iPhone 13 models thicker and heavier, TrueDepth notch slightly taller than iPhone 12 lineup

Apple's latest iPhone 13 models eschew the company's long-held "thinner is better" mantra in favor of better camera systems and larger batteries.

While Apple didn't focus on handset dimensions during Tuesday's hardware reveal, specifications published to the company's website show a slight increase in both girth and weight when compared to last year's iPhone 12 lineup.

All iPhone 13 models come in at 7.65 millimeters (0.30 inches) thick, compared to 7.4mm (0.29 in.) for each iPhone 12 variant.

Weight sees a more significant change. Starting with the largest iPhone 13 Pro, Apple notes a weight of 8.03 ounces (240 grams), which compares to 8.03 oz. (228g) for the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The iPhone 13 Pro sees an increase to 7.19 oz. (204g) from 6.66 oz. (189g) on last year's model.

Apple's iPhone 13 comes in at 6.14 oz. (174g), up from iPhone 12's 5.78 oz. (164g), while the iPhone 13 mini's 4.97 oz. (141g) compares to the iPhone 12 mini's 4.76 oz. (135g).

While not a significant change from last year's lineup, the weight gain might be noticeable for owners who carry their device in pockets or small bags. More interestingly, Apple is slowly moving away from its push for ever-thinner devices, a strategy that sometimes came at the cost of usability.

In return for the weight increase, iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 13 deliver up to 2.5 more hours of battery life when compared to their predecessors, while the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 mini bring an additional 1.5 hours.

The TrueDepth "notch" is also getting a makeover that reduces its footprint by 20%, according to Apple. While the notch is much slimmer than units on current iPhones, it is slightly taller. The added height should be imperceptible unless closely comparing iPhone 13 with an older device like iPhone 12.

Apple's latest iPhone devices are slated to go up for preorder on Friday, Sept. 17, at 5 a.m. Pacific.

10 Comments

JFC_PA 947 comments · 7 Years

About 3 years ago

In use the notch is effectively invisible to me. That’s it’s such a fascination is a puzzle.

cpsro 3232 comments · 14 Years

Dear AI: the weight you report for the 13 Pro Max is wrong. You’ve got it weighing the same 8.03 oz. as the 12 PM.

sdw2001 17452 comments · 23 Years

While not a significant change from last year's lineup, the weight gain might be noticeable for owners who carry their device in pockets or small bags.

That's ridiculous. The biggest weight change is 1/2 an ounce, or 14 grams. No way someone can tell that kind of a difference in a bag or pocket. One might feel the difference if picking up the phones with no cases. Though, such differences are likely not even detectable according to Weber's Law. It's not a hard and fast rule, but generally people won't notice less than a 10% difference in weight. The point is that adding a bag or pocket to to equation completely blows the argument out of then water.

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

JFC_PA said:

In use the notch is effectively invisible to me. That’s it’s such a fascination is a puzzle.

sdw2001 said:

While not a significant change from last year's lineup, the weight gain might be noticeable for owners who carry their device in pockets or small bags.

That's ridiculous. The biggest weight change is 1/2 an ounce, or 14 grams. No way someone can tell that kind of a difference in a bag or pocket. One might feel the difference if picking up the phones with no cases. Though, such differences are likely not even detectable according to Weber's Law. It's not a hard and fast rule, but generally people won't notice less than a 10% difference in weight. The point is that adding a bag or pocket to to equation completely blows the argument out of then water.

Like death and taxes, bitching about the notch and weight changes will ensue with some claiming the iPhone 13 is now ‘useless’ to them. It’s how social media works.

Kuyangkoh 838 comments · 7 Years

Added extra battery life and weight is not much for me since I have it on belt pouch that weighs a ton anyway … :-)). I wish they just call this iphone12S