The iPhone 13’s release date is still months away, but that doesn’t mean that work isn’t already underway on the iPhone 12’s successor…
Anybody that regularly reads the latest iPhone 13 news knows TFI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo has the best track record when it comes to predicting what Apple’s unannounced iPhones will be like.
And Kuo returned this week with some choice updates about the iPhone 13, Apple’s 2021 iPhone release. According to Kuo, just as it did this year, Apple will launch four iPhone 13 models in 2021 – the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Kuo Details Big Changes For iPhone 13 Pro Camera
According to Kuo, one of the biggest changes coming to Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max is to do with its camera. Specifically, Kuo says the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max’s ultra-wide camera will switch to a new six-element f/1.8 lens with improved autofocus.
The addition of autofocus and a larger aperture (the iPhone 12 Pro, for reference’s sake, has a five-element f/2.4 lens) should enable much better shots in low-light conditions, as the newer aperture will let in more light.
With the autofocus, this new feature should allow the iPhone 13 Pro’s ultra-wide to take better pictures with less effort on the users’ part. With it, you’ll just have to point and shoot, Apple’s machine learning will take care of everything else, including autofocus.
iPhone 13 Camera Updates To Benefit ALL Models
In 2020, if you wanted the most advanced camera, you have to go with Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro Max – it has the most advanced camera of all of Apple’s iPhone 12 models, thanks to its larger sensor and sensor-shift optical image stabilization for its main camera. It also has a better telephoto lens too.
All iPhone 13 models, including the cheapest options, will benefit from Apple’s new ultrawide lens. Like OLED panels on the iPhone 12, a previously “flagship-only” feature will trickle down to all models in 2021.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max will, however, feature a more advanced camera, likely one that utilizes periscope technology, which means it will be much better at zoom. This feature will be available exclusively on Apple’s Pro models or, potentially, just the Pro Max model in the iPhone 13 range.
Portless Design, In-Screen TouchID Sensor & 120Hz ProMotion Displays
Kuo also believes there could be significant design changes aboard either the iPhone 13 or 2022’s iPhone 14. According to the analyst, Apple will bring back TouchID on either the iPhone 13 or the iPhone 14, and it will be an under-screen sensor (or located on the power button).
And then we have the concept of the portless iPhone: Apple is said to be planning to remove ALL ports from the iPhone. This is why we have MaxSafe and also why the company started removing charging cables from the box with the iPhone 12.
The first portless iPhone, meaning an iPhone with no charging ports, could launch either in 2021 or 2022. That iPhone will rely squarely on wireless charging, so Apple will need to seriously improve its wireless charging speed between now and then – currently it is VERY slow at 12-15W.
On top of ALL this, Apple is also expected to debut its ProMotion 120Hz OLED panels on the iPhone 13 range, though, again, this feature could well be reserved for the company’s iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max models only at first and then, the following year, trickle down to the base models inside Apple’s iPhone 14 range in 2022.
Be sure to check out how to use the Apple Watch as a shutter remote for the iPhone’s camera!
