I wonder if it's because I'm getting old and jaded, but I really fail to get excited by this continuous flow of new devices (and "stuff" in general). I could get a new iPhone from my company, but I don't even see the point.
Compelling upgrades would be: another small variant (or smaller than 14 pro at least), something foldable (maybe, if done really really well), significantly improved battery life, bike computer functionality (CarPlay for bikes), or significantly improved performance (in a few years, maybe the 12 mini will be noticeably slow in 2024).
The curse of releasing devices with hardware that’s 3-5 years ahead of the competition in delivered performance (not just feature checklists) is that unless you wait 4+ years, new models don’t always feel like upgrades.
That’s the only reason I’m excited for the 14
There is a significant difference in cameras between the 11 and 13 - especially during the night photos. To the point where, in our case, I often need to tell my gf to use my camera for a shot when we’re together, because it will be so much better.
If you take a lot of photos then for this reason alone it’s worth to upgrade imho.
The small upgrades build over the years, so you would notice a difference. But it’s nothing massive like when they went from LCD to OLED or added the plus size.
There’s nothing wrong with an 11 Pro. If it’s still working for you it’s perfectly reasonable.
I haven't thought about "carplay for bikes" but as e-bikes get more sophisticated, it may make sense.
Sure, you don’t _need_ them but they don’t cost very much compared to your other gear and the minor improvements stack up.
But bike computers are likely always going to be nicer to use than a phone because part of what makes them good, makes them bad for normal phone usage. Their displays are quite washed out and dull but are extremely visible in direct sunlight while using minimal power.
Wouldn’t it be great if your phone could call 911 automatically when the guy rolling coal on you decides to just run you down?
Wall St demands iPhones. Any trip-up from a supply chain issue would kill the stock. I’m sure the company is being very conservative.
Apple has gotten a lot of flack for releasing “new” hardware and software features that aren’t really new or groundbreaking. I’m starting to see the genius in their planning. The slow trickle of improvements (I like how you call them “S revisions”) are for the sake of momentum, the long term survival of the company. Especially when Apple is already battling the longevity of their own products. I’m rounding off Year Two of my iPhone 12 Pro Max and will likely squeeze out a third year.
If they only introduced a new phone every 2 to 3 years people might be tempted by the new stuff on other phones. Or you could buy a new phone (to you) that is actually a two year old design.
This way you always get the newest thing, even if it’s not significantly better than what you could’ve bought last year. But it’s a nice upgrade if you’ve waited two years, and for people who wait like 5+ years it’s incredible.
So if there ever was a peak with iPhones, it was with the iPhone 3G, and it just went downhill from there ;)
They didn’t have to manually opt into the 120 Hz smooth scrolling.
It’s still an emissive screen, but it’s better than an emissive screen that is refreshing 60 times a second.
I’m using an iPhone X here in 2022 and honestly other than the battery life being a bit lower than usual, the phone is super snappy, even on these latest iOS releases.
It’s basically 5 years old and it’s still doing amazingly well.
I had to replace the screen twice (first time under the extended warranty/recall, second time I had to pay; it just becomes unresponsive and you get locked out of the phone). To make matters worse, the new one is arriving on Friday and the screen stopped working again last Monday. More than 90 days passed since the previous repair, so nothing to do and I'm locked out of the phone again because you can only unlock iphones through the touchscreen.
The phone is everything but snappy these days. I don't have tons of apps, but it stutters significantly from time to time.
One detail, phone doesn't have one scratch and is in perfect condition outside. Dropped it very few times and it was always inside a good case.
I luckily have only had to replace the battery once for a small cost out of warranty. My storage is 256 GB, so that isn’t an issue yet.
I’m going to go look into unresponsive iPhone X displays now cause I feel like I’m having the starting signs of this issue with mine. It’s not a huge issue, as it rarely happens, but I’m curious now.
Sorry to hear your phone is super slow. I have a slew of apps on mine and it behaves rather well for me. shrug
My interest in hardware revisions has only grown in recent years, particularly in mobile devices. I’m not gonna go rush off and buy a new iPhone, I’m quite pleased with my 13 Pro Max and upgrading now would feel horribly wasteful. But I’m continually awed by advancements in mobile camera technology, and whenever I do upgrade it feels as much like magic as when I got my first newer game console (NES -> SNES) as a kid. But to be clear, my interest here is almost completely in the camera, and I pretty much view my phone as a really nice camera with convenient computing and network affordances included for some almost inexplicable reason.
To a lesser extent, recent advances in chips has also had me pining to upgrade a perfectly good laptop which again would feel wasteful to do now, but I expect when the time comes it’ll feel similarly revelatory even if that’s more incremental just because I’ve been upgrading the same sorts of things for much longer.
It’s okay, probably even good, that you don’t feel the same way about the device upgrade treadmill. A slower upgrade cycle would be objectively good for a lot of more important things. I’m not going to try to convince you a new iPhone is something you should want even for “free”. Just offering personal perspective why I find the new one exciting even if I’ll skip it.
All still work great.
The 13 is DRASTICALLY faster. The OLED screen looks far far better than the old LCD, and because the chin and forehead are gone it’s significantly bigger despite the similar case size. The 13‘s battery life is supposed to be significantly better despite more demanding software than the 7’s battery life was when it was brand new. The cameras are barely comparable quality wise.
That’s a top end 2016 phone compared to a medium+ end 2021 phone. And the difference is incredible.
If you go back to 2010 that would’ve been the first retina phone, the iPhone 4. With it’s little 3.5” display. At this point it almost looks like a different device.
I was excited when I got the iPhone 13 Pro because of the LiDAR ToF sensor and being able to utilize Apple’s new object capture API. I was also excited to have a zoom lens, as my old phone (iPhone 7) did not have one. These were all things I had a clear use case for, so it makes sense I was excited for the upgrade.
I think it’s okay to not be excited when you don’t have a reason to be. Don’t assume that means you’re old and jaded.
I have a pal who has a baby coming and I reminded him to make sure he gets his iPhone upgrade program replacement done in time.
My mom's partner, I ask him to keep his updated because these are photos and video of my mom who won't be here forever.
Not only do these devices capture the most consistent, high fidelity data, you almost have to try to screw up having the data automatically backed up.
The cost of keeping the devices updated is relatively low, and the device switch process has improved __every__ year. New devices require new OS's which get the most attention and latest patches, etc.
The device is zippier, and the 13 was no slouch. Using a 12 or as other commenter said XS, there are delays and moments get missed waiting for the device.
I contend it makes horse sense to keep people you care about on the newest iPhone. In all liklihood they spend large amount of time using the device anyway, they might as well have the best display and other features as well.
Still fantastic technology no doubt, but certainly not the wow of 10 years ago.
Besides getting jaded, this feeling is maybe the case with any maturing technology. PC developments in the 90s were crazy year to year, and now I don’t bother to follow the scene.