Apple Unveils 'iPhone 13' Series at 'Special Event'... Domestic Release on October 8
Also Showcases 'Apple Watch 7', '6th Gen iPad Mini', and '9th Gen iPad'
[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] Apple has announced its new smartphone series, the iPhone 13. While there are not many visible changes compared to its predecessor, it is equipped with the ‘A15 Bionic’ chipset, which is praised for overall performance improvements. Apple also unveiled the 'Apple Watch 7', the 6th generation iPad Mini, and the 9th generation iPad. The Apple Watch 7 features a larger screen and faster charging, while the iPad Mini achieves an 80% performance improvement with its new chipset.
On the 14th (local time), Apple held a special event at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, USA, to reveal the iPhone 13 series. Like its predecessor, the iPhone 13 series consists of four models: the iPhone 13 (6.1 inches), iPhone 13 Mini (5.4 inches), iPhone 13 Pro (6.1 inches), and iPhone 13 Pro Max (6.7 inches).
Greg Joswiak, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Marketing, stated, “We made the iPhone 13 more powerful, feature-rich, and enjoyable to use. It boasts a beautiful design, industry-leading performance, an advanced camera system with impressive computational photography features, amazing durability, water resistance, and breakthrough battery life improvements, allowing customers to use their iPhones whenever they need.”
He added, “Especially the Pro lineup offers more professional shooting capabilities, including Cinematic mode, ProRes, and Dolby Vision video. The Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion technology is Apple’s best display ever, intelligently responding to on-screen content and delivering fantastic graphics performance, perfect for all viewing environments.”
Equipped with New 'A15 Bionic' Chipset
The most noticeable upgrade is the application processor (AP), the brain of the smartphone, which now features the 'A15 Bionic' chip. The A15 Bionic uses 5nm (nanometer, one billionth of a meter) technology and contains 15 billion transistors, handling the most demanding tasks such as the latest computational photography features. The new 6-core CPU, with 4 high-performance cores and 4 high-efficiency cores, is up to 50% faster than competing products. Apple claims, “This is the fastest CPU ever in a smartphone, smoothly and efficiently handling heavy tasks.” Additionally, the new 4-core GPU offers up to 30% faster speeds compared to competitors, delivering more realistic visual and lighting effects in high-end graphic games.”
Unlike the iPhone 12, which introduced 5G for the first time and changed its external design after three years, the iPhone 13 does not have significant exterior changes. However, the size of the camera notch at the top of the display has been reduced by 20% compared to its predecessor. The display features an OLED-based Super Retina XDR display with 800 nits brightness, and the peak brightness for HDR content such as photos and videos has increased to 1200 nits while improving power efficiency.
The premium Pro models feature the advanced 'ProMotion' Super Retina XDR display. ProMotion is a variable refresh rate technology that adjusts the screen’s frame rate from 10Hz to 120Hz as needed. When users scroll quickly or play animations and games, the frame rate increases for smooth transitions, and when not needed, it lowers the frame rate to save battery.
Brighter and Clearer Camera... Cinematic Videos Included
The camera capabilities have also been enhanced. The wide camera sensor on the iPhone 13 Mini and iPhone 13, which have two camera lenses, captures 47% more light than the previous generation, reducing noise and producing brighter images. Additionally, the 'Sensor-shift Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)', previously exclusive to the iPhone 12 Pro Max, is now applied starting from the iPhone 13 Mini, stabilizing shots by correcting shakes.
The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max come with three lenses. They feature the largest sensor ever on an iPhone, which reduces noise and increases shutter speed depending on lighting conditions, allowing richly detailed photos. The ?/1.5 aperture improves low-light shooting by 1.5 times compared to the previous model. A new ultra-wide lens enables macro photography with a minimum focus distance of 2 cm, allowing close-up shots that magnify objects larger than they appear. Macro photography typically requires special lenses.
