Apple iPhone 13 has been worth buying since its launch. Now, you know that Apple iPhone 14 has been launched. It still has a lot in common with the iPhone 12 but has new features. So, is the iPhone 13 still worth buying? Let’s do a small analysis.
Related post: Why iOS is better than android for business?
The comparison with other iPhones
How can we analyse whether the apple iPhone 13 is worth buying? It should be compared to another phone. Right? The obvious competitor is the apple family itself. It is none other than iPhone 14. Let’s see how it compares and see whether the iPhone 13 is worth it. The price difference is $100.
You will see if the extra price of $100 on the iPhone 14 is worth it.
Display: The beauty.
The display has always been a big part of the iPhone models’ success. Long gone is the LCD display of the iPhone 8 With 13, you get a solid, crisp, detailed, beautiful AMOLED display. It is, in fact, made by Samsung. The display is cooler and more accurate, and you can literally edit a professional photo with this display.
iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini have a super retina XDR OLED display that supports HDR 10 and Dolby Vision. It has a typical brightness of 800 nits. It can go as much as 1200 nits for peak brightness.
The screen measures 6.1 inches. You can see the bezels are thin. Thus, you will get a screen-to-body ratio of almost 86%
The display of the Apple iPhone 13 has a resolution of 1170 x 2532 pixels. It equates to the Pixel per density or PPI of 460. This is razor sharp and is more than enough for the comfortable usage of Apple iPhones.
The 13 has scratch-resistant ceramic glass and it also has an oleophobic coating to keep the fingerprints away.
The spec for an Apple iPhone 14 is also the same as 13.
Hence, this is a tie between iPhone 13 and 14. The display on both of the phones is almost the same.
Therefore Apple iPhone 13 has an edge as it is $100 cheaper. Hence, as for as display goes, iPhone 13 is worth buying compared to 14.
Performance: Is iPhone 13 worth buying?
You would expect better performance with the new device when you upgrade your phone. But upgrading from iPhone 13 to 14 makes no sense as there is no difference in CPU performance between the two on Paper. There is a marginal difference between the GPUs of the two phones
Apple iPhone 14 has one more core for GPU and thus has 5 cores instead of 4 cores on iPhone 13.
Having said that, apple has improved the cooling system of the 14 for better thermal efficiency for better performance.
But, the performance difference will be minimal. It is noticeable only with CPU and GPU intensive tasks.
Is it worth buying iPhone 14 over 13 as far as performance goes? I don’t think so. The marginal improvement in performance doesn’t do justice for an extra $100 for most people.
Unless you use CPU and GPU intensive works regularly, Apple iPhone 13 is a better buy.
The CPU specs are given below.
| Technology | iPhone 13 | iPhone 14 |
| CPU | Hexa-core | Hexa-core |
| High performance cores | 2×3.23 GHz Avalanche | 2×3.23 GHz Avalanche |
| Low performance cores | 4×1.82 GHz Blizzard | 4×1.82 GHz Blizzard |
| GPU | Apple GPU | Apple GPU |
| No of GPU cores | 4 | 5 |
It is apparent that both the iPhone 13 and 14 have similar specs. Hence, iPhone 13 is worth buying for $100 less as far as the performance goes.
The camera: better than the best.
This is where the real differences between iPhone 13 and 14 begin to appear.
I am tabulating the specs so that you can see the difference.
Both the iPhone 13 and 14 will get you a dual camera setup. One is a normal lens and the other one is a 0.5x telephoto lens. It can do HDR video recording.
The face id system is incorporated with the cameras in mind so that the cameras will aid face id.
