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drugdoubles

macrumors 6502a
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Jul 3, 2023
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17 Base has bigger main sensor than 13 pro but lack of 1 camera, while 17 Base is much faster but 13 Pro is still pretty smooth. What do you think?
 
It’s a significant upgrade over the 13 Pro. A phone is a phone though so it’s up to yourself to decide. I am currently running a standard 13 and it does everything perfectly fine with zero complaint. I am only interested in the 17 line because I can play AAA games on it.

The 19/19 Pro chip will be overkill for at least 90% of users who are only going to use the phone for web-browsing, social media, instant messaging and other similar menial tasks.
 
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17 Base has bigger main sensor than 13 pro but lack of 1 camera, while 17 Base is much faster but 13 Pro is still pretty smooth. What do you think?
The base 17 checks all of my boxes if I were to upgrade from my 14 Pro. A bit disappointed with the lack of the telephoto lens and would have preferred the higher speed USB-C port, but neither of those are dealbreakers to me and probably not worth the $300 up-charge for the 17 Pro. I really love the lavender color though.

My 14 Pro still runs like it's brand new, even on iOS 26. I ended up just getting a battery replacement for it this year and holding off for now on an upgrade.
 
It’s a significant upgrade over the 13 Pro. A phone is a phone though so it’s up to yourself to decide. I am currently running a standard 13 and it does everything perfectly fine with zero complaint. I am only interested in the 17 line because I can play AAA games on it.

The 19/19 Pro chip will be overkill for at least 90% of users who are only going to use the phone for web-browsing, social media, instant messaging and other similar menial tasks.

Would you feel any difference playing AAA games with 13 comparing to 17 series?
 
Isn't the Air £200 more than the standard 17? I am confused what it offers to warrant the price difference tbh, apart from a slightly faster processor, but the A19 is fast in its own right.

In stress test, Air is slower than 17 Base since Air gets hot too easily then speed locked.
 
Yes the first thing youll notice is how much better the speakers are compared to the 13 lol
 
I went the opposite route, switched from an iPhone 13 to a 17 Pro Max. Yes the screen is nicer and I am sure the camera is better and it is a little faster. But honestly there is nothing that is making me say this is so much better than the iPhone 13. Now my use is light for these phones, I went with this one simply for the bigger screen. There is nothing earth shatteringly different then the iPhone 13 in terms of how fast apps and YouTube videos open. I think they hit a ceiling a while ago for what is really noticeable in performance. I can't imagine how less I would notice a different had I had a Pro Max from the 13 up.
 
I went the opposite route, switched from an iPhone 13 to a 17 Pro Max. Yes the screen is nicer and I am sure the camera is better and it is a little faster. But honestly there is nothing that is making me say this is so much better than the iPhone 13. Now my use is light for these phones, I went with this one simply for the bigger screen. There is nothing earth shatteringly different then the iPhone 13 in terms of how fast apps and YouTube videos open. I think they hit a ceiling a while ago for what is really noticeable in performance. I can't imagine how less I would notice a different had I had a Pro Max from the 13 up.
I agree with you 100%. I would’ve stayed with my 15 Pro Max if it wasn’t for the radical new design of the Air.
 
I agree with you 100%. I would’ve stayed with my 15 Pro Max if it wasn’t for the radical new design of the Air.
what does the radical new design give you? Worse battery, worse camera? worse cpu? Well it is probably marginally better in the CPU part, but the pro chip they have in the Air runs slower than the base iPhone 17. I only upgraded because works past for my phone and I decided I wanted a bigger screen and this was the only option.
 
If you don't care about a telephoto lens, it should be a solid upgrade all the way around. And even if you do, the 17 gives you 2x zoom that Apple claims is "optical quality" b/c of the higher resolution that they're cropping into. It's a solid 2x, though - it works well.
 
I would consider it a pretty big upgrade. Bigger screen (though not that bigger), much better battery life, better newer promotion technology, and much improved cameras. Though you lack the telephoto lens on the iPhone 17, you go from 12MP on the 13 Pro, to 48MP on the 17.

So for me I would upgrade.
 
what does the radical new design give you? Worse battery, worse camera? worse cpu? Well it is probably marginally better in the CPU part, but the pro chip they have in the Air runs slower than the base iPhone 17. I only upgraded because works past for my phone and I decided I wanted a bigger screen and this was the only option.
Its radical design makes it lighter than just about any other phone. I like to wear slim fit jeans and blazers so it really helps.

But from a technical standpoint, the CPU is MUCH better than the 15 Pro Max. Even throttled it’s way faster than the 15 Pro Max at its best. And it doesn’t overheat as fast as the 15 Pro since the new CPU is much more efficient.

Also, the screen is a huge improvement. And few things impact usage more than the screen. It’s a lot brighter so it’s easier to see in the sun. PLUS, Apple did some kind of anti-reflective coating which makes it easier to use indoor when you are under bright lights. I love it!

And don’t get me started on the Camera. The big upgrade in quality is what made me upgrade. At the Apple Store I took pictures of myself with my 15PM and the new Air. The pics from the Air looked 10x better. I instantly upgraded.

The revolutionary new selfie cam with center stage is the cherry on top. I was at a rooftop lounge last night and whipped out my Air to take a pic with my friends. They were all amazed that the camera adjusted the picture to pull them into the pic without me having to move my arm away. Cool party trick!
 
I went from a 12pro to 17base, don’t miss the extra camera and the battery upgrade and screen are huge improvements.
 
I know this sounds rude, but why do you even ask this sort of thing.

Do we, as a society lack such basic reasoning that would lead us to the conclusion that replacing a four year old phone would be an upgrade?

This might be a case though of the OP just needing some sort of hand holding or validation. It’s a big purchase, I get that.
 
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I know this sounds rude, but why do you even ask this sort of thing.

Do we, as a society lack such basic reasoning that would lead us to the conclusion that replacing a four year old phone would be an upgrade?

This might be a case though of the OP just needing some sort of hand holding or validation. It’s a big purchase, I get that.

Four years old pro vs a new base have nothing wrong.
 
Do we, as a society lack such basic reasoning that would lead us to the conclusion that replacing a four year old phone would be an upgrade?

That’s not always a given. Some 4 year old flagship Android phones still beat newly released mid-range models.
 
I'm in exactly this boat and reading this thread with interest. The charging port on my 13 Pro has started to cut out intermittently/more frequently lately. E.g. it didn't charge at all last night and I woke up to a phone with 7% battery. And the Max Capacity is at 82%. However, this phone has been a faithful daily driver for me the last 4 years!

The other thing that gets me is the 12GB RAM in the 17 Pro vs 8GB RAM in the regular 17. I've heard people speculate that the Pros have more RAM because of the photos/videos they can take. Alternatively, one reviewer I watched pointed out that the new Air also has 12GB RAM and doesn't take anywhere near as computationally taxing photos/videos as the 17 Pro, so why would Apple put 12 GB RAM in that model and not the regular 17? They speculated it could have something to do with planned Apple Intelligence features that might tax an 8GB model. However, I've never cared about the RAM in my phone before, so why should I now?!
 
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