[Hardware] iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max Review: Your New Video Production Workhorse?

[[M]anuel]

Can lots of little touches add up to account for sky-high prices?

 

 

It's late in the year 2021 and Apple has only just decided that iPhone users should be able to have a high-refresh-rate screen and take macro photos – that too only if you buy one of the new iPhone 13 Pro models. If you glance through their spec sheets, these are the two key hardware specifications that set this year's iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max apart from their predecessors, and neither one of them is pathbreaking. In fact, both these features have been common on sub-Rs. 20,000 Android phones for quite a while now.

 

So what is it exactly that justifies spending well over Rs. 1,00,000 on either of these two new iPhones?

 

The answer to that is a bit abstract, and potentially frustrating – you pay for the overall experience that only Apple has so far managed to achieve. These aren't necessarily things that get listed on spec sheets; they're capabilities that arise from tight integration between the hardware, software, services, design, and manufacturing process.

 

The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max in particular also have the best cameras of their generation, and some capabilities that will make amateur as well as pro filmmakers and photographers take notice.

 

In fact, the new Pro iPhones are being positioned as all-in-one moviemaking tools. While this might create a whole new market, it also shows how little there is left to improve in terms of top-tier smartphone features and performance. If you're an iPhone user with no budget constraints and want the best of the best, you'll be buying one of Apple's latest Pro iPhones regardless of any other consideration. On the other hand if you aren't sure whether to upgrade, or whether it's worth choosing the iPhone 13 Pro over the iPhone 13, this review is for you.