What Upgrading to iPhone 18 Pro From iPhone 17 Pro Gets You

[DEMinSoCAL]

It gets people asking you "why"?

Going from a 17 pro to an 18 pro is consumerism run amok, and a massive waste of resources.

"how about find something charitable to do with the money instead?"

How is upgrading from a 17 to an 18 "a massive waste of resources"? It's not like the 17 gets thrown in a landfill. It either gets resold to someone else who couldn't otherwise afford a flagship phone, or it gets handed down to a family member or traded in and resold elsewhere. It's not wasted.

If you want to complain about wasted resources, let's talk about the many Youtube videos where they literally destroy brand new iPhones for the sake of a few likes and the entertainment of others. That, to me, is the real waste.

 

[kevjen888]

i'm still on a fence to go from my 17PM to a regular sized 18 Pro. my pinky will thank me for that decision if i actually do it. back to the iphone 20 or the special edition iphone, don't fall into the same trap as iphone X. these anniversary phones will just be an ad hoc edition, don't retain their values well in the long run. just looking back, iphone 11 was way more durable and popular compare to the X.

 

[turbineseaplane]

How is upgrading from a 17 to an 18 "a massive waste of resources"? It's not like the 17 gets thrown in a landfill. It either gets resold to someone else who couldn't otherwise afford a flagship phone, or it gets handed down to a family member or traded in and resold elsewhere. It's not wasted.

If you want to complain about wasted resources, let's talk about the many Youtube videos where they literally destroy brand new iPhones for the sake of a few likes and the entertainment of others. That, to me, is the real waste.

You and I don't see eye on to eye on consumerism, so I will give you a thumbs up, agree to disagree and move on.
Cheers 👍

 

[Populus]

If we ignore the price tag, the A20 Pro looks amazing, and paired with a better contact area of the die with a bigger vapor chamber… I expect a great performance increase!

On the other hand, and related to the illustration of this article: Do you think this year’s silver will have a different hue to last year's one? If I had to get one, it would be the Burgundy, no doubt. Gorgeous…

But the iPhone Pro is not for me. Too heavy. I’d rather wait for the A20 Pro iPhone Air instead. Even if it comes with less GPU core, I don’t mind.

 

[denhol]

Uh wut? Apple sells 250 million iPhones a year. That's a quarter BILLION per year. Individual people don't usually buy every year, but every year there always people from a few years back or else new people buying. People often don't like buying 2 or 3 year-old hardware for full price for obvious reasons.

Yes, but I’m sure there are people who simply buy a new iPhone every year just because it’s been released—even if there’s practically nothing new about it. Releasing iPhones every two or three years would reduce mindless consumption, yet the technological progress in phones would remain essentially the same.

 

[Ender17]

Cue the endless number of comments criticizing other people for spending their money how they want. Upgrading every year costs about $400-500 if you sell your old phone. For a lot of people that's not a significant amount of money.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

You and I don't see eye on to eye on consumerism, so I will give you a thumbs up, agree to disagree and move on.
Cheers 👍

I'm only questioning why you think it's a waste of resources to upgrade from a 17 to an 18. I gave you how I see it and if there is another viewpoint I'm missing, I'm interested in reading it. That's why I asked the question to you. Not a big deal. 🙂

 

[EugW]

Yes, but I’m sure there are people who simply buy a new iPhone every year just because it’s been released—even if there’s practically nothing new about it. Releasing iPhones every two or three years would reduce mindless consumption, yet the technological progress in phones would remain essentially the same.

They exist, especially on an enthusiast board like this, but they represent a small minority. The global average replacement cycle is about 3.5 years. However, it's obviously shorter with the subgroup on contracts when the contracts specify returning the phones after 2 years.

BTW, the replacement cycle is significantly longer now than it was 15 years ago, presumably because 15 years ago the hardware was far less capable and improvements were being made much faster.

 

[jz0309]

As I've said in the "35 new features... or whatever it was titled", my 17PM will serve me just fine for a few more years.
While there are some nice upgrades, not worth it to me...

 

[Black Magic]

One thing to consider is the trade in values. For those that have a 17 Pro max can upgrade to 18 Pro max for $200+ with some discounts. Throw in a 1 year old battery that you will have to replace in a year or so is $99. The upgrade actually is a bargain deal.

 

[miguel cortez]

I would also take into account that the aperture on the new iPhone will be larger—meaning less light will reach the sensor compared to the iPhone 17 Pro. Essentially, every shot you take will be noisier. It will be very interesting to see comparisons and tests of the new camera. So, where is the improvement?

A larger aperture lets more light in not less because the opening is wider. ƒ/1.48 on the 18pro is a larger aperture than ƒ/1.78 on the 17pro so more light will be reaching the sensor.

