American tech giant Apple has launched the pro models in the iPhone family – iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max. Their vanilla counterparts iPhone 13 Mini and iPhone 13 were also introduced just like like year’s iPhone 12. However, the pro models enter the market with improved camera hardware, faster GPU, and the highly anticipated first ProMotion display on an iPhone.
The “ProMotion” brings a high refresh rate to the displays of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. The refresh rate can go as low as 10Hz and as high as 120Hz with iOS been configured to make the best use of the new ProMotion display.
The iPhone 13 Pro is built around a 6.1″ screen size while the Pro Max model features a 6.7″ screens size. Apple has reduced the notch that houses the TrueDepth camera by 20% and increased the new panels are up by 25% in terms of brightness.
Camera-wise, the tech company stuck with their 12MP camera resolution seen on previous models but improved the lenses, image processing, and sensors. The main camera of the Pro models has an impressive pixel size of 1.9µm and a brighter aperture of f/1.5. It can capture up to 2.2x more light in low light conditions compared to the 12 Pro Max that features 1.7µm pixels and an f/1.6 lens. The telephoto camera offers a 3x optical magnification over the main camera thanks to a new 77mm f/2.8 lens with an f/2.4 aperture.
The ultrawide camera also comes with a better lens – a 6-element f/1.8 one with autofocus that offers up to 92% more light hitting the sensor compared to last year’s Pros that features the f/2.4 lens. The autofocus on this year’s Pro models allows the ultrawide sensor to double as a macro camera. Also, the whole three cameras on the Pro models support Night mode.
Powering the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max is the new Apple A15 Bionic chipset. The chip is made up of an impressive 15 billion transistors. For comparison, the A14 Bionic chipset has 11.8 billion transistors. The A15 Bionic is built on a 5nm process technology and maintains a 2+4 CPU structure with two big cores. The GPU on the chip features 5 cores while the Neural Engine has been upgraded up too and now delivers 15.8 TOPS compared to the 11 TOPS on the A14 Bionic and the 32 TOPS on the Snapdragon 888+.
The A15 Bionic chipset has hardware support for ProRes video (Apple’s professional video codec). The iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max can record at 4K at 30 fps and you can edit the ProRes videos right on the phone. Also supported at up to 4K 60 fps is the Dolby Vision HDR.
Battery-wise, the iPhone 13 Pro will last 1.5 hours longer than the iPhone 12 Pro. While the iPhone 13 Pro Max can last 2.5 hours more than the 12 Pro Max. This is achieved thanks to a combination of a more efficient chipset, a more efficient screen, a bigger battery, and iOS optimizations. No faster-charging system was mentioned by the Cupertino company, so expect a 20W wired over Lightning and 15W over MagSafe.
The iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max will be available in Gold, Graphite, Silver, and an all-new Sierra Blue body colour. According to Apple, to create several durable layers of coating the new Sierra Blue colour required a new process. The front is made of Ceramic Shield, the back is made of matte glass while the chassis is made out of stainless steel. Covering the camera lenses is a sapphire crystal.
Pre-order for the Pro models starts this Friday, September 17 2021 with the first batch to be available on September 24. The storage options of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro Max are 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB. The starting price for the iPhone 13 Pro is $999 while that of the iPhone 13 Pro Max is $1,099.
