iPhone 13 or 12 Pro?

OverDrive · 25 Oct 2021 at 10:00

Hi all,

My girlfriend is about to upgrade her iPhone 7 with Vodafone and is considering the following on 36 month contracts. She is happy with Vodafone and also has her home broadband with them so would like to stay. They have offered her:

1. iPhone 13 128GB for £40/month, £29 up front (£3 discount - usually £43 month)
Advantages: Newer processor, longer battery life, cinematic mode

2. iPhone 12 Pro 128GB for £43/month, £19 up front (no discount offered)
Advantages: telephoto lens, LiDAR

Am I missing anything? From what I can see the OLED panel specs are identical. I can see that the camera specs are slightly different (aperture etc).

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you.

MrRockliffe · 25 Oct 2021 at 10:07

iPhone 13 every time for me.

It has sensor shift stabilisation for the main camera too, paired with the A15 it’ll be better for lowlight.

There’s nothing the 12 Pro offers which makes it a better device.

OverDrive · 25 Oct 2021 at 10:22

Oh of course, I forgot about the sensor shift stabilisation.

I agree, the 13 sounds like the better option here.

Thank you

Feek · 25 Oct 2021 at 10:26

Am I the only one who's stunned that we're now up to three year contracts?

Maccy · 25 Oct 2021 at 10:45

Feek said:
Am I the only one who's stunned that we're now up to three year contracts?

It's been the case for a few years now?

chaparral · 25 Oct 2021 at 10:52

Feek said:
Am I the only one who's stunned that we're now up to three year contracts?

I feel three years is crazy for a mobile phone due to the chance of breaking it way before the 3 years is up

Feek · 25 Oct 2021 at 11:02

chaparral said:
I feel three years is crazy for a mobile phone due to the chance of breaking it way before the 3 years is up

It's nothing to do with whether it will break before it's three years old, it's just the sheer length of the contract. I remember when 12 months was the norm, then they went to 18 months and now most seem to be two years. To be tied into an agreement with one company for three years is utterly bonkers.

Electronic devices shouldn't break within three years and it's wrong to expect they will.

chaparral · 25 Oct 2021 at 11:19

Feek said:
Electronic devices shouldn't break within three years and it's wrong to expect they will.

I mean from the high risk of dropping a mobile phone and breaking the screen & rear glass and to replace the screen on OLED phones is normally very expensive

Edit: after a quick google it doesn't look like it still costs around £250 to £300 to replace an OLED phone screen anymore

OverDrive · 25 Oct 2021 at 11:22

Feek said:
Electronic devices shouldn't break within three years and it's wrong to expect they will.

My girlfriend has had her iPhone 7 for over 4yrs now and it's still working perfectly, although the 32GB storage is no longer viable and is actually the main reason why she wants to upgrade.

chaparral said:
I mean from the high risk of dropping a mobile phone and breaking the screen & rear glass and to replace the screen on OLED phones is normally very expensive

Yes, the repair costs are very high now - I would not want to be without insurance cover of some sort be it AppleCare+, via a bank or home insurance policy.

Feek · 25 Oct 2021 at 11:26

chaparral said:
I mean from the high risk of dropping a mobile phone and breaking the screen & rear glass and to replace the screen on OLED phones is normally very expensive

Do keep up. iPhone screens have been incredibly good for the last three versions, look at the drop tests on YouTube.

chaparral · 25 Oct 2021 at 11:35

Feek said:
Do keep up. iPhone screens have been incredibly good for the last three versions, look at the drop tests on YouTube.

After 1 metre rear drop the back glass breaks and after a 1 metre face drop the front screen breaks not sure what good or been improved about this :confused:

Feek · 25 Oct 2021 at 11:44

chaparral said:
After 1 metre drop the rear glass breaks and after a 1 metre face drop the front screen breaks

Interesting, very interesting. Other videos I've seen show drops from much higher with no damage. It's all down to the luck of the draw.

Having said that, you've got to be pretty dumb to drop a phone from that height, flat onto concrete.

Either way, there's no reason to expect a phone to fail within three years.

JollyJamma · 4 Nov 2021 at 09:30

OverDrive said:
Hi all,

My girlfriend is about to upgrade her iPhone 7 with Vodafone and is considering the following on 36 month contracts. She is happy with Vodafone and also has her home broadband with them so would like to stay. They have offered her:

1. iPhone 13 128GB for £40/month, £29 up front (£3 discount - usually £43 month)
Advantages: Newer processor, longer battery life, cinematic mode

2. iPhone 12 Pro 128GB for £43/month, £19 up front (no discount offered)
Advantages: telephoto lens, LiDAR

Am I missing anything? From what I can see the OLED panel specs are identical. I can see that the camera specs are slightly different (aperture etc).

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you.

Reuben klang · 5 Nov 2021 at 09:16

Feek said:
Am I the only one who's stunned that we're now up to three year contracts?

No, I too am shocked too.
Guess it keeps the monthly fees down.

BMox81 · 6 Nov 2021 at 09:20

Feek said:
It's nothing to do with whether it will break before it's three years old, it's just the sheer length of the contract. I remember when 12 months was the norm, then they went to 18 months and now most seem to be two years. To be tied into an agreement with one company for three years is utterly bonkers.

Electronic devices shouldn't break within three years and it's wrong to expect they will.

The phones are getting more expensive and most people don’t have £800-£1150 just sitting in their bank account to buy the phone outright.

If the phone lasts another 4 years and they’re happy to pay (to them) an acceptable amount of money that gives them the least amount of grief then good luck to them.

Reuben klang · 6 Nov 2021 at 11:29

BMox81 said:
The phones are getting more expensive and most people don’t have £800-£1150 just sitting in their bank account to buy the phone outright.

If the phone lasts another 4 years and they’re happy to pay (to them) an acceptable amount of money that gives them the least amount of grief then good luck to them.

Not true, the iPhone dropped in price this year despite the rise in cost of the components and global shortages.