 

[denhol]

A larger aperture lets more light in not less because the opening is wider. ƒ/1.48 on the 18pro is a larger aperture than ƒ/1.78 on the 17pro so more light will be reaching the sensor.

You're right—sorry, I didn't look closely enough at the new iPhone's specs. What I meant was that the new iPhone features apertures of f/1.8, f/2.8, and f/4; these will let in less light, meaning ISO and noise levels will be higher, since the sensor size has remained the same.

 

[Act3]

Well you get a brand new battery,lol. Although my 17 pro I got on launch is still at 98% health.

 

[BSDnostalgia]

I’m coming from a 16PM which overheats constantly when I use it with CarPlay. If I run Music and Waze while the phone is charging and the ambient temperature is over 80. It stops charging.

Presumably, this upgrade would make sense for people like you who bump up against the thermal limits of previous iPhones. The app that I have seen that gives other people a problem is running navigation constantly, often with the sun beaming in. I wonder if the 18 Pro will solve this problem?

 

[EugW]

Presumably, this upgrade would make sense for people like you who bump up against the thermal limits of previous iPhones. The app that I have seen that gives other people a problem is running navigation constantly, often with the sun beaming in. I wonder if the 18 Pro will solve this problem?

My guess is no it will not solve the problem, but my other guess is it will be improved incrementally over the 17 Pro, which was incrementally improved over the 16 Pro.

This will also help those videographers who do extended video shoots. They constantly complain about overheating iPhones, but that apparently was improved on the 17 Pro as compared to the 16 Pro.

 

[drunkaviator]

You're not supposed to upgrade a phone after 1 year. Mac Rumours is literally the worst sometimes.

 

[falconxp]

Hanging on to my titanium!

Luckily, my spare is an iPhone 15PM. Still has 100% health and no camera button😅Maybe replaced by a Duo 2 next year to replace my private iPad Mini and 15PM. I like the build quality better of the 15P/PM compared to the 17-18P/PM.

 

[magbarn]

Cue the endless number of comments criticizing other people for spending their money how they want. Upgrading every year costs about $400-500 if you sell your old phone. For a lot of people that's not a significant amount of money.

Sadly your math only works with the base storage models. Once you upgrade to 1TB the loss in value is much worse. That's why Apple gives you the same on trade in for a 1TB 17PM vs a 256gb model.

 

[Arkidelik]

I went from a 15 Pro Max to a 17 Pro last year and haven’t regretted it one bit. Cameras were better, battery was slightly better than my 15PM. All in all I’m very satisfied and plan on holding onto this for quite a while.

I suspect you’d feel the same way with a 17 Pro or 18 Pro!

This is where I am. Pretty happy with my 17 Pro.

 

[EugW]

This is where I am. Pretty happy with my 17 Pro.

The main thing I'm annoyed with with the release of the 18 Pro, is Apple gatekeeping the Pro Control features in the Camera app to keep them exclusive to the 18 Pro, and excluding them from the 17 Pro. It's really just a marketing decision, not a hardware one (aside from aperture control).

BTW, I have the iOS 27 RC installed on my 17 Pro and have confirmed those Pro Controls are missing.

 

[Jimmy Bubbles]

Remember when they wrote the article giving 19 reasons to upgrade to 17 Pro? This site is like Jekyll & Hyde.

 

[Jimmy James]

Nothing HELL NOTHING !... A bit wider aperture (who cares it will never beat a nifty fifty), a bit faster and better battery... that's it mate

I care. In the early iPhone days I was excited about having a compact PASM camera that fit in my pocket.

Many hours more battery life is also huge for many.

In the end, though, phones already do so much they accomplish most of what everyone needs and wants. You’re just acting nihilistic about that fact.

 

[sinar]

I would also take into account that the aperture on the new iPhone will be larger—meaning less light will reach the sensor compared to the iPhone 17 Pro. Essentially, every shot you take will be noisier. It will be very interesting to see comparisons and tests of the new camera. So, where is the improvement?

A larger aperture means more light, not less, it relates to the amount of light let in, the larger the aperture (lower number) the more light to the sensor.

 

[vroom2]

• Heavier design: The iPhone 18 Pro is 5g heavier than its predecessor, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max is 16g heavier.
  
  LET'S GO!!!! We are living in the future folks!!! And they said it could not be done!!!
  Feels incredible to witness a mind-blowing feature like this released in our lifetimes, this has got to be 5 years ahead of what anyone else is doing right now!!!!!

 

[EugW]

Given that the 18 Pro and Max get bigger batteries, I'll give Apple a pass on the small weight increases.