iPhone 11 Upgrade from iPhone 11 to 15 Pro or Wait for 16 Pro

[TravelingTothless]

It feels like I am at a bit of a cross roads here.

I do photography, so I generally have not gone for the pro models as I have my DSLR with me most vacations and for work of course. However the iPhone 15 Pro, coming from a 5 year old iPhone 11 has me intrigued. (I've already had to change the battery on my 11 once, got it back in 2019.)

Looking back at my photos from a trip to Florida has me disappointed with the 11's camera, day time photos were okay enough, but night time with fireworks or photos front of some iconic parks and night time beach photos... not so much. My friend had the 13 Pro on that trip, and her photos turned out so much better.

I am heading back to FL later this Spring and I am debating on just taking the plunge and upgrading to the 15 Pro in April, I don't plan to bring a DSLR into any amusement parks this time due to a number of reasons, but it would be nice to have decent photos that I if I want to, I can print and frame on my desk or put into a scrapbook of the trip.

At the same time, WWDC was just announced today, and we all know there's always exclusives to every new iPhone and that's a never ending cycle of ios updates, but being at mid cycle, that makes the choice to upgrade harder. Buy via carrier at a sale that's currently on (and get the 1tb vs 512), or keep saving and wait for the 16 Pro and hope to buy it direct from Apple.

Thoughts?

 

[Lerten]

Hey,

I've upgraded from 13 mini to 15 Pro and the difference in photo quality is substantial, so I'd assume youre in for a treat with 11->15 Pro upgrade.

When it comes to timing; I think the typical advice is: get what you need when you need it without paying much attention to the rumor mill (especially in mid-cycle, obviously it's different a week or two before the keynote), you'll be happy either way. Plus I have a feeling that, since you've already started noticing something that clearly bothers you about your current iPhone, it'll only get worse as months go by.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I agree, upgrade at your convenience - not Apple's. The iterative difference from model to model (11 > 12, 12 > 13, etc) is minimal, and I expect 15 > 16 to follow that trend.

But 11 > 15 offers significant camera benefits, and a few others as well. I went from 12 Pro to 15 Pro myself last Fall, and the camera improvement is... "Nice." Fortunately I got a deal on the 15 Pro through my job (subsidy, basically) so in my case the upgrade was worth the cost with a brand new phone.

11 > 16 would offer additional benefits, of course, but the difference between 15 & 16 is slight enough that I would take a "Deal" on a 15 plus being able to use it on your trip, over the "Next year" additional benefits of the 16.

 

[TravelingTothless]

Hey,

I've upgraded from 13 mini to 15 Pro and the difference in photo quality is substantial, so I'd assume youre in for a treat with 11->15 Pro upgrade.

When it comes to timing; I think the typical advice is: get what you need when you need it without paying much attention to the rumor mill (especially in mid-cycle, obviously it's different a week or two before the keynote), you'll be happy either way. Plus I have a feeling that, since you've already started noticing something that clearly bothers you about your current iPhone, it'll only get worse as months go by.

That makes sense, most of the issues I'm currently able to deal with while at home, out for jobs or with friends. Though it's more than what I dealt with last year at the parks, and as you mentioned noticing them is only getting more... noticeable? My battery goes faster, and with taking pictures way more than normal on it I expect it to be worse, even if the 15 pro battery went down, the magsafe back charger is a bonus since it wouldn't mean extra cables to carry around.

I definitely want the camera upgrade, especially since it would allow me to not worry about the potential of losing my dslr while on rides at amusement parks when there may be times where we're all on and no one can watch the bags. Maybe I'll call the phone carrier later today or make a trip to the Apple Store sometime between now and next week (Nearest one is 45 mins away or I'd go today after work) and check out the colours in person to be sure of what I want.

I agree, upgrade at your convenience - not Apple's. The iterative difference from model to model (11 > 12, 12 > 13, etc) is minimal, and I expect 15 > 16 to follow that trend.

