Serious Photography Question for PRO vs Regular iPhones

[swandy]

I have a iPhone 12 (not the PRO version) and decided this year to listen to all the messages I am getting from Apple that I am entitled to an upgrade. I can either get the 13 now, wait for the 14 release to get the 13 presumably a bit cheaper or just dive in for the 14.
But my question is (for people who really enjoy still photography - my interest in video is relatively small): Is the improvements of the PRO versions vs the regular models (I have never had or used a PRO version) really impressive/important if you really love photography? I have several "real" cameras and even on our last few trips I left my DSLRs at home and just took my iPhone and a small Sony digital camera and really didn't miss the larger camera and lenses.
While I prefer the size of the non-Max phones - the increase in the cost is not a deal breaker for me. (I also read people "complaining" about the weight of the PRO version being noticeable, but I will assume they are referring to the larger versions of the PRO camera.)
Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[tizeye]

I debated that when updating to a 12 and the cost difference wasn't an issue as was getting the 12 free (T-Mobile promotion credits monthly payment back and 8 more remaining), but the big advantage of the Pro, to me was a disadvantage. Like you, I have higher end DSLR and a more compact camera, and typically shoot in RAW. I didn't want the massive RAW files on an iPhone which mandates higher memory requirement, when the standard files are perfectly sufficient for my needs. The fact that it stayed close to my old 6s was an additional benefit. Hopefully T-Mobile has a similar promotion 8 months from now and can roll to a new phone for free, but I will have the temptation to go Pro - depending on what features are in the next generation phone. While you note not into video, neither was I at the time but gradually expanding. The one feature that could push me to Pro, based on current model features, is video stabilization, that is missing in the non-pro.

As I recall, there was an online comparison of features and between the two phones three or four differences other than physical size. The real question is...do you need any of those three or four features, or can you live without them.

As I side note, the way I engineered the free phones for wife and self is legendary playing the phone company games of gaining market share from competitors while not extending to existing customer. T-Mobile offer the free deal to new customers only, so I left them to AT&T who offered $250 each Bring Your Own Phone (Verizon was more lucrative but had to spend at Verizon store). After 2 or 3 months (forget number of days) considered "new customer" when returning to T-Mobile and eligible for the promotion. Neither wife's original SE nor my 6s qualified for the full refund to cover the cost of the 12, as 8 was the oldest model fully covering the 12. Used some of that AT&T cash to purchase 2 refurb 8's off Ebay for $100 each to "trade in" for the $700 credit.