Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 14/Plus Would you upgrade your iPhone 14 or lower for Apple Intelligence?

I would not upgrade for this reason as I don't see much use of AI or Siri right now. And a fancy folding phone does not interest me.
However emergency satellite calls are a feature I think is at least interesting. Plus the improved camera.
I am on a SE 5G (owned) that is perfect for my needs right now. If it breaks I might think about it one day.
 
Parowdy said:
Type to Siri was available before AI and personally, it’s much faster and convenient to just open the ChatGPT app. Little to no waiting time, little chance it misunderstood me, ability to inquire further, the response doesn’t disappear after a short while, no „here is what I found on the web“.
I might use Siri more if it supported the ability to use it with a different language than the system language. I enjoy having my phone set to English because that makes troubleshooting and helping people online much much easier, but I’d like to have Siri set to German because most things I want to know in a jiffy come up during conversations and arguments with friends and family.
I can already type to Siri in German, I can dictate in German, I can talk to ChatGPT in any language and it understands me. Maybe that will be possible the day the Action Button has more than just the long press option…
Click to expand...
Apple Intelligence transforms Siri’s response mechanism.

It possesses comprehensive product knowledge and even handles common iPhone issues questions that spans all Apple devices, including iPhones, Macs, and even Vision Pro.

For quick queries that previously required Google results, Siri now provides concise summaries of the questions you pose.

Additionally, only devices equipped with this feature can initiate a text conversation with Siri, accessible by tapping on the bottom of your screen.
 
EuroChilli said:
My 12 Mini is still going good, enough battery to stream Apple Music to my BT speaker all day at work (8hrs) but I am considering an upgrade to the 15, because it doesn't support AI. I'll worry about my next upgrade in about 6 years.
Click to expand...
That not-supporting-Apple AI was my deciding factor too: you'd get much better battery life, and (as long as you don't buy directly from Apple), a comparative bargain with the 15.
 
I would not. I haven't seen any reason to upgrade off my 14pro. I put a new battery in it in September and am holding it on iOS 17. Can't see any reason to bother with 18, eventually there will be some remote vuln that'll require updating to it, though. I suppose I need to start thinking about upgrading to 18 before releasing iOS 26 makes it impossible.

There was no reason to upgrade off my 12pro, but I was seduced by the new shiny. I miss my 12pro, dynamic island is just annoying.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Biro
VitoBotta said:
Just like the title says.
Click to expand...
Hmmm…
I would say yes but it would be due to the Hardware that Apple Intelligence requires the iPhones, Macs etc… to have to keep up.
Getting an iPhone with Apple Intelligence means you get an iPhone with:
- At least 8GB RAM
- At least an Apple A17 Pro

Buying a new iPhone for Apple Intelligence alone would be wild, but buying an iPhone that comes with Apple Intelligence will mean you have a “future proof” iPhone that will continue getting more powerful as Apple Intelligence gets better.
So don’t buy it for AI alone, buy it for everything else (incl. hardware) that it will come with.
 
  • Like
Reactions: navaira and TgeekB
goldmac2006 said:
Apple Intelligence transforms Siri’s response mechanism.

It possesses comprehensive product knowledge and even handles common iPhone issues questions that spans all Apple devices, including iPhones, Macs, and even Vision Pro.

For quick queries that previously required Google results, Siri now provides concise summaries of the questions you pose.

Additionally, only devices equipped with this feature can initiate a text conversation with Siri, accessible by tapping on the bottom of your screen.
Click to expand...
Er, is this Marketing-speak for Siri still sucks? Sorry, lost my head there for a moment. What I meant was "Oh yeah, indeed."
 
  • Like
Reactions: navaira and goldmac2006
SalisburySam said:
Er, is this Marketing-speak for Siri still sucks? Sorry, lost my head there for a moment. What I meant was "Oh yeah, indeed."
Click to expand...
There are still some features that are missing asides from the last implementation which was visual intelligence, like on screen awareness and knowledge of within the apps you use but later Apple knew it would not be on track for launch in iOS 18, so they decided to change it to a later iOS 26 release.
 