For video recording, a new 'Cinematic mode' has been introduced. This filming technique, often used in movies and dramas, focuses on a specific person or object within a frame while blurring other people, objects, or the background to emphasize the subject. This allows shifting focus from one person to another or to objects within the same frame, guiding the viewer’s attention along the focus changes. Apple explains that with Cinematic mode using rack focus techniques, users can automatically change focus to create beautiful depth effects. Even non-professional video creators can produce cinematic-style videos.
iPhone 13 Pricing and Release Schedule
In South Korea, the retail prices start at ▲iPhone 13 Mini 950,000 KRW ▲iPhone 13 1,090,000 KRW ▲iPhone 13 Pro 1,350,000 KRW ▲iPhone 13 Pro Max 1,490,000 KRW. Pre-orders begin on the 17th in over 30 countries including the US, China, Japan, Australia, Canada, the UK, and Germany, with in-store sales starting on the 24th. In South Korea, the devices will be available from the 8th of next month.
The iPhone 13 and Mini come in five colors: Pink, Blue, Midnight, Starlight, and Product Red. The Pro and Pro Max models are available in Graphite, Gold, Silver, and Sierra Blue. Storage options for the Mini and iPhone 13 are 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB, while the Pro and Pro Max offer 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
Apple Watch 7 Unveiled with Larger Screen and Faster Charging... Starting at $399
Apple also unveiled the new smartwatch, the Apple Watch 7. The bezel has been reduced, increasing the display size by 20% compared to its predecessor, and charging speed has improved.
The Watch 7 is available in 41mm and 45mm sizes. The bezel around the display has been reduced to 1.7mm, making the screen 20% larger than the previous model. Compared to the Apple Watch 6, it can display up to 50% more text. It also features an Always-On Retina display, allowing users to easily view the watch face at up to 70% brightness without raising their wrist or tapping the screen.
Apple emphasized that the Watch 7 boasts the most durable design ever, thanks to a newly designed front crystal. It is over 50% thicker than the Watch 6, effectively preventing cracks from external impacts while maintaining visual clarity. The Watch 7 series also has IP6X dust resistance certification and WR50 water resistance rating. Battery life remains up to 18 hours, the same as its predecessor, but charging speed is 33% faster.
The Apple Watch 7 series comes in five colors: Midnight, Starlight, Green, Blue, and Red. Apple also introduced watch bands compatible with all Watch models. Prices start at $399 (approximately 470,000 KRW), with a release planned for this fall.
iPad Mini with 80% Performance Improvement
Apple also introduced the 6th generation iPad Mini (8.3 inches) and the 9th generation iPad (10.2 inches). The new iPad Mini is available in Pink, Starlight, Purple, and Space Gray. It features a larger 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display while maintaining a compact size with thinner bezels. It offers 500 nits brightness, wide color gamut support, anti-reflective coating, and front lamination, enabling clear image and video display.
The iPad Mini is powered by the A15 Bionic chip, delivering an 80% performance improvement over the previous generation. Advanced machine learning features, including a 16-core Neural Engine, are twice as fast as before. Real-time text translation is now available in seven languages.
Regarding the front design, the Touch ID, previously located on the bottom bezel, has been moved to the top button. It supports the 2nd generation Apple Pencil, which magnetically attaches to the iPad Mini for wireless charging and pairing.
The new iPad Mini comes in 64GB and 256GB configurations. Pre-orders are available from today in 28 countries and regions including the US, with a release date set for the 24th. The release date in South Korea has not yet been announced.
The 9th generation iPad is equipped with the A13 Bionic chip, offering about a 20% performance improvement over its predecessor. Apple claims it is up to three times faster than the world’s best-selling Chromebook and up to six times faster than the best-selling Android tablet.
Design-wise, it remains largely unchanged from the previous model, measuring 174.1mm wide, 250.6mm tall, and weighing 490g for the Wi-Fi version and 495g for the cellular version. It features a 10.2-inch Retina display, a 12MP ultra-wide front camera with Center Stage technology, and supports the 1st generation Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard. Prices start at 449,000 KRW, with a global release on the 24th in the US and other countries. The release schedule for South Korea has not been disclosed.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
