iPhone 13 iPhone 13s are a bit overrated

[cuzo]

Coming from the regular iPhone 11, the 13 is definitely not overrated.

Battery life alone makes this phone a hell of a lot better. With the iPhone 11, I would usually plug it in at work around noon as it would be below 50% in battery life. Day 1 w/ my iphone 13, battery life is currently at 29% and that's surfing the web while on the bus heading home and playing games on it during my breaks at work.

Weird the basic 11 was great on battery with the older screen, still a great phone today.

 

[redheeler]

Maybe with the iPhone 14's "new" design you'd see reduced batteries again, and have to wait for iPhone 15 for Promotion + new design + "Best Ever iPhone Battery"! So you might as well wait 2 more years ..

Saw this trend from iPhone 12's battery reduction vs 11, then superb increase in the iPhone 13 series... so makes sense they might do that again~

So i don't think 13 is that overrated though.. maybe we could have all skipped the 12 on hindsight..

iPhone 13 is like an s iterative generation. That’s not a bad thing at all, in fact the s generations have been some of the best in the long term. 5s vs. 5, 6s vs. 6 etc. all show that. s generations often seem like what the original should’ve been but wasn’t. I’m glad I skipped the 12 and waited another year for the 13 Pro Max.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

For me the 120hz screen was enough to justify the upgrade. I notice the difference that much. I know some people don't notice as much.

I personally thought that 60hz on OLED kind of sucks. Yes, the colors, viewing angles, and black levels are great. But unlike LCD screens which provide a natural blur between frames, OLED does not. The result is that, to me, 60hz OLED often looked jittery or flickery, an issue I never had with LCD phone screens.

The 13 Pro is unquestionably the smoothest device I have ever used. The extra camera features are nice too.

I honestly can’t see this jitter or lag that I’m reading about all over this forum. My iPhone feels smooth and I have no complaints at all. I’d be interested to see what this improvement brings in terms of real world use.

 

[ian87w]

Sometimes I don't know what is an S iteration anymore - after the Xs came 11/12/13... one would think the 12 should have been the S.

It depends on what you are basing the S from. Generally, the S iteration is basically using the same overall design and shell as the last one, but with improved internals. The 12 Pro is a new design/shell, so 13 Pro is the S iteration. Imo the 11 Pro is the SS iteration of the X, with the regular 11 being an S iteration of the XR.

 

[ian87w]

iPhone 13 is like an s iterative generation. That’s not a bad thing at all, in fact the s generations have been some of the best in the long term. 5s vs. 5, 6s vs. 6 etc. all show that. s generations often seem like what the original should’ve been but wasn’t. I’m glad I skipped the 12 and waited another year for the 13 Pro Max.

Agreed. The S iteration is the refined version, and overall is the better version. However, like fashion, some people want to be on the newest design, and if you pick the S version, you are already at least 1 generation "late." FOMO is big thing with consumers.

Eg. So many people jumped on the 12 because of the new design, despite all the shortcomings (small battery, no Pro-motion, 64GB base storage for the regular 12, only the 12PM with the new camera unit, etc). The 13 lineup pretty much fixed all the shortcomings of the 12 (larger battery, all have the new camera unit, all come with 128GB base storage, Pro gets Pro-motion).

 

[Broken Hope]

ProMotion and cameras alone are worth the upgrade from the 12 let alone anything older, the better battery, GPU etc are just nice extras.

 

[Marli]

The new camera hardware on the 13 Pro sounds impressive, but I can't justify the premium over a refurbished 11 Pro, which is the cheapest triple-lens option out there. And as much as I'd like to wait to see what the 14 brings, my current device will be KO'd by the 3G shutdown this February!

I had and still have a 11 ProMax, and the camera is also a ripper.. the 13 is barely better with quality, but a bit better with stabilisation and focus. Maybe a little bit better in low light

 

[Tikatika]

I had and still have a 11 ProMax, and the camera is also a ripper.. the 13 is barely better with quality, but a bit better with stabilisation and focus. Maybe a little bit better in low light

And for me, this 13 PM is a bazillion times better on battery life. I was having severe issues with my 11 PM and various other oddities. Couldn’t wait to get this 13 PM beauty!

 

[Denzo]

I’m in love with my iPhone 13PM.
Pro-motion
Macro
Battery
Speakers. The speakers !!

Big step up from the X for me.

Wife went from the 12Pro to a 13PM and she really prefers the new phone
Also these new screens are beautiful.

 

[Adelphos33]

Apple has an annoying tendency in recent years to weaken battery life whenever they “redesign” an iPhone. Apple got the last version of IPhone right with the 11 series, which in many ways were better than the 12 series. The 13 is the better upgrade for anyone 11 or older

 

[Squuiid]

Going from an 11 Pro to a 13 Pro this thing feels like a damn BRICK.

 

[Drosera]

I'm going from an SE 2016 to a new 12 Mini for just £279 (+£17/month contract for unlimited 5G data).

Yes I'd have liked the extra battery power & storage of 13 Mini, but didn't feel it was worth the extra £400!

 

[janeauburn]

Going from an 11 Pro to a 13 Pro, this thing feels like a damn BRICK.

Hmm.

Thicker and heavier -- what gives?

