iPhone 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max in 2022: Should You Upgrade?

It’s been quite some time since the new 2022 iPhones launched in India but Apple is now struggling to keep up with the demand of its iPhone 14 Pro models, ever since its primary assembly facility in China was impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. Apple itself has put out an official statement regarding the delays in the production of the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. The question then is, should you wait for the iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max or pick up last year’s iPhone 13 Pro or Pro Max right away? For those who own an iPhone 13 Pro Max, does it make sense to upgrade this year? We’ll try to answer that in this article.

Every year, there’s a new iPhone that’s launched and one does not typically need to upgrade their smartphone every time, because most of the upgrades are usually incremental, and this year is no different. The iPhone 14 Pro line up looks and feels like last year’s iPhone 13 Pro or even the iPhone 12 Pro line up from 2020. If you have an iPhone 13 Pro or the Pro Max, it’s hard to tell the difference between those and the 2022 models by simply looking at the backs of the phones. The iPhone 13 Pro line up and the 14 Pro series are built using very similar materials, have almost the same dimensions, and share two of the same colour options, Gold and Silver.

iPhone 13 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro – display

When it comes to the display, Apple introduced the 120Hz ProMotion display with the iPhone 13 Pro line up and it’s the same tech used in the 14 Pro line up too. I don’t think you’ll notice much of a difference when it comes to refresh rate, whether you’re using the iPhone 14 Pro (Review) series or the 13 Pro series. The display of the iPhone 13 Pro Max is very sharp, has a high peak brightness, and is protected by Ceramic Shield. The only upgrades that the iPhone 14 Pro line up brings are higher peak brightness levels of up to 2000 nits, and the Always-On display, which has received mixed reactions from consumers.

Talking about the notch, the iPhone 13 Pro series has a slightly smaller notch than its predecessor, whereas the iPhone 14 Pro line up uses the Dynamic Island, Apple’s method of concealing the gap between the front camera and the Face ID cameras, both of which are now detached from the display bezel, thereby resembling an island in the screen. It certainly feels fresh and innovative.

iPhone 13 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro – cameras

Each year, Apple introduces a new camera feature with added advancements to their hardware and software. For the iPhone 13 line up, it introduced Cinematic Mode and a larger sensor for both, the 13 Pro and the 13 Pro Max. The iPhone 13 Pro series still has some of the best smartphone cameras in the market right now. The pictures come out amazing, computational photography is improved drastically, macro photos are some of the best that I’ve come across to date, and recorded video is excellent. It can capture some of the best-looking 4K videos at 60fps in DolbyVision HDR, which is still a distant dream for most other premium smartphones.

Coming to the iPhone 14 Pro line up, both the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max come with a bumped-up main camera resolution of 48 megapixels, compared to the 12-megapixel resolution which we’ve been seeing since the iPhone 6s (Review). The new phones have a bunch of hardware as well as exciting software features. Take Action Mode for instance, which lets you record some of the best stabilised videos on any smartphone camera.

The iPhone 14 Pro series debuted the new Dynamic Island for the front cameras

The iPhone 14 Pro series also uses the new Photonic Engine for more realistic details and colours in photos. Night mode photos are better thanks to the added resolution and take less time to process. Cinematic Mode videos on the iPhone 14 Pro series can now be recorded in 4K 30fps, which is much appreciated as it is a plus if you need to crop the video while editing. The front camera on the iPhone 14 Pro line up now has autofocus which aids in sharper and more accurate selfies or videos.

iPhone 13 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro – battery

When I first started using my iPhone 13 Pro Max a year ago, it would last a solid one and a half days with my typical usage habits which included frequent use of social media, binge-watching, and occasionally recording videos. But as it ages, I noticed that I need to charge it at the end of the day since the battery health has now dropped to 88 percent after roughly eight months of rigorous use. However, this is just my personal experience as others might have different experiences depending on individual usage habits. Apple claims up to 28 hours of runtime with video playback on a single charge of the iPhone 13 Pro Max, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max has a claimed runtime of up to 29 hours, which is not a big upgrade.

iPhone 13 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro – processor

The iPhone 13 Pro series uses the A15 Bionic SoC, which is still very much capable and way ahead of its Android counterparts. Games still run well at their highest settings, multi-tasking is still great, and I have not felt any deficiency in performance, whatsoever, to date.

The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max have the A16 Bionic, which has a billion more transistors than the A15 Bionic, higher memory bandwidth, and small overall improvements which result in slightly higher benchmark numbers, however, you might not notice a huge performance jump in day-to-day activities.

iPhone 13 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro – price

Now, coming to the most important aspect — the price. The iPhone 14 Pro Max officially starts at Rs. 1,39,900 for the 128GB variant and for that amount or even lower (based on discounts), you can get a 256GB variant of the iPhone 13 Pro Max. It is readily available on popular online stores in India as well as offline retail outlets, while the 14 Pro Max currently has a waiting period. One thing to note is, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is officially discontinued this year so you will not be able to buy it directly from Apple.com.

To put it simply, if you already own an iPhone 13 Pro Max, it doesn’t make sense going for the 14 Pro Max. But if you are still using something older such as the iPhone 11 Pro and are not in any hurry, then get yourself an iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max because some of the new features and improvements kind of justify the premium.