What does the iPhone 13 mean for video creators?

THE RECENTLY launched iPhone 13 is a thing of indescribable wonder – not so much for what it can do or how it looks, but what it represents. The odd thing is I never cared much about phones; not in the way the tech-obsessed salivate over the newest iterations of smartphones and other gadgetry.

I've always secretly laughed at people who queue in sub-zero temperatures outside of Apple stores for hours in anticipation of getting their frostbitten hands on the new iPhone model.

The announcement of the iPhone 13, its specs and associated superpowers hit quite different, though. Don't get me wrong, this isn't meant to be some saccharine love song to a smartphone. However, the latest entry in Apple's “give-us-your-money” line-up is a bold statement about the times we live in. Significant upgrades to the iPhone's video recording capabilities reflect the increasingly dominant role video plays in our lives.

Roughly 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. That's about 30,000 hours of video per hour. Over on TikTok, the app is reported to have 1.1 billion active users worldwide. Millions of Facebook video views are happening every day. Just by the way, 85 per cent of the people watching videos on Facebook do so with the sound off – in case you're wondering where the time goes when you're actually supposed to be working. Case closed.

Video conferencing, training, webinars, summits; video now dominates the online version of life. This video-centric world is the one for which the iPhone 13 was made. Without diving too much into the specs, the iPhone 13 has three lenses, enhanced video stabilisation features for smoother handheld images, incredible macro capabilities, cinematic mode, improved low-light performance, 4K video – I could go on.

I'm excited about what this phone will do for video content creation. Many entrepreneurs using video to promote their business tend to rely on DSLR cameras. These cameras can cost two to three times what the iPhone 13 does, and you can't even make calls with them!

Additionally, DSLRs need other accessories to adapt them for shooting videos. Nothing's wrong with that as such expenditures are investments in the profitability of your business. Right out of the box, though, the iPhone delivers video that's comparable, perhaps even superior, to many DSLRs favoured by hardcore video content creators – the ones, at least, who aren't satisfied with the Sasquatch-quality specs of many laptop cameras.

There is something even more powerful to the appeal of the iPhone 13. You need far less technical knowledge to shoot video. Forget aperture, white balance, exposure, and autofocus settings. And don't get me started on set-up time for a traditional camera. For the most part, the iPhone takes care of the light, colour and focus, leaving you to concentrate on what you want to say on camera, or composing the images you want to shoot.

Having road-tested the iPhone 13's predecessor, the 12, the capabilities of the new generation of lenses and sensors is mind-blowing. You can shoot a backlit image and still have the subject clearly defined in the frame. If you've ever had a Zoom meeting with someone who is sitting directly in front of a window and looks like a dark cutout of a missing person, you know how horrible backlighting can be. The iPhone 13 can cope with those conditions quite handily.

With its cinematography capabilities, the iPhone is also positioning itself as a filmmaking tool. Naturally, many purist filmmakers would probably baulk at replacing their extraordinarily complex and expensive camera rigs with a phone. For all the independent filmmakers out there, the possibilities are intriguing, though.

There are risks you simply wouldn't take with a conventional cinema camera and lens that, combined, could cost you upwards of US$60,000. Not that you'd deliberately jeopardise your smartphone's safety, but its price point means you wouldn't be ruined if it were damaged, lost, or stolen while attempting to push the creativity level on a shot. Will the iPhone 13 supplant cinema cameras? Not likely. Still, it's a thrilling option for those trying to create stunning films with small budgets.

More than a smartphone, the iPhone 13 is possibly the most powerful video-creation tool that can fit in your pocket. You can shoot exceptional quality videos with greater ease and more creativity.

For the first time, I get why people throw their older phones in the tall grass and camp outside an Apple store to get the new model. I still laugh at them, but I get it.