Exactly. Little has changed in terms of day to day functionality of high end smartphones since the 14 pro and pro max included a 48 megapixel camera, 2000 nit screen brightness, emergency SOS satellite calling, Dynamic Island and always on display. There is almost no point upgrading for a few years if one currently has a good condition 14, 15 or 16 pro. After having a 14 pro and now a 14 pro max, they’re so solid and reliable that the next iPhone pro I buy will likely just be second hand. An ‘as new’ reconditioned 2 year old iPhone 14 pro max 256gb with 100% battery currently goes for less than the price of a new 16e 256gb and considerably less than a standard 16. Unless more people start to discover reconditioned phones, or if there is an (unexpected) generational leap in ‘must have’ tech, in a few years I’ll just pick up an ‘as new’ 17pm for $1k NZD and call it good.Nothing is worth waiting for if your current phone needs to be replaced. That being said, current smartphone innovations have been such a snoozefest you'd hardly notice a major difference that'll justify the price.
Let's not forget many of these "rumours" are just created for us to be continiously hyped by the Apple machine. I've literally lost count how many of these features ended up being in iPhones 1-2 generations from the initially rumored generation. Yes, it's that dumb.