How Good Is Apple’s New iPhone 13? Better, But Not Much


It’s a story that happens almost every September: Apple has introduced new iPhones with slightly larger screens, faster speeds, and better cameras – but no major new developments.

In a prerecorded infographic ad, Apple executives framed the improvements in the new iPhone 13 as key innovations, but the end result was a device that looked and performed very much like the iPhones Apple launched last year.

Apple said the new iPhones have a brighter screen, longer battery life, and more powerful cameras and computer processors. Already pushing the screen almost to the edge of the device, Apple has made the small notch at the top of the screen a little bigger by shrinking it. Apple has retained the flat-edged design used in other recent models of the phone.

Apple hopes customers will continue to make more money by adding new features and making minor design improvements. It’s a strategy that has worked for a long time. Now in its 14th year, the iPhone is one of the world’s best-selling products and is at the heart of Apple’s business. In the most recent first half of the year, Apple said iPhone sales rose 58 percent year-on-year to $87.5 billion.

This success is partly due to Apple building an extremely loyal customer base, as well as designing its products in ways that make it harder for customers to compete with the likes of Samsung and Google. iPhone is also among the best smartphones on the market in several areas, including camera technology and screen resolution.

Apple spent most of its ads showing off the iPhone’s new “cinematic mode,” a camera technology that can automatically track and focus on a subject and produce videos that look more like professional movies.

Apple’s emphasis on advanced camera technology in its iPhones is a reflection of its massive investment in artificial intelligence to compete with Google.

A few years ago, Google’s Pixel smartphones used the search giant’s AI ingenuity to take the iPhone’s camera capabilities a step further. But over the past few years, Apple has made a few aggressive moves to catch up, acquiring several AI start-ups and hiring top AI executive John Giannandrea from Google. Partly as a result, the new iPhone cameras scored higher than the Pixel.

As in previous years, Apple introduced two separate versions of the new iPhone: the entry-level iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini, and the more expensive and advanced iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. Apple has kept prices largely unchanged from last year’s models.

The dominance of the iPhone has brought Apple more scrutiny and criticism from app developers, regulators and lawmakers. Owning an iPhone app has become a necessity for many companies, enabling Apple to build a tremendous business, taking up to 30 percent commission on some app sales.

But this practice has been at the center of legal and regulatory challenges in recent years. Last week, a federal judge ordered Apple allowing app developers to refer customers to other payment methods in their apps, which could help them avoid Apple’s commission. Regulators in the United States, Europe and India are also investigating Apple’s App Store apps.



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