up to 50% faster than its (unidentified) competitors. And considering how lively the A14 was, that should be pretty quick indeed.

The performance increase comes from a six-core CPU supported by a 16-core Neural Engine capable of 15.8 trillion operations per second. As well as snappy multitasking abilities for all four iPhone 13 models, that should also mean seriously fast machine learning – used for everything from photo editing and video recording to live text recognition in iOS 15 (see below).

A small but potentially significant difference is that the Pro and Pro Max variants benefit from an additional GPU core. While the four GPU cores in the iPhone 13 and Mini should offer more than enough power to handle the latest games, the extra fifth core is probably there to deliver that 120Hz refresh rate for the most refined graphics.

Despite the extra processing power, the longevity of each iPhone 13 model has increased over its last-gen equivalent thanks to larger cells and greater hardware efficiency. Apple hasn’t released exact battery capacity stats, but it claims up to 19 hours of video playback for the iPhone 13 and two fewer for the Mini. And sticking to Apple’s well-established formula, the bigger the iPhone, the longer it should last: The iPhone 13 Pro is good for up to 22 hours of video playback on paper, while the Pro Max has the best endurance at 28 hours.

When it’s time to charge, every iPhone 13 variant supports wireless charging at up to 15W via MagSafe — and if you have a 20W wired adapter, you should get 50% in about 30 minutes.

Features & Benefits: iOS 15 for everyone

All new iPhone 13 models ship with dedicated antenna hardware for faster 5G across more bands. Apple is forecasting double global coverage by the end of the year, but until the UK has a broader signal network, that’s quite a moot point. Nevertheless, at least the iPhone 13 is future-proof.

On the software side, all new iPhone 13 variants ship with iOS 15. The updated operating system promises FaceTime improvements, a new portrait mode, redesigned notifications and focus features to reduce distractions, and live text in camera smarts powered by the Neural Engine. These should run just as well on any of the four models, but we’ll need to do a proper hardware test to see if the extra GPU core on the Pro models makes a difference. For a full rundown of what to expect, check out our dedicated iOS 15 preview feature.

In terms of storage capacity, all four iPhone 13 models come in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB variants. But the big news for media hoarders is that the Pro and Pro Max now also offer 1TB versions – the largest storage size ever seen on an iPhone.

First verdict: which one to take?

We can’t say which iPhone 13 to buy until we’ve had a chance to test them all. However, the spec sheets reveal that Apple has widened the gap between the two vanilla variants and their Pro and Pro Max cousins.

Last year we voted the iPhone 12 over the iPhone 12 Pro. Given the price, size, and performance, that could be the case again this year. But the gap is significantly wider: while the iPhone 13 and Mini deliver faster performance, longer battery life, and solid camera updates, it’s the Pro versions that really raise the bar.

While neither of the new phones is revolutionary, the Pro and Pro Max represent much more of an upgrade. The revised camera hardware (including 3x optical zoom), ProMotion’s 120Hz refresh rate, and beefier battery life — along with the A15 chip and the additional GPU core – characterize the Pro models as real top performers.

But you have to pay a pretty penny to get them. The iPhone 13 starts at £779, while the iPhone 13 Mini is the cheapest at £679 and up. To go Pro, look at a minimum of £949 – or £1049 for the smallest-capacity Pro Max. Even for serious hardware, this is a serious investment. Any iPhone 13 will be available for pre-order starting September 17th, with availability beginning September 24th.

Our iPhone 13 reviews

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