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00:00Oh sorry, don't mind me, I'm just playing a bit of Genshin Impact at higher settings
00:10with 120Hz.
00:11It came with the latest 2.2 update for the game, it's tasty.
00:19How has it already been over a month since these iPhone 13s came out?
00:22It feels like just yesterday I was doing my review, but here we are, several weeks later,
00:27and I'm still using it as my everyday phone, and maybe some of you guys are actually watching
00:31this on your shiny new iPhone.
00:33So are we happy with it?
00:35Has it lived up to the hype now that we've got past that launch window where people get
00:38very excited about a new Apple launch?
00:41Well yeah, I love this thing, and I can tell you that even though I was very close to switching
00:45to the Google Pixel 6 Pro, which I love by the way, although to be fair this is a good
00:50deal cheaper and kind of goes up against the iPhone 13 and the Pro, as opposed to the Pro
00:54Max, if you can afford it, I still reckon, even after the hype, this is the best phone
00:59in the world right now.
01:01One of the biggest reasons I love this is because the battery is absolutely phenomenal,
01:05and it is actually one of the main reasons I didn't switch over to the Pixel.
01:09There's been a couple of times recently when I've been travelling and staying overnight
01:12somewhere, I've genuinely not even bothered to pack a charger, as I know I'll have a
01:16good 35 or 40% left the next morning.
01:19I have also fully switched over to MagSafe charging just because I can't be doing with
01:23lightning, although in Apple's quest to make me have to carry as many cables as possible,
01:28now that I'm also using the MacBook Pro 16 and I also have an iPad, that's MagSafe 3
01:33as well as USB-C and also on the iPad, and lightning on here, and also MagSafe but a
01:39different kind of MagSafe, and if I had an Apple Watch that would also be another charger.
01:43Bit of a faff, please just give me a USB-C port on the bottom of the iPhone, it's all
01:47I ask, but you know, it's not the end of the world.
01:50But I tell you what, one of the things I have got used to, which I didn't know if I would
01:54is the size of the Pro Max.
01:56In my initial unboxing and even my review a couple of weeks later, I was sort of thinking
02:00I might switch to the 13 Pro because this is just a bit too big.
02:04Surprisingly, I've actually got used to it now and what made a difference was putting
02:08a good case on it so it doesn't feel quite as precarious and slippery in your hands so
02:13you can do your finger gymnastics all the way up to the top to swipe down for notifications
02:17or your quick shortcuts.
02:18And even though I still wish there was a halfway house between the 13 Pro and the Pro
02:22Max, I'm definitely used to this now.
02:25I reckon the 13 Pro would feel a bit small.
02:29But I still do reckon if my friends or framly, framly?
02:33Friends or family asked me what iPhone should they buy, I would probably say the 13 Pro.
02:38It's £100 cheaper and for most people it's going to be a lot more comfortable to hold
02:42unless you're happy to give yourself a month to get used to it.
02:45But either way, this screen and also the speakers are just top notch.
02:50Figuratively and, well, literally.
02:52The notch is still definitely there.
02:54It really didn't make that much difference at all but it's a bit thinner because it still
02:57protrudes into the screen just as much.
02:5990% of the time I forget about it until maybe I zoom in on a full screen YouTube video and
03:04it cuts off a bit or I'm playing a game but I still maintain it's a relatively minor inconvenience
03:10for having this absolutely fantastic TrueDepth Face ID.
03:14And that OLED Retina screen, along with the new ProMotion high refresh rate, movies, games,
03:19just, you know, scrolling through the UI, it all looks and sounds incredible.
03:23However, there are still definitely a few features I miss about Android on here.
03:30The big one for me, and maybe it's the same for you, is the lack of a universal swipe
03:35in to go back button.
03:36Why can't I swipe in from the right hand side when I'm using the phone right handed to go
03:40back and then eventually home?
03:42It's just kind of basic and I really wish I had it.
03:44I also still find that as powerful as this is and as fast with that ProMotion 120Hz,
03:49my S21 Ultra or Pixel 6 Pro still feel nippier and more responsive.
03:55It's a really minor thing but I wish there was an option just to maybe double the speed
03:58of the animation so it was all a bit quicker.
04:01I also wouldn't mind some iPad style split screen action on this as well.
04:05I mean we've got the big 6.7 inch screen on the Pro Max, every Android phone can do it,
04:09the iPads can do it.
04:11I know it's not for everyone but a split screen option with my Google Maps and WhatsApp or
04:15my calendar and Gmail would be so useful on this.
04:18Clearly I'm using an iPhone but I still use all the Google services.
04:21I'm forever in this tech purgatory.
04:24I can also officially say in this video right now, a month after my initial review or at
04:28least when it launched, that I have not once used cinematic mode or the photography styles.
04:35There's nothing particularly wrong with them, although a 24fps or a 4K option for cinematic
04:40mode would be nice.
04:41But as cool and genuinely quite impressive as these features are, for me and probably
04:45most people, I just want the highest quality videos and for photos I just want the iPhone
04:50to do what it thinks is best.
04:51Its processing is a lot smarter than I am.
04:54But I have found, since they added support for it after launch, I've been shooting a
04:58lot of video in ProRes.
