Should you get the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max?

You all loved Pete’s post on SpaceX Starship and he loves to review the latest Apple iPhone release. Since he already has his (yes, I am still waiting on mine), I’m letting him guest post again today. It gives us all a little break from the usual Fashion, Beauty, Lifestyle and Travel content you see on here. No worries, we’ll be back to regular scheduled programming tomorrow. Until then, let’s find out if we should get the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max.

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I usually get a new Apple iPhone each year in part because I’m a techie and in part because I use it to photograph some of Tanya’s blog pics. So I was eager to listen to Tim Cook announce the new iPhone 13 a couple of weeks ago. I’m always looking for new features, but I’m most interested in the new camera(s) each year. Thankfully, Cook announced that the iPhone 13 camera systems are really improved this year across the entire lineup of iPhones. I decided to order one as soon as I could.

So on September 17th, I was on the Internet at High Noon ordering my iPhone 13 Pro Max for delivery at the earliest date possible. The phone arrived Friday the 24th of September and I have been using it a lot since then. To protect my investment, I always order a case and Apple Care with my iPhones and I recommend you do too. 

There are a range of new features on the iPhone 13 line including the greatly improved camera, longer battery life, better sound from the internal speakers, great water resistance, better scratch resistance, a brighter, faster display and much more.  I’ll focus on the Pro Max model since that’s the one I always buy, but most of the features are improvements available across the whole line. There are four 13 models, two Pro models, the Pro Max and the Pro, and the two standard 13 models the 13 and the mini. The Pro models have 3 cameras each and the standard 13s have two. No matter which model you choose, the camera systems (camera, lenses, and the new A15 Chip plus software) are significantly improved over last year.

The 3 cameras on the Pro models are the ultrawide camera, the main camera and the telephoto one. The telephoto has a 20% more powerful optical zoom than last year. It has a 3X optical zoom (vs. 2.5X) with an f2.8 aperture. The digital zoom is better too, 15X vs. 12X last year. All 3 cameras have optical image stabilization. The main and ultrawide cameras both have wider apertures than last year to take better low light pictures.  A big new feature for me is the Macro feature.  The camera takes great extreme close ups – like 1″ away from the subject with macro.  

Video is better, too, some say a lot, but I don’t use this much.  It takes up to 4K video now at 60 fps (frames per second) but again, I don’t need this.  Then there’s the much hyped Cinematic mode…I’m not even going to begin to explain this…but it’s very cool for professional movie makers or kids posting to TikToc. If you’re into video in a big way it’s a big deal. There’s a new photo/video processing chip this year too – the A-15 Bionic.  More processors on board, more computer power, more cache memory, less power consumption resulting in better pictures with more features. I have to tell you I am impressed with the new iPhone 13s’ pictures.

Other improvements include up to an available 1 TB of phone storage although 512 GB is plenty for me and I’m a heavy user. The 1TB is a pretty expensive upgrade so I easily did without this. You can find out how much storage you’re using now… just ask Siri and he/she/it will show you how to find out.  Siri is all on board the phone now, so it works faster and works even when you don’t have an Internet connection. One unsung improvement is that the speakers are louder, so if you want to listen to music or go handsfree without headphones or earbuds, it’s much better than the iPhone 12. Finally, it has a 20% smaller notch, a brighter display, up to a 120 Hz refresh rate for the display, more scratch resistance and, probably most important of all…the battery life is really longer! Apple claims two hours longer vs last year on the 13 Pro Max.  This is really important for bloggers like Tanya since she is constantly doing social media and other work on her phone. She can hardly make it thru the day on her 12 Pro Max. I just tested the battery life on mine and it has gone three days plus without charging, so I’m sold. Oh, and of course there is 5G connectivity for whenever the cellular guys get their systems fully functional,

In conclusion, my recommendation: If you take a lot of pictures (or are a professional videographer, TicTok user, create IG Reels) or if you use your phone all day, the new phone is absolutely for you. I’m really enjoying mine. Same prices as last year, too, but Apple is very proud of the 1 TB model. The carriers and Apple all offer trade-in and trade-up programs as well as financing if you’re interested.

Happy smart phoning! Leave any questions below and I’ll be happy to answer them. – Pete

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