iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini launched with slightly upgraded cameras and a new A15 Bionic chipset

Apple has finally unveiled the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini alongside the new iPads. It is somewhat surprising to see Apple launch the iPhone 13 mini, given that its predecessor didn't sell particularly well. As foretold by many leaks, the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini are little more than incremental upgrades over their predecessors. As always, the 'good stuff' is reserved for the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Display

Starting with the iPhone 13, we get a 6.1-inch OLED panel, which is scaled down to 5.4-inches on the iPhone 13 mini Both models have what Apple calls a Ceramic Shield on the front, carry an IP68 rating, and have a peak brightness of 800 nits, which can go up to 1,200 nits while displaying HDR content. Other features include support for Dolby Vision and HLG. Unfortunately, the notch is here to stay, and it houses the Face ID sensor and a 12MP selfie camera.

Hardware

Under the hood, the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini pack an A15 Bionic SoC. Details about its CPU cores are sparse, but it reuses the Hexa-core design of its predecessor. It is also worth noting that the A15 Bionic variant used in the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini has four GPU cores, while the one on the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max has five. Apple claims that the chipset's Neural Engine can perform 15.6 TOPS (trillion operations per second). 5G support is included, too, along with a new image signal processor (ISP).

Cameras

Moving on to the cameras, the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini ship with two 12MP sensors at the back. The wide-angle lens now supports sensor-shift OIS, which was exclusive to last year's iPhone 12 Pro Max. It has an aperture of f/1.6, 26mm focal length and can apparently capture 4.7% more light than the iPhone 12. Cinematic mode allows for on-the-fly shifting of focus on a subject. Apple is elusive when it comes to the battery capacities of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini. All we know is that the former lasts an additional 2.5 hours compared to the iPhone 12, and the latter upgrades the battery life by about 1.5 hours.

Price and availability

The iPhone 13 costs US$799, and the iPhone 13 mini is US$699. Both devices are up for pre-order on Apple's website and are available in five colourways: Starlight, Midnight, Blue, Pink, and Red. One can purchase the phone from Apple or authorized retailers starting on September 24 in over 30 countries.

Buy the Apple AirPods Pro on Amazon