Apple iPhone 13 Review: The Most Incremental Upgrade Ever (Published 2021)
The new iPhone is 10 percent faster than the last one, and the photos are slightly better. In a word: Huh.
this is an interesting take
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iPhone 13 NYT review of camera / 13 in general is not a glowing one
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this is an interesting take
I can't wait to get my 13PM on Friday, but I agree with quite a bit of what is being said in this article, if I am being impartial. That being said, I can definitely see some improvement in the cameras via those shots, but yes, the article is correct in saying it is 'iterative', which is what we should expect annually, going forward.
I would say this is an overall less than favorable review. The most incremental upgrade EVER. Wow. Granted, I’m perfectly fine with my iPhone 12 for another year so I do agree with it to an extent. The upgrade is highly incremental and honestly the Pro models are the ones worth considering IMHO.Apple iPhone 13 Review: The Most Incremental Upgrade Ever (Published 2021)
The new iPhone is 10 percent faster than the last one, and the photos are slightly better. In a word: Huh.www.nytimes.com
this is an interesting take
I agree. Honestly the biggest upgrade will be seen every 3 years. If you upgrade after 2 years you’ll notice some stuff, but I feel like someone that is on a XS or XS Max this would be the perfect upgrade for them. It also gets them to the new design language as well.
I'm going from an 11PM -> 13PM but I am only doing that because my 11PM screen got smashed and I'd rather just upgrade a year sooner than spend 30% of the new phone cost on a screen replacement for my 11PM. I was planning on waiting for the 14, prior to the crack.
I still think you’ll notice improvements from the 11PM without a doubt. I just think coming from the XS Max the improvements would be more noticeable, but after reading this article thoroughly it looks like even the XS held its own against the 13 Pro camera. I think we can all agree that smartphone cameras have been really good since they started the double lens thing.
If my phone was cracked I would be upgrading in a heartbeat too. One thing I can’t stand is cracks on the front or the back lol.
Oh yeah I can't stand the cracked screen, the last 2 months of using it like that has been seriously bothering me. I've never cracked a device screen before this and even now, it was actually due to my dog bolting towards me and jumping up on me while I stood using my phone; knocking it to the floor! 😅
I’m surprised a major publication dissented at all whether it adds up or not. It’s honestly refreshing to see
Absolutely nothing new in this review: any other publication has pointed out the exact same things about the pics taken in bright light. Of course, you would not see much improvement there.
It would be silly to upgrade solely expecting improvements in that department.
I’m upgrading from an 11Pro mostly for the ProMotion. I also have a Sony a7iii, which is my main pro shooter. I do use the iPhone a lot for the Ultra Wide lens and making videos. Even I can find enough reasons to upgrade based on these features alone.
It would be silly to upgrade solely expecting improvements in that department.
I’m upgrading from an 11Pro mostly for the ProMotion. I also have a Sony a7iii, which is my main pro shooter. I do use the iPhone a lot for the Ultra Wide lens and making videos. Even I can find enough reasons to upgrade based on these features alone.
Funny enough I have a XS and was all set on getting the 13 Pro but todays review and images I’ve seen are making me think I’ll just get a new battery and wait for the 14. The camera is the biggest thing I want and the difference with the 12 Pro my wife has is not big enough and I can wait for a better front-facing camera. Still debating with myself.
People better get used to “incremental” until someone invents a better battery.
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I thought the NYTimes review was lazy!
He dissed the new camera, but his only test was full-daylight shots of his dog. He didn't compare night modes. He didn't test (or even mention) the ultra-wide macro feature, which in other reviews shows up as a really amazing new feature.
He didn't mention the 120hz screen, which is a killer feature in the Apple tradition of "give people what they don't even know they want." It's hard to get excited about a refresh rate -- until you use it and then go back to 60Hz for comparison.
If you compare his review to the video review of the 13Pro Max from The Verge, you can see clearly that the NY Times writer didn't do his homework at all and literally "phoned it in."
He dissed the new camera, but his only test was full-daylight shots of his dog. He didn't compare night modes. He didn't test (or even mention) the ultra-wide macro feature, which in other reviews shows up as a really amazing new feature.
He didn't mention the 120hz screen, which is a killer feature in the Apple tradition of "give people what they don't even know they want." It's hard to get excited about a refresh rate -- until you use it and then go back to 60Hz for comparison.
If you compare his review to the video review of the 13Pro Max from The Verge, you can see clearly that the NY Times writer didn't do his homework at all and literally "phoned it in."
I don’t understand why everyone has branded this year as the incremental upgrade. Yes, technically it is incremental, but they say it as if this year is disappointing or boring.
There have been new iPhones with far less: the iPhone 4S was mainly just Siri and iterative upgrades. iPhone 8 was just the 7 with wireless charging and speed updates. The iPhone XS... I can’t even tell you what it improved on from the X. Even the iPhone 6S was just speed and 3D Touch which now has been eradicated altogether.
Yet, this year, we get significantly better battery life, increased base storage for regular models, more efficient and capable 5G modem, ProMotion, a smaller notch, sensor shift stabilization and new cameras on the Pro models, and brighter displays, and apparently that’s not enough?
