The middle of August is upon us, and honestly, I can't wait until summer is over. No, seriously, I've been suffering through the Southern California heat for far too long. I can't wait until the fall, not only for (hopefully) cooler weather, but also for Apple's annual iPhone event, of course!
Since there have been no reports of a possible delay like last year, we can certainly expect the new iPhone 13 sometime within the next few weeks. A recent survey suggests that 44% of current iPhone users plan to upgrade this year, and you can be certain that I'm one of them. According to the survey results, the 6.1-inch model seems to be the most popular version, that is, if Apple keeps the sizes the same, of course. And the biggest reason for upgrading for a lot of people? The rumored improvements to the display, apparently.
For me, it's a little different. I've been upgrading to the new iPhone every year, mostly because of camera improvements, and the iPhone 13 is no exception. The latest report from Bloomberg suggests that the iPhone 13 is getting massive camera and video upgrades, making this a must for me, especially because I have a baby on the way in just a few months. One of the new features is ProRes video recording, which is a higher-quality video recording format that "combines multistream, real-time editing performance, impressive image quality, and reduced storage rates." Honestly, I don't take video much right now, if at all, but I expect this to change drastically once my baby girl arrives in November. So normally, I would simply gloss over video recording upgrades, but I'm eager to try out this new ProRes feature when I get the iPhone 13.
The other camera upgrades include new Portrait video and a new filter system. I can definitely see myself using a Portrait video mode much more with my upcoming baby, for sure. The new filter system is an interesting one, though — I hope that this would be left as an option to enable, rather than forcing everyone to use it because that's not always going to be the case. While I appreciate Apple's computational photography processes, I have sometimes felt that the colors are not what I see in real life, and I want to be in complete control sometimes. I suppose we'll find out in a few weeks.
Finally, as we'd pretty much expect, the iPhone 13 seems likely to receive a bigger battery and even mmWave 5G support. I will definitely welcome more battery life because who wouldn't, honestly? But the mmWave 5G (versus sub-6) is something that I'm not as excited about to be honest. I am hardly in dense areas with mmWave 5G, so I don't think this will affect me much, personally. I don't live close enough to an mmWave 5G tower for this to matter, and I'm sure I'm not alone. And for how I use my iPhone, I don't think Gigabit internet speeds would change much. As we mentioned in the iMore Show this week, mmWave 5G shouldn't be a primary focus of a new iPhone because most people won't even be able to access it. So while it's nice, let's not make it a main focal point, please. I'm sure it's going to be the next best iPhone with or without mmWave 5G.
But we don't expect just a new iPhone next month — oh no, there will be plenty more, at least that's what we feel is going to happen. The possibility of new MacBook Pros is high, especially since the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models seem to have entered mass production, according to a recent report. These would feature Apple's M1X silicon and have some new features, like mini-LED displays, MagSafe connectors, returning legacy ports, and even the removal of the Touch Bar. I'm not 100% sure I would be getting either a 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro, but I know many people will be happy to see both, especially since the last 16-inch MacBook Pro is almost two years old now.
One of the reasons that may prevent me from getting a MacBook Pro is that we will likely see new MacBook Airs next year, possibly in new colors. I would love to have a colorful laptop, in all honesty, and if this is the case, I may hold out for a new MacBook Air. I mean, at this point, since my primary computer is a 2020 27-inch iMac, I really want a secondary computer with M1 for the sole purpose of accessing iOS apps. I mean, the Reddit website sucks — I just want to use Apollo on my Mac.
Anyways, that's going to be it for this week, folks. As the fall event approaches, I'm eager to see what the next few weeks will bring us.
- Christine Romero-Chan
