If you have an iPhone 11 and are thinking about the iPhone 12, hold your horses – the iPhone 13 will be a far better investment. Here’s why…
Buy iPhone 12 or Wait For The iPhone 13?
That is the question. And it is a very good question, indeed. The iPhone 12 – all models – was a fairly solid update over the iPhone 11; it brought 5G and OLED displays to all the models, as well as Apple’s blisteringly fast A14 CPU.
However, the iPhone 12 isn’t without its problems.
Battery life, for one thing, is not as good as it was on the iPhone 11. And this is one of the main reasons why I’m advising people to hold off on the iPhone 12 and wait for the iPhone 13.
But what will the iPhone 13 be like? Well, it might not even be called that – reports suggest it could be called the iPhone 12s.
With the iPhone 13, Apple will have had plenty of time to figure out how to better handle battery life with 5G. And the latest leaks suggest it has done just that – the new iPhone 13 lineup will have dramatically improved battery performance.
When the iPhone 13 lands at the end of 2021, the battery life on these models will likely be on a par with what we got with the iPhone 11.
It might even be better, especially if Apple’s custom 5G modems come into fruition.
The iPhone 13 will also feature some pretty tasty new features too.
The most important updates will relate to the camera units in the base models (iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini), as more and more camera tech trickles down from the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
iPhone 13 Design
To date, leaks about the iPhone 13 have been fairly thin on the ground, however, we do know a few things about potential design changes for the iPhone 13 range. And they’re all pretty positive.
The first relates to the notch. According to leaked information, Apple is keen to ship the iPhone 13 with a dramatically smaller notch than what we have on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 range. How much smaller? No specifics were given, but we’re guessing somewhere in the order of 30% to 40% smaller.
The second relates to the camera module on the back of the iPhone.
According to leaks, Apple’s iPhone 13 camera module will be 0.9mm thicker than the one used on the iPhone 12 although the unit itself will sit flush to the back of the phone.
And this will be achieved through two things: 1) a new chassis design, and 2) covering the entire module with sapphire glass.
iPhone 13 Camera – It’ll Be A LOT Better…
The third leak, again, relates to camera tech. The iPhone 13 Pro will apparently feature an updated camera that will use the same sensor-shift optical image stabilization from the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s camera will be updated with some as-yet-unknown new sensors and hardware, making it, once again, the king of the range with respect to camera performance.
Word on the street suggests the iPhone 13 Pro Max camera will be upgraded with a F/1.8 6P (six element) ultrawide lens with autofocus.
The current iPhone 12 Pro models use F/2.4, 5P fixed focus ultrawide modules. Taiwan’s Largan Precision will apparently be building around 70% of Apple’s camera units in 2021 for the iPhone 13 range.
But the main reason I’d hold onto my iPhone 11 until the end of 2021 is because of battery life.
Apple’s iPhone 12 range, while solid in nearly every regard, really does suffer in the battery department. If you’re used to all-day battery life with your iPhone 11, switching to the iPhone 12 is going to feel like a downgrade.
All the latest reporting is fairly bullish about the iPhone 13’s battery performance too. Apple will apparently leverage some new soft board batteries which will enable thinner designs, as these take up less room on account of them having fewer layers than standard batteries.
Combined with Apple’s new 5G modems, this will mean the iPhone 13 – all models – will be thinner than the iPhone 12, have better battery life, and run 5G at faster speeds.
Apple has some new custom modems in the works for the iPhone 13 and these, combined with the A15 chipset, should ensure vastly superior battery life with 5G.
And if battery life is important to you, that is definitely something to keep in mind before you pull the trigger on an iPhone 12 purchase…
Also, be sure to check out No Sound On iPhone 12? Here’s What To Do…