The thickness and weight of these phones is insane. So what did Apple do? Made them thicker and heavier! https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/09/15/iphone-13-models-thicker-and-heavier-truedepth-notch-slightly-taller-than-iphone-12-lineup I used to think the picture below was a joke. Now I...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[M1Buddy]

They're "underwhelming" because the smartphone is a mature product now. Upgrades will be relatively minimal from here out, much like how a 2021 car model is usually only slightly different from its 2020 version. These phones are designed to be held on to for at least 2 years and realistically are good for double that or more.

Ye that’s where I’m comin from

 

[M1Buddy]

Doubt it. What do you define as “ground-breaking announcement”?

I’m saying: ye sure promotion came finally not a very wow Moment as we all basically used or tried promo before. What I’m saying is maybe just maybe no notch? Bigger batteries? Smaller bezels or no bezels? I’m just spitting words, but I have a 12PM and I don’t think its worth it this year. Ye I would love promo, the endless camera improvements but still this year was defo an S year.

 

[M1Buddy]

I did make it another year. And am enjoying the massive leap from 6s+ to 13 Pro Max

Helll ya! I’m saying if you have an xs/Xr it’s not worth it. Any older hell ya you need an upgrade. Also congrats on your new phone!

 

[M1Buddy]

Sure, you can always wait another year for the next big thing. It's not so much whether this year's models are a 'meh' upgrade from the previous year. It's a matter of what you have now, whether you're happy with it, and whether it'll last long enough to bridge the gap to the Next Big Thing. If there's no voice inside your head shouting, "I gotta have it now," then by all means, wait. If your current phone won't last that long... well you gotta do what you gotta do.

I have an X. It's served me very well, but I figured the battery would need replacement after about 2.5 - 3 years. That would have been a good time to upgrade to the next model (I'd replace the battery anyway and hand it down to a family member, as I usually do). So before they came out, I was thinking I'd get a 12-series by early 2021, around my X's Third Anniversary.

But then the 12s were announced. I really preferred the cameras in the 12 Pro Max to the 12 Pro, but I've never liked phablets, I much prefer the "classic" X-sized phones. So I sat on the fence, "Let's see what happens with my X." Well, what's happened is that the battery is still hanging in there - 84%, Peak Performance Capability after 3.5 years. Overall, it's still running great on iOS 15, and I still have plenty of Available Storage.

(How you like them apples, you 'Apple's not serious about extending battery life' and 'Apple software upgrades are designed to kill old phones' people?)

Now, the 13 Pro has me salivating. Much better cameras than I could have ever expected, I can get those cameras in the iPhone size I prefer, and the battery test reports are very impressive. Yet I don't have to be in a hurry to buy a new phone. It'll be sooner if something unexpected happens to the X or if I end up going on a trip where I'd like the upgraded cameras, or later for the sake of boasting, "My iPhone X is four years old and going strong!"

Of course I'm not in the "owns an Xs or later" category, but the principle still applies. Buy what you want, when you need it. You're under no obligation to buy a new model simply because there's a new model. But speaking as a photographer for whom a macro lens has always been part of his lens kit... The 13 Pros would be a temptation for people like me regardless of what model iPhone they currently own. From my (extreme close-up) perspective, 13 is not meh at all.

Well yeah. You have an X. The 13s aren‘t the ‘best’ or the worst. in my opinion from a 12PM and a SE2 it’s a meh offer. If I were a photographer I would say. Ye it is worth it, but rn as a video and a chill iPhone/iPad/Mac and basically everything user. I believe next year is gonna be a cool announcement. I obviously dont know if thats certain or not. And ye the battery is just plain ****. On the SE2, we bought it in Nov2020 and now it’s already 86% battery health, and we barely even put it in the charger. Definitely disappointed. We told  support and they said the phone is ’performing normally’.

 

[M1Buddy]

Not at all, I have upgraded my iPhone every year since my first iPhone in 2007. Every year brings something better, and this year I am very impressed with the battery life, camera and how good the 120hz screen really is during use. To me the upgrade has been worth it from my 12promax ?

Are you in the upgrade program?

 

[M1Buddy]

Agree, don't know what's turning me on more, ProMotion or this crazy battery life. ???

If i were to but any 13 rn. I would definitely buy it for both promo and the craaazy battery. 8 hours over the 12PM!!!


Video playback!

 

[Bethanie21]

Going from an 11 Pro to a 13 Pro, this thing feels like a damn BRICK.

I made same jump as you (11 Pro to 13 Pro) and haven’t noticed much difference in weight.

 

[AlexJ092]

Are you in the upgrade program?

I am not, I pay full price every year and then sell it to put towards the cost of the new model. Usually costs me around the £400 mark per year doing it this way. If I do not sell the iPhone then I pass it down to a family member if they are in need of an upgrade.

 

[Moneymiike420]

standard 13 is absolutely UNDERRATED. Coming from a 3yo XS ,its so refreshing to use. The mini isnt nothing to overlook as well. Was very close to getting that instead.

 

[JCCL]

Got mine yesterday….and to be honest. Feels like the same as my 11 Pro Max all around. Pro Motion yeah - I can tell it’s there, but someone could turn it off and I wouldn’t mind at all.
It’s a great phone, but not really that much better than the two year old iteration.

 

[JCCL]

ProMotion and cameras alone are worth the upgrade from the 12 let alone anything older, the better battery, GPU etc are just nice extras.

No it’s not man. Unless you get a great deal on your 12

 

[sjperformance]

It’s those who expect more that don’t get the stuff they want in life. I read many saying I’ll just wait next year. Next year comes and still no upgrade. I upgrade a every year. I do it because I can and I enjoy my newest iPhones. Get what you want. Use what you want. Be happy.