But 11 > 15 offers significant camera benefits, and a few others as well. I went from 12 Pro to 15 Pro myself last Fall, and the camera improvement is... "Nice." Fortunately I got a deal on the 15 Pro through my job (subsidy, basically) so in my case the upgrade was worth the cost with a brand new phone.

11 > 16 would offer additional benefits, of course, but the difference between 15 & 16 is slight enough that I would take a "Deal" on a 15 plus being able to use it on your trip, over the "Next year" additional benefits of the 16.

Yeah, right now my phone carrier has a deal, you pay for 2 years but at the end you own the phone, and if that's the case my hope would be I could go back to buying the phones cash (unless I can save up and get it cash sometime in April, which might be more doable than I thought looking at the budget this morning)

A friend of mine went from the 12 to 15 Plus and she also loved the difference, she doesn't use it for the camera features those are a bonus to her but everything else was a selling point to her. She had me pretty convinced on that alone as she is one to usually wait to upgrade too.

__________

Thank you Both for your helpful answers! I really appreciate it!

 

[James6s]

iPhone 11 > 15 Pro would be a very nice upgrade for you! You’ll be very happy taking photos and get blown away with the camera upgrades I’m sure. The same can be said if you wait for the 16 Pro, it’s just whether you can wait another 6 months 😄

 

[Clamjuice65]

Wait until the 16pro

 

[Ahiqar]

You might also consider the difference in sizes between 15 and rumored 16 pro. If you prefer a smaller screen, get the 15 pro. If the 15 pro is a tad small for you, grab the 16 pro (or 15 pm).

 

[timeconsumer]

It feels like I am at a bit of a cross roads here.

I do photography, so I generally have not gone for the pro models as I have my DSLR with me most vacations and for work of course. However the iPhone 15 Pro, coming from a 5 year old iPhone 11 has me intrigued. (I've already had to change the battery on my 11 once, got it back in 2019.)

Looking back at my photos from a trip to Florida has me disappointed with the 11's camera, day time photos were okay enough, but night time with fireworks or photos front of some iconic parks and night time beach photos... not so much. My friend had the 13 Pro on that trip, and her photos turned out so much better.

I am heading back to FL later this Spring and I am debating on just taking the plunge and upgrading to the 15 Pro in April, I don't plan to bring a DSLR into any amusement parks this time due to a number of reasons, but it would be nice to have decent photos that I if I want to, I can print and frame on my desk or put into a scrapbook of the trip.

At the same time, WWDC was just announced today, and we all know there's always exclusives to every new iPhone and that's a never ending cycle of ios updates, but being at mid cycle, that makes the choice to upgrade harder. Buy via carrier at a sale that's currently on (and get the 1tb vs 512), or keep saving and wait for the 16 Pro and hope to buy it direct from Apple.

Thoughts?

My response is making an assumption that you live in the US. If you don’t then you can ignore most of this…

You seem to be pretty well informed on the iPhone, the release cycle, and upcoming Apple events. Everyone has different opinions and different things they weigh when making decisions, but for me in this scenario, I would wait.

Since one option is to keep saving and buy the 16 Pro from Apple, that is what I would go with. You wouldn’t be “locked” into any carrier while waiting for the device credits to finish. You’d also be free to move to a cheaper monthly plan by using a MVNO (Visible, Mint, US Mobile, etc) if that’s something that you’re interested in.

But if you’re going to remain on a main carrier (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon) then you should probably take advantage of their offers. That being said I think most carriers have offers when the new phone releases.

Good luck with your decision and hope you enjoy your trip to Florida!

 

[TravelingTothless]

My response is making an assumption that you live in the US. If you don’t then you can ignore most of this…

You seem to be pretty well informed on the iPhone, the release cycle, and upcoming Apple events. Everyone has different opinions and different things they weigh when making decisions, but for me in this scenario, I would wait.

Since one option is to keep saving and buy the 16 Pro from Apple, that is what I would go with. You wouldn’t be “locked” into any carrier while waiting for the device credits to finish. You’d also be free to move to a cheaper monthly plan by using a MVNO (Visible, Mint, US Mobile, etc) if that’s something that you’re interested in.