For me, this is a much more exciting update than the 12 series. I always prefer the iterative updates because they actually improve my experience. Doing a redesign with a power hungry 5G chip, worse battery life compared to the last models, introducing a proprietary charger that costs $40-$50 while removing the charger in the box and leaving a ring on your cases and device while also making the device hotter and therefore likely draining battery health faster does not improve my experience.
What’s so irritating about all of this to me is that the iPhone 11 series got just this same type of upgrade (better cameras, displays, and battery life) and everyone praised the hell out of them. I did too. But now, two years later, suddenly this isn’t good enough? And after so many people said they would only upgrade once we got ProMotion or the notch got smaller, and now we have both, and yet Apple still doesn’t know how to innovate?
Makes me mad. I know this device won’t please everyone, but this bandwagon that people get on is incredibly irritating. This was a great update, and Apple should be praised for it.
There have been new iPhones with far less: the iPhone 4S was mainly just Siri and iterative upgrades. iPhone 8 was just the 7 with wireless charging and speed updates. The iPhone XS... I can’t even tell you what it improved on from the X. Even the iPhone 6S was just speed and 3D Touch which now has been eradicated altogether.
Yet, this year, we get significantly better battery life, increased base storage for regular models, more efficient and capable 5G modem, ProMotion, a smaller notch, sensor shift stabilization and new cameras on the Pro models, and brighter displays, and apparently that’s not enough?
For me, this is a much more exciting update than the 12 series. I always prefer the iterative updates because they actually improve my experience. Doing a redesign with a power hungry 5G chip, worse battery life compared to the last models, introducing a proprietary charger that costs $40-$50 while removing the charger in the box and leaving a ring on your cases and device while also making the device hotter and therefore likely draining battery health faster does not improve my experience.
What’s so irritating about all of this to me is that the iPhone 11 series got just this same type of upgrade (better cameras, displays, and battery life) and everyone praised the hell out of them. I did too. But now, two years later, suddenly this isn’t good enough? And after so many people said they would only upgrade once we got ProMotion or the notch got smaller, and now we have both, and yet Apple still doesn’t know how to innovate?
Makes me mad. I know this device won’t please everyone, but this bandwagon that people get on is incredibly irritating. This was a great update, and Apple should be praised for it.
The iPhone 11 series went from 0 to 1. It added ultra-wide lens and night mode. Front camera from 7MP to 12MP. Those were big changes. Price dropped to $699 and the Pro devices got a fast charger. The iPhone 13 improves night mode and battery, but in a way that not everyone notices.
Granted that this is the middle of the tick-tock-tock cycle that began with the iPhone 12 so it’s incremental, yes.
But still… this reviewer seemed almost condescending. Like, “what are you, an ordinary person, doing trying to shoot night photography? Go back home!” And “you won‘t even know what screen refresh rate means, so why bother?”
But still… this reviewer seemed almost condescending. Like, “what are you, an ordinary person, doing trying to shoot night photography? Go back home!” And “you won‘t even know what screen refresh rate means, so why bother?”
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You have to be realistic about the audience. The people that read the New York Times aren't tech enthusiasts. Those people want an executive summary. Geeks read The Verge. How many people will use the UW macro feature? The executive summary is the camera, battery, and screen have improved, but you have to be an enthusiast to notice those changes.
I’m coming from a XS Max to a 13 Pro Max. Feel like the LTE signal on the XS is really bad, my work phone is an IPhone 11 and gets much better signal (granted its on a different network, ATT).
Chen writes the anti-hype review every year. It’s his schtick. It’s ok, there’s room for it.
But he totally ignores the best new features.
But he totally ignores the best new features.
Yep! He approaches it from the perspective of a “common user”, and in doing so actually misses a lot of the benefits. For example, if I want to take pictures of my dog or kids, having a faster shutter speed helps since they are moving targets. That’s one benefit of the new iPhones.
I can’t believe you’ve managed to hold onto this phone for so long. The XS suffered a horrible fate of the bad Intel modem and a weak antenna design. It was wildly discussed back in the day and you can still find all those topics on the MacRumors forum as well. The 11 series fared much better, as those phones had a newer version of the Intel modem. That was also the last one from Intel before Apple switched back to Qualcomm in the 12 series.
Depends on where you live and who your carrier is. If you are in a major metro area with a major carrier the signal is usually just fine. The 11 still has an Intel modem, but it's their last / best 4G LTE XMM7660 and does pretty good (wife has an 11) - a little better than the 8+ in my experience. The XS should be in-between an 8+ and an 11.
Anyway, more on topic I think the WSJ review was dead spot on and absent a lot of the hype. This will frustrate a lot of phone junkies. For example on photography, much more of the quality of the end result depends on the lighting and circumstances surrounding the photo, which has more effect these days than the camera as they are all pretty good and have been for many years.
Like this article points out, unless you are a phone junkie or a photography expert, you're probably not going to notice a whole lot of difference between a XS and a 13.