There are a lot of iPhones on the market right now, and they’re pretty much all good. Apple currently sells a stunning eight models, from the $399 iPhone SE to the $1,099 iPhone 13 Pro Max. We’re not going to recommend every one, because we’re here to help you make buying decisions, and that means cutting down the choices. So the admirable iPhone 13 Pro (starting at $999) doesn’t quite earn top honors this year. It’s a perfectly good phone, particularly for content creators looking for a top-notch photo and video experience. But for most people, we more highly recommend the standard iPhone 13 (starting at $799) for its balance of performance and price, while professional users are better off spending the extra $100 on the Pro Max for its longer battery life.
iPhone 13 Pro vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max
While there is a distinct feature difference between the iPhone 12 Pro and the 12 Pro Max, with the 12 Pro Max’s higher-zoom camera, better image stabilization, and stronger low-light performance making it an easy choice, the iPhone 13 Pro is much more similar to the 13 Pro Max.
The 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max have the same four cameras, three on the back and one on the front, as well as the same 120Hz display refresh rate, the same enhanced A15 processor with a better GPU than on the standard iPhone 13, and they come in the same four colors. Read my iPhone 13 Pro Max review for all of those details.
So you’re probably wondering, if the phones are pretty much the same, why not save $100 and go with the Pro instead of the Pro Max? And the answer, of course, is the iPhone 13 line’s flagship improvement: battery life.
The iPhone 13 Pro has very good battery life—in our tests, it’s just about at the level of the iPhone 12 Pro Max. But the iPhone 13 Pro Max has absolutely killer battery life, the best we’ve seen on any iPhone. So this year we’re recommending the Max more heavily; we think it’s worth the extra $100.
PCMag-Recommended Apple iPhone 13 Accessories:PCMag-Recommended Apple iPhone 13 Accessories:Apple AirTagApple AirTagApple AirPods ProApple AirPods ProApple Leather Case With MagSafeApple Leather Case With MagSafeAnker Nano 20W ChargerAnker Nano 20W Charger
iPhone 13 Pro vs. iPhone 12 Pro
The iPhone 13 Pro looks a lot like the 12 Pro. It measures almost exactly the same, at 5.8 by 2.8 by 0.3 inches, although it’s half an ounce heavier at 7.2 ounces. iPhone 12 Pro cases don’t fit on the 13 Pro because of the significantly bigger camera bump on the back, so you’ll want to check out our roundup of the best compatible cases.
The first major noticeable change is in the 6.1-inch, 2,532-by-1,170-pixel, 120Hz screen, which like the screen on the iPhone 13 Pro Max has been amped up from 800 cd/m2 of brightness to 1,000 cd/m2. The display now flows at 120Hz in Apple’s native apps. (Third-party app creators will generally have to update their apps to use the new refresh rate.) The smoother scrolling is most noticeable in Safari, which feels jittery when you go back to an older iPhone (or to a base iPhone 13) from this one.
See How We Test PhonesSee How We Test Phones
The zoom camera lens also faces a major change. The iPhone 11 Pro and 12 Pro have 2x zoom lenses, while the iPhone 13 Pro has a 3x zoom. That brings the smaller Pro to parity with its Pro Max sibling, which wasn’t true last year, when the 12 Pro Max had 2.5x zoom.
That, in turn, lets you get closer to the action. Here’s the iPhone 13 Pro’s and the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra’s 3x zoom compared with the iPhone 12 Pro’s 2x:
There’s also a new macro photography mode, which lets the iPhone 13 Pro focus in on objects very close to the camera. The 13 Pro Max and recent Android flagships also have macro modes; the standard 13, and earlier iPhones, don’t.
Improvements to low-light photography are more subtle. The iPhone 13 Pro has significantly bigger sensors than the iPhone 12 Pro, Apple says, but in shots like the one below, I’m hard-pressed to see much of a difference.
You also won’t yet feel much in terms of differences in app, 5G, or Wi-Fi performance from last year’s phone to this one. The iPhone 12 Pro’s additional GPU power is primarily going to run that 120Hz screen, which will be great for games and other apps once third-party developers update their software. In terms of 5G, I saw the same effective speeds on all iPhone 13 and 12 models; their modems are currently ahead of where the US networks are.
iPhone 13 Pro vs. Android Phones
How does the iPhone 13 compare with Android phones in the same price range, like the intriguing Samsung Galaxy Flip or the OnePlus 9 Pro? That’s very much down to iOS versus Android and Apple services versus Google services, because each of those Android devices has its own advantage over the iPhone. The Galaxy Flip has short battery life, but its form factor is absolutely amazing—it folds up into your pocket. The OnePlus 9 Pro has terrific cameras, speedy performance, and a bigger screen for about the same price as the iPhone 13 Pro, but that won’t matter if what you want is iOS camera apps or blue iMessage bubbles.
It Might Be Right for You
I’m not saying don’t buy the iPhone 13 Pro. We just have to have preferences, and I think serious content creators will be happier with the big-screen viewfinder and two-day battery life of the iPhone 13 Pro Max, while the average iPhone buyer will be satisfied balancing price and performance with the main iPhone 13. But if you want the best iPhone camera in a more pocketable size, not to mention better battery life than the standard iPhone 13, you’ll be happy with the 13 Pro—it doesn’t have major downsides. It just doesn’t stand out in its crowd of competitors.