05:00Because despite the much bigger file sizes, generally I'm only shooting 30 seconds or
05:05a minute of video at a time and then either editing on the phone or with a quick airdrop
05:09to my MacBook and then I play with it in Final Cut or Premiere Pro, the extra detail you
05:14can pull out of shots, the reduced noise and together with that unbelievable stabilisation
05:19you get with iPhone video, I can tell you that on more than one occasion I've left
05:23my Sony A7S III on the table and just shot with the iPhone.
05:27There simply isn't a better phone for video.
05:30In fact, I shot this entire little sponsored bit for this new Narwhal T10 robot vacuum
05:35and mop 2-in-1 on the iPhone 13 Pro Max in 4K ProRes, handheld and no editors.
05:42So the T10 isn't your ordinary robot cleaner, it's one of Time Magazine's best inventions
05:47of 2020, it raised over a million dollars on Kickstarter and now it's here.
05:53So once unboxed, plug it into the base station and then place it where you like, mine's in
05:57the kitchen, then turn the robot on and connect it via the Narwhal app on iOS and Android.
06:03Then you can either slot in the vacuum attachment or the mops, which I'll take for a spin in
06:07a second, it'll return home to charge and then when you're ready, send it out to map
06:11out your space so it can plan its route.
06:14And away we go!
06:22But the best bit is if you switch over to the mop attachments, and you get two extra
06:26in the box as well, then in the base station, take out and fill up the clean water container,
06:32it'll then do its magic, you can send it out on a mopping run or schedule one via the
06:36app and it'll clean your floors.
06:39Plus every few minutes it'll pop back to the base station to wash the mops before carrying
06:42on again.
06:43It's really clever and very satisfying to see how dirty the water is afterwards.
06:49If you fancy a 2-in-1 mop and vacuum robot, then check out the Narwhal T10 and I'll leave
06:54a link in the description below.
06:55The robot is in the base station.
06:57Okay back to the iPhone and on the photography side of things, it's a little bit more complicated
07:02I have been working on a Pixel 6 Pro vs iPhone camera comparison for a while, but it keeps
07:07getting pushed back as there's about a million other videos I want to make right now, and
07:10I really do like the Pixel's camera and it does kind of highlight how artificial the
07:15iPhone's photos can be sometimes, with orange-y skin tones and unnaturally raised shadows and
07:21saturated colours.
07:22It's all very pleasing and lovely to post on Instagram.
07:25It's hard to get a bad shot out of this, but it's not always the most realistic.
07:30You do of course have these nifty photography modes if you're happy to tinker a little bit,
07:35although as I say, I just quite like the iPhone to determine white balance and do all that
07:39processing.
07:40Maybe in Lightroom later I'll think all that could have done with a photography style applied,
07:43but oh well.
07:45I also kind of wish the ultra-wide camera wasn't as wide.
07:50Photos are often just a bit too fish-eyed and can be a bit unnatural looking.
07:53It's not the end of the world, but a slightly narrower field of view would be my preference.
07:58So even if it's not flawless, overall I do think this is the best camera system on a
08:03phone, although we'll see what Samsung's S22 can do in just a couple of months.
08:08One of the biggest upgrades with the 13 Pro and Pro Max is this 120Hz ProMotion screen.
08:13It's dynamic so it can adjust between 10 and 120Hz, which is great for battery, but it
08:18does to a tech enthusiast like me make a big difference to how fast everything feels, even
08:23if we do still have these fairly long animations.
08:26But I'm not convinced that the average person going into an Apple store would really notice
08:30or care.
08:31You probably would because you're watching a tech YouTube channel, but if your mum went
08:35and bought one, I'm not sure she'd care that much about ProMotion.
08:37I mean the same argument can be said of course about Android phones, but my point is it probably
08:41isn't really a reason to upgrade for most people, unless you're a bit of a techie enthusiast.
08:46And also when it comes to games, there still are only a handful that have been updated
08:50to support it.
08:52Although just like the iPad, this will get better over time and actually one of the most
08:55recent highlights has to be Genshin Impact.
08:58You can absolutely max out the settings because we've got that A15 chip and this is one of
09:02the few areas that you can really appreciate the power you have in here.
09:05And then combined with this new 120fps support, it is just simply glorious and I cannot wait
09:11for more games to get that ProMotion support.
09:17So even though this is definitely more of a 12s upgrade than a proper 13 in my book,
09:22I'm still having a great time with it.
09:23I still haven't been convinced to switch to the Pixel and as much as I do miss some
09:27elements of my S21 Ultra, a month later this is still my main phone with my personal SIM.
09:32But I'm not convinced it's really worth the upgrade, especially from the 12 Pro Max, but
09:36even the 11 Pro Max, most people here in the UK are on two year phone cycles, although
09:41three years is getting more common because phones are getting more expensive.
09:45Yes we've got 5G, smoother screen, slightly better cameras and well a few bits and pieces
09:50that are new but nothing fundamentally different that when you're actually using them like
09:54this makes you think, oh I should go and spend over £1,000 on the new one.
09:59But what do you reckon?
10:00Are you tempted to upgrade to the 13 series or have you already got one?
10:03Let me know what you make of this in the comments below.
10:05Thank you so much for watching guys and I'll see you next time right here on The Tech Chat.