Apple launches iPhone 13 with A15, smaller notch & more

The iPhone 13, as a successor to the iPhone 12, retains the same 6.1-inch form factor but packs diagonally positioned rear cameras and a smaller front notch. Additionally, the iPhone 13 sports a new A15 Bionic chipset under the hood, which Apple says is up to 50% faster than the leading rival chips and offers up to 30% better graphical performance.

For the display, Apple has made the Super Retina XDR up to 28% brighter, allowing for peak brightness of around 1,200 nits and outdoor brightness of 800 nits. The aforementioned A15 Bionic camera has nearly 15 billion transistors and a new six-core CPU design with two high-performance and four high-efficiency cores.

Apple has made major improvements to the camera technology here, too. The iPhone 13 packs new Wide and Ultra Wide cameras with a much bigger sensor and more pixels. The iPhone 13's camera sensors are able to pick up at least 50% more light, offering higher-resolution photos and better low-light performance. The wide angle sensor also delivers the same sensor-shift technology as the iPhone 12 Pro models.

There's a new "Cinematic Mode" that allows users to capture cinema-style videos on their handsets. The mode holds focus on a subject, even while moving, and automatically shifts the video's focus as people enter and move around the frame. Additionally, it also allows users to select focus for a shot after the fact, thanks to computational photography.

A new "Photographic Styles" feature allows users to create their own filter-type preferences that can be applied to any photo that they shoot. Unlike a standard photo filter that you'd find in a third-party app, the styles will be intelligently applied with the right adjustments to different parts of the photo.

As far as battery life, the iPhone 13 has improved battery life. On the 6.1-inch model, Apple says that users can expect up to two and a half hours more battery than the previous model.

Apple has also upgraded the antennas and radio components on the iPhone 13, allowing for expanded band support. The Cupertino tech giant is also working with more than 200 carriers in 60 countries and regions to add 5G support by the end of 2021.

The iPhone 13 is available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage variants. As for colors, it'll come in pink, blue, midnight, starlight, and (PRODUCT)RED. It starts at $799 for the 128GB model.