iPhone 16/Plus Would it be silly to not get iPhone Pro with $1000 trade-in? 5x zoom worth it?

[BigBlur]

I have a personal loyalty offer from Verizon to trade in an old phone for $1000 and do not need to change my plan. (Currently on the old 'Play More' plan and have an old/spare XS I can use for the trade-in, while keeping my current 13 to use as a spare.)

I was initially thinking of getting the regular iPhone 16 since I've always gotten the non-Pro models in the past, but now I'm wondering if it would be silly to not go for the Pro instead with this offer. ProMotion doesn't really matter to me though since I can't tell the difference, but curious about the 5x zoom. Does it get used much? Do you think it's worth it for the additional cost and weight? I assume anything between 1x and 5x would essentially be the same between the two models (a digital zoom/crop from the main 48MP sensor).

Reasons for sticking with the regular 16 would be: lighter, nicer colors, main camera just as good as Pro, entirely free. Anything I'm missing or overlooking?

 

[Decimotox]

AT&T has this same deal and I pulled the trigger late last week with my 13 pro max. I thought the deal was too good to pass up. I'd just paid off my 13PM and could've maybe sold it on Swappa or something for 400-500, but getting the 16PM for $5 a month was too good.

ProMotion is what sold me on the 13PM a few years back. I'd had a iPhone X but then bought the Galaxy S20 Ultra and loved it because it had high refresh rate on the screen. (Look at my signature from the last time I've posted lmao.) When I saw the 13PM was gonna have that, I was sold instantly. Just a smoother feeling experience overall when navigating the phone. Best of luck to you and I'm sure you won't go wrong with anything you choose!

 

[dannyyankou]

I got it with T-Mobile’s $1000 trade in. I qualify for a 15% off work perks discount, otherwise I wouldn’t have paid for their plan.

 

[AJsAWiz]

AT&T has this same deal and I pulled the trigger late last week with my 13 pro max. I thought the deal was too good to pass up. I'd just paid off my 13PM and could've made sold it on Swappa or something for 400-500 but getting the 16PM for $5 a month was too good.

ProMotion is what sold me on the 13PM a few years back. I'd had a iPhone X but then bought the Galaxy S20 Ultra and loved it because it had high refresh rate on the screen. (Look at my signature from the last time I've posted lmao.) When I saw the 13PM was gonna have that, I was sold instantly. Just a smoother feeling experience overall when navigating the phone. Best of luck to you and I'm sure you won't go wrong with anything you choose!

I went with the AT&T deal too but trading in my iPhone 12 Pro Max. After the credit is applied each month I will end up paying $5.56 a month in 36 installments. So the iPhone 16 ProMax will cost $200.16. Since I've always been with AT&T this was a no brainer for me.

 

[gamerdude]

I would jump on the trade in deal only if the phone was not locked to a network.

 

[timeconsumer]

I have a personal loyalty offer from Verizon to trade in an old phone for $1000 and do not need to change my plan. (Currently on the old 'Play More' plan and have an old/spare XS I can use for the trade-in, while keeping my current 13 to use as a spare.)

I was initially thinking of getting the regular iPhone 16 since I've always gotten the non-Pro models in the past, but now I'm wondering if it would be silly to not go for the Pro instead with this offer. ProMotion doesn't really matter to me though since I can't tell the difference, but curious about the 5x zoom. Does it get used much? Do you think it's worth it for the additional cost and weight? I assume anything between 1x and 5x would essentially be the same between the two models (a digital zoom/crop from the main 48MP sensor).

Reasons for sticking with the regular 16 would be: lighter, nicer colors, main camera just as good as Pro, entirely free. Anything I'm missing or overlooking?

I’m not a fan of trade in deals because they kind of lock you in for the duration of the credits. I believe Verizon does 3 years?

If you plan to stick with Verizon for at least 3 more years then I’d say go for it. Especially if they aren’t requiring you to change your plan to a newer plan. One thing to note is that Verizon has been slowly increasing the cost of their older plans in an effort to get everyone moved over to the new plan. But you can usually talk to customer service and they’ll offer you some form of credit to offset for a little bit of time.

As far as the regular vs the Pro, hard to say. I think you’re on the right track with the meaningful differences to you. If you can I’d recommend visiting a store to look at the devices in person to see which you’d prefer more.

I like the regular 16 a lot but I went with the Pro model for the ProMotion display. That was worth the extra cost to me. I also like the 6.3” screen size but it’s so close to the 6.1” that I am sure I would like that too.

The cameras on both models are way better than I’ll ever need, I just point and shoot and really have no clue what I’m doing. The 5x I’ve only used for taking pictures at professional sports.