But if you’re going to remain on a main carrier (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon) then you should probably take advantage of their offers. That being said I think most carriers have offers when the new phone releases.

Good luck with your decision and hope you enjoy your trip to Florida!

Not in the USA, I'm in Canada

Honestly my phone plan is the best of what's available imo, switching to a different provider or lower cost one would take away too many things I have or increase my prices (unlimited texting in Canada and USA, cheap roam like home, more than enough data, very rarely do I lose connection like the smaller companies in Canada do, and more all for around $60/month)

The current offer right now would increase my bill of course but I'm locked in to 2 years before I could upgrade again and I'm not sure if that 2 years would go from April which would make me always getting a 6 month old phone.

It's just a lot to think about I guess.
I've never gotten the iphone when it was newest. My 6s was a year old and when I got the 7 the 8 was already out, same with the 11 it was already o 12. So I've always missed out in features the newest might have to offer (in this case possibly the capture button and whatever else ios 18 has exclusive to the 16 Pro) so there's all that to consider too.

I'd love to have fantastic pictures in Florida, especially since we may not go back for a few years so we can visit other places, and we're taking friends who have never been to any of the FL parks, but I guess I'm just having a hard time deciding on 1) do I want to be forced into a 2 year contract where I can't pay it out when the funds came in, and 2) missing out on features yet again.

 

[Marty80]

If you can wait, you will get a slighter larger display, wi fi 7, improvements to 5G & maybe the battery.

Now for my rant what annoys me is Apple incremental updates since Cook took over. For example with the 15 pro max camera the wide camera is the only lens with 48pixels, whilst the others are 12 why can’t they all be 48 pixels for the cost.

 

[MacCheetah3]

I do photography, so I generally have not gone for the pro models as I have my DSLR with me most vacations and for work of course. However the iPhone 15 Pro, coming from a 5 year old iPhone 11 has me intrigued. (I've already had to change the battery on my 11 once, got it back in 2019.)

Looking back at my photos from a trip to Florida has me disappointed with the 11's camera, day time photos were okay enough, but night time with fireworks or photos front of some iconic parks and night time beach photos... not so much. My friend had the 13 Pro on that trip, and her photos turned out so much better.

Who has a 15 Pro and an iPhone X or Xs they can compare?

Okay, you convinced me to participate. :) I did no manual mode selection, no adjustments, only just a tap to focus on some. Comparison 1: iPhone X: iPhone 15 Pro Max: Comparison 2: iPhone X: iPhone 15 Pro Max: Comparison 3: The rainbow is being created by a prism on a window...

forums.macrumors.com

And the night shot wasn’t even that well done. I did stabilize my arm against my body the best I could, but literally freezing outside made it very difficult to be still and patient. Furthermore, I’m not a well-versed photographer, a hobbyist at this point.

At the same time, WWDC was just announced today, and we all know there's always exclusives to every new iPhone and that's a never ending cycle of ios updates, but being at mid cycle, that makes the choice to upgrade harder.

Being at the mid-cycle for the OS ‘upgrade’/‘refresh’ has its own benefit, (almost) all of the promised features have finally been wrapped in and most of the wrinkles have been ironed out. In contrast, if you jump on a new version iPhone, there’s the higher probability of new problems that you’d need to ride through.

 

[TravelingTothless]

If you can wait, you will get a slighter larger display, wi fi 7, improvements to 5G & maybe the battery.

Now for my rant what annoys me is Apple incremental updates since Cook took over. For example with the 15 pro max camera the wide camera is the only lens with 48pixels, whilst the others are 12 why can’t they all be 48 pixels for the cost.

Honestly the bigger display size isn't a huge selling feature to me, which is why I've never gone for the Plus or Pro Max models.

 

[TravelingTothless]

Who has a 15 Pro and an iPhone X or Xs they can compare?

