Home » iPhone 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max vs iPhone 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max: Should you upgrade?

iPhone 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max vs iPhone 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max: Should you upgrade?

Written By Louie Diangson
Published • September 15th, 2021
ComparisonsMobile
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Apple‘s new iPhones were launched yesterday and representing its most premium models are the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. But is it a worthy upgrade if you already own the iPhone 12 Pro or iPhone 12 Pro Max? Find out below.

Apple iPhone 13 Pro / 13 Pro Max	Apple iPhone 12 Pro / 12 Pro Max
6.1-inch Super Retina (2532 x 1170) XDR OLED display, 460PPI (PRO)	6.1-inch Super Retina (2532 x 1170) XDR OLED display, 460PPI (PRO)
6.7-inch Super Retina (2778 x 1284) XDR OLED display, 458PPI (PRO MAX)	6.7-inch Super Retina (2778 x 1284) XDR OLED display, 458PPI (PRO MAX)
ProMotion 120Hz, HDR, True Tone
Ceramic Shield front	Ceramic Shield front
Textured matte glass back, stainless steel design	Textured matte glass back, stainless steel design
Apple A15 Bionic chip	Apple A14 Bionic chip
128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB storage	128GB, 256GB, 512GB storage
Triple-rear cameras:	Triple-rear cameras:
• 12MP F1.5 main, Sensor-shift OIS	• 12MP F1.6 main, Dual OIS (PRO) / Sensor-shift OIS (PRO MAX)
• 12MP F2.8 telephoto, 6x optical zoom, Dual OIS	• 12MP F2.0 telephoto, 4x optical zoom, Dual OIS (PRO) / 5x optical zoom, Sensor-shift OIS (PRO MAX)
• 12MP 1.8 ultra-wide / macro	• 12MP 2.4 ultra-wide
– LiDAR scanner	– LiDAR scanner
– Photographic Styles, Cinematic mode, 4K ProRes video recording
12MP F2.2 TrueDepth front camera	12MP F2.2 TrueDepth front camera
-- Photographic Styles, Cinematic mode, 4K ProRes video recording
5G, 4G LTE	5G, 4G LTE
WiFi 6	WiFi 6
Bluetooth 5.0	Bluetooth 5.0
NFC	NFC
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou
Lightning connector	Lightning connector
Stereo Speakers	Stereo Speakers
Face ID	Face ID
IP68 dust and water resistance	IP68 dust and water resistance
iOS 15	iOS 15
Up to 22 hours video playback (PRO)	Up to 17 hours video playback (PRO)
Up to 28 hours video playback (PRO MAX)	Up to 20 hours video playback (PRO MAX)
20W wired fast charging	20W wired fast charging
15W MagSafe wireless charging	15W MagSafe wireless charging
7.5 Qi wireless charging	7.5 Qi wireless charging
146.7 x 71.5 x 7.65 mm, 203 g (PRO)	146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4 mm, 187 g (PRO)
160.8 x 78.1 x 7.65 mm, 238 g (PRO MAX)	160.8 x 78.1 x 7.4 mm, 226 g
Graphite, Gold, Silver, Sierra Blue	Graphite, Gold, Silver, Pacific Blue

Table of Contents

Display

The display part is pretty much the same on both iPhone models. The Pros still have the same 6.1-inch Super Retina (2532 x 1170) XDR OLED display, while the Pro max still has the 6.7-inch Super Retina (2778 x 1284) XDR OLED display. Both are still protected with Ceramic Shield front.

What’s new now with the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max is the ProMotion which first debuted in the iPad Pro. What it does is provide the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max with a dynamic refresh rate from 10Hz to 120Hz. The result is a display that can provide a very fluid animation when you need it. If it’s not necessary, it can lower the refresh rate to save power. Apple also said that it can provide 25% brightness outdoors.

Chipset

Apple has equipped the new iPhones with the new A15 Bionic chip which features a new 6-core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores, a new 5-core GPU, and a new 16-core Neural Engine. The predecessor, on the other hand, also has the same amount of cores except for the 4-core GPU. In other words, the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max are definitely more powerful so they can run their new display and camera technologies and features.

Storage

The iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max were offered in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. The new iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max are taking it up a notch by offering a 1TB model. While this may look like overkill for some, it’s necessary if the user will take advantage of its new video recording capabilities. This brings us to the…

Cameras

Resolution-wise, the iPhones have the same triple-rear cameras with 12MP sensors, so the resolution is the same. However, the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max now feature Photographic Styles, which allows users to apply their preferred Tone and Warmth Settings to photos, Cinematic mode for videos with shallow depth of field (1080p at 30fps), and ProRes video at up to 4K at 30fps. The main camera now has sensor-shift OIS, the telephoto lens can now achieve 6x optical zoom, while the ultra-wide camera now supports macro photography.

As for the selfie camera, the models still use a 12MP TrueDepth camera, but the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max support Photographic Styles, Cinematic mode, 4K ProRes video recording.

Battery life

Apple never reveals at launch the battery capacity of its iPhones and just reveals it real-life performance. iPhone 13 Pro boasts 22 hours of video playback against the 17 hours on the iPhone 12 Pro. The iPhone 13 Pro Max, on the other hand, is capable of 28 hours of video playback against the 20 hours on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. It still supports the same wired fast charging, MagSafe wireless charging, Qi wireless charging.

Colors

Both iPhone models still come in Graphite, Gold, and Silver, but now introduces a new Sierra Blue color to succeed the Pacific Blue.

Should you upgrade?

Personally, I don’t recommend upgrading to a new iPhone every year as the improvements are not that drastic. The same applies here. However, if you’re a “pro” with a budget who needs and can fully utilize the 120Hz ProMotion tech, upgraded chipset, more powerful camera features, and longer battery life, the iPhone 13 Pro or Pro Max will serve you well.

iPhone 13 Pro:
• 128GB – PHP 63,990
• 256GB – PHP 70,990
• 512GB – PHP 82,990
• 1TB – PHP 95,990

iPhone 13 Pro Max:
• 128GB – PHP 70,990
• 256GB – PHP 76,990
• 512GB – PHP 88,990
• 1TB – PHP 101,990