Apple iPhone 13 vs iPhone 12 Pro

65 out of 100
Apple iPhone 13
VS
62 out of 100
Apple iPhone 12 Pro

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.1-inch Apple iPhone 13 (with Apple A15 Bionic) that was released on September 14, 2021, against the Apple iPhone 12 Pro, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 1 year before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

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Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 13
  • Shows 18% longer battery life (23:23 vs 19:45 hours)
  • The phone is 1 year newer
  • Weighs 15 grams less
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12 Pro
  • The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
  • Has 50% more RAM: 6GB versus 4GB

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPhone 13 and iPhone 12 Pro crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

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Currency
4 / 128 GB
VS
6 / 128 GB
108.4
(Excellent)
Value Index
75.9
(Good)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.1 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1170 x 2532 pixels 1170 x 2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 460 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 800 nits 800 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1200 nits -
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen-to-body ratio 87.1% 87.1%
Display features - DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 129% 99.6%
PWM 609 Hz 277 Hz
Response time 7.5 ms 3.6 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
iPhone 13 +4%
838 nits
806 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) 146.7 mm (5.78 inches)
Width 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) 71.5 mm (2.81 inches)
Thickness 7.65 mm (0.3 inches) 7.4 mm (0.29 inches)
Weight 174 g (6.14 oz) 189 g (6.67 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Blue, Green, Red, Pink Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue
Fingerprint scanner No No
Screen-to-body ratio
87.1%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Apple iPhone 13 and Apple iPhone 12 Pro
SoC
Chipset Apple A15 Bionic Apple A14 Bionic
Max clock 3230 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Blizzard
- 2 cores at 3.23 GHz: Avalanche
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm
- 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 5 nanometers 5 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Apple Neural Engine Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Apple GPU (4 cores) Apple GPU
GPU shading units 640 256
GPU clock 1338 MHz 1278 MHz
FLOPS ~1712.6 GFLOPS ~654.3 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Apple iPhone 13 and Apple iPhone 12 Pro
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
iPhone 13 +4%
2241
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
iPhone 13 +4%
5317
Compute Score (GPU)
iPhone 13 +10%
18447
Compute Score (GPU) 18447 16822
Single-core score 2241 2160
Multi-core score 5317 5104
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
iPhone 13 +6%
1413275
1328132
CPU 410975 372871
GPU 370837 322471
Memory 164151 168174
UX 467312 464616
Total score 1413275 1328132
Samples [26 tests] [15 tests]
3DMark Solar Bay
iPhone 13 +21%
3225
Stability 76% 76%
Graphics test 12 FPS 10 FPS
Section 1 16 FPS 13 FPS
Section 2 12 FPS 10 FPS
Section 3 9 FPS 7 FPS
Graphics score 3225 2668
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
iPhone 13 +14%
2445
Stability 74% 71%
Graphics test 14 FPS 12 FPS
Graphics score 2445 2149
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple iPhone 13
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-19 (Vova)AnTuTu 111297615
📘 2026-09-18 (charlesddd)AnTuTu 111461749
📘 2026-09-08 (lUjekSh)Geekbench 6 GPU18864
📘 2026-09-08 (lUjekSh)Geekbench 6 CPU2327 / 5604
📘 2026-09-03 (Yulik🇺🇦)AnTuTu 111289105
Apple iPhone 12 Pro
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-06-29 (Kirillkryt)AnTuTu 111284629
📘 2026-06-02 -> FoolishJevinTECHAnTuTu 111378105
📘 2026-05-31 (Cour27)AnTuTu 111340740
📘 2026-04-21 (PANDUSHA LOVER)AnTuTu 111236057
📘 2026-04-15 (Flaffer)AnTuTu 111341072

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz -
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5)
OS size 18 GB 14 GB

Battery

Capacity 3227 mAh 2815 mAh
Max charge power 20 W 20 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (7.5 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging No No
Bypass charging No No
Fast charging Yes (54% in 30 min) Yes (59% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:46 hr 1:30 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 09:29 hr 07:12 hr
Watching video 13:58 hr 12:00 hr
Gaming 05:12 hr 04:33 hr
Standby 114 hr 101 hr
General battery life
iPhone 13 +18%
23:23 hr
19:45 hr

Main camera

Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Zoom Digital Optical, 2x
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 12 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
4) Depth
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.6 f/1.6
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Sony IMX603 Sony IMX372
Sensor size 1/1.9" (≈ 0.53 inch) 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch)
Pixel size 1.7 micron 1.4 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution - 12 MP
Aperture - f/2.0
Focal length - 52 mm
Sensor size - 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch)
Pixel size - 1 micron
Stabilization - Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Focal length 14 mm 13 mm
Sensor Sony IMX372 -
Sensor size 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron -
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
iPhone 13 +6%
133
Video quality
iPhone 13 +11%
144
Generic main camera score
125
127
Bokeh 65 70
Preview 76 77
Zoom 65 111
Samples Photo samples of Apple iPhone 13 from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 Pro from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4290 x 2800
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 23 mm 23 mm
Sensor Sony IMX514 Sony IMX514
Sensor size 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch)
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) Yes Yes
DxOMark front camera
iPhone 13 +2%
134
Photo 128 127
Video 143 140

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type - No
USB version 2 -
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 18 18
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
83.2 dB
92.3 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2021 October 2020
Release date September 2021 October 2020
Launch price (MSRP) $800 $1000
Successor - Apple iPhone 17 - Apple iPhone 17 Pro
SAR (head) 0.99 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) 0.98 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the gaming and battery life are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 13. But if the sound is more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone 12 Pro.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
3130 (59.5%)
2128 (40.5%)
Total votes: 5258

User opinions

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