Google’s Pixel 6 and 6 Pro vs Apple’s iPhone 13 and 13 Pro

While we haven’t had our hands on the Pixel 6 long enough to compare how using the smartphone feels to an iPhone 13, we now have official specs from Google outlining its various hardware specs.

To keep things straightforward, I’m comparing the Pixel 6 ($799) and Pixel 6 Pro ($1,179) to the iPhone 13 ($1,099) and the iPhone 13 Pro ($1,399).

Here’s how the phone offerings from Apple and Google stack up against one another.

Screen

Both the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro feature a 6.1-inch OLED display with HDR and an ultra-sharp pixel density of 460ppi. The iPhone 13 series supports HDR and its display is very bright, though the iPhone 13 Pro’s screen is slightly brighter. It should be noted that only the iPhone 13 Pro features an adaptive refresh rate with a maximum of 120Hz. The regular iPhone 13 only features a 60Hz display refresh rate.

The Pixel 6 features a large 6.4-inch OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and a pixel density of 411ppi. The larger Pixel 6 Pro offers the largest 6.7-inch display (this is the same size as the iPhone 13 Pro Max) with a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz like the iPhone 13 Pro. The Pixel 6 Pro also has the sharpest screen out of all the phones with a density of 512ppi.

Both Pixel phones support HDR, so I’d expect their brightness to be very close to the iPhone 13 Pro’s, if not the same.

Rear cameras

Thanks to their larger sensors, the cameras are likely to be the main showdown between the Pixel 6 series and the iPhone 13 series.

The Pixel 6 features a 50-megapixel rear sensor that utilizes pixel binning to create a 12-megapixel image. It also offers laser detect autofocus and optical image stabilization (OIS). Its ultrawide sensor is a 12-megapixel shooter with a 114-degree field-of-view. Google hasn’t shared what lens equivalent this is, but it features some level of lens correction, so it should take flat images without a fisheye effect.

The iPhone 13 features two 12-megapixel sensors with optical image stabilization (OIS). One is a regular wide camera and the other is an ultra-wide. Regarding the types of cameras offered, both the Pixel 6 and the iPhone 13 seem very comparable.

The Pixel 6 Pro adds an extra 4x 48-megapixel telephoto camera to its rear, which is on par with the 3x 12-megapixel telephoto the iPhone 13 Pro features.

What is likely to set the phones apart is Apple’s reliance on low apertures and OIS, and Google’s creative use of all of its lenses at once. For instance, during its Pixel 6 reveal event, the company showed off a technique that snaps two images simultaneously with both cameras at different shutter speeds to add cool motion or blur effects to photos.

Front cameras

Once again, Apple is using 12-megapixel sensors on both the iPhone 13 Pro and the iPhone 13. On the other hand, Google built an 8-megapixel camera into the face of the Pixel 6 and added an 11.1-megapixel sensor to the Pixel 6 Pro.

One thing that we’ve noticed in the past at MobileSyrup is that selfie cameras typically struggle at taking accurate pictures of people with darker complexions. Google is working to fix that across all of its cameras this year, which could give its cameras an edge.

Battery + fast charge

• iPhone 13 —  3, 227 mAh
• iPhone 13 Pro — 3,095 mAh
• Pixel 6 — 4,614 mAh
• Pixel 6 Pro — 5,003 mAh

All of the smartphones feature wireless charging. The iPhone 13 can wirelessly charge slightly faster via MagSafe at 15W, and the Pixel 6 series can fast charge wirelessly on the new Pixel Stand at up to 23W

The iPhone 13 devices can also fast-charge at around 20w, while the Pixel 6 series can take 30W through a wire.

While these numbers look like they should last a lot longer than the iPhone in actual day-to-day usage, Apple’s devices are typically less power-intensive and better optimized. This is another spec that can’t be compared until I get my hands on the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 6.

Water/dust resistance

All four devices are IP68 rated, ensuring they can survive under water at up to six meters for 30 minutes.

Security/biometrics

The Pixel 6 series features an in-display fingerprint sensor, while the iPhone 13 still relies on Face ID authentication.

Speed

Inside the Google’s Pixel 6 devices are running the first Google Tensor chip. While I expect it to be quite powerful, there’s no way of comparing it to the iPhone 13’s A15 chip without going hands-on with the device.

That said, Google says that its Pixel 6 series is more powerful than the Pixel 5, so I’d suspect that users won’t notice any performance drops with the smartphones.

Closing thoughts

When it comes down to it, both of these devices are likely to remain relatively comparable. Where I see each company taking the advantage is, of course, when it comes to software.

Google has Android 12 and ‘Material You,’ plus several excellent camera features like ‘Magic Eraser,’ ‘Motion Mode,’ better dictation recognition, faster real-time translations and more.

Apple, on the other hand, continues to coast along with the power of its hardware/software ecosystem, keeping people locked into using its generally very reliable smartphones.

We’ll have a more hands-on comparison regarding the performance of the Pixel 6 and iPhone 13 series in the coming weeks.