iPhone 17 Pro I tried to pull the trigger on 17 Pro and couldn't

[IIGS User]

The reason I am not upgrading is I can't afford it this year. I am sure it's a great phone. I have an iPhone 16 PM

I have a 16PM and ultimately decided to punt on the upgrade as well for various reasons. One being I just laid out over $2K for a new 16" MBP which I wanted more than a new phone. I'm happy with that move. I could upgrade to the 17PM through Verizon and pay$200+ activation to do it if I send the old phone back. I usually would scrounge up the $200 and make it happen but right now I'm just not feeling it. So I'll stick to my gut. The 16PM still has 100% battery capacity after a year of use (which really surprises me. I'm sure someone will call BS on this line, but this is what my system settings say) and I have it covered under AppleCare so I didn't see the point.

At first the orange color of the 17PM was a "WTF" moment when I saw it. I was like how hideous is that! In the past week it's grown on me and now I want it. Alas, it's sold out right now. So for now I'll keep the 16PM and keep paying my VZW contract down. When I hit 50% in about 6 months the 17PM's will be plentiful and I will be able to upgrade for nothing out of pocket. So maybe I become the guy who updates mid product cycle for now.

I suppose it's wants and needs. I would like to go get a 17PM in orange right now. I have spent my money on other things I thought were better off chasing my money (my old MBP was an M1 and I wanted a bigger screen). My 16PM is still a great phone and does all the latest stuff. So I'm good for now.

But for some reason that orange got its hooks in me and I can't explain why. Only thing I own that's orange is stuff with "Philadelphia Flyers" written on it.

 

[Performa 6300]

So I wanted to get my hands on the new 17 Pro with the intention of buying one in the Silver color. I picked one up in the Apple Store and honestly it felt pretty much the same as my 13 Pro (size & weight). If it weighed a little less that would have been a plus. Better camera?... sure but then again I don't take 48 megapixel photos on a day to day basis and probably wouldn't anyway and I don't care about 8X optical zoom vs my 4X which is plenty for me.
All in all I was very under impressed with the new 17 offering, especially now with the scratchgate issues.
My 13 Pro, which by the way looks almost brand new with not a single scratch still has 84% battery life.....
I will look forward to the 18 series next year.....

I just got the 17 Pro Max, was upgrading from a 12 Pro Max and it's night and day for me. It's a better phone across the board but my expectations for tech may be more grounded than others. Marketing is both a blessing and a curse for companies and sometimes will set the bar too high for consumers.

We're at the point of diminishing returns with this tech, the phone can only be so fast before it doesn't matter, the screen can only be so good until you can't tell the difference and the camera can only get so good until you don't really notice or need it, etc,etc,etc . The battery life still has room to grow as does the software but hardware wise for the most part these phones are at a point where they're so good that most people aren't going to notice or need it and that includes 12-17.

Moving forward, getting the new iPhone every year or two won't be a thing for most people and Apple knows this, it's why they've branched out to watches/VR/speakers/etc.

 

[jntdroid]

…I suppose it's wants and needs…

Great point. I mean, isn’t all this ultimately about that? And people will have different wants and needs based on their situation and what they like or don’t like. And I hate to break it to forum goers (myself included), but it’s possible that regardless of how objectively “better” you might think something is, there’s going to be some personal bias on both sides of that discussion, it’s inevitable.

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

So I wanted to get my hands on the new 17 Pro with the intention of buying one in the Silver color. I picked one up in the Apple Store and honestly it felt pretty much the same as my 13 Pro (size & weight). If it weighed a little less that would have been a plus. Better camera?... sure but then again I don't take 48 megapixel photos on a day to day basis and probably wouldn't anyway and I don't care about 8X optical zoom vs my 4X which is plenty for me.
All in all I was very under impressed with the new 17 offering, especially now with the scratchgate issues.
My 13 Pro, which by the way looks almost brand new with not a single scratch still has 84% battery life.....
I will look forward to the 18 series next year.....

That’s called coping friend. You made every excuse to try and not justify it. Going from a 13 Pro to 17 Pro is a good upgrade.

 

[GuruZac]

I tried to pull the trigger in the 17 Pro Max, and it was too easy, so I did. I personally love the new more industrial design philosophy. Better cameras front and back, amazing battery, brighter display, faster charging, much better cooling and less screen dimming, 12GB of RAM. From 15 Pro Max, easy decision.

 

[aevan]

I just read the title of the post and immediately thought, it would be so good if the actual content was: "....because my wife wouldn't let me." And that's it, the post ends there.

 

[digitalcuriosity]

For me it's if the 17 Pro is a much better phone all around then my 15 Pro i sure did not like what i was reading about the 16 Pro, so now the question for me is how good is the 17 Pros all around not just the cameras or the battery but how well it works in general.

 

[Herr Podspro]

You know, I still have yet to really use either. I think, at least for me. Camera control is much more cumbersome to use. But it is very nice to open the camera every now and then. I still catch myself using the lock screen mostly though.

The action button for me is just used to turn off the ringer. I know I should set it up for other things. I just, I don’t have the motivation. lol

You’re absolutely right about the action button. I have set it up for the ringer too, because I hate the camera shutter sound when taking pictures or screenshots in public.
That’s why I think the camera button is nice to open the camera, because I’d like to use the action button to open the camera as the on screen buttons and gesture aren’t too reliable in low power mode or with wet or dirty fingers.

 

[Herr Podspro]

For me, going from 13 Pro to 15 Pro, the camera quality went down the toilet because of the forced bokeh effect that surrounds the centre of the shot. This severely downgraded the qulity of my scans, and I use my iPhone to scan documents regularly.



This may be the biggest difference between the two. For me, it's a huge change to not have to take out my lightning connector for this one device, as I can charge it with any USB-C cable we have. Charging can be a nuissance, which I am seeing as now fewer of my devices are lightning.



Another thing I value quite a bit now, whereas before getting the 15 Pro I didn't want to use the Dynamic Island. It's very useful and I have stuff on there quite often. I'd even go so far as to say that when Apple finally removes all hardware obstacles and gives us a clean display, I hope they keep the Dynamic Island as a software option that we can toggle on.

So I generally agree with what you wrote, but there are these details that can matter a lot.

Today, after having used my 15 Pro for 18 months, if I were to go back in time and choose again whether to upgrade, I would do it for two reasons mainly - USB-C and more RAM. But I never stop regretting the loss of stainless steel, that one hurts.

I think you’re unconsciously using the ultra wide for the scans.

 

[zkap]

I think you’re unconsciously using the ultra wide for the scans.

the Lens app automatically uses the lens that was used in the Camera app, so no. This is the most polite way that I can reply to something like this.