iphone 13 pro - is it worth it for ARKit devs?

You could also look at buying a used 13 pro or 12 pro, since both of them have LiDAR scanners and would be cheaper than a new 13 pro. AR apps are pretty power intensive due to all the algorithms that need to run, so having a phone with a more powerful chip can allow you test those apps at a higher frame rate for longer. LiDAR also improves the world and depth tracking in your app, so it can lead to a slightly better testing and iteration experience, but it’s certainly not necessary. However, some features like people occlusion and height estimation are much better with LiDAR, so if you want to develop an app using those features you will probably want to upgrade (see here under Discover more ARKit features). For what it’s worth, I work on RealityKit and I only have an 11 pro for testing, so you should be fine with what you have 😁.