Let’s see the specs of the Rear Main camera. The difference is highlighted by the bold values.
| Technology | iPhone 13 | iPhone 14 |
| Camera setup | Dual | Dual |
| Main camera | 12 Mp | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.6 | f/1.5 |
| Focal length | 26 mm (Wide) | 26 mm (wide) |
| Pixel size | 1.7 µm | 1.9 µm |
| Auto focus | Yes, dual pixel PDAF | dual pixel PDAF |
| Image Stabilisation | sensor-shift OIS | sensor-shift OIS |
Let’s see the specs for the Rear Secondary camera. The difference is highlighted by the bold values
| Technology | iPhone 13 | iPhone 14 |
| Secondary camera | 12 Mp | 12 Mp |
| camera Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.4 |
| camera Focal Length | 13 mm (Ultrawide) | 13 mm (Ultrawide) |
| camera angle | 120˚ | 120˚ |
| Flash | Dual-LED dual-tone flash | Dual-LED dual-tone flash |
| HDR | Yes, (photo/panorama) | Yes, (photo/panorama) |
Specs of Front selfie camera.
| Technology | iPhone 13 | iPhone 14 |
| Camera setup | Single | Single |
| Main camera | 12 Mp | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 23 mm (Wide) | 23 mm (wide) |
| Auto focus | No | PDAF |
| Image Stabilisation | No | No |
| HDR | Yes | Yes |
Video specs of the Rear Cameras. The difference is highlighted by the bold values.
| Technology | iPhone 13 | iPhone 14 |
| 4k Video | 4K@24/30/60fps | 4K@24/25/30/60fps |
| 1080p Video | 1080p@30/60/120/240fps | 1080p@25/30/60/120/240fps |
| HDR | Dolby vision HDR up to 60 fps | Dolby vision HDR up to 60 fps |
| Stabilization | Sensor shift OIS | Sensor shift OIS and Action mode |
| Cinematic Video | No | Yes |
Video specs of the Front Cameras. The difference is highlighted by the bold values.
| Technology | iPhone 13 | iPhone 14 |
| 4k Video | 4K@24/25/30/60fps | 4K@24/25/30/60fps |
| 1080p Video | 1080p@30/60/120fps | 1080p@25/30/60/120fps |
| Stabilisation | gyro-EIS | gyro-EIS |
| Cinematic Video | No | Yes |
Seen the difference?
The iPhone 14 has significantly better cameras. In every possible way, iPhone 14 camera trumps the camera in iPhone 13 mini and 13. In the video department too with HDR video recording quality, iPhone 14 trumps iPhone 13 easily. The camera features in iPhone 14 is higher. It not only improves normal picture quality but also improve face id features too.
The front has a bigger aperture and a bigger Pixel size. This makes more light to hit the sensor and better bokeh.
With the Larger sensor and more light, the image quality will be better for sure. The Low light performance will increase as well. The night mode will make use of the larger sensor for better quality.
The secondary camera of iPhone 13 and 14 is almost the same. The camera features are also near identical.
Apple uses something called a photonic engine to process the images for better image quality. The photonic engine uses a powerful image signal processor in the CPU to compute images faster and with great image quality.
Deep fusion technology in iPhone 14 now captures more frames and applies the processing much earlier in the process on the uncompressed image stage and this improves low light performance and gives excellent colour details. Thanks to the neural engine, the process is lightning fast.
The portrait mode is even better in iPhone 14 compared to cheaper iPhone models.
The larger sensor and bigger aperture of the iPhone 14’s main camera will translate to better video as well. Even in low light. Also the night mode works great too with bigger sensor. The night mode in iPhone 14 is a bit better than night mode in 13.
The image stabilisation has been improved as well. The new mode is called Action mode. It uses more overscan on the full sensor and advanced roll correction to give great stable video footage. It is incredible.
There is also a cinematic mode in iPhone 14 that the iphone 13 mini and 13 misses. With the cinematic camera mode, you will get more bokeh and better focus transition. Read more here: what is a cinematic mode?
The selfie camera of the iPhone 14 has improved too. It has a bigger aperture and autofocus. This translates to better photos and videos.
You will also get photographic styles on iPhone 14 like 13. The photographic styles include Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm, or Cool presets.
Apple claims that the iPhone 14 has the following camera upgrades
- The main camera can take 2.5x better low-light photos.
- The secondary camera can take 2x better low-light photos.
