The iPhone 13 is right around the corner and while Apple has led the industry with plenty of firsts, there have also been plenty of times it has borrowed features other manufacturers have gotten the punch to. The fingerprint reader, secondary cameras, and larger displays were all initially rocked by Android phones.
Sometimes waiting was the right call, but there are also times Apple felt late to the party. In the case of the fingerprint reader, Apple was the first manufacturer to truly nail it. On the other hand, Apple was behind the curve when it came to big screens.
This shows the competition is naturally a good place to get an idea of what features the next iPhone might include, and hey, as Steve Jobs said back in 1996: "Picasso had a saying -- 'good artists copy; great artists steal' -- and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas". With that in mind, we're going to look at some of the Android features the iPhone 13 might feature this year.
A high refresh rate display
One of the biggest changes we're expecting to see on the iPhone 13 this year is a high refresh rate display. A standard smartphone display runs at 60Hz, while a high refresh rate displays tend to run at 120Hz. This makes all motion on your screen look that little bit smoother, and is especially noticeable when scrolling.
High refresh rate displays have been a feature in Android phones over the last two years - and are even present in the iPad Pro - but have yet to make it the iPhone family. (To be fair, the iPad Pro had a high refresh rate display before any Android smartphone.) At this stage, it's unclear whether a high refresh rate display will be available in every iPhone 13 model, but we wouldn't be surprised if we only see it in the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max to create a bit of extra differentiation between the product groups.
Of course, we have seen some instances where high refresh rate displays have been quite detrimental to the battery life of Android devices, so if Apple is genuinely adding the feature to the iPhone 13 family, we're hoping it manages to do so without compromising on how long your new handset lasts in between charges.
Always on display
Many Android phones now feature an always on display. Even when the phone is sleeping, they present a stripped-down interface that typically displays the time, notification icons, and your battery level.
Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman claims the iPhone 13 family will adopt this feature, which will look like a "toned down lock screen". Notifications will still pop up, but the entire screen won't light up when you get one.
This kind of feature would be enabled by the use of OLED displays, which are featured in the entire iPhone 12 family. OLED displays can light up pixels on an individual basis (rather than needing to turn on the entire display) so the impact of just revealing a few details shouldn't be overly taxing on battery life.
While always on displays are now common on Android phones, they're not actually an Android original feature. The first phone with an always on display was the Nokia N86 in 2009, and it then became a standard feature with the Nokia Lumia Windows Phones in 2013. We didn't really see always on displays on Android devices until 2016. In 2019, Apple added an always on display to the Apple Watch Series 5.
Reverse wireless charging
Reverse wireless charging is a feature where your phone can use its wireless charging mechanism to charge another device, rather than being charged itself. A pair of earbuds with a wireless charging case, for example. Reverse wireless charging was first introduced to the Android world by Huawei with the Mate 20 Pro, where the pitch was the battery was big enough to recharge another smartphone. The speeds were too slow to be practical, but the tech was quickly adapted by the likes of Samsung with the Galaxy S10 in order to charge up accessories like earbuds and smartwatches.
The iPhone 13 is expected to have a bigger wireless charging coil which would make functionality like reverse wireless charging possible. Apple has already dabbled in the space with its new MagSafe Battery Pack. If you have it connected to your iPhone 12 while the handset is plugged in, the iPhone will reverse wireless charge the battery pack.
In-screen fingerprint reader
In addition to facial recognition, rumours have suggested the iPhone 13 family might get in-screen fingerprint readers to add further biometric security - especially if the pair are used in tandem. While Apple has been experimenting with the tech, some reports suggest we'll see it this year, while others expect in-screen fingerprint reader iPhones to not launch until 2022.
The Huawei Mate 20 Pro was the first major Android smartphone to launch with an in-screen fingerprint reader locally back in 2018, shortly followed by the OPPO R17 Pro a month or so after. Samsung added the technology to the Galaxy S10 in 2019.
While in-screen fingerprint readers have been around for a few years now, they have been a bit hit and miss. It only now feels like they've become a fast and reliable as traditional fingerprint readers, so waiting to add this functionality to the iPhone may have been the right call.
Alex Choros
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