iPhone 13 vs iPhone 13 iPhone 12: Which One Should You Buy? (2024)

An iPhone 13 vs. The iPhone 12 face-off is still worth considering even after its debutiPhone 14. Apple's newer phones can surpass thatbest iPhonelocations, but both the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12 will remain on sale at discounted prices. So it helps to know what sets these different models apart, especially if you're looking for a bargain.

OfiPhone 13is the newer of the two phones arriving in 2021. Apple currently has two versions: the 6.1-inch iPhone 13 and a smaller 5.4-inchiPhone 13mini. While not as new as the iPhone 14, both iPhone 13 models can claim to have better chipsets, cameras and battery life than previous iPhones - including the iPhone 12.

Assuming you're fine with an older iPhone, you have to ask yourself what's more important: more features or a lower price? It's up to you, but we can help you find the answer to that question.

For the big picture, here's how the iPhone 13 compares to the iPhone 12, which builds on the foundation laid by the older phones. And if you're curious about Apple's latest models: oursiPhone 14 versus iPhone 13IniPhone 14 versus iPhone 12Comparisons look at how everything fits together.

iPhone 13 vs iPhone 13 iPhone 12: Specifications

iPhone 13 vs iPhone 13 iPhone 12: Price and Availability

After the release of the iPhone 14, Apple kept the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 12 as discounted options in its phone line. It meansiPhone 13 Promodels have disappeared and so hasiPhone 12mini. The iPhone 12 Pro models have been dropped with the release of the iPhone 13 series in 2021.

Apple typically lowers the price for model returns by $100, and that's what happened this time. That puts the iPhone 13 as the most expensive older model at $699. The iPhone 12 now costs $599, the same price as the iPhone 13 mini. In short, Apple has decided that the larger screen on the iPhone 12 is just as valuable as the newer features on the more compact iPhone 13 mini.

In the case of the iPhone 13 and 13 mini, you get more storage for your money than the base model iPhone 12. These two iPhone 13 models start with 128 GB of storage instead of the 64 GB that the iPhone 12 offers. We will continue to followbeste iPhone 13-dealsInbeste iPhone 12-dealsso you can save even more on discounted Apple phones.

iPhone 13 vs iPhone 12: Design and display

From a design perspective, there isn't much difference between the iPhone 13 and the iPhone 12, with one very visible exception. That would be the notch on the iPhone 13, which is smaller than the one on the iPhone 12 -20% less, actually according to Apple. Otherwise, the look of the phones is the same, with the same flat edges and Ceramic Shield screens for greater durability.

The newer models weigh a little more - likely due to the larger batteries Apple included with the iPhone 13 - and there are new color options. A pink model combines the colors black (midnight), white (Starlight), blue and product [RED] on the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini. The new color for the iPhone 13 Pro series is Sierra Blue, a combination of graphite, gold and silver options. Since the arrival of the iPhone 13 in 2021, Apple has added to thisgreen options for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro models.

It is the screens where Apple has made the biggest changes compared to the iPhone 12, although the AMOLED panels used in the iPhone 13 series are the same size as their predecessors. Instead, Apple delivered brighter screens – 28% brighter than the iPhone 12's screens, according to Apple's calculations. The iPhone 13 and 13 mini can produce 800 nits of brightness, while the iPhone 13 Pro models boost this to 1,000 nits.

In the test we recorded 795 nits of brightness for the iPhone 13 and 788 nits for the iPhone 13 mini. Both measurements are definitely better than the iPhone 12 (569 nits). The iPhone 12's panel captures slightly more colors, but the iPhone 13 has the better Delta-E rating for color accuracy.

Unfortunately, none of the remaining iPhone 13 models offer the biggest display feature added to the phone range last year: the iPhone 13 Pro andiPhone 13 Pro Maxboth include ProMotion screens. This means they can dynamically adjust their refresh rate between 10Hz and 120Hz to reflect your activity on the screen. The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini will remain stuck at 60Hz, the same as the iPhone 12, as Apple considers faster refresh rates an exclusive feature to its Pro phones.

iPhone 13 versus iPhone 13 iPhone 12: camera's

Cameras proved to be a big difference between the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12, although the number of lenses remained unchanged from phone to phone. It's what Apple did with the camera hardware that makes the camera experience on the iPhone 13 completely different.

