We've had new Apple devices for a week now, and we're definitely excited to finally have put them to the test.
Hello and welcome back to another installment of Editor's Desk with yours truly. It's been a full week since the launch of the new iPhone 13 lineup (arguably the greatest iPhone yet), so I hope you have been enjoying your new iPhone if you got one. Or perhaps you have a new iPad mini 6 or base-model iPad? No matter what you ended up with, I hope you're loving your shiny new toy!
Speaking of new products, there is one that was announced with the iPhones, but we have had no release date yet. It seems that is going to change in the very near future though, and that's the Apple Watch Series 7. According to Jon Prosser, it seems that the Apple Watch Series 7 could begin shipping in mid-October, which is just about two weeks away (even though he was completely wrong about a new design for the Series 7). That means preorders could be up as early as next week. If you've been waiting for news on when you can buy the new Apple Watch, then it may well just be around the corner!
I personally am not interested in the new Series 7, but some of my colleagues are excited for it, even coming from the Series 6. But if you're coming from an older Apple Watch, especially the now vintage original 2015 Apple Watch, then I'm sure that the Series 7 is a worthy upgrade. Just for me, even with a Series 5, I'm not seeing any major benefits. But for the love of god, don't buy the Apple Watch Series 3, which is amazingly still being sold — just why, Apple? It's time to put the Series 3 out to pasture.
So I've spent the past week with my iPhone 13 Pro, and I have to say it — I am absolutely in love with it. I may not be entirely in love with the Sierra Blue color compared to Pacific Blue just yet (I find it very hard to photograph), but everything else? Yup! Especially the new camera system.
I even did a write-up on how the iPhone 13 Pro camera compares to the iPhone 12 Pro, and honestly, I'm thoroughly impressed. The larger sensors in all of the cameras on the 13 Pro make low-light photography an absolute breeze. In fact, I barely needed to pull up Night mode at all while in Disney California Adventure, whereas the iPhone 12 Pro was constantly utilizing Night mode. Thanks to the bigger camera sensors and faster shutter speeds, the iPhone 13 Pro is an absolute beast when it comes to low-light photos. I also especially love the new Macro mode because I can finally take some decent macro photos without having to use an external lens accessory, hallelujah!
I tinkered with Photographic Styles for a little bit, but I found them to be more subtle than I'd like and a bit destructive, as you can't remove them once applied, and you can't add them later either. For now, I'm just going to stick with the Standard style and just edit them later. For some people, the styles can work out really well, but at the moment, they're just not my thing. And I plan to make better use of Cinematic mode video once my baby arrives in just a few weeks, but it's amazing that the iPhone is capable in the first place, despite current limitations.
One of the other things I'm enjoying so far on the iPhone 13 Pro is the ProMotion display, which has 12 different refresh rates — that's seven more than the iPad Pro. To be honest, I never really noticed the ProMotion display on my 2020 11-inch iPad Pro, but I feel like it's much more noticeable on the iPhone 13 Pro. That's probably because of the smaller screen size, but I noticed even smoother animations, scrolling, and things are easier to read. It may not be as dramatic as when Apple first introduced a Retina display, but I can tell the difference, and I don't think I can go back. I just hope to see more third-party apps implement support for the ProMotion display.
But even though we've only had the iPhone 13 for a week (and already facing delays in delivery), that isn't stopping the rumors and concepts for future iPhone models. We already had some rumors about the iPhone 14 before the iPhone 13 was even announced, but it seems that Mark Gurman of Bloomberg is the latest to point to a big redesign coming in the iPhone 14. The redesign could eliminate the notch and camera bump entirely, going with a hole-punch front camera and sensor design, as well as a camera system that is flush with the rest of the iPhone back instead of protruding out. I'm not super surprised that next year could bring a redesign, as that's how the iPhone cycle has always been — about two years with the same kind of design before moving on to something else. Either way, I'm excited for what the future holds.
And if you really want to go wild with what Apple could do, make sure to check out the latest iPhone 15 Pro concept that has been making the rounds. I think it's very unlikely that Apple would do something like this, with a secondary display that shares the same space as the camera system, but one can dream, right?
Anyways, that's it for this week. Until next time!
- Christine Romero-Chan
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