Apple iPhone 13 series launched with video focus

Like last year's line-up, the iPhone 13 series includes four models: iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Pricing for the iPhone 13 Mini starts at £679 while those looking at the iPhone 13 Pro Max will pay at least £1,049.

Pre-orders for the devices open in the UK on Friday 17 September while the handsets themselves are released a week later on Friday 24 September.

Credit: 360b/Shutterstock.com

Release

All four models of the Apple iPhone 13 will be released in the UK on 24 September, with pricing for each of the devices starting from:

• £679 for the Apple iPhone 13 Mini
• £779 for the Apple iPhone 13
• £949 for the Apple iPhone 13 Pro
• £1,049 for the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

The above prices are for the 128GB models but up to 1TB of internal storage is available with the 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max models.

Both 13 Mini and 13 models are available in Pink, Blue, Midnight, Starlight and Product Red while the 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max are available in Graphite, Gold, Silver or Sierra Blue.

All four handsets are 5G-ready after the Apple iPhone 12 series in 2020 became the first iPhone range to include 5G functionality.

Video focus

The headline upgrades on the iPhone 13 range is the inclusion of a Cinematic Mode to offer professional-grade cinematography complete with Dolby Vision HDR in each handset.

Cinematic Mode dynamically shifts the focus of a video and follows the subject seamlessly, including focusing on what they're looking at where necessary.

While Cinematic Mode is available on every device in the iPhone 13 range, customers will need to take the more expensive options of the 13 Pro or 13 Pro Max handsets to be able to shoot in the ProRes format and unlock even more professional editing functions.

It's worth noting that the base 128GB models of the 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max can only shoot ProRes video in 1080p, but higher storage options support ProRes in 4K.

Another new camera feature on the iPhone 13 range is Photographic Styles. This is designed to incorporate personal preferences to photos in real time, essentially allowing users to filter their shots as their shoot rather than doing so later.

Other features

Battery life is frequently a pressure point for smartphone users and we've seen Apple address this in the past when they promised the iPhone 11 Pro offered four hours more battery life at launch than its predecessor.

This time, Apple have confirmed larger batteries are included with each model in the range and estimated the 13 Mini will last 1.5 hours longer than last year's version while the 13 will last 2.5 hours longer. For the 13 Pro, the increase in battery life is 1.5 hours and the 13 Pro Max increase is up to 2.5 hours again.

There are also improvements for customers who dislike the camera notch on the iPhone range - this is now 20% smaller on the latest series according to Apple.

Other features include an upgrade to the latest A15 Bionic chip and a brighter display than previous devices. However, customers looking for the fastest 120Hz refresh rate we see on other flagships including the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 will need to upgrade to the Apple iPhone 13 Pro or 13 Pro Max as the 13 Mini and 13 come with a standard 60Hz refresh rate.