iPhone 13 Pro Meaningful upgrade?

[haori]

Dear all, finally got my iPhone 13 pro after a long wait. I was really looking forward to it. My current phone is an XR.

However, I am struggling to see much of difference in the user experience. I tried to see the difference in the screen. But the overly warmer tone on the new phone is more noticeable than the 120Hz refresh. I honestly cannot see a difference in the refresh rate.

The phone is beautiful and easier to hold than the XR. But is this a meaningful upgrade? After trade-in, I am looking at a cost of $900…

Thinking about sending it back. Kind of disappointed.

 

[eyoungren]

Dear all, finally got my iPhone 13 pro after a long wait. I was really looking forward to it. My current phone is an XR.

However, I am struggling to see much of difference in the user experience. I tried to see the difference in the screen. But the overly warmer tone on the new phone is more noticeable than the 120Hz refresh. I honestly cannot see a difference in the refresh rate.

The phone is beautiful and easier to hold than the XR. But is this a meaningful upgrade? After trade-in, I am looking at a cost of $900…

Thinking about sending it back. Kind of disappointed.

I think the way things have been going it's a meaningful upgrade for people who do not upgrade every year. We (my wife and I) upgraded from Google Pixels to the 11 Pro Max in February and these phones are just fine for us. I could have gone with the 12PM at the time, but I purposely choose the 11PM because it has LTE only - no 5G.

I'm not interested in playing the cell carrier guinea pig for 5G. I did that with Sprint and the iPhone 5 when they launched LTE and it was a horrible, miserable experience.

By all accounts there's no real difference between the 12 and 13 and based on questions I've asked I've seen no real benefit for us in owning the 12PM over the 11PM.

 

[Bodhitree]

Well, my reasons for updating infrequently are many. Meaningful upgrades once every five years… and cheaper total cost of ownership and more environmentally friendly. Overall I think the 13 Pro is a fine phone with great battery life.

 

[haori]

Well, my reasons for updating infrequently are many. Meaningful upgrades once every five years… and cheaper total cost of ownership and more environmentally friendly. Overall I think the 13 Pro is a fine phone with great battery life.

I just struggle to see any difference in my use. It’s beautiful but the experience is largely the same.

Maybe the cameras will change my mind. Otherwise, I think I am sending it back.

 

[haori]

I think the way things have been going it's a meaningful upgrade for people who do not upgrade every year. We (my wife and I) upgraded from Google Pixels to the 11 Pro Max in February and these phones are just fine for us. I could have gone with the 12PM at the time, but I purposely choose the 11PM because it has LTE only - no 5G.

I'm not interested in playing the cell carrier guinea pig for 5G. I did that with Sprint and the iPhone 5 when they launched LTE and it was a horrible, miserable experience.

By all accounts there's no real difference between the 12 and 13 and based on questions I've asked I've seen no real benefit for us in owning the 12PM over the 11PM.

Even from XR to the 13 pro, I really haven’t notice much of difference

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Dear all, finally got my iPhone 13 pro after a long wait. I was really looking forward to it. My current phone is an XR.

However, I am struggling to see much of difference in the user experience. I tried to see the difference in the screen. But the overly warmer tone on the new phone is more noticeable than the 120Hz refresh. I honestly cannot see a difference in the refresh rate.

The phone is beautiful and easier to hold than the XR. But is this a meaningful upgrade? After trade-in, I am looking at a cost of $900…

Thinking about sending it back. Kind of disappointed.

Not sure why it would be warmer as the new iPhone 13 models have cooler temps than last years model. However, you can disable true tone and it won't be warm. Weird thing is you came from an LCD based XR and don't even mention the OLED display then you might be broken. Not to mention the better battery life, cameras, speed, etc (literally everything). The 13 Pro's are sportscar and XR's are compacts but if you only drive in the slow lane then keep the XR. Still seems odd you would only talk about ProMotion as the only "upgrade" from the XR...

Regardless, I just came here to see if you were serious but no need to get validation from the internet do what you want.

 

[Taz Mangus]

The iPhone 14 will be here in about 10 months. Revisit the upgrade next year again. The great thing about iPhones, they don’t need to be upgraded that often. My last iPhone was the iPhone 6S+ (stoneage tech).

 

[eyoungren]

My last iPhone was the iPhone 6S+ (stoneage tech).

My 6s+ is running iOS 15.1 and just had the battery replaced. No stoneage here.

 

[valinda]

They are all the same experience. You should return it if that’s how you feel. The XR is a very good phone from what I hear.

 

[kirkster501]

I'm still on 8+, four years old now and it does everything I need it to and the battery is still good enough to last all day. Skipping the 12 and 13 and will get the 14. I sssssooooooo hope they ditch the lightning port and implement USB C.

 

[yitwail]

Dear all, finally got my iPhone 13 pro after a long wait. I was really looking forward to it. My current phone is an XR.

However, I am struggling to see much of difference in the user experience. I tried to see the difference in the screen. But the overly warmer tone on the new phone is more noticeable than the 120Hz refresh. I honestly cannot see a difference in the refresh rate.

