iPhone 13 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro: what five years of upgrades get you, and when keeping the old one makes senseiPhone 13 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro: what five years of upgrades get you, and when keeping the old one makes sense

The iPhone 13 Pro, released in September 2021, is five generations behind the iPhone 18 Pro that Apple launched last month, and it still receives iOS 27.

That last point frames the decision. Apple's iOS 27 page lists every iPhone back to the iPhone 11 as supported, so a 13 Pro owner is not being pushed off the software. What the 13 Pro does not get is Apple Intelligence: Apple's footnote limits it to the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max and every iPhone 16 model or later, which rules out Siri AI and the features built on it. The figures below come from Apple's specification pages for both phones.

How do the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro compare?

The Max models follow the same pattern. Apple rates the iPhone 13 Pro Max at up to 28 hours of video playback and the iPhone 18 Pro Max at up to 45. The 13 Pro Max weighs 240g and the 18 Pro Max 249g.

In the US the iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 and the Pro Max at $1,299, both with 256GB, as our guide to the iPhone 18 Pro prices and colours sets out. MacRumors notes that is $200 more than the 13 Pro models cost in 2021, when they started at 128GB.

What the five years add

Battery life is the largest measurable change: Apple's own figures give the 18 Pro about 60 per cent more video playback than the 13 Pro. Charging is faster too. Apple says the 18 Pro reaches 50 per cent in around 15 minutes with a 60W adapter, against around 30 minutes with 20W for the 13 Pro.

Every rear camera on the 18 Pro is 48 megapixels, against 12 on the 13 Pro, and the main camera has a variable aperture from f/1.48 to f/4.0. Reviewers rated the wider aperture a modest gain, but from a 13 Pro the step is larger, because the sensors, the 4x telephoto and the 8x optical-quality crop are all new. The 18 Pro also adds the Action button and Camera Control, an Always-On display, Apple's N1 wireless chip and a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip.

The 13 Pro keeps two small advantages. It is 1.1mm thinner, and it has a stainless steel frame where the 18 Pro has an aluminium unibody.

Should you upgrade from an iPhone 13 Pro?

APPDOOK's view is that the battery decides it more than the camera does. Apple says batteries in the iPhone 14 and earlier are designed to keep 80 per cent of their capacity at 500 full cycles. A phone charged most days passes that well inside five years, so most 13 Pros in daily use are now running on a battery that has lost a good part of a charge it was already shorter on. If Settings, Battery shows Maximum Capacity in the low 80s or below, the 18 Pro's battery gain is something you will notice every evening.

Upgrade if you want Apple Intelligence and Siri AI, if your photos are mostly zoomed or in low light, or if you have already moved your other devices to USB-C and are carrying a Lightning cable for one phone. Those are the three gaps no update can close.

Keep the 13 Pro if it still lasts your day and you have no interest in Apple Intelligence. It runs the current iOS, the iPhone 11 is still supported two generations below it, and a battery replacement buys more time for far less than $1,199. The case for waiting is weaker than usual, though: next year's iPhone is unlikely to change the arithmetic for a 13 Pro owner, whose real choice is between a new battery and a new phone.