Why I Upgraded From iPhone 12 Mini to 13 Pro
Originally Posted: October 6th, 2021
Tl;DR:
Battery Life
Brighter 120 Hz screen, better cameras, telephoto lens, and I’m a sucker
Battery Life
Why I Upgraded From iPhone 12 Mini to 13 Pro
Last November, I wrote about the iPhone 12 Mini. After living with it for a year my opinion is the same. I'm still happy Apple made a smaller model. I don't regret stepping down from the 11 Pro to get it. The 12 Mini has been great, but it's officially old news now. The arrival of the iPhone 13 lineup means it is time for a yearly performance review.
iPhone 12 Mini (Blue, left), and the iPhone 13 Pro (Sierra Blue, right).
iPhone 12 Mini Exit Interview
With four all-new iPhones last year, you needed a chart and a few graphs to understand all of the differences. The 12 Mini was the easiest to understand, since it was all about the size. If you love big phones it might feel like a toy. If you miss the smaller size of the iPhone 5, the Mini was the phone you were waiting for.
The Mini's size has a lot of benefits. It is lighter and easier to hold. It doesn't feel like a huge brick in a pocket. Swiping down to access Control Center doesn't require a careful stretching-and-balancing act. There is less weight to support, and one-handed use is easy. Every time I picked it up or put it in my pocket, my love for the smaller size was reinforced. Some might think it's too small, but for me the size is just right for a one-handed device. The larger iPhone sizes are all two-handed devices in my mind.
The Mini's size also requires compromises. A smaller screen means a smaller keyboard, and my clumsy thumbs still struggle with typos. It takes great pictures, but I miss the telephoto lens. The screen is great, but it's not always bright enough for outdoor use. This is especially true on a hot day, when max brightness ramps down to keep the phone cool. There are other small compromises, but I could look past all of them except one.
Battery Life
It's physics: smaller phone, smaller battery. That's what all the initial reviews said last year. That's what I said when I bought it. I went in knowing the compromise I was making. Working and staying at home most of the year made it mostly a non-issue. On days with heavier use, the 12 Mini struggled.
My job required me to travel and work outside often this past summer. During those times the limits of the dimmer screen and smaller battery were emphasized. I regularly had to find a shady spot to see the screen, or hold it in front of an air conditioning vent to cool it off. I never had the battery die on me, but I never wandered too far from an outlet. The battery anxiety was real.
Any time I was able to plug in, I did. I always had a background process running in my brain, wondering if the battery was going to survive the rest of the day. On the days with heavy use, I would need a charger by the afternoon. The 12 Mini has been a great little pocket computer, but it's time for an upgrade.
What's New With iPhone 13?
This year 12 became 13, and all of the main iPhone models received updates. This is what some people would call an "S" year, where the physical design hasn't changed, but the insides have. Some people find that disappointing, or only care about what they can see. I am the type of nerd that prefers to look inside, and judge the new models based on those improvements.
Last year Apple released four new iPhone models, and this year they updated them all.
- 12 Mini -> 13 Mini
- 12 -> 13
- 12 Pro -> 13 Pro
- 12 Pro Max -> 13 Pro Max
Besides the number being one higher, the biggest changes are:
- Battery life, especially on the Pro models.
- Cameras, especially on the Pro models.
- Screen, especially on the Pro models.
Battery life, cameras, screens. If you follow Apple that might sound familiar. What was better about the 11 Pro over the 11? Battery life, cameras, and the screen. What about iPhone 7 Plus vs the 7? You guessed it. Battery life, cameras, and the screen. There are other differences of course, but those are the three that usually matter the most.
We're well past the Wild West era of smartphones, where every new release was a huge leap over the last. Phones have been iterative for many years now, but better is still better. The question becomes how much better, and do the other differences matter? This veers into personal choice, so I can only share my perspective on why I upgraded from the 12 Mini to the 13 Pro.
Why Upgrade?
Comparing this years iPhone to last years iPhone becomes less exciting with each new model. Apple is a master at iteration, and making improvements year after year. Sometimes they are small, and occasionally there is a big leap in one area or another. If you zoom into just the delta from last year, it's easy to miss the constant march upwards, or take it for granted.
iPhone 12 Mini (left), iPhone 13 Pro (right)
Most people don't upgrade their phone every year, so I prefer to compare within the generation (13 Mini vs. 13 vs. 13 Pro) and look at the gap between multiple generations. If you're using an iPhone 7 or 8, how big of a jump is the 13? Those are more interesting questions than comparing the 12 Mini to the 13 Mini. Fools like me who upgrade every year have already done that research, and probably already ordered their new phone. If you're upgrading from an older phone, Jason Snell made a guide to show you all the upgrades you'll be getting.
As a small phone enthusiast, the 13 Mini was tempting. It received the obligatory better cameras and brighter screen, but what caught my attention the most was the battery life improvements. The battery is 9% larger, which Apple claims is good enough for 1.5 hours more real-world usage. Better is better, but I couldn't help but think that it wasn't enough.
Why Pro?
