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.