Apple event 2021: From iPhone 13 to iPad mini, here’s everything that was announced

Apple CEO Tim Cook took to stage Tuesday at the company’s much-anticipated “California streaming” product launch event to announce four new models in the iPhone 13 lineup as well as other products. A new entry-level iPad, as well as the all-new iPad mini, were also announced. The tech giant from Cupertino also spent some time showing off the new Apple Watch Series 7, its most powerful wearable yet, but one that is not going to be available right away.

Four new iPhone 13 models

The iPhone 13 is the official name of Apple’s next iPhone. It looks like last year’s model and still comes in four different models: the iPhone 13, iPhone13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. The iPhone 13 mini has a 5.4-inch screen, with the regular and Pro models at 6.1 inches and the Pro Max measuring at 6.7 inches. If you look carefully, the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini come with new camera modules styled diagonally. There is a new “Sierra Blue colour option for the “Pro” models. The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max still have stainless steel bands, just like before . Both base models also feature brighter displays. The screen is a new Super Retina XDR display that’s 28 per cent brighter, peaking at 1200 nits for HDR. It also supports Dolby Vision and HDR10. For a change, though, all four iPhone models have a smaller notch.

For the first time, Apple is adding its “ProMotion” technology in their displays for a 120Hz refresh rate. Simply put, it makes everything look better — be it games, animation and graphics, while reducing motion blur. Just imagine playing Apple Arcade games on a 120Hz display. But the feature is limited to the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, meaning the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini will still have 60Hz displays. High-end Android phones have had this feature for years.

The phones are equipped with an A15 Bionic chip, which is built on TSMC’s 5-nanometer process, according to Apple, and the fastest chip in any smartphone. Battery life has also been improved on all four iPhone models, thanks to the new chip and tuning at the hardware level. The iPhone 13 will get 2.5 hours longer than the iPhone 12, while the iPhone 13 mini will get an extra 1.5 hours. All four iPhone models have an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. 5G support is there on newer iPhones, just like previous ones.

Perhaps the biggest upgrades coming to the new iPhones is in the form of cameras. On the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini, there’s a new  12MP wide-angle lens with a big sensor that captures 50 per cent more light. The phones have a  sensor-shift optical image stabilization, which was introduced by Apple on the last year’s iPhone 12 Pro Max model. The Ultra-wide camera is also a 12MP camera.

Here’s how powerful cameras are on the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max: 

Three rear-facing cameras, including a zoom lens, a wide lens, and an ultra-wide camera,

📱77mm telephoto camera with 3x optical camera

📱Ultra-Wide camera with 92 per cent boost in low light, f/1.8 aperture, auto-focus, 6-element lens

📱Wide camera: f/1.5 aperture, up to 2.2x improvement in low light

📱New macro photography features for the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max

📱Night mode available across all three lenses

A new video portrait mode is coming to this year’s iPhones. Essentially, the “Cinematic Video” feature allows users to automatically blur the background of video footage. The other feature is called ProRes video recording, which is helpful for video editors, giving them more control over footage. This feature is coming later this year.

Apple Watch Series 7

There is no doubt that Apple Watch is the most popular smartwatch on the market today. It has the same design as the Apple Watch Series 6 but features a big upgrade to the display. The watch features 20 per cent more screen area and softer, more rounded corners. The Series 7 comes in 41mm and 45mm sizes. Apple says the screen is more crack-resistant and it charges faster. The watch starts at $399 for GPS, $499 for cellular. The Series 6 has been discontinued. There is no release date for Series 7. Apple said it will be available “later this fall.”

New entry-level iPad, redesigned iPad mini

Apple has finally announced an entry-level iPad as well as the sixth-generation iPad mini. The lowest-cost iPad features a faster A13 processor and a better, 12MP front-facing camera for better video calls, similar to Zoom.

The company also introduced a new iPad Mini, which has a smaller 8.3-inch screen. It has an all-new design language featuring a new, flatter like iPad Pro. It has smaller bezels and no home button, with a Touch ID fitted inside the power button. It has a 12MP rear camera and stereo speakers. It uses a USB-C connector, instead of a Lightning connector. It also supports a 5G wireless connection and is powered by the A15 Bionic chipset. It works with Apple’s second-generation Pencil.