I got rid of my 14 because battery life got real bad and also I was switching my stuff over to usbc as well my 14 was at 82% and I decided to get the 16e mainly for the price battery and usbc port apple ai is okay but don’t use it much hopefully ai will get better features down the road to better used!
 
  • Like
Reactions: goldmac2006
14 Pro Max, no, it's going great at the time. The battery is at 79 percent. Needs a free battery replacement. AI features on my iPad M4. I'm waiting for the next perfect iPhone update. 17 isn't it
 
If I had held onto my SE3 until Apple Intelligence was released instead of upgrading to a 15 Pro 3 months before, then no, I wouldn't have until the 16E was released. At that point, I would have upgraded to have my (former) dream phone and as someone mentioned, it would be mostly for the spec jumps in ram and cpu power. However, having my 15 Pro and M4 Mac mini running Apple Intelligence, I do find it very useful in ways. Visual intelligence is fun and helpful and writing tools good for grammar purposes. I don't let it actually rewrite things often, it's more like Grammarly but free for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: goldmac2006
Upgraded because it was time but made sure I got a model that was Apple Intelligence capable. I am confident it will bring more tools as times goes on.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bungaree.Chubbins
I definitely wouldn't upgrade from a 14 to a 16 for Apple Intelligence alone.

However, if I were buying new today anyway, I would buy only the iPhone 16 series and not the iPhone 15 (non-Pro) because of Apple Intelligence related features and other features.

I just got a new 16e for a family member but had been wondering if I should get a new 15 instead for $100 more to get the wide angle lens. After testing the 16e for a while, I actually really like it. The 16 gets Apple Intelligence and Visual Intelligence, but the 15 does not. I don't care about the lack of MagSafe on the 16 (because we just use a MagSafe case) or care about Dynamic Island, but I do care about the Photos Clean Up tool (which depends partially on Apple Intelligence) and the camera's Audio Mix feature, neither of which the 15 (or any older iPhone) has. The 15 Pro was not an option for two reasons, those being much higher cost and the fact it's not even available new at retail anyway. (Around here, only the carriers have 15 Pro new now.) If we really wanted the wide angle lens, then we would get the 16 instead. The 15 doesn't really make much sense to me for a new purchase in 2025.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Andy_2341 and Tripps9000
stinkhorn9 said:
That not-supporting-Apple AI was my deciding factor too: you'd get much better battery life, and (as long as you don't buy directly from Apple), a comparative bargain with the 15.
Click to expand...
Current price of a 128GB 15 on Amazon Germany is €691, The Netherlands the same, Belgium (where I live) a bit more. I can take my pick. Amazon/Mediamarkt Spain is also an option.
 
  • Like
Reactions: stinkhorn9
navaira said:
I only ever use Siri to play music on Homepods Mini (why is the Homepod Siri stupider than the phone one?) and I do my writing all by myself ;)
Click to expand...
I solely only use writing tools to proofread my writing. I use Siri only to control music, ask questions and weather information
 
Not really. I got 'Apple Intelligence' on my M3 Air and it just changed the UI/UX of Siri as far as I can notice, it works exactly as Siri does on my iPhone 12. Not seeing the 'game changer' here. It's not like it can 'figure out' my habits and know when I use my Mac in the dark and prioritize Dark Mode based on that vs. the location/sunset/sunrise, or intelligently raise the volume when I'm watching YouTube in a noisy environment (my patio with tons of traffic noise) or suggest settings to benefit me. Ironically enough, Galaxy AI does all that on my Z Flip 4.

As for the hype over 'Image Playground', it's hardly Image FX (Google's AI image gen). It's even more heavily censored despite running 'privately' and 'offline' on the MBA. If I had to rate it, it's three steps lower than Bing Image Creator, and that's saying a LOT.
 
I am still waiting on Siri to be able to do simple things like “close the music app”. She should be able to follow simple instructions to control the phone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: goldmac2006
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back