Welcome to the second day of our iPhone 13 Pro Max Diary. As we pointed out in our first entry, although the iPhone 13 Pro Max does come with improved hardware (better processors and battery and so on), the main point of interest in the biggest iPhone of them all is in the camera department. Apple claims that the cameras have been improved very significantly over its predecessor with larger Sensors and special modes and so on.
However, let me be honest – the difference in image quality between shots taken by the iPhone 12 Pro Max and the iPhone 13 Pro Max is NOT going to be immediately obvious. You might sense a little more clarity and perhaps a little more detail if you zoom in (you get a 3X telephoto with the Max series, which is the third camera, unlike the two on the 13 and 13 mini)- but if you were expecting a radical rehaul of image quality, we are going to be direct: be ready to be a little disappointed. The cameras on the 13 Pro Max on first glance are not just similar in specs to the ones on the 12 Pro Max but seemingly so even in performance. At least on first glance.
But then, image quality was not really an issue with the iPhone 12 Pro Max, was it? You still get perhaps the most realistic images. And well, the cameras still work incredibly fast and smoothly. What’s more, just as in the 13 and 13 mini, you now have the choice to change the basic tone of you shots – choose from standard, rich contrast, vibrant, warm and cool, all without affecting the skin tone of the human subjects. Of course, we stuck to “regular” as that delivers the typically realistic colours and detail that make photography on the iPhone special.
Some changes will hit you at a closer look. One of the most notable is the fact that Night mode is no longer as aggressive as it used to be in the past – though I suspect that is an iOS 15 thing more than an iPhone thing. And the bokeh seems a little deeper in portrait mode, but as I said earlier if you are thinking of dramatic, radical, change, I am sorry you will not notice it. The iPhone 13 Pro Max’s cameras are very very good but if you are just pointing and shooting whether it is images or video, you will not really notice too much difference. Make no mistake these are great cameras and as good as any out there. But the real magic is not in the image or video quality.
No, the magic is in the new modes and some tweaks in the UI. And the magic IS very much there. To find out more stay tuned for our next entry in our iPhone 13 Pro Max Diary where we will look at the macro mode and the cinematic mode – two new additions to the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s arsenal!