The Apple iPhone 13 series was made official earlier this week and the new devices brought a number of improvements including the newer A15 Bionic chip, a smaller notch and many camera functions.
However, if you had been following iPhone 13 leaks and rumours, you know that Apple also failed to include a number of features on the iPhone 13 Series that frankly, should have been a part of the lineup by now. These aren’t necessarily comparisons drawn to an Android device by Samsung and OnePlus, but functionalities that would have further improved the usability of the new series even more. A screen without a notch The iPhone screens have had a notch since years, dating as far back as the iPhone X. However, unlike the Android side of the world, the design of the notch on the iPhone hasn’t really seen any major breakthroughs so far. The iPhone 13 was expected to be the first iPhone to drop the notch, something that has become extinct outside Apple’s iPhone series.
However, we got to see a smaller notch. It is horizontally smaller, but remains a centre-aligned intrusion along the top edge of the screen, interrupting what is otherwise a uniformly thin-bezel design across the phone. We understand that Apple needs to include its Face ID scanners but the design also needs to keep up with the times, doesn’t it?
In-display Touch ID
Apple dropped the fingerprint scanner via Touch ID back with the iPhone 8 series and the tech is now only seen on the iPhone SE series and the brand’s tablets. However with the introduction of OLED panels on iPhones in recent years, Apple was expected to switch to in-display Touch ID, which would have also perhaps gotten rid of the notch on top.
The feature remains to be a contender for next year’s iPhone lineup, suggest rumours. However, that point in time is a year away and the change is still not a confirmed one.
Always-On-Display
With the introduction of OLED panels across the iPhones, Always-On-Display should have been a part of the iPhone 13 series. Sadly enough, it isn’t. While the feature, which by the way, is a part of the brand’s recent Apple Watch lineup, is a major battery killer, it is also handy to those who could use it, while those who don’t can simply turn it off.
Further, with the major bump in battery life that the iPhone 13 has over the iPhone 12 (over 2 hours, if we take Apple’s word for it), the addition of an Always-On-Display now would have made perfect sense.
USB Type-C connectivity
Apple’s multi-device ecosystem is on point, making it one of the company’s biggest strengths. However, the brand falls short on this aspect in one key region which is cables. Apart from the fact that the iPhones do not ship with a charger anymore, the smartphones also still rely on the lightning connection, instead of the almost universal USB-C.