It's almost September, which means we'll almost certainly see both an iPhone 16 and a GoPro Hero 13 Black land soon – and a huge leak has just revealed what we can look forward to seeing in GoPro's latest flagship action cam.
A long thread by the ever-reliable GoPro and DJI leaker @Quadro_News on X (formerly Twitter) appears to reveal several photos of the Hero 13 Black, plus many of its potential new specs and features.
So what's new? Firstly, it looks like GoPro has slightly tweaked the action cam's design by including a grill on the front of the camera and seemingly making its body slightly taller.
The reason for the latter could be to facilitate a higher-capacity battery, which the leaks suggest has been boosted to 1,900mAh (up from 1,720mAh). This will apparently let the Hero 13 Black shoot over three hours of 1080/30p video or 90 minutes of 4K/30p or 5.3K/30p footage.
👉While @DJIGlobal gets its act together! We'll discuss its GoPro competitor with the new GoPro Hero13 camera. Part 1#GoPro #GoProHero13 pic.twitter.com/vYmtfYIsspAugust 29, 2024
Thirdly, there appear to be some new Lens Mod accessories. One of those will seemingly be a Macro lens, while another will be an Ultra Wide Lens. It isn't clear how the latter differs from the existing Max Lens Mod (which similarly offers a 177-degree field of view for extra-strong stabilization), but according to the leaked packaging there does also appear to be an Anamorphic lens option.
Anamorphic lenses help you shoot videos with cinematic aspect ratios like 2.40:1, while adding desirable halo and flare effects. It's been possible to buy third-party anamorphic lenses before, but a GoPro-made one would be interesting – particularly if it combines with a fourth leaked Hero 13 feature that's on the packaging called 'Lens Mod Auto-Detection'. That suggests the action cam will automatically choose the right aspect ratio or settings based on the Mod you attach.
Unfortunately, there's no sign of a sensor upgrade for the Hero 13 Black, but the packaging does hint at a couple of other potential spec upgrades. There's the ability to shoot HLG HDR video, which should help your footage look more natural on HDR displays, plus the promise of "enhanced audio", although that may be referring to the option of connecting it to external mics.
Lastly, a separate leaked image has backed up previous rumors that the Hero 13 Black will be joined by a new, affordable sibling that'll simply be called the GoPro Hero. We still don't have any idea of pricing or a release date for either, but given the Hero 12 Black launched on September 13 last year, we likely don't have long to wait.
What hasn't changed?
👉How much better will the Action 5 Pro be than the GoPro Hero13. Part 2#GoPro #GoProHero13 pic.twitter.com/hGOAm68VsrAugust 29, 2024
While a previous GoPro Hero 13 Black leak has suggested that the action cam will also get a DJI-style magnetic mounting system, these new leaks also suggest that a lot hasn't changed.
Like the Hero 12 Black, it seems the new flagship GoPro will have HyperSmooth 6.0 image stabilization (which we've found to be excellent) and shoot videos in the same resolutions and frame-rates as before (5.3K/60p and 4K/120p).
Combined with the "27MP photos" listed on the packaging, this suggests the Hero 13 Black will have the same sensor as before – which may disappoint those hoping for a new larger 1-inch sensor.
Still, the new battery and Lens Mods could be enough to tempt some GoPro fans to upgrade, and the new GoPro Hero model certainly looks intriguing for those on a budget. The world's best action cameras like the Insta360 Ace Pro may have beaten GoPro to specs like 8K video, but the Hero series remains popular thanks to their ease-of-use and wide range of accessories.
We're looking forward to seeing how the Hero 13 Black compares to the leaked DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro when both launch soon – and also hopefully hearing more about the long-awaited GoPro Max 2, too.
