Here’s the deal. I WANT people to like the gadgets they buy. I think it’s the saddest feeling in the world to put time and money towards a gadget which later turns out to be a poor fit for your needs. That’s why I think it’s so critical that reviewers get the details right, and why we need more nuance in tech conversations.
That said, we still need to balance our commentary and reviewing against the largest corporations, with the biggest marketing budgets, making the boldest claims.
My criticisms of a TRILLION dollar corporation have little to do with the people who enjoy that company’s products. If I criticize Apple, I’m criticizing APPLE. My frustrations with Apple run high because Apple business moves effect Apple consumers.
YOU are not Apple (unless somehow Tim Cook found his way to reading this, then Hello Mr. Cook!)
Now, that said, it is nice Apple finally figured out that we want larger batteries in our phones.
The iPhone 13 is making its way to consumers. We’re seeing the first days of glowing and product unboxing. I’m still not going to review one.
One of the loudest consistent approvals is the “incredible battery life” on these new phones.
Apple did it again! They Nailed 120Hz! Their first try, and there’s NO consequence to battery life! In fact, battery run time is BETTER than the iPhone 12! Apple is magic!
Except that’s not completely true is it?
(The battery numbers are true. That’s not what I’m cranky about.)
It’s the idea that Apple has managed some feat of magical optimization to arrive at better battery performance. That. That idea is absolutely not true.
If I push to the most pedantic interpretation that I can, we still haven’t fully seen what battery life will resemble once more popular Apple apps are updated to use that 120Hz display. At present, not a lot of apps are taking advantage of that extra refresh rate.
This is a stark difference from the iPad using ProMotion displays. It seems iOS developers need to update their apps to use this feature. The jury is still out on what the FULL impact of this hardware upgrade will resemble.
Honestly though, I would still expect the iPhone to outperform similarly equipped Android devices comparing different battery capacities. We SHOULD expect that given the tightly controlled vertical of hardware and software Apple has created for the iPhone. This shouldn’t really be news.
Still, there’s an irritating itch I can’t quite scratch when it comes to praising Apple for this “optimization”.
Apple didn’t find any magic software optimization.
There’s no software wizardry here. We’re not seeing any magical improvement to older phones moving from iOS14 to newer software.
Apple didn’t find any special hardware optimization. The A15 looks like a modest change from the A14 it replaces.
So what’s the deal? How did Apple “magic” their way out of this power conundrum?
They put in a bigger battery.
I just can’t see how that’s “praise-worthy”.
For years, consumers have wanted better run time, and we’ve been sold this idea of optimization. We’ve suffered CPU throttling as phones age because of these inadequate cells.
At the end of the day, all it took to significantly improve daily run time was to put in a bigger battery. Apple COULD have done this at any time. They have chosen not to, until now.
The iPhone 13 doesn’t exist in a bubble.
My ire has less to do with Android vs iOS here, but new iPhones vs older iPhones.
The “glass is half full” commentary for the iPhone 13 is incomplete. To say:
“Apple nailed 120Hz on their first try! See! Apple WAITS to put out new features until they can do it right!”
Means we also have to ignore the “glass is half empty” truth of the iPhone 12.
Apple didn’t wait on 5G to make sure those phone owners got an improved battery experience over the iPhone 11. Battery life was largely a downgrade for THOSE consumers, unless they turned off 5G.
For all the posturing and big claims from the iPhone 12 launch, the hilarious number of times they mentioned 5G in that keynote, Apple didn’t have 5G right yet for power management. Now with the iPhone 13 shipping, we can see they were never going to be able to “optimize” their way out of that problem.
The iPhone 13 finally gets it right. Apple just had to treat previous iPhone customers as guinea pigs to get here.
Still, battery life is one of the most important features to average users, so who can blame a company, any company, for bragging about improving it? You could write the same article about refresh rates for many phones. People seem to want it, so companies brag about it! AMAZING! Not…Personally, I am more upset when companies tout amorphous stuff like “Made for you,” which is obviously a lie.
Iphone denier
As usual, you pointed out some basic issues that I had not thought of. And, of course, you’re absolutely right. I had the 11 Pro and still own the 12 Pro, which will do just fine for me for the foreseeable future. Great article, Juan.
For sure bud. Felt it was worth chatting out a small double standard.
I saw John from the verge post a score of a 9 for the iPhone 13 pro, great camera, battery life, and screen are the pros. The EXACT same thing was said about the s21 ultra but only got a 8.5, such a double standard, I don’t know anywhere else where you get a pat on the back for something you should’ve done a while back.
I see you’ve been viewing Renee Richie’s most
recentl tirade on Apple’s genius for its iPhone iteneration.
Honestly haven’t seen it yet. This is mostly coming from Twitter interactions.