Apple Introduces iPhone 13/Pro/Pro Max
 

Now that Apple has made the details and specs of the iPhone 13 public I have to say that I am underwhelmed, but I suppose it's about what we should have expected given that despite the 13 moniker, this is really just a 12s, a mid-life update of the 12.

The camera tweaks and the claimed better battery life* are clear pluses. But the lack of some form of touch ID is really disappointing. And the [sometimes, depending on the app being used] 120hz display seems behind the curve. *Clearly they eschewed an 'always-on' 120hz display to preserve battery life, yet other phone makers seem to have figured out how to do it.

Last year I opined that I might have to figure some way of getting out of the $800 AT&T trade-in deal on my 12 Pro in order to upgrade to the 13 Pro. But looking at the specs, I don't feel any real need to do that now. A sometimes-on 120hz display and minor camera tweaks just don't seem very compelling.

I long ago stopped updating phones every year. I've been on an every-3-years schedule for a while now. It's been 3 years, and the 13 is definitely an upgrade from my XS.

At the same time, meh. My XS still works fine, though the battery life is much shorter than it used to be. I'll probably hang on to it for a while longer yet.

I got an amazing deal on a used iPhone 11 for Miss Swede via Swappa. Now I'm trying to parlay that into the best trade-in value for a new Apple phone. Wonder if I should wait for 14.

I am updating my iPad mini with cellular

That’s what I’ve done for the past couple years. Not too long after the new model comes out, lots of people unloading the previous year’s models. I typically pick up a mint one at 45-50% off.

I like the looks of it too but not the new pastel colors although the orange case looks good.

But I'm probably going to wait until I'm actually leaving my house on a semi-regular basis first as I don't think my iPad has left my carry-on bag since my last flight in March of 2020.

For annual upgraders, the trade-in offers have been very good and continue to be very good this year. $790 trade in (no carrier offers required this year) for our 12 pro max, net $409 + tax for a 13 pro max 256G, payable in no interest installments over 2 years using the Apple Credit Card (plus 3% cash back). If you do it through the installment/Apple Card way, they take the trade-in off the top and you can pay it off any time. Any other way it's handled like a rebate.

Not suggesting anybody else do it, but that's what they are offering. You can see the trade in offers in the Apple store app or Apple store web site.

-David

I buy the new high end model every year because the resale of last years model is so high. In this case, with my military discount and no sales tax I get the 256Gb 13Pro Max for $289 and my 256 Gb 12 Pro Max.

I got the 12 Pro Max last year. I watched the entire keynote and have to say I was underwhelmed. There are literally no new features in the 13 Pro models that excite me enough to go through the hassle of changing phones. I'll wait till next year. That said, one travel-related goodie is the new phones will have Two e-sims in addition to the nano sim:
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/09/14...rt-dual-esims/

The upgrades to the Mini were clearly the most significant and the interesting takeaway is that people are willing to spend more money on the Mini than the regular iPad. It got the 5G, USB-C, and Apple Pencil 2. I had a mini 5 and moved to iPad Pro 11 inch, but there are times when I still find the mini was a more convenient size.

Like a poster above said, my wife and I purchase the newest phone every 3 years at this point (since we are on no contract, etc). We bought the iPhone 12 Pro about a year ago and plan to have the current phone for another 2 years. Every 3rd year, we just pay cash (never finance) and buy two new phones (one for each of us). Based on this cycle, we won't be buying new ones until the Fall 2023 phone release.

I'm not any expert, but I don't see any drastic improvements with this mid-cycle upgrade.

The financing is 0% interest. It's free money.

I can't wait to camp outside a store just to be the first ones to get one!
Kidding. Do people still do that?

If I have an 11, does that make me a boomer? Do I need to get the 13 to feel young again?

The current iPad mini and well as the iPad mini 5 both had more modern processors than the contemporaneous iPad iPad.

It's more of an iPad Air mini at this point.

I switched from the iPad mini 2 (aka iPad mini with Retina Display) to the fulled-sized 2017 iPad because there was a $250 off promotion on the 128GB LTE model but I very much missed the size. Although I was also put-off by the anti-glare treatment on the iPad mini 4 screen.

The first time I sat next to a guy on a plane using the 12.9-inch iPad Pro I just sort of rolled my eyes.

However, I think it's still dual-sim, not tri-sim. If you have a physical nano sim (such as from your home carrier) you cannot also have two esims active at the same time. You would have to pop out the nano sim to use two esims at the same time.

Some U.S. carriers will swap out your post-paid, physical nano sim for an esim, but I've heard it can be difficult to get the carrier to agree to do it, or they try to make it a cumbersome process (sometimes must be done in select brick-and-mortar stores, or they have to mail you something, etc).

It would be great if iPhones allowed tri-sim (home carrier PLUS two esims active at the same time). Maybe next year!