As we expected, Apple unveiled its new iPhone 13 series at its “California Streaming” event today, and they include a pair of more-premium Pro flagships. Tim Cook called the series the “most Pro iPhone ever,” and the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max have faster screens, smaller notches and new colors compared to the 12 Pro series.
Most significantly, Apple is bringing a new Super Retina XDR display with 1,000 nits of brightness for better outdoor reading. The company said this is the brightest screen on iPhone ever, and it’s 25 percent higher than before. It’s also the first time the company’s ProMotion is available on iPhone, bringing adaptive refresh rates of up to 120Hz to the Pro series. Most phones in the market with high refresh rates similarly adopt adaptive displays to increase speeds for smoother scrolling when you’re doing things that benefit from it more, like scrolling or playing games. When you’re just looking at static images, the refresh rates drop to as low as 10Hz.
Like the regular and mini iPhone 13s, the Pro series also use the company’s new A15 Bionic chipset that brings improved graphics and neural processing, as well as new video encoder and decoders. With the updated CPU, Apple also added camera features like a Cinematic Mode for video capture, which is powered by machine learning for intelligent focusing on the fly. The Pro models get an improved GPU with five cores, rather than the regular models’ four.
The company also upgraded the Pro’s camera system, bringing better hardware like a new 77mm telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, as well as a new ultrawide setup with autofocus and a larger f/1.8 aperture. This will yield a 92-percent improvement in low light, Apple said. As for the primary “wide” camera, it now features a f/1.5 aperture and 1.9-micron pixels, for what the company said is its largest sensor yet.
Combined with improved image signal processing through the A15 Bionic chipset, the iPhone 13 Pro cameras can shoot at up to 6x optical zoom with macro photography support as well. For the first time, too, Apple’s ProRes for full-resolution editing will be supported on the iPhone on this year’s Pro models.
Gallery: Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro series | 7 Photos
Gallery: Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro series | 7 Photos
The iPhone 13 Pro series also features “the most pro design,” according to the company, and comes in four colors, including a new Sierra Blue hue. Its front has a 20-percent smaller camera system, and at the rear there’s a stainless steel trim that surrounds the three sapphire crystal lenses. It’s also rated IP68 for water and dust resistance, while the internals have been redesigned, like the regular iPhones.
The A15 Bionic chip is also supposed to bring better battery performance, and the company promised the iPhone 13 Pro Max will last 2.5 hours more than last year’s model, making it the longest-lasting iPhone ever. The iPhone 13 Pro is supposed to see a 1.5 hour boost compared to the iPhone 12 Pro. As for the specifics: the iPhone 13 Pro has a 6.1-inch screen while the Pro Max sports a 6.7-inch display, and they start at $999. The new phones will be available on September 24th, with pre-orders starting Friday the 17th.
Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.
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