Apple iPhone 13 Vs. iPhone 13 Pro: Differences You Should Know

Back in September, Apple had announced four different variations of the iPhone 13. This is a guide on the iPhone 13 vs. the iPhone 13 Pro to help you decide which one to buy.

Display

The displays on both devices are Super Retina XDR OLED. And both of them have a display size of 6.1-inches.

However, the iPhone 13 Pro has ProMotion, whereas the iPhone 13 does not. ProMotion means that the iPhone 13 Pro displays are capable of dynamically switching between faster refresh rates up to 120Hz and slower refresh rates down to 24Hz or 10Hz.

The resolution for both devices is the same at 2532 x 1170-pixel resolution at 460 ppi. Both devices have a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical), True Tone display, a wide color display (P3), Haptic Touch, and 1200 nits max brightness (HDR). But the iPhone 13 Pro has 1000 nits max brightness (typical) compared to the iPhone 13’s 800 nits max brightness (typical).

Colors

The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro come in different color options.

iPhone 13 Pro: Alpine Green, Sierra Blue, Silver, Gold, and Graphite

iPhone 13: Green, Pink, Blue, Midnight, Starlight, and (PRODUCT) Red

Connectivity

The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro both have Superfast 5G cellular. Both devices also support Gigabit LTE; Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with MIMO; Bluetooth 5.0; Ultra Wideband chip for spatial awareness; VoLTE; NFC with reader mode; and Wi-Fi calling.

Cameras

One of the biggest differences between the two devices is the cameras. Specifically, the iPhone 13 Pro has a more sophisticated camera system.

iPhone 13:

Rear: Dual 12-megapixel camera system with a Wide camera (ƒ/1.6 aperture) and an Ultra Wide camera (ƒ/2.4 aperture). And the iPhone 13 has 2x optical zoom out and digital zoom up to 5x

iPhone 13 Pro:

Rear: 12-megapixel Telephoto (ƒ/2.8 aperture), Wide (ƒ/1.5 aperture), and Ultra Wide (ƒ/1.8 aperture) cameras. The iPhone 13 Pro camera supports Apple ProRaw. And the iPhone 13 Pro has these zooming features: 3x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; 6x optical zoom range; Digital zoom up to 15x

Plus the iPhone 13 Pro camera has a LiDAR Scanner for Night mode portraits, faster autofocus in low light, and advanced AR experiences. And the iPhone 13 Pro camera is able to take Night mode portraits and macro photography.

Front: 12-megapixel camera; ƒ/2.2 aperture; Retina Flash, Smart HDR 4, Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control; Cinematic mode for recording videos with shallow depth of field (1080p at 30 fps). And the front camera on the iPhone 13 Pro supports ProRes video recording up to 4K at 30 fps (1080p at 30 fps for 128GB capacity)

The cameras on both devices support Cinematic mode in 1080p at 30 fps and Dolby Vision HDR video recording up to 4K at 60 fps. And both cameras support 4K video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps. The iPhone 13 Pro can specifically also do ProRes video recording up to 4K at 30 fps (1080p at 30 fps for 128GB capacity).

Performance

In terms of performance, both the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro have the A15 Bionic chip. And both devices have a new 6-core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores. Plus both devices have a new 16-core Neural Engine. But the iPhone 13 Pro has a slight edge in graphics as it has a 5-core GPU compared to the iPhone 13 having a 4-core GPU.

Storage

The iPhone 13 Pro has more storage options than the iPhone 13. Specifically, the iPhone 13 Pro has 128GB / 256GB / 512GB / 1TB options. The iPhone 13 has the same storage options but without the 1TB option.

Battery

The iPhone 13 Pro has a better battery life as it supports up to 22 hours of video playback. The iPhone 13 has up to 19 hours of video playback.

Both of the devices are compatible with MagSafe accessories and wireless chargers.

Design/Materials

The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 both feature a Ceramic shield front. But there is a difference in the materials.

The iPhone 13 Pro was built with surgical-grade stainless steel whereas the iPhone 13 was built with aerospace-grade aluminum.

IP Rating

The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro are both water-resistant to a depth of 6 meters for up to 30 minutes. This means that they have an IP68 rating.

SIM Cards

Both devices have Dual SIM (nano-SIM and eSIM) and Dual eSIM support. And both devices are not compatible with existing micro-SIM cards.

Size/Weight

Both devices have the same size measurements: Height 146.7 mm (5.78 inches); Width: 71.5 mm (2.82 inches); Depth: 7.65 mm (0.30 inch). The iPhone 13 Pro is slightly heavier at 203 grams (7.16 ounces) compared to the iPhone 13 at 173 grams (6.10 ounces).