iPhone 13 Camera Comparison: If You Have an Older iPhone, It's Time to Upgrade

[citysnaps]

I've had my 12 Pro for close to a year. And there's definitely a flare issue under certain bright lighting conditions. For example if you're making a photo in the direction of the Sun and the Sun itself is not even close to being in the frame, you can get flare in the shape of an arc.

I attribute that to the lens housing round protrusion from the back being shiny on it's edge surface, and the protective glass surface being chamfered, transparent, and a millimeter proud of the lens housing. Strong out-of-frame light hits the shiny lens housing surface and is reflected into the protective chamfered glass surface.

I don't know if the iPhone 11 has the same protruding lens design, but if it does, that could cause flare as well. It would have been much better having the protective glass surface at the same level as the protruding lens housing, rather than chamfered and proud.

 

[Arsenikdote]

These are my own images from my iPhone 11, taken in 2019. I'm seeing some of the same softness here that I don't think we'd see with an iPhone 13.

What is interesting is I have definitely seen this with photos my wife has taken and thought she had something smeared on her lens. I am not sure if I haven't seen it as much because I am a hardcore hobbyist photographer and naturally compose my shots in a way that avoids it, but knowing that this is potentially an issue with side light on the camera glass makes a heck of a lot more sense than my wife's phone constantly being dirty

 

[climber2020]

I did a direct comparison between my 12 Mini and my new iPhone 13 Pro. The 13 Pro does a little better in super low light, but in bright or moderate lighting (the type of light I take most of my photos in), I couldn't see much difference or the 12 Mini was actually better in many situations. After a weekend of testing, I ended up sending back my 13 Pro for a refund.

If anyone is interested in seeing the full size photos, go to the iOS Talk forums at DPreview. I posted some examples there: iPhone 13 Pro main camera is worse than my 12 Mini

 

[pugxiwawa]

That tested iPhone 11 is a hot mess. No way that’s representative of its capabilities. This is straight from my ip11.

 

[ikramerica]

Glad I invested in a bunch of iPhone 8+ leather cases so I wouldn’t have to go all black while I hold on to my awesome TouchID 8+ for years to come.

 

[827538]

Coming from an iPhone 6S to a 13 Pro the difference was remarkable. Even my wife going from an 8 to a 13 Mini was huge.

Quite amazing how much of a difference has been made in only 5 years.

 

[Analog Kid]

My takeaway is that the 8 looks to be the best of the lot.

What color is the next on that sign supposed to be? The 13 seems to think it's much more black than red. That's what worries me with all this computational photography stuff-- when it's overused, it's like looking at a painting some AI did of a photo you'd meant to take.

 

[filemakercowboy]

For everyone saying that the 11’s lens is dirty, here’s a picture I took last week using my iPhone 11 Pro with a CLEAN lens.

 

[citysnaps]

For everyone saying that the 11’s lens is dirty, here’s a picture I took last week using my iPhone 11 Pro with a CLEAN lens.

Lens flare. From my iPhone 12 Pro. With the Sun in the general direction, but not even close to being in the frame. Due to what I said above in post# 101.

 

[sudo-sandwich]

Weird, the way the lighting from the street lamps flares in the 11 shot is the best indication of oil on the lens. That's always how I test my lens for cleanliness. But I also assume the photographer knows how to take photos properly.

 

[sudo-sandwich]

For everyone saying that the 11’s lens is dirty, here’s a picture I took last week using my iPhone 11 Pro with a CLEAN lens.

Those are much brighter stadium lights.

 

[Le0M]

The iPhone 11's lenses might be clean, but perhaps some dust got in the camera from behind the glass. Sometimes the only way to fix this is to open the phone and gently use a brush over the glass.

 

[sudo-sandwich]

Please remember to disclose "paid advertising" or "The article was paid for by Apple" when publishing these it-is-time-to-upgrade-your-old-sh** articles ;-)

Yeah, for me it's not time to upgrade. Kinda annoying to be told to.

 

[sudo-sandwich]

My takeaway is that the 8 looks to be the best of the lot.

What color is the next on that sign supposed to be? The 13 seems to think it's much more black than red. That's what worries me with all this computational photography stuff-- when it's overused, it's like looking at a painting some AI did of a photo you'd meant to take.

Name checks out
But seriously, I agree that the 8 looks best in these particular photos, especially the house one.

 

[citysnaps]

And here's a photo I made with my 6+ around six or seven years ago in SF. The shafts of light were strong, but there is no flare. No doubt due to a much better lens housing design.

 

[Misopates]

Sure my iPhone 13 pro is good, but even coming from the X it’s not a game changer. Yes the cameras are redesigned but it’s still 12 MP sensors. There’s only so much image processing can do. If not both the battery and the faceID were dead on my X, I would not think it was worth the upgrade.

 

[citysnaps]

Please remember to disclose "paid advertising" or "The article was paid for by Apple" when publishing these it-is-time-to-upgrade-your-old-sh** articles ;-)

Is that what's happening here?

 

[whitedragon101]

Would like to see this including the pro models

 

[QCassidy352]

The 6 is clearly far behind, and there is unquestionably something wrong with the 11 Pro used in this test. But the 8 holds up well after all this time.

 

[femike]

Yeah, it's fine regardless of repairability if the 6S lasted that long (6 years). Mine is ok so far.

My 6S is also ok, still on original battery. Battery is life is good (relatively) with iOS 15 but I do have most location services turned off, and this itself saves alot of battery. And 3D Touch is great.

 

[subi257]

So far, it seems that the 13 is making the best images. My 11 Pro was very good, but this (13) is better.

 

[subi257]

None of those cameras’s photos look very good to me. I occasionally use my iPhone XR camera to take throw away photos, but if I want a true keeper photo you can bet I’ll use one of my good ILC cameras rather than a tiny, Cracker-jack box camera from a smartphone. When choosing to upgrade an iPhone, the camera is the least feature I care about since I know tiny smartphone cameras are not good for much except social media and selfies.

If I want serious pictures, I will use the Sony a7rIII of Canon EOS 1DS MK III

 

[cute-ladybug-2019]

A couple of filters will make a photo from an iPhone 6 the same as an iPhone 13 Pro

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

The iPhone 13 having a good camera, doesn’t make the iPhone 12 have a poor camera lol. I can happily live with it for another year cheers.

 

[cute-ladybug-2019]

Just look again at the photos taken by the iPhone 6 from Apple

Apple - iPhone 6 - Cameras