iPhone 12 Pro Buying Strategy Advice?

[UPBaylor]

Asking for help in maximizing value. I have an iPhone 8 and have been cruising along just fine, but my wife and kid's iPhone 12 Pro and 12 became tempting back in the spring, but by then, I thought I may as well wait on the 13's. I was also hoping to get a phone with a fingerprint reader and perhaps USB 3. Now that most of the specs seem to be known and it won't include my desired features, I'm thinking the better value might be to only upgrade to the 12 with plans to make another jump when they release a phone with the features I want. So, what strategy would you use with these thoughts? If the price savings between a 12 and 13 is only going to be $100 or something, I'll just wait for the 13 to get the latest.

Normally, I go 2-4 years between upgrades and we always just pay up front for the unlocked versions, FWIW.

An alternative is to just keep my 8 for another year, but the pics my family takes on their 12's are just so much better and this is the first time I've ever had the camera be a motivation for upgrading.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

I could very well be wrong, but I’ve read several places the speculation is that Apple will retire the 12 series. If that’s true, I’m not sure there’ll be a $100 price drop unless some third party store offers one. Guess we will find out in a week.

 

[TechLord]

Assuming the 12 stays along and is discounted it could be a very competitive upgrade for you. The standard 13 based on rumours doesn’t seem to be offering anything amazing camera wise, just iterative performance upgrades. I feel like getting the 12 or going all out and getting the 13 pro for its fancy camera features would be good options. Wise to wait for next week though, apple could have some surprises lined up; part of me still thinks the regular 13 could have some upgrades apple has kept hidden from leakers this time around because it just all sounds too underwhelming (wishful thinking perhaps).

Either way the 12 is a solid upgrade camera wise over the 8 so you can’t go wrong.

 

[UPBaylor]

Thanks for the replies thus far!

Here's another option I'm considering. Let's assume the 14 has all the bells and whistles I want. If I were to go ahead and get either the 12 Pro or 13 Pro, what's the best strategy to upgrade to the 14 from one of those with Apple such that it costs me the least based on the way things operate currently? FWIW, I'm not interested in doing a semi-private sale like through Swappa or Ebay or something. Easy of transaction for the least cost is my goal. I'm trying to guess at my extra cost to upgrade both this year and next.

Interesting points about the 12 potentially being retired. If that happens, it seems like that's Apple's way of pretty much admitting that the 13 is a very minimal upgrade. It will simply be the 12 extended unless they have some surprises not leaked. Pretty much what they did with the latest release of Apple TV.

 

[CMoore515]

At this point we're probably 10 days away from 13 series phones being available for preorder.

If it was me, regardless of it being a perceived "S" year, I'd still wait because not only would the 13 be a big improvement/jump for you being an 8 user. But getting the 13 would mean an extra year of software updates/support.

FWIW, the 12 Pro series will probably be what's retired. I expect them to finally discontinue the XR and let the 11 slide to that price point, the 12 into the 11's, etc.

 

[Closingracer]

Thanks for the replies thus far!

Here's another option I'm considering. Let's assume the 14 has all the bells and whistles I want. If I were to go ahead and get either the 12 Pro or 13 Pro, what's the best strategy to upgrade to the 14 from one of those with Apple such that it costs me the least based on the way things operate currently? FWIW, I'm not interested in doing a semi-private sale like through Swappa or Ebay or something. Easy of transaction for the least cost is my goal. I'm trying to guess at my extra cost to upgrade both this year and next.

Interesting points about the 12 potentially being retired. If that happens, it seems like that's Apple's way of pretty much admitting that the 13 is a very minimal upgrade. It will simply be the 12 extended unless they have some surprises not leaked. Pretty much what they did with the latest release of Apple TV.

Well I can guarantee you won’t be getting any USB type C or 3.0 support. With how hard they are pushing wireless charging with MagSafe and the fact there isn’t an option to date I would bet a port less phone comes and we skip any news ports

 

[ark1074]

Im in the same situation, trying to move to iOS and trying to decide whether to buy iPhone 12 pro max or wait for iPhone 13. Will wait for deals on iPhone 12

 

[ian87w]

Thanks for the replies thus far!

Here's another option I'm considering. Let's assume the 14 has all the bells and whistles I want. If I were to go ahead and get either the 12 Pro or 13 Pro, what's the best strategy to upgrade to the 14 from one of those with Apple such that it costs me the least based on the way things operate currently? FWIW, I'm not interested in doing a semi-private sale like through Swappa or Ebay or something. Easy of transaction for the least cost is my goal. I'm trying to guess at my extra cost to upgrade both this year and next.

Interesting points about the 12 potentially being retired. If that happens, it seems like that's Apple's way of pretty much admitting that the 13 is a very minimal upgrade. It will simply be the 12 extended unless they have some surprises not leaked. Pretty much what they did with the latest release of Apple TV.

I believe it's already well established that the 13 will be practically a "12S." There were even rumors that that will be the name, not 13. It's also why imo Apple would just discontinue the whole 12 lineup. If not, the lower priced 12 will be seen as a much better deal than the 13, having the same design and 5G. This move will also avoid Apple having to drop prices. Win for Apple.

 

[oikos]

Thanks for the replies thus far!

Here's another option I'm considering. Let's assume the 14 has all the bells and whistles I want. If I were to go ahead and get either the 12 Pro or 13 Pro, what's the best strategy to upgrade to the 14 from one of those with Apple such that it costs me the least based on the way things operate currently? FWIW, I'm not interested in doing a semi-private sale like through Swappa or Ebay or something. Easy of transaction for the least cost is my goal. I'm trying to guess at my extra cost to upgrade both this year and next.

Interesting points about the 12 potentially being retired. If that happens, it seems like that's Apple's way of pretty much admitting that the 13 is a very minimal upgrade. It will simply be the 12 extended unless they have some surprises not leaked. Pretty much what they did with the latest release of Apple TV.

Here's an option that I've been thinking about lately: if you always want the latest camera features, buy either the unlocked 12Pro or the 13Pro from Apple on their "Upgrade" program, paying ~$50/mo for a year, then trade-in and get the 14Pro next September, for another ~$600 for a year... I haven't done this yet myself, always going 2-3 years (3g>4s>5s>6s>7s>X), but I'm seriously thinking about it now that there are 3 lenses and I've heard very good things about photos from friends with the 12ProMax, one even using it for underwater video.

 

[Roadster Lewis]

At this late stage I would wait and see the price/availability after the 13 is launched. I managed to get my 12 Mini with £75 off a few months ago. And my Dad recently bought a 12 Mini (ignoring my advice to wait).