Apple unveils iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini -- better, but little to get excited about

Every year, Apple takes the wraps off its next generation of iPhone. Some years the new model is revolutionary, and other years, merely evolutionary. iPhone 13, revealed today, definitely falls into the latter class.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty to recommend the new phone, but if you already own the iPhone 12, or iPhone 12 mini, or even a generation or two further back, there’s no need to rush to upgrade.

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So what’s new? Well, naturally it’s powered by a new chip -- the Apple A15 Bionic. Wondering how it stacks up against the iPhone 12? Well, in its big presentation, Apple chose to instead focus on how it compares to Android devices, stating its CPU was 50 percent faster than the competition's phones, with a GPU that’s 30 percent faster.

The battery life is improved in this new model -- as you’d expect. Apple says the new iPhone 13 delivers up to two and a half more hours of battery life in a day than iPhone 12, and the iPhone 13 mini provides up to an hour and a half more than iPhone 12 mini.

The camera positioning has been altered, with the lenses now placed diagonally, and  there’s a new sensor-shift optical image stabilization (OIS) Wide camera and Night mode on all cameras.

The notch on the front is smaller, but you likely won't really notice.

One thing that does look really great is the new Cinematic Mode, which can control the focus of video automatically (although you also get advanced control). If you’re an amateur film maker, you’ll love it. If you’re not, and not planning to shoot your own movie any time soon, well, you’ll likely never use it. It’s nice though.

"Our customers rely on iPhone every day, which is why we’ve made iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini more powerful, more capable, and more fun to use," said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Both phones have beautiful designs, industry-leading performance, and advanced camera systems with impressive computational photography features, all with incredible durability, water resistance, and a big jump in battery life to ensure customers can depend on their iPhone when they need it. All of this, tightly integrated with iOS 15 and with privacy built in, make iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini an unbeatable choice."

iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini will be available in Pink, Blue, Midnight, Starlight, and (PRODUCT)RED, with pre-orders beginning Friday, September 17, and availability from Friday, September 24. There’s a new entry-level capacity of 128GB, as well as 256GB and 512GB capacities.

Pricing starts at $699 for the iPhone 13 mini, and $799 for the iPhone 13.