iPhone 13 — these are the upgrades I'd actually pay for

iPhone thirteen — these are the upgrades I'd actually pay for

(Image credit: LetsGoDigital)

The iPhone 13 has been the subject of endless rumors, even though Apple is not expected to launch the new iPhone for another few months. Merely which of the alleged upgrades will truly be worth spending several hundred dollars on?

Later on all, Apple's new iOS 15 will work on handsets going all the fashion back to the iPhone 6S. And, for many people, their electric current iPhones are "good enough," so Apple will have to come upwardly with something special to convince people to upgrade to the iPhone 13.

I've been studying of the rumored changes for the iPhone 13, and there are some that are meh and others that are actually exciting. Here'southward a quick breakdown of the iPhone 13 upgrades I think truly affair.

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iPhone 13 camera: Ameliorate computational photography

I don't know about you, simply whatever photo I've tried to accept of the moon with my current iPhone xi Pro Max turns out looking similar a mess. And the iPhone 12 Pro Max isn't much better.

Rumor has information technology that Apple is upping its computational photography game for the iPhone 13 in at least two ways. Kickoff, the iPhone xiii could offer astrophotography features, then you'll be able to become much better looking pics of the night sky. (Such a feature would allow the iPhone to match the Pixel v, which but updated its astrophotography capabilities.) Plus, the iPhone 13 may be able to shoot portrait mode video, so you should be able to enjoy the aforementioned bokeh effect that's available on photos.

Aye, this upgrade is reportedly limited to the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone xiii Pro Max. Merely it nonetheless could brand a huge deviation in the overall user experience. A 120Hz ProMotion display on the iPhone 13 would enable smoother scrolling and amend gameplay on supported titles, as well as more fluid video playback.

Apple would be quite belatedly to the game here, but the skillful news is that it's supposedly using the same LTPO engineering that'south in the Milky way S21 Ultra. This will let the brandish to dynamically scale all the way downwardly to 1Hz to salve power.

iPhone thirteen bigger batteries

I would take this rumor with a grain of salt, just one Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station says that the iPhone 13 range will be getting bigger batteries. This is a big bargain, because the iPhone 12 bombardment life results were not that corking on our web surfing battery test over 5G, with the exception of the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

If the battery rumor is truthful, the iPhone 13 mini would become a 2,406 mAh battery, up from 2,227 mAh on the iPhone 12 mini. And the iPhone thirteen and iPhone 13 Pro would both jump to 3,095 (up from 2,805). Lastly, the iPhone 13 Pro Max would get a generous four,352 mAh battery (compared to 3,687 mAh).

Touch ID in iPhone 13 display

Don't become me incorrect, I like Face up ID, but I would really similar to have the option of using Touch on ID, and the iPhone 13 is rumored to offer a Impact ID fingerprint sensor embedded into the display.

Even though the world appears to be winning the boxing against Covid, I still envision scenarios where wearing masks volition exist encouraged or required, such as on public transit. And beingness able to simply touch your brandish to log in is a very convenient option to have.

iPhone 13 upgrades: Prissy to have

Equally yous might expect from any new iPhone launch, yous can anticipate a new processor, and the rumored A15 Bionic should provide a speed heave. Only Apple already has the fastest phone around, and so I don't know how dramatic these operation gains are going to exist. You tin can as well expect faster 5G speeds, equally the iPhone thirteen series should be getting a new Qualcomm modem. The iOS 15 update also contains 5G-specific tweaks to speed up iCloud backups, Apple TV Plus streams and photo syncing.

Some other nice-to-take upgrade is a smaller iPhone xiii notch. It'due south reportedly shrinking on the iPhone 13 lineup but not going away. Still, having more screen real estate is a good matter. We're as well hearing that LiDAR will make its way to the regular iPhone 13 and iPhone thirteen mini, so y'all should await better autofocus and AR functioning if you go the upkeep road.

iPhone 13 lesser line

Of form, the iPhone xiii lineup should offering some new colors as well, every bit we've heard about matte blackness, orange and pink options potentially joining the mix. And that'south purely a way to signal to the world that y'all have the "new" iPhone.

In terms of what will likely accept the almost impact for everyday users, though, the computational photography upgrades, beefier batteries, Touch ID and 120Hz displays (for the Pro models) would seem to exist the iPhone 13 upgrades worth waiting — and paying for.

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Mark Spoonauer is the global editor in chief of Tom's Guide and has covered engineering for about 20 years. In addition to overseeing the direction of Tom's Guide, Mark specializes in covering all things mobile, having reviewed dozens of smartphones and other gadgets. He has spoken at key industry events and appears regularly on TV to discuss the latest trends. Marking was previously editor in chief of Laptop Mag, and his work has appeared in Wired, Popular Science and Inc. Follow him on Twitter at @mspoonauer.