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Apple iPhone 13 Review: Familiar Design and Stunning Technological Achievement
Apple keeps resetting the bar on performance and camera capabilities
No one expected something vastly different than what we got last year and yet there was an almost imperceptible, collective sigh of disappointment that the Apple iPhone 13 lineup didn’t feature more extensive changes.
This being a tock year in the tick-tock design cadence, though, we should not have anticipated anything otherwise. A welcome return in 2020 to the sharp-edged, almost classic iPhone 5s-design language was not something Apple would walk back after just 12 months. In fact, it set the stage for at least the next one or two generations of Apple iPhones.
What we got and what I’ve been holding in my hands for the last week is no less attractive or pleasing because of its lack of difference. Taken on its own, Apple’s craftsmanship is a thing to behold. Each material, whether it’s aluminum or steel, glass or ceramic, sapphire or copper, meets neatly with the other. The seams are tight as to be almost invisible. The surfaces gleam and the chassis feel rigid and substantial, without being heavy.
Smartphone design writ large may be slowly folding in on itself until one manufacturer’s handsets are indistinguishable from another, but I’d say Apple’s elegance still stands alone.
Design
The lineup features the four phones introduced last year — even the mini that some assumed wouldn’t make the cut. And, as noted, Apple didn’t change much about the 6.1-inch iPhone 13, 5.4-inch 13 mini, 6.1-inch 13 Pro or 6.7-inch 13 Pro Max’s look and feel.
There’s the brushed glass back covering the exquisite new and updated colors (Graphite, Gold, Silver, and Sierra Blue) of the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max. They still feature the surgical stainless-steel band around the bodies (lovely to look at and total fingerprint magnets). The iPhone 13 and 13 mini feature aluminum bands and shiny glass backs. I am in love with new Midnight Blue color. It’s wet-paint rich.
