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iPhone 13 Pro Why I returned my iPhone 13 Pro

Harlowgold1

Harlowgold1

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 14, 2008
266
224
Ohio - GO BUCKEYES!
First, I would like to congratulate all of you that have ordered a new iPhone 13 Pro! I had an iPhone 13 Pro for three days and the screen, speed, and photos were SUPERLATIVE!!! All of you made a wise choice :)

Despite my satisfaction in the the areas previously mentioned, there were things that I found unfavorable. My current iPhone is the XS Max and it has served me so well! However, I was anxious to upgrade. I did my research and I decided to go with the iPhone 13 Pro over the Max. I was apprehensive in that the battery size was slightly smaller in the 13 Pro. The battery in my XS Max has now degraded to 92% capacity, so I thought there would be no difference. I talked with an Apple rep. and I was reassured that with the newer software and battery, I would experience a noticeable increase in the newer phone. On the first day, I noticed that there was a palpable decrease in battery life. I wasn't initially concerned over this because I was testing all aspects of the phone. I was like a kid on Christmas Day. That evening I charged my phone and I had 7% battery life. The next morning my battery as at 100% and decided to use the phone as I normally would throughout the day. By the mid afternoon I was hovering at 36 percent. My XS Max would give me almost two days?!? Apple checked the battery and my settings and said there were no problems. I did notice that the phone was using considerable battery usage while on calls. To bring brevity to my post, all three days the charge on the iPhone 13 Pro was not holding a candle to my XS Max. So the battery issue really was bummer for me. I also found the camera lens protrusion to be extensive. It prevented charging on two of my Qi chargers. I'm pretty finicky and those two issues were enough for me. I would be interested in hearing if anyone upgraded from a XS Max to an iPhone 13 Pro! Thanks for reading! Jen.
 
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Yeah, I’d give it another go with a new phone and perhaps try setting it up as new, as well. I had the XS Max, too, but I’ve upgraded every year: it was a great device, but I wouldn’t want to go back.
 
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It took my pro about 5 days to settle in and start giving me proper battery life. The first few days it is running all the processes in the background which is why you will usually have shorter battery life for about a week. My daily usage is about 4.5-5.5 hours SOT from 7 am to 11pm and ending the day at about 40-50% left and this is email, youtube, fb, twitter and this forum. I have been very happy with it, so you might try again and give it a bit more time.
 
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Pipper99 said:
Yeah, I’d give it another go with a new phone and perhaps try setting it up as new, as well. I had the XS Max, too, but I’ve upgraded every year: it was a great device, but I wouldn’t want to go back.
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Eekamouse said:
It took my pro about 5 days to settle in and start giving me proper battery life. The first few days it is running all the processes in the background which is why you will usually have shorter battery life for about a week. My daily usage is about 4.5-5.5 hours SOT from 7 am to 11pm and ending the day at about 40-50% left and this is email, youtube, fb, twitter and this forum. I have been very happy with it, so you might try again and give it a bit more time.
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Thanks for the responses. I really felt pressured to return the phone due to the Verizon activation fee will only be reimbursed three days after signing up!
 
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Yea u def had a dud battery lol

Couple things I’m not liking on the 13 Pro is the weight difference from my 11 Pro is a good amount and can’t stand the green dots when recording video. I have 2 more days to decide if I will return and go back to my 11 Pro
 
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Eekamouse said:
It took my pro about 5 days to settle in and start giving me proper battery life. The first few days it is running all the processes in the background which is why you will usually have shorter battery life for about a week. My daily usage is about 4.5-5.5 hours SOT from 7 am to 11pm and ending the day at about 40-50% left and this is email, youtube, fb, twitter and this forum. I have been very happy with it, so you might try again and give it a bit more time.
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I agree. It takes a couple days for iOS to index things and for the battery to settle. I'd try again. I came from a 12 Pro Max and with my usage my battery has been on par.
 
My wife traded her iPhone XS max for a iPhone 13 Pro max. I don't have any numbers to share, I'm not an iPhone user but my wife says the battery life is insanely better than her XS max. She loves the 13 pro max.
Like I said I don't have any real numbers, but for her to notice it and comment means it's substantial.
 
Sadly these guys have no incentive to remove or reduce the camera bumps. It almost seems like the more the better, at least that's what the sales seem to suggest.

But battery life should have been noticeably better on the new device with regards to XS Max. Maybe try again and this time set up as new, and do not restore anything. Give the device a few days. Then see if that helps. Also, it may be, just may be, a case of rogue apps in the background drinking battery instead of sipping it.
 