The phone is beautiful and easier to hold than the XR. But is this a meaningful upgrade? After trade-in, I am looking at a cost of $900…

I don't have a 13 pro, just a plain 13, but in part that's because like you the 120hz refresh didn't wow me. However, I would think you'd notice the camera difference between an XR and a 13 pro. The 13p has telephoto, and ultra wide lenses, and a macro mode, and superior low light/night photography with sensor stabilization and lidar. But if you're not into photography, there wouldn't be much point in a 13 pro for you.

 

[ian87w]

Dear all, finally got my iPhone 13 pro after a long wait. I was really looking forward to it. My current phone is an XR.

However, I am struggling to see much of difference in the user experience. I tried to see the difference in the screen. But the overly warmer tone on the new phone is more noticeable than the 120Hz refresh. I honestly cannot see a difference in the refresh rate.

The phone is beautiful and easier to hold than the XR. But is this a meaningful upgrade? After trade-in, I am looking at a cost of $900…

Thinking about sending it back. Kind of disappointed.

Well, you have a valid point. I still think the 13 lineup is one of the best that Apple has ever released, but individuals will have different set of needs. In your case, you don’t see the extra features being useful for you, and that’s valid.

But since you already traded in you XR, what would you get? Imo the 11 is a nice phone, and the perfect sequel for your XR, especially at $500. I would avoid the 12 as for the same amount of storage, they’re only $50 cheaper than the 13 equivalents.

 

[Bodhitree]

I just struggle to see any difference in my use. It’s beautiful but the experience is largely the same.

Maybe the cameras will change my mind. Otherwise, I think I am sending it back.

The camera app hides a lot of the complexity of the physical camera system, you can just use it to point and shoot and then it’s not very different from an XR.

But it has to be said, a lot of the differences in the smartphone world have become incremental. Since the original iPhone all we’ve gotten is bigger screens, longer battery life, and so on. The concept hasn’t fundamentally changed its just gotten a little bit ‘more’ with each iteration.

Then again, you could say the pleasure of owning an iPhone is in part that its a premium device which is beautiful as well as packs a lot of functionality.

 

[haori]

Well, you have a valid point. I still think the 13 lineup is one of the best that Apple has ever released, but individuals will have different set of needs. In your case, you don’t see the extra features being useful for you, and that’s valid.

But since you already traded in you XR, what would you get? Imo the 11 is a nice phone, and the perfect sequel for your XR, especially at $500. I would avoid the 12 as for the same amount of storage, they’re only $50 cheaper than the 13 equivalents.

I am actually waiting for the trade-in kit to arrive. …

If buying new, the 13 models are definitely worth it, in my opinion.

The 13 pro is so beautiful. Much easier to hold than the XR. XR always wants to slip out of my hand ?

 

[now i see it]

The 13 Pro is definitely not $900 better than a XR. In some ways it’s actually worse.
Apple will make a new iPhone every year for eternity. The time to replace an old iPhone is when you’re sick of it because it’s too slow or it won’t run the software you want or Safari is stuck on an old version of iOS. Basically the time to replace an old phone is when it’s intolerable to use - or it has a hardware malfunction.

 

[haori]

The camera app hides a lot of the complexity of the physical camera system, you can just use it to point and shoot and then it’s not very different from an XR.

But it has to be said, a lot of the differences in the smartphone world have become incremental. Since the original iPhone all we’ve gotten is bigger screens, longer battery life, and so on. The concept hasn’t fundamentally changed its just gotten a little bit ‘more’ with each iteration.

Then again, you could say the pleasure of owning an iPhone is in part that its a premium device which is beautiful as well as packs a lot of functionality.

I went for the 13 pro, with the camera features in mind. I am sure it much much better than my XR. I normally travel with a camera, but it’s nice to have a good camera system on the phone.

Besides the camera, I was hoping to see an improvement on the screen. LCD to OLED … 60 Hz to promotion. But honestly, I don’t see any improvement. And the warm tone is annoying.

 

[haori]

The 13 Pro is definitely not $900 better than a XR. In some ways it’s actually worse.
Apple will make a new iPhone every year for eternity. The time to replace an old iPhone is when you’re sick of it because it’s too slow or it won’t run the software you want or Safari is stuck on an old version of iOS. Basically the time to replace an old phone is when it’s intolerable to use - or it has a hardware malfunction.

That’s true to some degree. The camera features are much better on the 13, I have to agree.

 

[haori]

The camera app hides a lot of the complexity of the physical camera system, you can just use it to point and shoot and then it’s not very different from an XR.

But it has to be said, a lot of the differences in the smartphone world have become incremental. Since the original iPhone all we’ve gotten is bigger screens, longer battery life, and so on. The concept hasn’t fundamentally changed its just gotten a little bit ‘more’ with each iteration.

Then again, you could say the pleasure of owning an iPhone is in part that its a premium device which is beautiful as well as packs a lot of functionality.

I agree. I need to decide if I deserve this incremental improvement. I thought it’ll be much more noticeable in daily usage. After all the XR is three years old. When I first switched from 6 to XR, it’s was a good upgrade.

