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iPhone 13 Pro Max 13 Pro Max Crew: Upgrade this year or wait another year...

FlavorfulTreat

FlavorfulTreat

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 7, 2019
125
496
I'm coming up on four years with my 13PM. Just replaced the battery and camera module in May. The phone is still meeting my needs very easily, but I could be enticed by some awesome new features. Buuuuuuuut, I own this phone and it's still working great. So...

Where my 13PM crew? What would it take for you to upgrade?

Cheers!
 
I will upgrade if the standard iPhone arrives with an adaptive ProMotion AOD, otherwise, I'll wait another year in anticipation of a folding iPhone.
 
I’m waiting to see what features iPhone 17 brings to the table. Im not a huge fan of the redesign if the leaks are true.
 
My wife has had a 13 pro since launch. She's getting a 17 pro no matter how much she tells me no no don't bother
😌
 
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I believe I’ll be upgrading from my 13 Pro Max to the 17 Pro Max for these potential upgrades:
  • Lighter weight
  • 5,088 mAh battery (great amount so when you keep it long term and the battery wears down, you still have lots of buffer for good battery life)
  • 80% charge limit to maintain better battery health long term (Apple kept this from the 13 Pro Max)
  • Anti-reflective display
  • Brighter display (both typical + outdoors)
  • USB-c (can finally have just 1 cable for everything)
  • Smaller bezels, more immersive screen
  • 12gb RAM (great buffer for long term performance so future iOS updates don’t cause planned obsolescence)
  • Latest A19 chip with faster performance
  • Longer software support
  • Vapor chamber cooling
  • 5-8x telephoto camera
  • 48mp back cameras
  • 4 microphones for better audio recoding
  • Action mode recording
  • 24mp front camera
  • Matte metal frame (no shiny frame like 13 PM has with tons of fingerprints)
  • Reverse wireless charging
  • Dynamic island
  • Possible updated Siri or future AI tricks? (assuming this will be meh, but you never know 🤷🏻‍♂️)
We’ll see if these are true in the next few min… 😉
 
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I've got a launch 13 Pro Max with 86 percent battery health. It's been a reliable phone, but I'm tempted to purchase the new 17 Pro Max. I know the screen size on the new phone is larger, but it looks like the physical size may not be much different. I'm not clear on this. The 13 Pro Max is about as large a phone as I'd like. I like the lighter weight of aluminum. The steel frame 13 Pro Max is a bit heavy.
 
FlavorfulTreat said:
I'm coming up on four years with my 13PM. Just replaced the battery and camera module in May. The phone is still meeting my needs very easily, but I could be enticed by some awesome new features. Buuuuuuuut, I own this phone and it's still working great. So...

Where my 13PM crew? What would it take for you to upgrade?

Cheers!
Click to expand...
I would like to see this phone in person Friday, maybe Sat. I'm still undecided and honestly in no rush.

This launch day 13 Pro Max has been a great phone, still has "89% battery health" - although it does feel less than that TBH. I would love to have the camera upgrades - (waiting for Wednesday when the YouTube reviews of the new cameras, real World photo & video reviews, hopefully better video in dark situations) USB-C charge, hook and external SSD HD to this, etc. Lot of features released in the past 4 years this phone simply doesn't have.

I usually trade in the old phone for credit towards the new one, this is worth "$320" right now. I honestly would hate to give this 13 Pro Max up!
 
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placed a pre-order for an orange 17PM for in store pickup on 9/19
the 13PM has been solid, I'm at typically 50+% battery at end of day. but I'm excited for the 17PM as it will be improved and better in every aspect
 
I upgraded from the 13PM to the 17PM. Should be here Friday. Reasons are always based on the individual but for me the cameras, better battery life (I needed a replacement if I didn’t upgrade), USB-C (ready to clear lightening cables out of my house), the live translation feature with the APPs (I’ll get some use out of this), and emergency satellite feature are my main reasons. All in all the 13PM has been a great phone that made it hard to upgrade.
 
I’m torn between “upgrading” to the standard 17 for a lighter phone or just letting my 13PM battery health drop 2 more percent so I can get the battery replaced and see what next year’s lineup looks like. It depends on what reviews say about the 17 battery life and if the “I want a new phone” itch fades once the hype of new announcements wears off.

I don’t really like the aesthetic of the 17 Pro line at all, as much as I do like that they introduced a “loud” color. I’m hoping maybe this means we’ll finally get a pink Pro next year…and hopefully they’ll get rid of the weird panel design.
 
PhillyGuy72 said:
I would like to see this phone in person Friday, maybe Sat. I'm still undecided and honestly in no rush.

