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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- Apple conscionable announced the iPhone 17 lineup, with a caller slim iPhone Air model.
- Despite a fewer hardware updates, galore consumers won't beryllium compelled to upgrade.
- If your iPhone supports the latest OS, you mightiness find the upgrade excessively incremental to justify.
People utilized to regenerate their iPhones each fewer years. There was a clip erstwhile each caller iPhone felt similar an all-new device, packed with caller features and important leaps guardant successful hardware capabilities.
As the iPhone became much refined, however, these caller features felt little bombastic and much incremental with each caller version. This, combined with progressively resilient hardware, means that the user upgrade rhythm has slowed down.
Also: Apple Event unrecorded updates 2025: iPhone 17, AirPods 3, Apple Watch Series 11, and much news
Consumers are besides much budget-conscious these days. In a caller survey published by Statista, researchers recovered that radical are waiting longer to upgrade their phones, and that hold clip is lone going up -- projected to beryllium an mean of 2.93 years betwixt upgrades by 2027.
I'm successful that category, and I'm not alone. In fact, I'm inactive rocking my iPhone 12 -- a telephone that came retired successful 2020. At the opening of the year, I told myself I'd upgrade to the iPhone 17 erstwhile it came retired this fall. Five years with 1 telephone is enough, right?
Well, present that it's here, I've changed my mind. I'll beryllium waiting different year. Why? Because my iPhone 12 is inactive good. The artillery inactive rocks, my show lone has 1 hairline crack, and it'll tally Apple's latest operating system: iOS 26. Below are a fewer much reasons wherefore I'm waiting to upgrade.
Older models inactive get iOS 26
Apple's latest operating strategy upgrade is disposable connected devices arsenic acold backmost arsenic the iPhone 11. This is important due to the fact that a monolithic portion of utilizing immoderate Apple merchandise is the operating system. These products are designed to beryllium an ecosystem, moving unneurotic to amended the experience, not existing arsenic standalone devices.
In that sense, having entree to the latest OS gives you entree to galore of the latest bundle features, specified arsenic the revamped Liquid Glass UI design, quality-of-life improvements to a big of apps similar Camera and Photos, automated telephone screening, and (depending connected however caller your iPhone is) AI-powered features similar real-time translation, Shortcuts, and Visual Intelligence.
Also: 5 iOS 26 features that made updating my iPhone worthwhile (and however to effort them)
Software enactment is besides longer these days. Although Apple doesn't explicitly acceptable a fig for however agelong it promises support, you tin decidedly expect 5 years, and mostly expect 7 oregon much years of information updates.
If truthful overmuch of the idiosyncratic acquisition boils down to the operating system, you don't needfully request the newest iPhone to usage the latest features. That being said, galore of these are relegated to circumstantial models, truthful you'll privation to double-check to spot which features your instrumentality is compatible with.
Apple's hardware is resilient
Look, I've owned a cardinal phones, from my Nokia flip phone successful the aboriginal 2000s to my Blackberry (RIP) to multiple iterations of the iPhone implicit the years. The hardware connected these devices is simply getting much and much resilient and, with each caller model, much durable.
Don't get maine wrong, the hardware connected the iPhone 17 is surely a important upgrade -- the instrumentality is thinner and lighter, it features a 120Hz ProMotion show that was erstwhile reserved for the Pro model, has a vastly improved cooling system, the all-new A19 chip, 12GB of RAM, and the capableness to grounds video successful 8K. But each of these features basal successful absorption to an important question: Do you request them?
Also: The iPhone 17 bid could beryllium Apple's boldest determination successful years - here's why
While contented creators and tech enthusiasts whitethorn beryllium chomping astatine the spot for the upgraded signifier origin and 48MP telephoto lens, the world is that the mean iPhone idiosyncratic whitethorn not instrumentality afloat vantage of these features. I tin inactive instrumentality amazingly bully photos with the iPhone 12's dual 12MP camera. For high-quality photos, I whip retired the DSLR.
What I mightiness miss retired on
There is 1 altogether caller happening the iPhone 17 lineup has to offer: the Air model. The caller ultra-thin iPhone measures conscionable 5.5mm and features a 6.6-inch surface with razor-thin bezels, truthful it's thinner, lighter, and has a bigger screen. In that sense, it surely looks like an upgrade, arsenic Apple's thinnest telephone to date.
If you're successful emotion with the plan of the iPhone 17 Air, it could perfectly beryllium worthy the upgrade since there's nary different iPhone connected the marketplace rather similar it. Apple besides work the country here, arsenic it's not bringing each of these features to an exorbitant caller premium terms tier: it's an affordable $900.
Also: If Apple unveils the iPhone 17 Air with these features today, I'm acceptable to upgrade
There are trade-offs to the Air's ultrathin design, however. For 1 thing, it drops some the ultrawide and telephoto lenses for a azygous rear 48MP lens. In that sense, this telephone is simply a committedness to the bladed and airy signifier factor, not needfully a hardware upgrade.
Lastly, if you're geared up for each the latest Apple Intelligence features that iOS 26 has to offer, you're going to request an iPhone exemplary with the A17 Pro spot oregon higher. This includes spicy features similar AutoMix successful Apple Music, Hold Assist, Spatial Photos, oregon AI-generated Genmojis -- each of which necessitate the iPhone 15 oregon up. If you person an older model, you won't person entree to these features.
With each caller iteration, the iPhone becomes much resilient, much powerful, and with that, worthy keeping astir a fewer other years. The iPhone 17 is simply a coagulated upgrade, and 1 of the much impactful models to travel retired successful the past fewer years, but I don't request it conscionable yet. I privation to spot however agelong my iPhone 12 lasts, aft all, it was built to past successful the agelong run.
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