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If the rumors are true, then I won't be buying the 18 and I'll stick with my 16 for another year✌️
 
This is good news. The gap between the standard and Pro iPhones is ridiculously small.

Now the Pro will feel like a real pro again! Pro Power!
 
Don’t forget the stereo speakers of 17 and 17e, so to match 17 that Air 2 will also need to fit another speaker in.
While as a user of the iPhone Air I sympathize with this as an absolute issue, I don’t think that Apple cares. They have downgraded the speakers in their products before and called it new, the 2024 iPad Pro has worse speakers than the 2018-2022, the M2 through M5 MacBook Air all have worse speakers than the M1 MacBook Air.
At the end of the day, they will either fix the problem with the second generation, or they will ignore it.
 
The 17PM has been a solid phone for me and my needs. The battery alone made the upgrade worth it. Seems in the future the nicest features will be locked behind new mystical “ultra” names that come with significant $$$ hikes. I’ll probably keep the 17PM for quite a few years with these trends.

Seems like the window to buying both affordable & nice tech is rapidly closing this year.
 
If Steve was still here we would only had
iPhone mini (a smaller version of the flagship)
iPhone (flagship model)
iPhone classic (iPhone SE style with Home button)
The fold would be a different category probably. Something like iBook.
You don’t have a single clue what Steve’s iPhone line in 2026 would look like, this is such a silly argument.
In late 2008 there were literally five different MacBook designs officially available from Apple, under Steve Jobs.
In 2004-2005 there were four different versions of the 4th generation iPod, all with completely different feature sets, some which were introduced then discontinued in a matter of months.
Even as early as 1999, Steve was introducing the iMac, the iMac DV and the iMac DV Special Edition, all at different price points, all with different specifications.

The idea that Steve wouldn’t have eventually diversified the lineup isn’t just literally the opposite of what he did, but it also is literally betrayed by internal emails from the man himself back from 2009-2010 where he is talking about wanting to introduce an “iPhone 4+”, an “iPhone 4S” and an iPhone based off of parts from the iPod Touch. The man clearly wanted to expand the lineup, just like he did with the iPod, iPod Mini, iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Color, iPod hi-fi, iPod Touch…
 
I predict that instead of increasing phone sales by doing 100 iPhones they will just spread their sells among all the iPhones. Then the Ultra will flop line the VP and the standard model will move back to September when its all set and done.
Yeah, if word gets out that the 18 and 18e are identical except for camera or something, it's quite possible you end up with a lower average sale price. Unless this is Apple's way of lowering the price (by making the 18e good) without a price drop on the regular iphone, because of the economy.
 
iPhone XX might be somewhat fresh and interesting, otherwise I see no real incentive to upgrade from the excellent iPhone 17.
I'm a former Pro Max user that kept trying to convince myself in past years that I would use some of the pro features like the better cameras, etc... but at the end of the day I realized the only "Pro" feature that actually mattered to me was the screen. This made the iPhone 17 a no brainer and I ended up buying a Ricoh GR IIIx for high quality pocket camera carry.

I'll love to see what the iPhone XX brings tech wise but there would likely be no logical reason for me to get one.
 
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I wouldn't be surprised if they just got rid of the base model just like the OG MacBook
lol that would be funny since they just introduced the NEO guess they can’t decide. My guess is chasing the bottom line we will all see plastic phones in the near future
 
It sounds to me like they're going to get rid of the 'e' line - premium phones in September (Pro, Air, Ultra/foldable), then the base model in spring, with the base model now sharing more of the "budget" components that the 'e' line currently has.
 
The idea that Steve wouldn’t have eventually diversified the lineup isn’t just literally the opposite of what he did, but it also is literally betrayed by internal emails from the man himself back from 2009-2010 where he is talking about wanting to introduce an “iPhone 4+”, an “iPhone 4S” and an iPhone based off of parts from the iPod Touch. The man clearly wanted to expand the lineup, just like he did with the iPod, iPod Mini, iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Color, iPod hi-fi, iPod Touch…
I never said he wouldn’t divide the line up. As I wrote he would have done it but in a way that would make sense. The e mails were probably thoughts he had on how to do it not real products.

The 4s ended up being the successor of the 4 because he probably thought its a stupid idea to do a 4s along side the flagship. Each iPod had different use cases and functionalities. In 2011 it was the iPod nano, iPod shuffle, iPod classic and iPod touch. What is the big difference between iPhone E, iPhone, iPhone Air that justifies so many models? Nothing. Its the same thing with the only purpose to fill each price bracket.

The iPhone line up is currently a bunch of crippled iPhones and the flagship iPhone.
 
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iPhone 17 base gang here. Knew it was too good to be true when I got it. Had the top tier line (X, Pro, etc) forever and didn't think twice about getting the base 17 especially since no black in 17 Pro. It's too good for $799. Apple appears to have realized it haha
Ding ding ding.
 
The cycle with Apple doing this happens every few years, not a big deal. If people remember they gimped the 14 and 15.
 
If you're going to gimp the 18 that badly why have an 18e then just drop it.

I'm disapointed about this though as I don't get pro phones I prefer the regular models as there aren't that many drawbacks over the Pro.
 
If you're going to gimp the 18 that badly why have an 18e then just drop it.

I'm disapointed about this though as I don't get pro phones I prefer the regular models as there aren't that many drawbacks over the Pro.
Why not buy a 17 now and you'll be set for a few years? Then in 3-4 years the non pro models won't be gimped again. Its just a cycle Apple does. When too many people buy the non pro models this is what apple responds with.
 
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Welp, this is lame.

This hear I recommended the iPhone 17 to all my friends/family. I guess for the next few years the advice will be “wait another 3-5 years before you upgrade”.

Mist people don’t need a $1200 phone, nor do they want to lug around all the extra weight of a “Pro” phone.
 
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