I had the fortune to be asked yesterday to take part in this week’s live recording of the PC Pro podcast, during which I reviewed the iPhone 13 Pro.

The conclusion – it’s a hot phone with relatively iterative updates, a lot of which I’m not bothered about. Essentially, if you have a recent iPhone, it’s probably not worth upgrading for most people.

It was during this that Jon Honeyball argued that these features aren’t meant for the masses, as that’s why this is a “Pro” phone – if those professional features aren’t something I need, why not buy the standard iPhone model?

And that got me thinking.

And I realised that, actually, no, I was right to buy the Pro.

The features that I mentioned weren’t relevant to me were the Cinematic video mode and the Pro Motion display. The former because I have no intention of shooting arty movie videos anytime soon. The latter because I don’t notice the difference, but there’s a good chance that’s just me (I’m sure my eyes only refresh at 50Hz).

But, then, look at the standard iPhone. It doesn’t have Pro Motion but it does have Cinematic mode (so much for Jon’s theory that this is targeted at professionals). It has lesser quality cameras, including a lack of optical zoom. Its battery is smaller too and the screen isn’t as bright (not so good for viewing outdoors). None of these “improvements” on the Pro suggest features only needed by a professional, so the messaging here is confusing and certainly not consistent with Jon’s view.

If the iPhone 13 was a lot cheaper than the equivalent Pro the loss of these might be more palatable. But it’s not. It’s 20% cheaper. If you’re using the iPhone Upgrade Programme, which I am, then that equates to a few pounds difference per month. I think I’ll stick with the Pro.