The iPhone 13 is Official: What Features Did We Miss?

Welcome to Apple Insider, I'm Andrew here and you can find me on Twitter at @Andrew_Osu. The iPhone 13 is official, and we had some early ideas of what the device would look like, as seen in these dummy units. However, not all features made it to the final product, so let's dive into what we missed.

One of the basic features we didn't see was Wi-Fi 6e. The new version of Wi-Fi 6 has been emerging this year, and we started to see new routers taking advantage of the standard. We expected to see Wi-Fi 6 in the latest iPhone, but unfortunately, Apple is sticking with Wi-Fi 6 for its iPhone 13 devices. Wi-Fi 6e does have some benefits over Wi-Fi 6, particularly in congested areas, as it can take advantage of the six-gigahertz band, which was previously stuck at two point four and five gigahertz. Opening up that six-gigahertz span could really help in apartment complexes and cities where there's a lot of congestion and other networks going on.

Another feature we didn't see was the always-on display. This was one of our favorite features for the iPhone 13, and it made perfect sense to include it, given Apple's success with it on the Apple Watch. We'd heard a ton of rumors backing up this expectation, but unfortunately, the iPhone 13 does not include an always-on display. However, we did get a new Pro Motion display that can ramp up to 120 hertz, which is still a great feature.

The absence of satellite communications in the iPhone 13 was another surprise. This was all the rage in the weeks leading up to the event, with talk of which satellites it could talk to and when it would be limited to certain cities or emergency situations. While we can't rule out that Apple was still working on this feature, it may have been scrapped altogether. The final rumor that was expected to come to fruition with the iPhone 13 was some faster charging, but unfortunately, that didn't happen either.

In terms of ports, we did hear that Lightning would be sticking around, and it sounds like the iPhone 14 may be the earliest iPhone to ditch ports altogether and go solely to a portless design using Magsafe with data. We also heard rumors about support for faster charging via USB-C to Lightning cables or maybe slightly quicker MagSafe charging. Unfortunately, neither of those rumors materialized.

Despite not having all of these features, we still got some nice upgrades in the iPhone 13. One of them was a bigger battery, which is always a good thing. Battery tech is constantly evolving, and eventually, Apple will probably move to that portless design. We think this will be one of the key factors for users: making it more convenient to charge their phones.