Okay, you convinced me to participate. :) I did no manual mode selection, no adjustments, only just a tap to focus on some. Comparison 1: iPhone X: iPhone 15 Pro Max: Comparison 2: iPhone X: iPhone 15 Pro Max: Comparison 3: The rainbow is being created by a prism on a window...

forums.macrumors.com

And the night shot wasn’t even that well done. I did stabilize my arm against my body the best I could, but literally freezing outside made it very difficult to be still and patient. Furthermore, I’m not a well-versed photographer, a hobbyist at this point.


Being at the mid-cycle for the OS ‘upgrade’/‘refresh’ has its own benefit, (almost) all of the promised features have finally been wrapped in and most of the wrinkles have been ironed out. In contrast, if you jump on a new version iPhone, there’s the higher probability of new problems that you’d need to ride through.

yeah the night photos on my current phone hurt me a little lol. I mean yeah they're better than the point and shoot camera I had in high school, bit definitely not getting the quality I want for social media or even printing for a scrap book (yeah I'm old school, I love a good scrapbook for vacations)

That is a true point about the mis cycle. I've also thought if I go for a lower storage, lower cost might allow me to buy it direct from Apple, and then I get a usb-C hard drive. Then IF (big if) it's worth to go to the 16 pro I can always choose to for bigger storage. (Probably wouldn't do that but that's the big IF lol)

 

[cSalmon]

my thought is buy a point n shoot that's waterproof, can actually go in a pool - out boating. Phones, especially during travel, are too important to be placed in harms way.

A vacation not looking at your phone all the time might just be a more enjoyable vacation

 

[ThomasJL]

Please forgive me for my lack of knowledge on the profession of photography. Why would a professional photographer ever use a smartphone camera—even the best smartphone camera on the market—for professional photography?

 

[jagolden]

Wait for the 17.

 

[TravelingTothless]

my thought is buy a point n shoot that's waterproof, can actually go in a pool - out boating. Phones, especially during travel, are too important to be placed in harms way.

A vacation not looking at your phone all the time might just be a more enjoyable vacation

I'm not a teenager or young adult who would be taking pictures in a pool like that and I don't go boating, nor do I have children who would take pictures in a pool. Imo that's something I did when I was 12-14 maybe? Not now.

A point and shoot doesn't let me shoot in raw like the iphone does, which means I'm limited on what I can do while editing, and it would be one more thing ai have to worry about breaking or losing at amusement parks.

 

[TravelingTothless]

Please forgive me for my lack of knowledge on the profession of photography. Why would a professional photographer ever use a smartphone camera—even the best smartphone camera on the market—for professional photography?

I understand what you're asking, first These wouldn't be for professional use. You can't sell pictures from Disney or Universal with their iconic buildings or logos etc in the picture. Not without taking risk of getting in trouble with the companies. There are other ways you can use them yes, but not needing to carry around something heavy all day.


2) As a person with chronic pain and other health conditions that cause more pain carrying around a DSLR or even mirrorless all day at amusement parks is very painful on the shoulders and neck, and you have no where safe to store your gear. (Parks don't allow long lenses or tripods unless you have a specific pass which ai won't this trip) I *always* have a professional camera on vacations however I learned the hard way how hard it can be with chronic pain etc at amusement parks. Makes the days longer, and honestly more stressful.

3) someone would always have to be sitting watching the camera bag and missing out on rides because I wouldn't be able to bring or wouldn't want to risk bringing a professional camera on rides. Too many people are reporting things being stolen at parks. The rides only give a small space for small bags.

 

[James6s]

Please forgive me for my lack of knowledge on the profession of photography. Why would a professional photographer ever use a smartphone camera—even the best smartphone camera on the market—for professional photography?

I’m not suggesting that a smartphone can replace a high end camera for professional photographers (who may laugh at the idea) but if you take a look on YouTube at professional photographers reviewing the iPhone 15 Pro vs DSLR, it’s the closest it’s ever been. The fact that the iPhone takes up a tiny amount of space and easy to carry around is a big win too.

 

[NMSUballa]

Wait for the 16.