Both the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini offer a 12MP main camera with the largest sensor ever used in a dual-camera iPhone, at least at the time of release. Apple says the iPhone 13's camera lets in 47% more light than the iPhone 12's camera for sharper images. These two iPhone 13 models have the optical image stabilization function with sensor switching that Apple has addediPhone 12 Pro Maxand the ultra-wide lens captures more detail in the dark areas of your images.

Night mode works on both other iPhone 13 Pro cameras.

We haven't done a formal camera battle between the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12 models yet. But in some photo compositions you can see how the iPhone 13 handles low-light photography a little better than its predecessor. In the image of hydrangeas below, the leaves look pinker in the iPhone 13 image, and there are lighter leaves around the petals.

Another area worth highlighting is Cinematic mode, a video recording feature available on all iPhone 13 models. This mode automatically adjusts focus while recording video and switches between foreground and background objects as filming requires. You won't see such a feature on the iPhone 12.

iPhone 13 vs iPhone 13 iPhone 12: Performance and 5G

The iPhone 13 models are all powered by the A15 Bionic processor, an upgrade from the A14 Bionic chip found in all iPhone 12 models. Considering the A14 was the fastest system-on-chip we tested, this means pretty strong performance for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini compared to the iPhone 12.

After testing the iPhone 13 models, we found that the new chipset is faster than the A14 in the iPhone 12, although there isn't a dramatic gap between the iPhone 13 and the iPhone 12. For example, in Geekbench 5, the iPhone 13 took on single and multicore scores of 1,684 and 4,129 respectively. Both results were better than the iPhone 12's 1,593 and 3,859 results.

However, these are synthetic benchmarks. In real-world testing, the gap was smaller. We use Adobe Premiere Rush to transcode a video and time the results. The iPhone 13 was faster than the iPhone 12 in this regard, but only by about a second.

(Interestingly, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus also use an A15 Bionic chip, although this is the one with the 5-core GPU used by the iPhone 13 Pro models. As a result, you'll still see improvements in ouriPhone 14 versus iPhone 13-benchmarks.

The iPhone 12 had some of the best 5G compatibility around, but Apple says the iPhone 13 models will support even more 5G bands. Apple says it will double 5G support on iPhone 13 models to more than 200 carriers in 60 countries and regions by early 2022.

iPhone 13 is includediOS 15pre-installed. The iPhone 12 models debuted with iOS 14, but currently run iOS 15, just like their successors. Today both phones workiOS 16quite skilled.

iPhone 13 vs iPhone 13 iPhone 12: Battery life and charging

Apple doesn't reveal battery sizes when they announce new phones, so the battery sizes are unofficial and taken from teardowns of the various phones. We're sure the iPhone 13's power pack is greater than what the iPhone 12 offers and the newer phone will last longer on a charge.

Here's how battery life deteriorated in our tests for each iPhone 13 and iPhone 12 model. We test phones by letting them surf the internet over 5G until they run out of juice.

As you can see, each iPhone 13 model outperformed its iPhone 12 counterparts in our battery tests, with improvements ranging from modest in the case of the iPhone 13 mini to excellent for the iPhone 13. Both iPhone 13 Pro models earned a spot on usbest phone battery lifelist where we recognize phones that last more than 11 hours during our test.

Charging speeds are unchanged from the iPhone 12: 15W MagSafe wireless charging and 20W wired charging. As with the iPhone 12, the iPhone 13 models come without an included charger.

iPhone 13 versus iPhone 12: Dom

You expect phones to improve from generation to generation, but the differences in our comparison between the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12 are quite significant. The better storage options, faster processor and camera improvements would be enough to make this a major upgrade. Add in improved battery life and last year's update proved to be a big step forward from last year.

As good as the iPhone 12 models were, they can't match what the iPhone 13 delivers. And that's good news if you're currently looking for an iPhone.

Most buyers will likely prefer the 6.1-inch iPhone 13 as it has a larger screen. However, if you prefer a more compact mini form factor, the iPhone 13 mini is your only other optioniPhone SE 2022and the outdated design.

Of course, the iPhone 14 towers above everything now that it's here. The new phones mark an even bigger improvement over the iPhone 12 and may spark some envy among iPhone 13 owners, especially when it comes toiPhone 14 Proeditions. Still, it is our job to help you with an iPhone 13 vs. iPhone 12 concludes, and on that front the iPhone 13 is better in almost every way except price.