Hmmm, I was planning on upgrading from the 12 Pro Max primarily for AI but this thread has me concerned...
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iPhone 17 to Feature 12GB RAM, Up From 8GB in iPhone 16 Models
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I'd hold fire if I were you. I only bought the 15PM last year because the RAM jumped up. I said generative AI tasks would see RAM becoming more essential at the time
Disabling some of the RAM would be a crappy thing for Apple to do and some tech sites will gladly point that out.
Okay Apple, you added more RAM. Now please allow 3rd party cloud apps to sync in the background, without requiring the app to be open.
Maybe Apple will do it like this with Apple Intelligence.
AI Basic - 8GB RAM required, free, mostly in the cloud, 15/15 Pro Max, 16, 16 Pro/Pro Max
AI Plus - 12GB RAM required, subscription, partially on device, 17/17 “Air”, 17 Pro/Pro Max
AI Premium - 16GB RAM required, subscription, fully on device, 18/18 “Air”, 18 Pro/Pro Max (the best one to get for AI so skip both the 16 and 17 lineup).
AI Basic - 8GB RAM required, free, mostly in the cloud, 15/15 Pro Max, 16, 16 Pro/Pro Max
AI Plus - 12GB RAM required, subscription, partially on device, 17/17 “Air”, 17 Pro/Pro Max
AI Premium - 16GB RAM required, subscription, fully on device, 18/18 “Air”, 18 Pro/Pro Max (the best one to get for AI so skip both the 16 and 17 lineup).
Whatever they do, we know each year they'll add new features that can mysteriously only run on the devices they released that month.
Well, they have to at least try to sell the phones. I’m spending $1000+ on a new phone I would like it for it to have some capability that my old phone doesn’t have. This is the main reason why I’m still using a 14PM.
So what AI tasks do you use your phone for? I’m not very knowledgeable on AI but all the things I’ve seen are done remotely through some sort of server.
iP17 will be a major upgrade, iP16 is just something to fill the gap (it should have been called 15s) and to bring iP15 AI capabilities to the non Pro models.
Btw I own a Pro model and it is overrated. Should have switched to a non Pro model instead - somehow I miss my old iP11 pro.
I get that to some degree, but it's not usually been the case with computers. Now that phones are similarly fully developed, there isn't much chance between iterations. This is normal with mature hardware. It's an unusual situation that after just one year iPhone 15 owners are being left out of most of the goodies from the new OS.
AI is involved in image processing and various bits and pieces for all of us- in the coming OS, LLMs will be utilised, and Apple promise a lot of processing will be done on device. It's more private and secure than running the services via a server. I'm curious how much the iPhones will be able to do without an internet connection. If it wasn't for the ambition to do the processing locally then there wouldn't be the same clamour for tons of extra RAM.
True but most people buy a new computer every 5 to 7 years. Phones have always had a shorter lifespan. I don’t think the average person that uses an iPhone is concerned about these goodies as much as people on here are. If you have to be bleeding edge, then you just buy a new phone every year.
I know some of the uses, but I mean what do you use it for on your phone now? If you bought a new iPhone just to beta test AI features in iOS 18 that seems a bit silly but I’ve done similar things when it comes to tech.
I feel like there is this trap people fall into where they think oh I need to buy this new device because it has magic fairy dust capability, but they don’t ever use the magic fairy dust. Kind of like how people have to buy that new phone just to get some feature that really isn’t that useful for their purposes.
Phones shouldn't need to have a shorter lifespan any more. Especially not once batteries can be more easily replaced. Thanks EU. Loss/theft/ridiculously priced replacement screens are all that needs limit phone longevity now.
I haven't downloaded a beta of the new OS, and as my partner works in the field of AI with real bleeding edge hardware, the AI goodies I get to play with are quite nice. I'm curious to see what local AI the new phones get. I don't think it's essential stuff by any means, but I like to buy tech I think will last a few years before being limited.
Realistically, most people can keep using the same iPhone for five years. It’s not a matter of lifespan, but new features. It’s kind of the same with people and computers. If you want the latest and greatest, you’re going to have to buy new. For example, a gamer that wants the latest graphics on his gaming laptop.
A good example of not needing to upgrade iPhones is me. I could still be on the iPhone 12 realistically. There’s nothing this phone does with the exception of slightly longer battery life then the iPhone 12 couldn’t do. I suspect the iPhone 16 won’t have any features that I consider necessary. I think many people buy a phone just because they get excited about something new. The same reason why I bought a new car because even though my current car was perfectly fine, I wanted new and shiny.
Affordable and convenient repairs is one reason why I stay with iPhone. When I had android phones, I had to call a number to claim damage on insurance and then they would mail a refurbished device to me. If I crack the screen on my iPhone, it’s $29 and is taken care of while I wait. I have a friend that has a Samsung phone and I’ve seen the crap she had to go through to get repairs to a screen and I don’t want to do that.
New features used to make people want new phones... AI aside, what else is there to entice people with a new phone? As I said, they're now mature. All the good ideas and possibilities are in one. It's faster than your laptop from 5 years ago, the GPU is better than it needs to be, the screens are great, they resist many drops, the cameras are good.... everything now will just be tiny iterative stuff. The days of cool new features arriving every year are over. AI is a one off.
If a new feature comes along that makes me want to replace my iPhone 15 Pro Max, great, but I can't see it happening for another 4 years or so. I'll probably replace the battery myself like I have with my other iPhones... fingers crossed nothing else breaks on it, but that'll probably be the inspiration to upgrade. The processor *should* be good for years, unless Apple find a way to wreck performance with OS upgrades, as they used to do back in the day...
I waited so many years to buy iPad Pro 13 inches M4 2024 LTE 1 TB(after almost 10 years gap) and Apple Watch Ultra 2 LTE 49mm(My First Apple Watch).
If you can resist yearly upgrades for years, you can definitely get a substantial and meaningful upgrades from Apple.
Prices in my region doesn’t allow yearly or even upgrades after 3 years.You could realize its value only after 5-6 years of use.
I agree, this has been true. But I don't see how it will continue to be true. At least the period of time will widen.
My previous comments about phones now being mature was exclusively about phones, but the same is true for tablets now too. Maybe 5 years ago they were not mature, but both now are. Meaningful upgrades will likely take more than 5 years- tell me, what do you think isn't currently good enough? Something that 'definitely needs improving'?
So long as we can replace batteries, the biggest enemies to longevity will be wear and tear, along with soldering. Think how much longer we could make our devices last if key comments weren't now unnecessarily soldered down.
My iPhone 15 Pro Max 512, Apple Watch Ultea 2 LTE 49mm and my iPad Pro 13 inches LTE 1 TB has everything I need for the foreseeable future. I don’t see any need for upgrades for 5 years minimum, unless some battery issue comes in my iPhone which I can fix it with a new battery replacement for $60-$70. Except for the RAM and OLED display, I really don’t see any big improvements in my iPad if I compare it with my 10-12 years old iPad that I had. Apple Watch Ultra 2 can run as long as it lasts, since Apple not going to bring any substantial health sensors that I am looking for.
Sounds like we are in agreement, then. 👍🏼 Well, except in comparison to a 10-12 year old iPad. I have one from that era, and it's been 💩 for 9 years, since I updated the OS- completely unusable. Which is a shame, because the screen is still better than the base iPad of today...
The next iPhone SE having 8gb of ram is going to be glorious. It also makes me wonder though, why would the average person pick a normal phone over that?
The next iPhone SE is the 1st iPhone to have the new Apple 5G modem instead of a Qualcomm modem. Until (and if) it is well validated, I would consider that a reasonable reason to be dubious of the iPhone SE4.