Apple iPhone 13 test: still efficient and much more enduring

The iPhone 13 sports a different back photo block from the iPhone 12 since its two modules are aligned diagonally, and not vertically, but does not gain an additional sensor. For more than a wide-angle module and another ultra-wide angle, with sensors of 12 megapixels each, it is therefore necessary to turn to the Pro range provided for its part with telephoto lenses.

In general terms, the iPhone 13 seems to keep the equipment of the iPhone 12, but the devil is in the details: its main sensor is larger. Its 1.7 µm pixels (1.4 µm for the iPhone 12) are reminiscent of …iPhone 12 Pro Max, which he therefore seems to have inherited from the sensor.

Does the wide-angle of the iPhone 13 deliver better shots than the iPhone 12 and does it live up to the iPhone 12 Pro Max? We made the test (to find here) and the result is clear: the iPhone 13 offers a higher level of detail with a much better homogeneity, making it possible to avoid blurring on the periphery visible on the photos of the iPhone 12. It rises to the height of the 12 Pro Max, at least as far as its main module is concerned.

The gain is visible if we compare the smartphone to its elders. But the competition is tough and it is important to situate this iPhone 13 against rival products, such as the Samsung Galaxy S21, but also the Galaxy S21 + to the island photo identical.

Wide-angle module: 12 Mpx, f / 1.6, eq. 26 mm

At the wide-angle precisely, the slightly cold shade spotted during our comparison is all the more visible as the exposure offered by the Galaxy S21 is a little better and the rendering a bit more saturated. The level of detail is high on the two pictures, but there is a slightly more marked accentuation on that of the iPhone 13. We should add that, as noted during our comparison, the iPhone 13 manages to provide good sharpness to the image. outskirts of the snapshots, which put the Galaxy S21 in trouble during our test.

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At night, the iPhone 13 produces a shot that is a little less well exposed, again, than its competitor. However, digital noise is less present and details are well reproduced. Note that the exposure time is very low (1/29 s), which limits motion blur.

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Front module, portrait and video mode

Apple is not revolutionizing the front camera of its iPhone 13: it therefore has a 12 Mpx sensor with a wide-angle f / 2.2 optics. The results are good and the bokeh effect is generally controlled when using portrait mode.

The ProRes format was announced at the same time as the iPhone 13. This video format will however be reserved for Pro models and is not yet available – Apple is content to mention a “Next availability”. However, the iPhone 13 is not badly off in the video department. The smartphone is capable of shooting up to 4K at 60 fps (with Dolby Vision), with support for wide-angle optical stabilization. Cinematic mode, also introduced by Apple this year, debuts on the iPhone 13 up to 1080p at 30 fps. This mode allows you to enjoy an automatic bokeh effect around the main character of any scene. The smartphone is responsible for following the subject and allows you in post-production to modify the focus on another subject of your choice. The tool works well and will undoubtedly make the happiness of the most creative, but requires a good ambient light to be perfectly effective. We also expect the possibility of easily applying this mode to objects.

Night mode, preferring a longer exposure (1/8 s), compensates for the faults previously noted. The exposure is much better and the details are more readable. We appreciate the quality of the treatment operated by Apple, which avoids a smoothing often present in the photos of competing models.

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Ultra wide-angle module: 12 Mpx, f / 2.4, eq. 13 mm

The exposure a little better controlled on the Galaxy S21 at the wide-angle is also at the ultra-wide-angle. By day, it allows above all to maintain a more vivid colorimetry, even if it means losing a tad naturally. A marked accentuation also makes it possible to find details less well reproduced by the iPhone 13, such as the characters on the edge of the book or the eyes of the dancers located on the left of the photo.

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If there is one exercise in which few smartphones manage to emerge victorious, it is that of ultra-wide-angle night capture. The iPhone 13 suffers from classic flaws: dark shots with digital noise and smoothing of details. However, despite a lower level of detail than that of the Galaxy S21, the iPhone 13 has the merit of not recreating erroneous information. In short, the pictures are difficult to use, but a little more faithful.

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The long exposure activated automatically by the iPhone allows, at the cost of a pronounced digital noise, to find a much more accurate exposure and a more satisfactory level of detail. Nothing to get excited about, but at least the elements of the cliché are usable.

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