 

[haori]

Not sure why it would be warmer as the new iPhone 13 models have cooler temps than last years model. However, you can disable true tone and it won't be warm. Weird thing is you came from an LCD based XR and don't even mention the OLED display then you might be broken. Not to mention the better battery life, cameras, speed, etc (literally everything). The 13 Pro's are sportscar and XR's are compacts but if you only drive in the slow lane then keep the XR. Still seems odd you would only talk about ProMotion as the only "upgrade" from the XR...

Regardless, I just came here to see if you were serious but no need to get validation from the internet do what you want.

Thanks, Lord.

No doubt the 13 has some nice features such as cameras. Other than that, I really don’t see an improvement over the XR.

 

[profcutter]

I had an 8plus. I hated it, it had all kinds of software issues, and the lightning connector kept dying, and the battery didn’t last very long. I traded it on an IPhone XS Max, which I used until this summer. The max was an amazing upgrade for me. The display was so good, I was able to watch shows on it for a little while when I was looking for a projector. I’d still be using it, but the camera section got a teeny little hairline crack in it, and when we were swimming this summer, the phone took a dive, and started freaking out, and wouldn’t stay on. I really didn’t want to, but I got a 12PM to replace it, which is a great phone, but not that much of an improvement from the XsMax, aside from waaaay longer battery life and the cameras. Now the XS max is working again, I suppose it dried out. Now I really regret upgrading!

 

[haori]

I had an 8plus. I hated it, it had all kinds of software issues, and the lightning connector kept dying, and the battery didn’t last very long. I traded it on an IPhone XS Max, which I used until this summer. The max was an amazing upgrade for me. The display was so good, I was able to watch shows on it for a little while when I was looking for a projector. I’d still be using it, but the camera section got a teeny little hairline crack in it, and when we were swimming this summer, the phone took a dive, and started freaking out, and wouldn’t stay on. I really didn’t want to, but I got a 12PM to replace it, which is a great phone, but not that much of an improvement from the XsMax, aside from waaaay longer battery life and the cameras. Now the XS max is working again, I suppose it dried out. Now I really regret upgrading!

haha. but you have two working phones now!

I am a bit underwhelmed after the initial excitement. also, the screen on the 13 pro is so yellow compared with the XR. what's up with that?

 

[profcutter]

haha. but you have two working phones now!

I am a bit underwhelmed after the initial excitement. also, the screen on the 13 pro is so yellow compared with the XR. what's up with that?

Could be a problem with the screen? Have you gotten it checked out? I haven’t had problems with yellow screens. Maybe True Tone is giving you grief?

 

[GuruZac]

Dear all, finally got my iPhone 13 pro after a long wait. I was really looking forward to it. My current phone is an XR.

However, I am struggling to see much of difference in the user experience. I tried to see the difference in the screen. But the overly warmer tone on the new phone is more noticeable than the 120Hz refresh. I honestly cannot see a difference in the refresh rate.

The phone is beautiful and easier to hold than the XR. But is this a meaningful upgrade? After trade-in, I am looking at a cost of $900…

Thinking about sending it back. Kind of disappointed.

I don’t think it’s $900 better than a XR and I love my 13 Pro, but the display and cameras are significantly better. I just think the way Apple has optimized iOS and built so much headroom in to the last several generations (well really the 6s with A9 and up) that the year over year or even year over a couple years doesn’t seem like much changes. I came from an 11 Pro and were it not for Verizon giving me $1000 for my 11 Pro, I’d still have it. I moved from a XR to the 11 Pro and I have to say, I felt like that was a worthwhile upgrade to have a much better display and camera system and that was 2 years ago, so the 13 Pro has to feel even more significant, but to each their own. I have played around with my dad’s XR since having my 13 Pro, and the XR is still a great phone. Just once you go to a ProMotion XDR OLED display, there’s no going back.

 

[haori]

Could be a problem with the screen? Have you gotten it checked out? I haven’t had problems with yellow screens. Maybe True Tone is giving you grief?

there's not an apple store around here. I didn't change anything. turn it on and put it alongside to the XR. it's just so yellow.

 

[haori]

I don’t think it’s $900 better than a XR and I love my 13 Pro, but the display and cameras are significantly better. I just think the way Apple has optimized iOS and built so much headroom in to the last several generations (well really the 6s with A9 and up) that the year over year or even year over a couple years doesn’t seem like much changes. I came from an 11 Pro and were it not for Verizon giving me $1000 for my 11 Pro, I’d still have it. I moved from a XR to the 11 Pro and I have to say, I felt like that was a worthwhile upgrade to have a much better display and camera system and that was 2 years ago, so the 13 Pro has to feel even more significant, but to each their own. I have played around with my dad’s XR since having my 13 Pro, and the XR is still a great phone. Just once you go to a ProMotion XDR OLED display, there’s no going back.

people must be different I am struggling to notice any difference between the screens on my XR and this 13 pro. additionally, the screen is so yellow on the 13 pro.


The only meaningful improvement to me is the cameras.