Member-only story

Apple iPhone 13 Review: Familiar Design and Stunning Technological Achievement

Apple keeps resetting the bar on performance and camera capabilities

Lance Ulanoff
Debugger
13 min readSep 21, 2021

--

Are these the iPhones you’ve been looking for? (Credit: Lance Ulanoff)

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.

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max and Pro (left) and iPhone 13 and 13 mini (right) (Credit: Lance Ulanoff)

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…

--

--

Debugger
Debugger

Published in Debugger

Debugger is a former publication from Medium about consumer technology and gadgets. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Lance Ulanoff
Lance Ulanoff

Written by Lance Ulanoff

Tech expert, journalist, social media commentator, amateur cartoonist and robotics fan.

Responses (2)