Users are frustrated with their iPhone 13 devices. | Image by PhoneArena
If your iPhone 13 has been acting up lately, you're not alone. According to various posts on different social platforms, the iPhone 13 series is beginning to show its age. The issues have left many users frustrated and thinking about upgrading, but there's one fix. First, let's talk about the issues.
The iPhone 13 series battery is starting to give up
Sadly, changing the battery requires special tools. | Image by iFixit
Our friends at Android Headlines have noticed several social posts as well as data from the Compare and Recycle site pointing toward battery issues on the iPhone 13 series.
These phones are now more than four years old, and Apple designed the iPhone 13 battery to retain up to 80% of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles, so no surprises here.
This translates to roughly two years of everyday charging, and frankly, lasting four years is a pretty decent result for the iPhone 13 battery.
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The iPhone 13 conundrum: Change the battery or upgrade to a new model?
Spike in "iPhone 13 battery" search query
The aforementioned comparison site Compare and Recycle has also noticed a spike in Google searches for the phrases "iPhone 13 slow" and "iPhone 13 battery" in the past year. These queries went up from 60% to the whopping 175%!
This suggests the lifecycle of the original iPhone 13 battery is ending, and there are two options ahead. iPhone 13 users could opt for a battery replacement or upgrade to a newer model altogether.
iPhone 13 battery replacement costs just $89
Swapping the battery is not that expensive but is it worth it? | Image by PhoneArena
Back to the main question - change the battery, or upgrade? That's not an easy question to answer, and the next piece of news doesn't make it any easier. Because the iPhone 13 issues aren't limited to the battery alone.
iPhone 13 devices are breaking after the latest iOS update
Various TikTok users have shared their frustration after what appears to be bricked iPhone 13 devices after the iOS 26.5 update.
According to Lee Elliott, mobile phone expert at Compare and Recycle, newer apps and games require a lot of processing power and internal memory and can push older phones to (and past) their limits.
With newer apps and iOS core updates requiring more processing power and memory, this can push an older device’s internal memory to its limit.
- Lee Elliott, mobile phone expert at Compare and Recycle
The iPhone 13 is expected to receive software updates until 2028, which is a good two years away, but a laggy software experience and degrading batteries could make people switch to a newer iPhone sooner rather than later.
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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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