The standard iPhone 13 outperformed the iPhone 12 Pro in DXOMark camera test

Apple made major improvements to the camera last year with the iPhone 12 Pro models. With the iPhone 13 series, Apple introduced some changes. The new primary module uses the same size sensor as last year’s top-of-the-line iPhone 12 Pro Max and there is now Dual-Pixel autofocus instead of PDAF. Light is channeled through an f/1.6-aperture lens and a sensor-shift stabilization system is keeping things steady. The primary module is accompanied by an ultra-wide camera that features the same tech specs as on the iPhone 12 generation.

It was revealed last month that the iPhone 13 Pro’s camera performed better than the iPhone 12 Pro models. While this is generally the case with every new iPhone model, it’s interesting that the standard iPhone 13 model outperformed last year’s iPhone 12 Pro in the DXOMark score.

iPhone 13 camera performance

According to DXOMark results, the iPhone 13 achieved a ”photo score of 138 ″, one point better than the iPhone 12 Pro and a” video score of 117 ″. Zoom’s score is also better to reach 55 points. As mentioned earlier, Apple incorporated the sensor-shift stabilization system on the iPhone 13 series which was only present in the iPhone 12 Pro Max year. last. This could potentially be the reason why Apple’s latest flagship outperformed last year’s Pro model.

Another surprising aspect of the test is that the iPhone 13 mini houses the same camera sensors and technology as the iPhone 13. This means that regardless of the model, the camera’s performance would surpass that of the iPhone 12 Pro’s. Last year. To be precise, DXOMark states that the iPhone 13’s camera performs has improved color and white balance, pleasing skin tones in brighter conditions. The camera is fast, precise with repeated autofocus. The same goes for videos.

However, some aspects also need to be improved. For example, the lack of a telephoto lens limits detail when using the mid to long-range zoom. In addition, DXOMark also points out that videos from the iPhone 13 exhibit low light noise with a difficult dynamic range in high contrast scenes. Nevertheless, the iPhone 13 and the iPhone 13 mini are in the tenth position in the global ranking of smartphones. The iPhone 12 Pro Max also sits in the same position.

Apple iPhone 13 Camera DxOMark review

Pros

• Accurate and repeatable target exposure
• Generally nice colors and white balance, pleasant skin tones in most light conditions, even in complex backlit scenes
• Fast, accurate and repeatable autofocus
• Good detail in daylight and under indoor lighting
• Accurate and stable exposure, wide dynamic range in video
• Good texture/noise trade-off in video
• Accurate white balance in video, smooth transition on scene changes
• Mostly accurate and smooth video autofocus

Cons

• Luminance noise on primary and ultra-wide cameras, especially in low light
• Limited dynamic range in challenging high contrast scenes
• Image artifacts, including flare, slight ringing and  color quantization
• Limited detail when using medium to long-range zoom
• Noise in video, especially in low light
• Lens flare and ghosting in video, especially in low light
• Some loss of texture in video, especially on faces in daylight and indoor conditions
• Sharpness differences between video frames, strong residual motion in videos recorded while running