I loved the Mini but I didn't want a ~10% bump in battery life, I wanted a battery that was so good I could forget about it. I wanted battery therapy. Enter the iPhone 13 Pro.
This year on the Pro side of things, a few things changed. The cameras got bigger, better, and added a few new tricks. The screen got even brighter (1000 nits!), and added support for dynamic refresh rates between 10 and 120 Hz. The faster "ProMotion" screen makes animations smoother, but can also ramp down to conserve battery. The batteries also got bigger, giving the 13 Pro great battery life, and the 13 Pro Max absurd battery life.
13 vs. 13 Pro
For a few extra hundred dollars, you get:
- Better wide and ultra wide cameras
- An additional 3X telephoto camera
- A brighter screen with up to 120 Hz refresh rate
- Longer battery life
There are other differences, such as the materials, finishes and colors, but those are mostly the same as last year. I prefer the matte aluminum bands the non-Pro models over the shiny stainless steel fingerprint magnets on the Pro models. I find the Pro colors bland and uninspiring, but the new Sierra blue is an inoffensive blue-gray.
I wish iPhones came in more vibrant colors, like they did with the iPhone XR or iPhone 5C. For some reason Apple things that high-end phones need boring colors, and vibrant colors are only for the cheap ones. I don't agree, but it's a very minor complaint on an otherwise great lineup.
iPhone 13 Pro First Impressions
When I unboxed the iPhone 13 Pro, I literally laughed at how big the camera bump is. The camera lenses and sensors are bigger than ever, and so is the camera bump. It's not really a "bump" anymore, it's a camera plateau with three camera turrets blasting out from the back. It's comically huge, but bigger lenses = more light = better pictures. The first thing I did was try them out.
Camera Bump, meet Camera Mountain.
Camera
After living with the 12 Mini and its lack of telephoto lens for a year, the 3X telephoto lens was a welcome return. I'm still convinced that more people care about zooming in than zooming out. Props to Apple for putting the telephoto lens on the expensive models. Apple are the masters of upselling, and suckers like me are born every minute.
The larger lenses enable better HDR, and a better night mode. They also enable something new for this year: Macro mode. Macro mode and all the other new bits and bobs are great to have, but I haven't played around with them enough to form a full opinion. I'm not a professional photographer, but I know a couple. I'm aware of the limits of using a smartphone as a camera, and there are still plenty of situations where an iPhone isn't going to be able to capture the best image. That list is getting smaller and smaller every year, and the 13 Pro can produce some great images.
Battery Life
Battery life isn't something I can quantify, but plenty of other reviews have done that. All I know is that I charge my phone overnight, and I never have to think about it during the day.
I've ended the day with over 50% remaining a few times already. I'm still in the habit of worrying about it, but that is fading. The battery life is so good I never think about it, and that's the biggest compliment I can give. It's the biggest reason I went for the 13 Pro over the 13 Mini.
I don't have a 13 Mini to side by side compare with. I'm sure the 1.5 hours of extra runtime is great, and the 13 Mini is going to be a great phone for people who appreciate the smaller size. I didn't want to make a 10% improvement though, I wanted battery bliss. That's exactly what the 13 Pro gave me.
iPhone 13 Pro Screen and ProMotion
The other big thing I want to comment on is the screen. I have been a fan of the higher refresh rate screens on the iPad for many years, and I've seen enough high-refresh rate gaming setups to know how good a refresh rate above 60 frames per second is. A lot of people may not really notice or care, but for people like me that are lucky enough to have good vision and appreciate the difference, it's a huge upgrade.
On the iPhone, things like scrolling text and animations have always been pretty smooth. One of the most impressive features of the first iPhone was how well it tracked your finger, and made it feel like you were directly manipulating what was on screen. That direct relationship between finger and content was one of the best things about iPhones for years. Interacting with iOS at 120 Hz raises this to a whole new level.
If this sounds like a niche thing, or a "I can live without it" thing, I can heartily recommend the iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13, or any of the iPhone 12 models if you can find them at a good price.
Overall Thoughts
In a year, the massive burden of the 13 Pro's camera turrets and heavy frame may have me yearning for another Mini-sized phone. According to the rumors, this may be the last year that Apple makes one. I hope that's not the case. I chose the 12 Mini for the set of compromises it made, and I was happy with that. This year, I chose to make a different set. I'm going to have to live with the extra weight and size in exchange for all the goodies that come with it.
For the battery life, for the amazing screen, and for the cameras, I'm pretty happy with the tradeoffs so far. I'm definitely going to miss putting the 12 Mini in my pocket, but I'm going to be happier pulling the 13 Pro out.
Does buying the 13 Pro make me a professional? Of course not. When you push the name and the marketing to side, you're left with a really great camera, great screen, with great battery life. I guess you can make phone calls with it too, I don't know.
The boring perfection of the iPhone 13 Pro makes me wonder what Apple can do next year to push things forward. One thing I would personally love to see is that the features on the larger phones continue to work their way down. I am OK with compromising on size this year, but I want to see what next year's phones bring. I would love to be able to step down to the Mini-class phone again. Until then I'll professionally enjoy this professional pocket computer.