In conclusion, what did we miss with the iPhone 13? We didn't see Wi-Fi 6e, an always-on display, satellite communications, and faster charging via USB-C or MagSafe. However, we still got some nice upgrades, including a bigger battery and Pro Motion display. Let us know in the comments down below what you think about what Apple included (or not included) with the iPhone 13. Stay tuned for our hands-on review of the real iPhone 13s as soon as they're released.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat room features didn't make it into the iphone 13 and will we ever see them welcome everybody to apple insider it is andrew here and you can find me on twitter at andrew underscore osu and the iphone 13 is official apple took the wraps off its latest device and we had some early ideas of what the device would look like like these dummy units here and there was a lot of features that we expected and many that didn't come to fruition so what happened what features did we not see with the iphone 13 and will we ever see them in the future let's go ahead and talk about them in a little bit more detail starting with a basic feature that we didn't see that i fully expected to see and that is wi-fi 6e the new version of wi-fi 6 has been emerging this year and we started to see new routers taking advantage of the standard and i did think that we'd see it in the latest iphone but unfortunately apple is sticking with wi-fi 6 for its iphone 13 devices wi-fi 6e does have some benefits over wi-fi 6 i was really counting on seeing especially for congested areas because it is able to take advantage of the six gigahertz band whereas wi-fi six and earlier are sticking with two point four and five gigahertz so opening up that six gigahertz span could really help in apartment complexes and cities where there's a lot of congestion and other networks going on so it was going to be really beneficial there but unfortunately again we're not going to see it with the iphone 13. ahead of the iphone 13 announcement there was one feature that i thought was going to be my favorite feature and probably one of the biggest reasons for me to upgrade to the iphone 13 and it may sound silly to some people but i was very excited for it and that was the always on display and of course we didn't get it to me it made perfect sense apple had done it on the apple watch and it made sense to move to the iphone as well and we'd heard a ton of rumors to back this up it seemed all but good and yet the iphone 13 does not include an always on display we did get a new pro motion display that can ramp up to 120 hertz but not always on so unfortunately this is gonna have to wait to me this still makes sense though even though we didn't get with the iphone 13 it would make sense if we saw the iphone 14 competitors have been doing this it seems like a matter of time before apple adopts and always on display at least i really really hope so what about satellite communications this was all the rage in the few weeks leading up to the iphone 13 event there was a lot of different talk about which satellites it could talk to it would be limited to certain cities we'd see it for you know emergency situations all this stuff and yet the iphone 13 didn't have it there's very good possibility that apple was still working on something like this and it may arrive in a future iphone or was scrapped altogether but no the iphone 13 does not have satellite communications and the final rumor that was very much rumored and expected to come to fruition with the iphone 13 with some faster charging there was a lot of rumors on how this would play out we had heard that lightning was sticking around we knew that it sounds like the iphone 14 may be the earliest iphone to ditch ports all together and go solely to a portless design possibly using magsafe with data which we also didn't get this year but we did hear that it would lead support faster charging with the iphone 13. whether that was with usbc to lightning cables that would just support faster charging there or there was going to be like maybe slightly quicker or more efficient magazine charging either way neither of them showed up i think apple's going to make some changes here we still got a bigger battery which is nice but battery tech is always evolving charging is always evolving eventually apple's going to go probably to that portless design that's what i think and whether they support faster charging via magsafe or something like that our apple just tries to make it overall more convenient to charge i think that's going to be the key for users there so we will see how the iphone 14 shapes up but no faster charging on these uh iphone 13 units so what do you guys think were you happy with what apple allows for the iphone 13 and iphone 13 pro let me know down below in the comments or better yet find me on twitter again at andrew underscore osu and let me know what you think and stay tuned we'll have hands on with the real iphone 13s as soon as they are released youwhat room features didn't make it into the iphone 13 and will we ever see them welcome everybody to apple insider it is andrew here and you can find me on twitter at andrew underscore osu and the iphone 13 is official apple took the wraps off its latest device and we had some early ideas of what the device would look like like these dummy units here and there was a lot of features that we expected and many that didn't come to fruition so what happened what features did we not see with the iphone 13 and will we ever see them in the future let's go ahead and talk about them in a little bit more detail starting with a basic feature that we didn't see that i fully expected to see and that is wi-fi 6e the new version of wi-fi 6 has been emerging this year and we started to see new routers taking advantage of the standard and i did think that we'd see it in the latest iphone but unfortunately apple is sticking with wi-fi 6 for its iphone 13 devices wi-fi 6e does have some benefits over wi-fi 6 i was really counting on seeing especially for congested areas because it is able to take advantage of the six gigahertz band whereas wi-fi six and earlier are sticking with two point four and five gigahertz so opening up that six gigahertz span could really help in apartment complexes and cities where there's a lot of congestion and other networks going on so it was going to be really beneficial there but unfortunately again we're not going to see it with the iphone 13. ahead of the iphone 13 announcement there was one feature that i thought was going to be my favorite feature and probably one of the biggest reasons for me to upgrade to the iphone 13 and it may sound silly to some people but i was very excited for it and that was the always on display and of course we didn't get it to me it made perfect sense apple had done it on the apple watch and it made sense to move to the iphone as well and we'd heard a ton of rumors to back this up it seemed all but good and yet the iphone 13 does not include an always on display we did get a new pro motion display that can ramp up to 120 hertz but not always on so unfortunately this is gonna have to wait to me this still makes sense though even though we didn't get with the iphone 13 it would make sense if we saw the iphone 14 competitors have been doing this it seems like a matter of time before apple adopts and always on display at least i really really hope so what about satellite communications this was all the rage in the few weeks leading up to the iphone 13 event there was a lot of different talk about which satellites it could talk to it would be limited to certain cities we'd see it for you know emergency situations all this stuff and yet the iphone 13 didn't have it there's very good possibility that apple was still working on something like this and it may arrive in a future iphone or was scrapped altogether but no the iphone 13 does not have satellite communications and the final rumor that was very much rumored and expected to come to fruition with the iphone 13 with some faster charging there was a lot of rumors on how this would play out we had heard that lightning was sticking around we knew that it sounds like the iphone 14 may be the earliest iphone to ditch ports all together and go solely to a portless design possibly using magsafe with data which we also didn't get this year but we did hear that it would lead support faster charging with the iphone 13. whether that was with usbc to lightning cables that would just support faster charging there or there was going to be like maybe slightly quicker or more efficient magazine charging either way neither of them showed up i think apple's going to make some changes here we still got a bigger battery which is nice but battery tech is always evolving charging is always evolving eventually apple's going to go probably to that portless design that's what i think and whether they support faster charging via magsafe or something like that our apple just tries to make it overall more convenient to charge i think that's going to be the key for users there so we will see how the iphone 14 shapes up but no faster charging on these uh iphone 13 units so what do you guys think were you happy with what apple allows for the iphone 13 and iphone 13 pro let me know down below in the comments or better yet find me on twitter again at andrew underscore osu and let me know what you think and stay tuned we'll have hands on with the real iphone 13s as soon as they are released you\n"