iPhone 13 Pro leaked dummy is our best look yet at the new iPhone

iPhone 12 Pro review
The iPhone 12 Pro (Image credit: TechRadar)

The iPhone 13 range is just days away at the time of writing, with the launch scheduled for September 14, but you don’t have to wait until then to get a look at the reportedly final design of the iPhone 13 Pro.

A video posted on Weibo (a Chinese social network) shows a dummy unit that supposedly has the iPhone 13 Pro’s final design. Dummy units are the same size and shape as handsets, but they don’t have all the internals. They’re often used by accessory makers to design cases and the like before a phone ships, and are often – but not always – built using official schematics.

This close to the iPhone 13 Pro’s launch there’s a good chance this dummy unit is accurate, but as ever we’d still take it with a pinch of salt.

A dummy unit supposedly showing the iPhone 13 Pro's final design

(Image credit: Weibo / Slash Gear)

In any case, there’s nothing here that we haven’t seen before really, as the iPhone 13 range has been extensively leaked already. You can see a smaller notch on the front and possibly slightly larger lenses for its triple-lens camera on the back, but an otherwise very similar design to the iPhone 12 Pro.

From what we’ve heard so far the bulk of the changes this year will be under the hood, but even then they could be quite minor. An upgrade to a 120Hz screen on the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, plus some tweaks to the camera hardware, and of course a new chipset, are the main expected changes.


An unofficial render showing the possible design of the iPhone 14 Pro Max

The possible design of the iPhone 14 Pro Max (Image credit: Jon Prosser / RendersByIan)

Opinion: save your money for the iPhone 14

While leakers suggest that Apple has settled on the iPhone 13 name this year, the range sounds like it could just as well be called the iPhone 12S, as the upgrades look minor.

Next year though it seems like the changes could be far more substantial. It’s very early for iPhone 14 rumors, but already we’ve seen unofficial renders which show the iPhone 14 Pro Max with in-screen Face ID and a punch-hole camera (meaning no notch), plus hardly any camera bump on the back, a titanium frame, and changes to other aspects of the design, such as the shape of the buttons.

It's a far fresher and more modern look, and it’s rumored to be joined by a significantly larger battery. We’re less clear on most of the other specs, but if all of that pans out then the iPhone 14 could be the biggest upgrade for the range in years, while the iPhone 13 looks to be one of the smallest upgrades we’ve seen in a long time.

Via SlashGear

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.