Apple’s New iPhone 13 Is the Most Minimalist Upgrade Yet.
The new iPhone is 10 percent faster than the previous model and takes marginally better images. One word sums up my thoughts: Huh.
However, smartphone sales reached their zenith a couple of years ago.
Because of all of the improvements, minicomputers now run at remarkable speeds, have larger and brighter screens, and have cameras that make even the most inexperienced photographers look like experts.
The issue with so much amazing invention is that upgrades are now so iterative that it is tough to decide what to write about each year. In particular, the iPhone 13 is the most incremental update to the iPhone to date.
This year’s iPhones are only 10% faster than previous year’s iPhones. (To put things in perspective, the iPhone 6S was 70% quicker than the iPhone 6 in 2015.) One of its most eye-catching new features, a faster screen “refresh rate,” is only noticeable when opening apps or scrolling through text on the $1,000+ models.
As for smartphone cameras, they’ve been stagnant as well. Because they can catch more light and decrease noise, Apple’s iPhone 13 cameras are “dramatically more powerful.” and the iPhone’s “most advanced.” ever. However, the benefits were minimal in my experiments.
To sum it up, the annual phone upgrade, which firms like Apple and Samsung promote with massive marketing events and ad campaigns in order to boost sales during the holiday shopping season, has turned into a sham of technological innovation. Instead of being a celebration of progress, the renovations have become a celebration of business.
Use photographs taken with your smartphone to show the sluggish progress. I got a unique tripod to hold two iPhone 13 cameras side by side so that I could take roughly the same shots of my dogs at the same time. To put it to the test. I compared photos taken on the latest iPhones, the iPhone 12 from last year, and the iPhone XS from three years ago.
I was blown away by how good the iPhone XS camera compared to the most recent versions. Aside from that, there wasn’t much of a difference in camera quality between the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 13.
That’s it for now. Take a look at my dog’s pics with the newest iPhone to get some inspiration.
An iPhone 13 was used to get this natural light snapshot. 
Taken on an iPhone 12 that’s been around for a year.
I went to a park in Richmond, California with my dogs, Max (the smaller corgi) and Mochi (the brown Labrador), to compare images taken in daylight. It was difficult to tell the difference between the iPhone 13 and 12 when they were photographed next to each other in the shade. The shadows were better captured on the iPhone 13 than on the older models.
This photo was taken with an iPhone XS that is three years old.
In a comparison of the $1,000 iPhone 13 Pro with the $1,000 iPhone XS, the model introduced in 2018, both photos of the dogs in direct sunshine were sharp and detailed. That much is true. The photos taken with the iPhone 13 Pro had richer colors than those taken with the standard iPhone 13.
This picture was taken with an iPhone 13 s. 
Iphone XS was used to capture this image.
However, on a shady route in the woods, the photo taken with the iPhone 13 Pro made Mochi appear blown out by the sunlight; the shadows and lighting caught by the three-year-old iPhone looked more realistic. Apple was of the opinion that I was wrong. (This is up to you to decide.)
Low-light shots taken in night mode, which captures numerous images and then fuses them together while adjusting colors and contrast, showed the advances in the new iPhone cameras the most. At the end of the day, the iPhone 13 Pro produced sharper low-light photos of Max perched on a balcony after sunset than the iPhone 12.
An image taken at night with the iPhone 12 by the author. 
An iPhone 13 Pro was used to capture this image.
Because its camera lacks a night mode, the three-year-old iPhone XS has a distinct disadvantage in low light. When it came time for the same exam, the only thing people could see of Max was his stunning white mane.
The iPhone 13’s cameras also include a new video feature dubbed cinematic mode, which employs algorithms to intelligently focus on moving faces, even my dogs’ faces. There are certain TikTokers who would enjoy this mode, but I can’t fathom why somebody who has no desire to be a filmmaker would use it.
Thus, the iPhone 13’s cameras outperform those of the previous year’s models by a small margin. Unless you’re interested in capturing great shots in low light, even when compared to three years ago’s iPhones, the cameras on the new models aren’t all that great.
How critical is night photography? While Jim Wilson, a longtime New York Times staff photographer, was photographing the new iPhones for our review, I asked him this question. He described it as a critical element for folks like him, but not so much for more casual shooters.
It’s not uncommon for him to leave a scene until nightfall in order to give it a fresh perspective. “However, for the vast majority of individuals who aren’t amateur photographers, this is of no relevance.”
It’s not a bad thing that smartphone sales have stalled. It means you won’t be missing out on anything important while you’re with the one you have. When the time comes to upgrade, you’ll get a more developed piece of technology that’s progressively — if not drastically — better.
