iPHONE 13 Pro: Should you upgrade?

With the shadow of the pandemic still chasing us, we're heading into the festive season albeit with caution and wariness. This is also the time when people in India upgrade their phones, especially iPhones. So the big question is, does the new iPhone 13 Pro live up to Apple's claim, of "The most advanced cameras ever on an iPhone"?

We'll try and answer that in this review because lets face it, there are three primary reasons why people spend well over Rs 100,000 on a smartphone. One, to stay within the Apple ecosystem. Two, for the premium brand value attached to Apple, especially in India. And three, for Apple's camera system which has always been lauded as true-to-life and great for content creation.

If you want to take a look at what all the iPhone 13 Pro offers in terms of design, battery and experience, take a look at our first impressions here.

The new iPhone 13 Pro camera system promises a lot. Lets see if it delivers.

Here's a disclaimer -- if you have an iPhone 12 Pro, you possibly wouldn't notice any hardware changes in the new iPhone. The differences lie in the overall experience that Apple offers, a factor that has motivated people to upgrade phones year on year despite minor incremental changes. And the differentiator here is the camera and prolonged battery life.

ALL ABOUT THE CAMERA

Here's the good news, the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max have identical camera systems so you'll be spending less for the same camera specifications if you buy the smaller sibling, the iPhone 13 Pro.

Flip your iPhone 13 Pro and you'll see bigger camera rings in the 12MP triple camera set-up. The wide, ultra-wide and telephoto lens all get better when compared to their predecessors especially with the 3x optical zoom.
The images are crisp, vibrant and yes, as true-to-life as a smartphone camera can capture. The new camera system doesn't miss anything -- tired eyes, dark circles, poorly blended makeup or even fine lines. The iPhone 13 Pro captures light better than its predecessor and focusses faster on a subject.

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL

If you click a photo with the iPhone 13 Pro, at first glance, you'd probably say any decent phone can capture the same. But it's the low-light photography which give the iPhone 13 Pro an edge. The rear camera captures all details in low light to great accuracy which is a testament to how much light the camera of the 13 Pro can capture in a shot. Very few smartphones in the market can boast of such exceptional low-light photography at the moment.

Another fun feature is the brand new macro mode. How do you use it? Well, there's no mode here. Simply go extremely close to an object and you'll see the macro mode in action. Apple has upped the ante here in a big way.

PORTRAIT SHOTS GET BETTER

If you love clicking your children despite their protest, then Apple's Portrait mode gets better. I could see a visible improvement in how sharp the images were with crisper edges. Have no doubt, you'll be able to capture some beautiful moments that are frame-worthy to say the least. You may struggle to get good portrait shots in low light so keep that in mind.

CINEMATIC MODE: WORTH THE HYPE?

Even before the iPhones came to India in September, there was plenty of buzz surrounding the "Cinematic Mode" which is essentially a portrait mode in video.

So when you take a video using this mode, it blurs out the background and zooms into subjects. I used this to take videos of my overactive toddler and I have to say, the results were great. Also, for all those who love details, the Cinematic Mode only works in 1080p at 30FPS.

In the age of social media, this feature will be loved by influencers and content creators who are in the Apple ecosystem. Apple is clearly competing with smartphones from Google and Samsung so this feature has been a long time coming and adds to Apple's arsenal of great camera features.

CHOOSE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC STYLE

For all those who love filters and yet want to look "natural", Apple now gives you Photographic Profiles in its camera system. It will allow you to set default options for clicking images in either Standard, Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm or Cool tones. You can tweak your image using the sliders and while Apple insists these modes are not filters, they are there to appeal to our vanity. I quite liked them as I am sure most who invest in a superior camera smartphone will!

BATTERY IS THE REAL DEAL CLINCHER

Click all the fantastic "true-to-life" images that you desire with Apple's fantastic camera system but if the phone will die on you in 8 hours, you're not going to be happy. Apple has finally given us an iPhone with major battery improvements along with a beast of a processor in the A15. Bigger batteries in the new iPhones mean that your iPhones will easily last you an entire day with functional use. And if you're shooting heavy-duty videos and watching content, I can still vouch for a 12-hour battery life.

THE BIG QUESTION: SHOULD YOU UPGRADE?

If you already have the iPhone 12 Pro, you can skip this one since the upgrades are incremental with battery and camera getting most of the exciting improvements. But for Apple loyalists who love to upgrade year on year, a major reason can be the stunning screen which gets a major facelift with its 120-Hz ProMotion display and a higher refresh rate.

This technology was previously only reserved for the high-end iPad Pro. Your iPhone 13 Pro will dynamically change the refresh rate depending on your usage. This has been a big gamechanger for me.

Another reason to upgrade is the camera system which gets better with its low-light photography and Cinematic Mode. This is a phone for video creators who don't want to lug heavy equipment everywhere.

And finally, with news of the chip shortage causing Apple to slow down production making headlines, you may get your iPhones much later. This factor in itself has sparked curiosity in the new iPhones with multiple people calling their relatives in other markets to get their hands on the new iPhones.

So if you've got the budget for it and want to upgrade from an iPhone 11, I suggest you place your orders quickly because you may in the queue for long.