Thoughts on buying a new iPhone

Here are a few thoughts on the new iPhones and considerations for those thinking of upgrading, based on yesterdays Apple’s presentation.

As I describe below, this was a presentation filled with oldies but goodies. Things that worked in the past, such as another AIr product, a new enclosure reminiscent of the MacBooks, and a long list of minor improvements.

• The new iPhone Air is a very slim phone with many limitations. I think it will turn out to be a disappointment in terms of sales for a number of reasons.
  • A smaller battery – In spite of Apple’s claim that the smaller capacity will get you through the day, all signs contradict that. It has a smaller battery than today’s models that barely have enough battery for many.
    Apple is pre-emptively offering an extra cost MagSafe battery for “up to” 60% more battery. Note that an external battery is about 20% less efficient compared to an internal one because of poorer efficiency. So Apple is suggesting you more than double the Air’s thickness for a few hours more of battery.
  • Something so thin is more fragile so it’s likely you’ll want to get a case for it, losing much of the benefits of a thin phone.
  • The camera is much more limited and is not as good as the phones on the last few gerations of the Pro models.
  • It’s not designated as an iPhone 17, so it may remain in the line with few changes beyond one year or it might even be dropped if it doesn’t sell well.
    
• If you want to upgrade, consider the iPhone 17 Pro models. They offer some incremental improvements over the iPhones 15 and 16, although not big ones.
  • Improved cameras that provide marginal benefits to already stellar cameras on its predecessors.
  • An unspecified battery life improvement. Apple never states the capacity so we will need to wait for teardown reports to see just how much more capacity it has. If it’s significant (>15%), that would be a major reason to upgrade. Not only does a larger battery last longer between charges, but that means fewer charges, which means the battery will last longer before a replacement is needed.
  • Lots of discussion about a new enclosure design and materials, an regular Apple talking point. iPhone 6, 7, and 8 were all aluminum. The next gen phones moved to stainless steel and titanium. Now we’re back to aluminum, although machined like the MacBooks rather than stamped. It seems as if Apple is trying to recreate the impact of the MacBooks’ machined aluminum housing, which revolutionized notebook design. But this time, it’s less important. Aluminum is more prone to scratching, especially around the edges, than the titanium housings of the series 15 and 16.
  • Does it really matter when most everyone buries their phone inside a plastic case?
  • The overall form factor is a big change with the raised bar across the back of the camera that Apple calls a plateau. It’s very similar in appearance to the Google Pixels of the past few years. Nothing striking or unique.
    
• Apple will be rolling out their new software soon, and that may be more interesting than the hardware. Your older phones from the past few years will all benefit.
  
• One noticeable omission yesterday was a mention of AI, something last year’s rollout featured. That just confirms that Apple is a couple of years behind Google’s new Pixel 10 lineup that does much of the computation on the phone. It’s expected Apple will now partner with Google to play catchup. What this means is if you want the latest, most significant and powerful new phones, you should consider the Google Pixel 10 Pro.
  
• If you want to stay in the Apple ecosystem, upgrade if your phone is old, if you want to give your phone to a relative, or if you want to have the latest. Don’t upgrade to get the most advanced phone ever.
  
• Then there’s one more reason some might want to wait: to send a message to Tim Cook for this act of cowardice.