Apple's iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max will feature a macro photography mode for close-up shots, access to the professional-grade video codec ProRes, and more
and covers all the bases Alex Finnis / inews.co.uk : iOS 15 supported devices: The iPhone models that support Apple's new update and when it's released Josh Ye / South China Morning Post : Lower-priced iPhone 13 could shake China's mobile market Eli Blumenthal / CNET : The biggest iPhone 13 feature isn't on a spec sheet. It's in the trade-in offers Lewis Painter / techadvisor.com : Everywhere you can buy the iPad mini 6 (2021) right now Sami Fathi / MacRumors : iPhone 13 Still Doesn't Display Battery Percentage in the Status Bar, Despite Smaller Notch Oliver Haslam / iMore : Despite the space vacated by the notch, iPhone 13 has no battery percentage Daniel Petrov / phonearena.com : Apple's first 120Hz display on an iPhone is all Samsung, down to the refresh range Mat Smith / Engadget : The Morning After: Meet the new iPhone 13 Devindra Hardawar / Engadget : All iPhone 13 models will feature a Cinematic mode that can mimic professional cameras' more advanced techniques, such as “rack focus” and others William Gallagher / AppleInsider : Tim Cook talks AR, iPad mini, and Apple's virtual launch event Joel Hruska / ExtremeTech : Apple Unveils New A15 Bionic SoC Jonny Evans / Apple Must : Watch: Apple's Tim Cook talks iPad mini, iPhone 13 and more John Voorhees / MacStories : The New iPhone 13 Lineup: The MacStories Overview Rida Imran / iThinkDifferent : New ‘English Lavender’ Smart Folio for iPad mini 6 is also available for 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models Andrei Frumusanu / AnandTech : Apple Announces iPhone 13 Series: A15, New Cameras, New Screens Jon Mundy / Trusted Reviews : iPhone 13 isn't quite the 5G powerhouse Apple claims Deng Li / Huawei Central : Download iPhone 13 wallpapers [Link] Nick Heer / Pixel Envy : ⌥ Ex S — What's in a name? — Apple is a company of shifting patterns. Bogdan Popa / Softpedia News : iOS 15 RC Now Available, Full Launch on Monday Chris Smith / BGR : iPhone 13, iPhone 12, iPhone 11 and iPhone SE: Prices for Apple's 2021 lineup DigiTimes : Apple touts camera advancements in iPhone 13 series PYMNTS.com : Apple Unveils New iPhone, iPad, Watch Tweets: @appleswupdates : According to the Xcode Simulator, even though there's enough space on iPhone 13 Pro Max, it still doesn't show the battery percentage #AppleEvent https://twitter.com/... Hiraku / @hirakujira : Nobody cares, but ... Both iPhone 13 and 13 mini still have 4GB RAM. 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max have 6GB RAM. Also, iPad mini 6 has 4GB RAM. Richard Lai / @richardlai : By the way, the iPhone 13 series' cinematic mode video capture is limited to 1080p at 30fps only. https://twitter.com/... Quinn Nelson / @snazzyq : Please enjoy getting 4K ProRes off your new iPhone using AirDrop or USB 2.0 via Lightning. 🤦♂️ @techaltar : Is Apple keeping the 12mp sensors on the iPhones because, unlike all other phone makers, they actually prioritize video, not just photos, and video is harder to do well on a sensor with tons of pixels and pixel binning? @tldtoday : iPad mini has an A15 chip for those asking. Gonna be a powerful little machine. https://twitter.com/... Ben Sandofsky / @sandofsky : Imagine shooting an iPhone 13 promo with a dude mounting his phone on a motorcycle right before Apple announces, “Don't mount your iPhone to a motorcycle.” https://twitter.com/... @pinboard : The iPhone's biggest design challenge in the 2020's is how to make it visible that you own a newer iPhone. The solution this time around is diagonal camera eyes. https://twitter.com/... Sebastiaan de With / @sdw : Yeah, I do not think anyone is quite realizing what an insane engineering challenge this is. Kudos to the teams at Apple that got this out the door. https://twitter.com/... Paul Haddad / @tapbot_paul : Thinking back on the event, the most surprising thing to me is that Apple didn't release any useless products (i.e. 32GB iPad) and didn't increase prices. Mark Gurman / @markgurman : Proud of pre-event news today. All iPhone design and cam features (Cinematic Video, Photographic Styles, and ProRes) plus 120hz, right on the money for Watch screens (even if body was a little curvier than expected) and faces, and iPad design turned out well, if ahead of time. Sascha Segan / @saschasegan : Apple does a pastiche of Knives Out 2, which I'm pretty sure is still in reshoots. Pretty ... sure. #AppleEvent https://twitter.com/... Mark Gurman / @markgurman : iPhone 13, not 12S. Paul Hudson / @twostraws : “15.8 trillion neural engine operations! Pilates classes! Super clever A15 CPU stuff!” World: “THE DOG IS INNOCENT!” #AppleEvent Halide / @halidecamera : That's a bigger wide angle sensor in iPhone 13. https://twitter.com/... Michael Fisher / @captain2phones : Lots of new camera capabilities added to iPhone 13 Pro. iPhone is already my go-to when it comes to run-and-gun B-roll filming, and with features like these, Apple is just gonna run away with it unless an Android manufacturer starts taking mobile video as seriously. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Daniel Jalkut / @danielpunkass : Kind of awkward with the warning last week that motorcycle engines can screw up iPhone cameras. #AppleEvent Ben Wood / @benwood : People will be pleased Apple has resisted the temptation to bump up prices which it could have easily attributed to rising component costs. It's even increased the entry-level memory configuration on several products, including the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini and iPad #AppleEvent https://twitter.com/... David Ruddock / @rdrv3 : I poke fun at Apple for how carefully produced their camera samples are, and that poking is well-earned. It doesn't change the fact that, straight out of the camera, the iPhone still owns the mobile video quality wars. Not even close. Neil Cybart / @neilcybart : You will reimagine cinema with the new iPhone 13 Pro. Me: Does the iPhone 13 Pro get a 5-year old and 3-year old to smile while standing next to each other?
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple paired the new capture features with the Pro models’ higher-refresh display, A15 chip, and revised camera system, concentrating the launch’s most distinctive capabilities in its premium iPhones. That matters because related coverage framed iPhone 13 as an iterative update rather than a wholesale redesign.
The subsequent product arc reinforces the emphasis on Pro-camera upgrades, from the 48MP main camera on iPhone 14 Pro to the later three-48MP-camera configuration on iPhone 17 Pro. Macro photography and ProRes mark an early step in that sustained differentiation strategy.
First-order effects
- iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max buyers gain close-up shooting and access to ProRes, adding photo and video capabilities that are absent from the article’s broader iterative-update framing.
- Apple gives its Pro tier a more concrete creative-tools pitch alongside the new display, processor, and camera hardware.
Second-order effects
- For Apple, the added capture features make the Pro models’ value proposition depend less on a major chassis redesign and more on a bundle of premium display, camera, and video capabilities.
- Buyers weighing an incremental iPhone update have more feature-specific reasons to favor the Pro models, raising the importance of Apple’s premium-tier feature separation.
Third-order effects
- Apple’s later Pro launches suggest a durable product pattern: camera hardware and capture formats become recurring levers for differentiating the high-end iPhone line.
- If that cadence persists, premium smartphone competition will increasingly be organized around integrated imaging systems and media-creation capabilities rather than infrequent all-device overhauls.
The trend: Apple is turning the iPhone Pro line into a recurring platform for advanced imaging and video features, delivered through successive hardware iterations.