This launch day 13 Pro Max has been a great phone, still has "89% battery health" - although it does feel less than that TBH. I would love to have the camera upgrades - (waiting for Wednesday when the YouTube reviews of the new cameras, real World photo & video reviews, hopefully better video in dark situations) USB-C charge, hook and external SSD HD to this, etc. Lot of features released in the past 4 years this phone simply doesn't have.

I usually trade in the old phone for credit towards the new one, this is worth "$320" right now. I honestly would hate to give this 13 Pro Max up!
Click to expand...
I know damn well you are getting the orange one. GO FLYERS!
 
I'm holding out until the iPhone 20/Anniversary/2027.

The color is borderline pointless because I would use a case that would cover it, the camera upgrades aren't important enough to me, and the display is approximately the same, so the only "upgrade" would be the battery life.
 
PhillyGuy72 said:
I would like to see this phone in person Friday, maybe Sat. I'm still undecided and honestly in no rush.

This launch day 13 Pro Max has been a great phone, still has "89% battery health" - although it does feel less than that TBH. I would love to have the camera upgrades - (waiting for Wednesday when the YouTube reviews of the new cameras, real World photo & video reviews, hopefully better video in dark situations) USB-C charge, hook and external SSD HD to this, etc. Lot of features released in the past 4 years this phone simply doesn't have.

I usually trade in the old phone for credit towards the new one, this is worth "$320" right now. I honestly would hate to give this 13 Pro Max up!
Click to expand...
Agreed. I am going to see and hold the phone first. My 13PM has a new battery from Apple installed in May, so absolutely zero rush for me right now.
 
Looks like the 17 base battery life is indeed weaker than Apple's stats initially promised so I'm gonna stick with my 13PM, get a battery replacement once it degrades a little more, and hope next year finally brings a pink pro lol.
 
Eggtastic said:
I know damn well you are getting the orange one. GO FLYERS!
Click to expand...
LOL, no...Go Flyers (I hope!) But Orange is just not for me.
Again, if I upgrade...could be blue, maybe silver. Still have to see this in person.

Watching these unboxing videos this morning. That orange is VERY Orange, very strange two tone. For me, I simply don't like it. And DBranding whatever I get...a first for me... would be an option!

(Silver and Green - Go Birds!, Blue..with Red?? Go Sixers, umm, yeah
or better yet, Go Phillies!)

https://imgur.com/a/xnEC0TN
 
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I’m going 13PM to 17PM.

Chief reasons - better camera, AOD, usb-c, better performance, and all the accumulated little things. Also, for the sheer hell of it 😃

I checked out the Geekbench scores and - judging by the scores I found - the 17PM is about 60% faster in single/multicore, and a whopping 125% faster in GPU scores.

Having said all that, I honestly could easily have managed a couple more years with the 13PM, still works well and takes great photos….but I refer you back to “for the sheer hell of it”.
 
Still a bit on the fence. I shall wait for more in depth reviews. My 13PM battery is at 85% health. Which I find more than acceptable.

Though the 17PM has better cameras, longer lasting battery, and more RAM (help future proof it a bit). Not wild about the colors though. But will probably pick up the 13PM in the blue should I leap off the fence.
 
My 13 Pro Max at 89% is still running and looking beautifully. Been with VZ Business for twenty six years and they’re after me to upgrade phone. I told them what I want in exchange for loyalty, they’re dickering with me, I’ll be patient. Frankly, I like the cell reception especially in rural areas of Colorado and the West, that’s what keeps me with VZ. Let’s see what happens, in the meantime the 13 PM keeps rolling along. Btw, I learned not to chase any material thing… any more!
 
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I saw the new phones yesterday and, yeah they ran great in the store, lot of new features my trusty 13 Pro Max doesn't have...especially cameras. The LOOK of them, won't get into this old discussion. It's ok...not as horrific as I expected, especially the Silver. (Blue, which was the one I was eyeing...that didn't impress me)

BUT...I went to Apple Store and simply decided to just get a new battery for my 13 Pro Max, I just love this phone too much, it truly has been the best iPhone I've ever owned. It showed 89% health, but after Apple ran a "deep diagnostics" it was actually 81%. 🤷🏻‍♂️ I kinda figured that 89% was way off since it drained SO fast over the Summer..plus, it's been sitting at "89%" since January!

Anyway...I simply dropped the $ for the new battery. - should be finished in a few minutes actually. Sure I'll see a big improvement - compared to what I've had.

I'll see, that phone is running iOS 26, there will be a drain I'm sure with the older phone, guessing not as horrific.

Hell, I've been seeing posts on the new 17's with "battery drain"...so maybe an update will help this, new and older phones.
 
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