- Has better Image stabilisation
- Can record 4k videos in cinematic 24 fps
- The iPhone 14 has True depth selfie camera with autofocus
The claim is real. With all the claims made by us and apple, the iPhone 14 is better than iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini. Is it worth the $100 difference? I would say, it is worth buying an iPhone 14 instead of an iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 mini as the additional $100 will fetch you a huge improvement in Low light photography, night mode and general photography and videography.
Crash detection: Is iPhone 13 worth buying?
It is exclusively available only for iPhone 14. It cannot be implemented in iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 mini with a software update. It needs special hardware. Without the hardware, it cannot be programmed into the operating system though. It is similar to the apple watches’ fall detection.
Apple has updated the accelerometer and gyroscope to aid this crash detection. The iPhone 14 will make use of this accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, mic etc. to identify if the car has crashed.
If it sensed such a crash it activates emergency SOS and the iPhone 14 calls the emergency number and reports the crash. It also informs the added phone number in the emergency SOS list. This way you can be saved quite faster.
You don’t know when a crash happens. We can only hope it never happens. We never drive to crash. It might not even be because of our mistake the crash happens and it is nice to have something that can save our lives. And, the $100 is worth it for this feature. In this case, iPhone 14 is more worthy than the iPhone 13 itself. Even better than iPhone 13 mini.
Satellite SOS
This is also a new feature debuted with the iPhone 14. It is also a hardware feature and cannot be implemented with a software update to the operating system.
Satellite SOS uses satellites for communication. In case you’re trapped in a location where there is no go and no cellphone tower is available, you can use this feature. Hope it never happens.
The new 14 has built-in antennas that can communicate with the satellite. You need a clear sky to do this. The User interface or UI will guide you on where to point for the satellite and helps you to lock the satellite signal.
Thus you can connect to the satellite and send emergency messages to the authorities. It is not instant and it takes time. Once the message is delivered, authorities can come to rescue you.
This is very helpful if you are a camper or do adventurous travel where cellphone towers are non-existent. You can count on the satellites and never get lost.
So, is it worth $100 for this feature? If you’re such a person who travels to such places where there is no phone signal, this is a must-have feature and the $100 addition is worth it to buy an iPhone 14. But, if you’re not going to use such a feature, iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 mini is totally worth it.
Battery: Bigger the better?
The battery is yet another important part of any phone. Better battery life is the goal. iPhone 13 has a Lithium-ion 3240 mah battery. That sounds too small compared to Android’s siblings. But, this is the iPhone. It sucks very little juice from the battery compared to androids.
Combined with fast charging and wireless charging, it is easy to top up the battery in iPhone 13. The wireless charging works with 15 watts if you use the magsafe wireless charger. It is an optional device.
Apple claims that the iPhone 13 can do up to 19 hours of video playback under test conditions. VIdeo playback is a great thing to measure battery life. Because, video playback make use of screen, cpu, gpu, ram etc. to run.
The battery life on iPhone 13 is very good. You will get a day-long full of battery life. With normal usage, you don’t have to charge the phone at the end of the day. is iPhone 13 worth it in 2023?
Let us see what the iPhone 14 can do and come to a conclusion.
The iPhone 14 has a slightly larger battery. Slightly.
It has a 3279 mAh battery. It is 39 mAh more than iPhone 13. Does it translate to a better battery in iPhone 14? It does. With all the optimisation, new thermal efficiency and slightly bigger battery, the iPhone 14 manage to do video playback for 20 hours under test conditions before switching off.
That’s a 1 hour longer battery life. iPhone 14 does audio playback of 80 hours with a full charge. iPhone 13 does it for 75 hours.
Technically, you will have a better battery life compared to iPhone 13.
But, is it worth $100? Probably No.
So, is the iPhone 13 worth buying now?
Yes and no.
Yes, if the battery life is not an issue. But we have to analyse more on other technologies employed in iPhone 14 to answer the question, is iPhone 13 worth buying in 2023?
So, please read on.
eSim: Towards the future.
There is no denying that eSim is for the future. The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini has a sim tray and sim facility. Unfortunately, the iPhone 14 in the USA supports only the eSim.