I've had the 13 pro since release day. To give you a few points of reference, I take it out of the charging cradle at about 6:00AM each day and plug it in for the night around 10:00PM. Typically I'm at around 55-60% battery life at that time. I'm not a heavy user by any means -- an average day for me would have about 45 minutes of calls, view/reply/send maybe 20 emails, use apps probably 20-30 times (mostly financial, news, weather, etc., 20 minutes of web browsing including a few short video clips, some texting, blah, blah, blah. Point being, if you were down to 36% by afternoon, something was definitely wrong. As posted by others, the iPhone will use more battery life the first few days after initial start up, but you could have had a dud.
 
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Harlowgold1 said:
Thanks for the responses. I really felt pressured to return the phone due to the Verizon activation fee will only be reimbursed three days after signing up!
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Ugh! I am on AT&T, and though I used to use their AT&T Next service, this is the reason I stopped. Apple's 14-day return policy feels like enough to get a sense of things, but three days absolutely does not, and I totally get why you felt that pressure!

I'm planning on upgrading after the holidays, from my SE 2020, and I am leaning towards the 13 Pro (if not that, the mini), and the camera bump is one of the things I've got to overcome in my mind. The SE is the first one I've ever had with a bump, and that's easily eliminated with almost any case...this one not so much.

(I was/am worried about the weight as well, but for the last week I've had a heavy coin taped to the back of my SE...I have gotten used to the weight. Actually, compared to a real 13 Pro, the newer phone feels lighter to me because that extra weight is distributed throughout the volume of the phone, and not concentrated into this two-inch-round area)

Good luck with however this all shakes out!
 
I agree on dud battery. I cant believe the battery I get with it. I don't check often and I'm not big in the battery game, it is what it is, but the few times I did check recently .. whoa! One time I was at 10.5 hours SOT and still had like 30% left. Not sure I've had any phone come close and I've had a ton of phones over the years.

As for the OP's other concerns I agree with those. I've had two wireless chargers give me issues with this model. That's because of that 98lb mole we have on the back LMAO (Soprano reference). All kidding aside, I do have some overall longevity concerns with wireless charging now as the phone is sitting further away from coil making it even less efficient than it already is. Time will tell I suppose. For reference my launch day IP12P charged nightly on same wireless charger for one year basically and left my hands at 100% health.
 
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Thank you all for your feedback. I would have kept the phone seven days if it weren't for the silly Verizon three day activation policy. I'm back to using my iPhone XS Max. I got up at 05:00 this morning and had a full 92% charge and at 1:30 this afternoon I was at 79%. Now, that's what I expect!
 
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Harlowgold1 said:
Thank you all for your feedback. I would have kept the phone seven days if it weren't for the silly Verizon three day activation policy. I'm back to using my iPhone XS Max. I got up at 05:00 this morning and had a full 92% charge and at 1:30 this afternoon I was at 79%. Now, that's what I expect!
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If you can get it from Apple, that’s the way to go. I quit using the carriers a long time ago because of their policies, particularly charging a restocking fee even for returning a defective device.
 
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more than likely you are

* using the 13 pro than you normally would on your xs max, thereby you thinking that the battery life is worst (when you're actually using it more than usual)
* there is constant reindexing the moment you get a new phone so will take a few days to normalize
* you need to use the phone for more than a couple days to get an actual grasp of the battery life
* macrumors is known to get the iphone hot so make sure when you're running your tests, to stay away from macrumors site
 
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I stopped buying from carrier many years ago. I haven’t walked into an AT&T store in awhile. You know what’s sad? How many people don’t know this. Every year during new iPhone launch I tell people I got it from Apple and they like how? I’m like because you can buy direct from Apple. No need to go to your carrier store. They are dumbfounded. And OP you had a dud. No way XS Max battery better than a 13 pro. I upgrade every year and I wouldn’t go back to a XS Max over my 13PM.
 
I couldn’t be happier with my battery life. I didn’t feel that way, though, until about three days after starting it up.
 
You should read this thread and then watch these videos.

forums.macrumors.com

Short iPhone 13 Pro Battery Life

What kind of battery life are people seeing on their new iPhone 13 Pro? I’ve lost 50% of my battery life in barely 2 hours (it also it quite warm to the touch). All I’ve been doing is looking at the MacRumors website. :(
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com


 
Harlowgold1 said:
Thanks for the responses. I really felt pressured to return the phone due to the Verizon activation fee will only be reimbursed three days after signing up!
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You can get the activation fee reimbursed if you don’t keep the phone as long as you return within the return period. If you added a new line you have 3 days to return so you don’t get billed for the usage on that new line. But, the activation fee doesn’t have a 3 day requirement.

Unless this has changed this year but I couldn’t find anything on Verizon’s website that says the activation fee isn’t returnable after 3 days.
 
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