Apple's annual September keynote event is upon us, signaling the arrival of several next-gen gadgets — including the hotly anticipated iPhone 13, scheduled to release on September 24 (pre-order begins on September 17).
Officially revealed at the live-streamed presentation, cutely dubbed "California Streaming," the updated smartphone is undeniably attractive. Built with the same slim, flat edges as its predecessor, the iPhone 13 ($799) is introduced in five colorways: Pink, Blue, Midnight, Starlight and Product Red.
The phone will run on Apple's new A15 Bionic chip, which boasts enhanced machine learning, 8-core CPU, and 30 percent faster graphics. "Frankly, the competition is still playing catch-up to our chips," an Apple spokeswoman proclaimed.
As for the camera, one of the iPhone's main draws, dual lenses are diagonally arranged for "ultra-wide" image capture. Cinematic Mode automatically tracks the movement of people in and out of frame, allowing for a more seamless content-capturing experience.
A tougher, ceramic outer is water resistant and shatterproof, helping protect the phone's Super Retina XDR OLED screen — which is 28 percent brighter than previous models, allowing for easier viewing outdoors.
Support for 5G capabilities on iPhone will be expanded to over 200 carriers by the end of 2021, bringing lightening-fast speed to more users. A larger battery means you can stream, text, and browse for longer periods of uninterrupted time — up to two-and-a-half more hours, to be exact.
A sort of next-gen iPhone SE, the iPhone 13 Mini ($699) is a pared-down version of its older sister. There's also the iPhone 13 Pro ($999) and the even-larger iPhone 13 Pro Max ($1,099), the most powerful phone of the bunch.
On top of the aforementioned features, both Pro models boast an additional camera lens, offering improved low-light capabilities, macro focus, and telephoto zoom. Thanks to ProMotion, the phone's touchscreen responsiveness is faster than ever.
Available in Graphite, Gold, Silver, and Sierra Blue, the Pro and Pro Max also introduce an entirely new program, Photographic Styles, allowing users to apply custom settings — such as increased contrast or saturation — in live capture mode. And, as previous reports predicted, the Pro and Pro Max will be offered with up to 1TB in storage.
"The customer is at the center of everything we do," CEO Tim Cook said at the close of Apple's keynote presentation. Though the success of the iPhone 13 remains to be seen, its souped-up features and sleek construction haven't entirely swayed everyone.
Highsnobiety commenters have taken umbridge with the familiar design. "Same phone," they said. "so same as the 12, got it," and "I’ll save some money and just buy a new case for my 12," other's continued. Even Unimatic got in on the action, simply commenting a "recycling symbol" emoji.
