Which Size iPhone 13 Is Right For You? See Them All Side by Side (2024)

There are a lot of iPhones in play right now. Currently, Apple sells eight different versions: the iPhone 13 Pro Max, the iPhone 13 Pro, the iPhone 13, the iPhone 13 mini, the iPhone 12, the iPhone 12 mini, the iPhone 11 and the iPhone SE. It's a strategic move to have a phone hitting nearly every hundred-dollar segment, from $399 up to $1,099, but it can also be bewildering.

When we got the iPhone 13 family in, we wanted to show you the visual difference between the phones and compare them to some of their top Samsung competitors. All of the iPhone 13 models are similar in size to their iPhone 12 counterparts. They have smaller front notches, and larger, differently arrayed camera lenses. An iPhone 12 case will fit on an iPhone 13, but not on an iPhone 13 Pro because the 13 Pro's camera lenses are larger.

From left: iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max (Molly Flores/PCMag)

It's honestly difficult to tell from the front which phones are the 13 series and which are the 12s, but it's pretty obvious from the back when you look at the camera lenses. Apple is doing a lot of blue colors this year, and they're gorgeous.

You can see a major difference between the phones on their backs: the Pro models have three cameras, while the 13 and mini only have two. (Molly Flores/PCMag)

Looking more closely at the best-selling, standard-sized models, Apple said that this year's versions have brighter screens than last year's models, but I couldn't see that initially.

Which is which? iPhone 12, with the larger notch, is on the left. The 13 (right) has a smaller notch. (Molly Flores/PCMag)

This year's blue color is lighter than last year's. The iPhone 13 also comes in pink, "midnight," "starlight," and red. We have the "midnight" iPhone 12 mini (not shown here) and it looks black at some angles, with a slight tinge of blue from some angles.

You can also tell the difference between the generations by the placement of the cameras. On the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12, the cameras are on top of each other. On the 13 mini and 13, they're diagonally placed. (Molly Flores/PCMag)

Here's a look at the 12 Pro and 13 Pro together. You can't see the 13 Pro's fanciest feature in a still image, of course: it's the 120Hz ProMotion display.

Here's a Pro comparison. The 12 Pro, on the left, has a somewhat wider notch. (Molly Flores/PCMag)

The larger camera lenses come with larger sensors and larger apertures. The 13 Pro has a larger f/1.5 aperture on its main camera, which Apple says is 2.2x better in low light than the 12 Pro was. The wide-angle camera has an f/1.8 aperture, which Apple says is almost twice as good in low light, and the zoom camera has been upgraded from 2.5x to 3x.

The iPhone 12 Pro (left) has smaller camera lenses than the 13 Pro (right). (Molly Flores/PCMag)

Now let's compare our iPhones to some Samsung devices. The $1,099 iPhone 13 Pro Max's main competitor is the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, which lists at $1,199 but is frequently discounted. The Galaxy S21 Ultra makes better use of its screen real estate with a "hole punch" front-facing camera rather than Apple's sizeable notch.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (left) vs. the iPhone 13 Pro Max (right). Samsung got rid of the notch. (Molly Flores/PCMag)

On the back, the differences between the phones are clear. The S21 Ultra is matte while the iPhone is glossy, but also, the iPhone's camera lenses protrude more. With the iPhone 13 Pro Max, a case really smooths out the line.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra (left) is even bigger and more rectangular than the iPhone 13 Pro Max (right), with an additional 10x camera lens. (Molly Flores/PCMag)

Looking for more iPhone details? We have benchmarks, battery tests, and a quick rundown of international models. And check out more iPhone 13 details in the video below.