There are advantages to going with eSim. A few are listed below
- Improves water resistance of the phone
- No sim cards to lose.
- If your phone is stolen, the chances of finding it is high as the sim cannot be changed at the drop of a hat. One has to go to the carrier to change the eSim.
- One less mechanical part on the phone to fail
The disadvantages of eSim
- If you’re an international traveller, you cannot change the eSim as convenient as changing the physical sim card.
- That means you need to pay for international roaming.
- If you have many phone numbers, it is not really possible to change them instantly.
- Getting a new sim card is easier than enrolling for an eSim.
You need to weigh the pros and cons that are subjective to you and therefore you can choose the phone that better suits you. But, if you’re an international traveller, you need to get an iPhone 13. And that makes the iPhone 13 worth buying now.
Water and dust resistance
As far as water and dust resistance go, both iPhone 13 and 14 are certified IP68 devices. It means the device is protected from dust and water resistance for up to 30 minutes under 6 metres of water. You cant go wrong with either of the two.
Future-proofing is worth it.
Buying a new phone means, you will get more years of support as far as operating system goes. And, a new phone is always a trend. iPhone 14 has Bluetooth 5.3 which is less power hungry and has a better range compared to Bluetooth 5.0 of iPhone 13. In my opinion, it is good to pay $100 extra for one year of extra support for OS. But the decision is mostly driven by how much you’re into the software. Both iPhone 13 and 14 has face id support but iPhone 14 has an edge with the improved cameras.
Unless you want a small iPhone SE or iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 14 is worth buying than iPhone 13, in my honest opinion.
Sound
Both the iPhone 13 and 14 have good sound quality. You cannot go wrong with either of the two. The earphone sound depends upon the attachment used. As apple has only one adapter, there won’t be any change in sound quality over wired earphones or headphones. So, if the sound is your priority, don’t spend more for iPhone 14 but get the iPhone 13 itself. It is worth buying an iPhone 13 in this case.
5G: Technology from the future.
Apple iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 support 5G out of the box. There isn’t a difference between the two in terms of internet speed. If you’re upgrading from a previous iPhone model like iPhone SE or androids only for 5g and the latest features, then the iPhone 13 will suffice for you, and it is worth buying.
Conclusion – Is iPhone 13 worth buying?
So, is the iPhone 13 worth it?
The simple answer is yes. It is still a great phone to buy. It has great power. It has great cameras. It sounds nice. The display supports Dolby’s vision. The display is an OLED screen and it is a treat to watch videos on it. It has amazing battery life and great build quality. They can sustain small falls easily. It will get software updates for years to come.
So, the iPhone 13 is worth buying in 2023.
However, if you have $100 more to spare, You’re in iPhone 14 territory and getting iPhone 14 is even more worth it.
With a difference of $100 compared to the iPhone 13, you will additionally get
- The main camera with a large aperture and a large sensor
- Photonic engine and custom image signal processor
- The main camera with 2.5x better low-light photos compared to iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 mini.
- The secondary camera with 2x better low-light photos compared to iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 mini.
- The selfie camera with 2x better low-light photos compared to iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 mini.
- Cameras with better Image stabilisation with Action mode.
- Front camera with autofocus
- Camera with Cinematic mode
- A bump in performance
- Crash detection
- Satellite SOS
- Better battery life
- eSim
- Extended software support
- Newer Bluetooth module
Yes,
You will get 15 additional things for just $100. It makes the deal worth it. It makes iPhone 14 worth an additional $100. I sincerely recommend an iPhone 14 instead of an iPhone 13 for all the benefits that come with it.
Is iPhone 13 worth buying in 2023?
So, should You buy an iPhone 13 now or buy the iPhone 14 instead or something like iPhone se? It is better to buy the iPhone 14 instead of the iPhone 13 or any old iPhone model which doesn’t even have face id.
Related post: Why iOS is better than android for business?
Thanks for reading.
Aju Vignesh Sathiaraj Padma is a mechanical and audio engineer. He is a person who loves technology and things. He is also an audiophile and loves to listen to audio gears. He is an avid writer and loves to blog.
