Home > Smartphone comparison > iPhone XS Max vs iPhone 13 – which one to choose?

Apple iPhone XS Max vs iPhone 13

52 out of 100
Apple iPhone XS Max
VS
65 out of 100
Apple iPhone 13
Apple iPhone XS Max
Apple iPhone 13

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.5-inch Apple iPhone XS Max (with Apple A12 Bionic) that was released on September 12, 2018, against the Apple iPhone 13, which is powered by Apple A15 Bionic and came out 3 years and 1 month after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone XS Max
  • The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
  • Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 13
  • 68% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1413K versus 842K)
  • Shows 34% longer battery life (23:23 vs 17:28 hours)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Delivers 26% higher peak brightness (838 against 663 nits)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • The phone is 3 years and 1 month newer
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPhone XS Max and iPhone 13 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
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 78% Yes
Yes, we think most users will notice the upgrade.
Updating from Apple iPhone XS Max to Apple iPhone 13 makes sense and should feel noticeably better in daily use.
Main improvements: performance, camera, and battery life.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
iPhone XS Max
vs
iPhone 13

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.5 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1242 x 2688 pixels 1170 x 2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.4:9 19.5:9
PPI 456 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 625 nits 800 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR - 1200 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Touch sampling rate 120 Hz -
Screen protection Tempered glass -
Screen-to-body ratio 85.4% 87.1%
Display features - DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 98.8% 129%
PWM 240 Hz 609 Hz
Response time 11.2 ms 7.5 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
iPhone XS Max
6.5″ (19.4:9 ratio) = 16.1 in2
iPhone 13
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
~13% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
iPhone XS Max
663 nits
iPhone 13 +26%
838 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 157.5 mm (6.2 inches) 146.7 mm (5.78 inches)
Width 77.4 mm (3.05 inches) 71.5 mm (2.81 inches)
Thickness 7.7 mm (0.3 inches) 7.65 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 208 g (7.34 oz) 174 g (6.14 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Silver, Gold, Gray White, Black, Blue, Green, Red, Pink
Fingerprint scanner No No
Screen-to-body ratio
iPhone XS Max
85.4%
iPhone 13 +2%
87.1%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Apple iPhone XS Max and Apple iPhone 13
SoC
Chipset Apple A12 Bionic Apple A15 Bionic
Max clock 2490 MHz 3230 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Tempest
- 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex		 - 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Blizzard
- 2 cores at 3.23 GHz: Avalanche
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 7 nanometers 5 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Neural Engine Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Apple A12 Bionic GPU Apple GPU (4 cores)
GPU shading units 256 640
GPU clock 1125 MHz 1338 MHz
FLOPS ~576 GFLOPS ~1712.6 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Apple iPhone XS Max and Apple iPhone 13
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
iPhone XS Max
1310
iPhone 13 +71%
2241
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
iPhone XS Max
3458
iPhone 13 +54%
5317
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) - 18447
Single-core score 1310 2241
Multi-core score 3458 5317
Sources: Geekbench [3]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
iPhone XS Max
842172
iPhone 13 +68%
1413275
CPU 276695 410975
GPU - 370837
Memory 147886 164151
UX 418471 467312
Total score 842172 1413275
Samples [3 tests] [26 tests]
3DMark Solar Bay
Stability - 76%
Graphics test - 12 FPS
Section 1 - 16 FPS
Section 2 - 12 FPS
Section 3 - 9 FPS
Graphics score - 3225
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
iPhone XS Max
1482
iPhone 13 +65%
2445
Stability 65% 74%
Graphics test 8 FPS 14 FPS
Graphics score 1482 2445
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple iPhone XS Max
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-05-05 (Jarukit)AnTuTu 11847535
📘 2026-03-22 (Jai)AnTuTu 11842172
📘 2026-03-17 (Hoangg Anhh)AnTuTu 11810991
Add View all (3)
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
Add View all (43)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock - 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 128 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.7) iOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5)
OS size 16 GB 18 GB

Battery

Capacity 3174 mAh 3227 mAh
Max charge power 18 W 20 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes, Qi (10 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging No No
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes (54% in 30 min)
Full charging time 03:29 hr 1:46 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 06:43 hr 09:29 hr
Watching video 10:28 hr 13:58 hr
Gaming 04:11 hr 05:12 hr
Standby 87 hr 114 hr
General battery life
iPhone XS Max
17:28 hr
iPhone 13 +34%
23:23 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 2x Digital
Flash Quad 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°
Lenses 1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 12 MP
1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.6
Focal length 28 mm 26 mm
Sensor Apple iSight X Sony IMX603
Sensor size 1/2.5" (≈ 0.4 inch) 1/1.9" (≈ 0.53 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 1.7 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 12 MP -
Aperture f/2.4 -
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
Aperture - f/2.4
Focal length - 14 mm
Sensor - Sony IMX372
Sensor size - 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch)
Pixel size - 1.4 micron
Stabilization - Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
iPhone XS Max
110
iPhone 13 +21%
133
Video quality
iPhone XS Max
96
iPhone 13 +50%
144
Generic main camera score
iPhone XS Max
105
iPhone 13 +19%
125
Bokeh - 65
Preview - 76
Zoom - 65
Samples Photo samples of Apple iPhone XS Max from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 13 from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 7 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 3088 x 2316 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 32 mm 23 mm
Sensor BSI CMOS Sony IMX514
Sensor size - 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch)
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No Yes
DxOMark front camera
iPhone XS Max
105
iPhone 13 +28%
134
Photo 97 128
Video 119 143

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) 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 SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type No -
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, 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* 16 18
5G support No Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
iPhone XS Max
77.2 dB
iPhone 13 +8%
83.2 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2018 September 2021
Release date September 2018 September 2021
Launch price (MSRP) $1100 $800
Successor - Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max - Apple iPhone 17
SAR (head) 0.99 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) 0.99 W/kg 0.98 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition 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

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 13 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
155 (30.9%)
346 (69.1%)
Total votes: 501

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