This is a strange year for iPhones. We normally update phones every 5 years. Since both my wife and I are on 13’s this is the upgrade year.
I normally buy a Pro and my wife the normal phone. Given the likely price increases this fall, I’m trying to think through the trade offs. Do I buy us both 17s? Or wait for 18s?
Pro
The RAM in the 17pro is 12GB, good enough for all of Apple Intelligence.
The big rumoured upgrade is variable aperture camera and maybe better sensor(s).
Unless I’m missing a compelling rumour I can live with out the variable aperture. (I do a lot of photography, I know what I’m giving up).
Gut feeling So the 17 Pro should be a buy for me.
Non Pro
This is the harder one to suss out. I don’t think MacRumours has a dedicated page for iPhone 18 yet, so clearly the rumours are harder to pin down.
Apple Intelligence Core Advanced requires 12GB of RAM. The plain 17 only has 8GB, however the rumour mill suggests that to cut costs the non Pro will ship with 9GB of RAM. So either no Core Advanced or they find a way to get to work in less RAM. (Given my understanding of the technology, this seems unlikely.)
What I can’t tell, what does she give up by not having a phone with Core Advanced? Relying on the server more often Apple Intelligence?
For 3 months, buying the 18 Pro, could save you having to upgrade more quickly in future. There’s a real chance that while you’re currently on a 5 year cycle with the acceleration of the software requirements, you’ll probably want to bring that forward to 3 years (if you’re lucky) and you want to stay on the latest OS with all features. Buying the 17 Pro could mean upgrading another year earlier than you’d like.
I understand that, but once that increase kicks in, Apple are unlikely to reduce the price again EVER.
If the intent is to keep which ever phone is chosen for up to 5 years, the extra money up front makes it far more likely that it will last longer from a software compatibility perspective.
Given that the 18 is likely the first iPhone model truly designed for Gen AI (these devices start their development journeys more than 2 years before release) 17 to 18 is an inflexion point and is therefore the 17 is far more likely to be cut off than the 18.
It might be my lack of imagination, but I can’t think of anything that would significantly raise the software requirements of my phone in the near future. I work on my iPad and my Mac. But I communicate, navigate, and use my phone to stay organized. And entertained /informed.
Increasing reliance on on-device AI models would be my guess. Remember, this is the company that released the iPhone 15 and the next year released features that wouldn’t work on that phone because they hadn’t put enough RAM in it.
I agree. And over five years, even $200 extra works out to like $3/month. It’s not exactly a crazy price hike if you’re actually benefitting from the features ans not just buying Pro because “I always buy the biggest and best.”
I’m looking forward to using Siri AI, but I’m only expecting 3rd party apps eventually getting the same AI functions as those that will ship with Apple apps.
I made the decision earlier this year to take the money I’d otherwise spend to replace my iPhone 15 Pro Max and buy a Ricoh GR IV. It tucks right into a jacket pocket or whatever bag I have with me and takes better photos than than an iPhone will. It is truly a delight to use.
In the current climate, I would say, buy for today not for 5 years time. There are no guarantees.
Apple has attempted AI before and it didn’t work. I doubt onboard AI will be anywhere near release ready for another couple of years. Having the latest just means you get the beta pains as Apple never releases a stable OS these days.
The 17 may end up being the last stable device before the AI versions are introduced and all the teething pains are ironed out.
I’ve got a 14 Pro (so, I think it’ll be four years old this September). It’s fine, but I do notice that since iOS 26 it’s had some problems. I wanted to keep riding with it for longer, but I think this might be there year that I either swap it out for a new model or but a new model and keep this 14 Pro as a continuity camera or some other use.
The challenge I have is that I can’t make decisions based on a future that might not happen. The only thing that is clear, prices will go up in September/Winter for the normal phone.
Beyond that none of the rest of this is clear.
Long term RAM and SSD prices - I expect that to fall back to earth after the AI bubble bursts/shrinks. Many of these data centres won’t get built. (Ed Zitron covers this well.)
@WayneG Like you, outside of AI Fairy dust I genuinely wonder what other compelling upgrades will make it worth upgrading again.
@krocnyc My non-iPhone solution OM System OM-1 isn’t quite pocketable - however I’m with you. Decent size sensor and real lens make a massive difference.
@Clarke_Ching Is Apple Intelligence good enough this time? Who knows. For a class of problems it is clearly better. It’s clearly not frontier grade, it may not even be good at tool usage. However, I don’t trust any of the frontier vendors with my Journals, training logs, health information etc.
If I can get Apple to help with anything a on personal level then I win. I consider the iPhone 17 Pro a solid bet for me.
@svsmailus I think the question is how long does it take Apple to figure this out.
Further research tells me the rumour mill thinks the 18 Pro will have 12GB of RAM. So for my perspective the 17 Pro is good enough. Update ordered this morning.
My plan, by the 17 Pro in Orange. It’s the right phone for me. My wife tries it and maybe it wins her over. Maybe I wait for another 8 weeks for the rumours to solidify more. In the Agile world we have a concept called the Last Responsible Moment: Last Responsible Moment
We can’t really know for sure what iPhones Apple will release in the Fall we can only speculate. What we do know is memory prices are very high and none of the chip makers I meet with for my work are giving me any forecasts that demand will drop and prices will decrease. This means eventually Apple will raise the prices on everything they sell, including last year’s iPhone. Electronics manufacturing is tough right now, much harder than the COVID19-effect.
I hear you. However, I decided to make a bet placed on the rumours. The leaks we hear now are close enough to reality, that I made my bet. iPhone 17 Pro for me today. 6-8 weeks for a decision point for my wife.