iPhone 16 Pro v 17 Pro...buy now or wait?

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#3413537 10-Sep-2025 21:45

mattwnz:

Well the 16 pro costs $235 at the moment. Then add on transport or courier fees.

So 10% of the cost of a new one. Seems relatively reasonable.

mattwnz

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#3413539 10-Sep-2025 22:02

Handle9:

mattwnz:

Well the 16 pro costs $235 at the moment. Then add on transport or courier fees.

So 10% of the cost of a new one. Seems relatively reasonable.

not when the phone needs the replacement. Probably closer to 30% by then.

mattwnz

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#3413541 10-Sep-2025 22:04

Handle9:

dafman:

Saw a commentary on the Air. No one was crying out for a thinner iphone, yet we now have one which Apple is charging a premium price, while taking away camera functionality and battery life to boot. One for the diehard Apple enthusiast, not the general public?

They are trying things which I think is a good thing.

There's so much bleating that iPhones are not innovative anymore. When they try something different then people complain that no one asked for this.

It might be popular, it might not but at least they are trying different things.

Well they are just following Samsungs thin phone they released. They will be likely releasing a folding phone next year.

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#3413542 10-Sep-2025 22:07

mattwnz:

Handle9:

So 10% of the cost of a new one. Seems relatively reasonable.

not when the phone needs the replacement. Probably closer to 30% by then.

Yeah nah. It's 10% of the cost of a new Iphone Pro. It's a choice for you to make, no one is making you buy a new battery or a new phone.

If you are price sensitive just buy a Samsung a series and be done with it.

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#3413543 10-Sep-2025 22:11

If the Air had the wide lens camera (Which I seem to use frequently) I'd be buying it.

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#3413545 10-Sep-2025 22:16

Handle9:

mattwnz:

not when the phone needs the replacement. Probably closer to 30% by then.

Yeah nah. It's 10% of the cost of a new Iphone Pro. It's a choice for you to make, no one is making you buy a new battery or a new phone.

If you are price sensitive just buy a Samsung a series and be done with it.

the battery doesn’t need replacing until at least year three of four under normal usage. No one will be getting it replaced now. If within 2 years it is probably covered under warranty and a battery fault. The value of the phone in year 3 or 4 would likely be under 1k which is when one had to weigh up whether it is worth it. It wasn’t with my SE 2

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#3413546 10-Sep-2025 22:21

mattwnz:

Handle9:

Yeah nah. It's 10% of the cost of a new Iphone Pro. It's a choice for you to make, no one is making you buy a new battery or a new phone.

If you are price sensitive just buy a Samsung a series and be done with it.

the battery doesn’t need replacing until at least year three of four under normal usage. No one will be getting it replaced now. If within 2 years it is probably covered under warranty and a battery fault. The value of the phone in year 3 or 4 would likely be under 1k which is when one had to weigh up whether it is worth it. It wasn’t with my SE 2

So what? The pricing is set at 10% of the cost of the equivalent new product. The choice is buy the new one or pay 10% of that value to replace the battery. If you are happy with the existing device then it seems a reasonable value proposition and one I do go with.

If you don't think it's worth it don't do it or go and buy a device with a different value proposition. There's lots of choice out there.

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#3413642 11-Sep-2025 08:59

Knowing Apple the 8GB ram on the Iphone 17 is their reason to subtly encourage upgrades sooner than expected due to poor performance. For that reason I'm going with the 17 Pro Max which has 12GB ram.

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#3413647 11-Sep-2025 09:12

Asteros:

Knowing Apple the 8GB ram on the Iphone 17 is their reason to subtly encourage upgrades sooner than expected due to poor performance. For that reason I'm going with the 17 Pro Max which has 12GB ram.

I'm still on the fence, and this is one reason I would consider the extra spend worthwhile. I'm well past the point of updating every year or two and have managed to eke out my 11 Pro for 5 years. If the extra $650 means it lasts an extra couple of years, then it might be worth it. But on the other hand, the concept of a folding iPhone intrigues me - the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is attractive, but the oversized camera bump seems inelegant (a criticism I would also level at the 17 Pro - the difference being a case for a folding phone seems harder to make work) and the crease in the folding display is still quite distracting. If Apple do indeed release a folding iPhone along those lines, but are able to eliminate some of those design quirks, then I might be tempted (if I can bring myself to sell a kidney). And in that case, it wouldn't be so important to have a phone right now that has to last for the next 5 years...

#firstworldproblems

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#3413648 11-Sep-2025 09:18

Totally agree with the idea of a folding phone being very attractive. However I've been following Samsung's Fold line as well as the Chinese manufacturers and they are all amazing technological developments; however after reading many long term reviews they all seem to have problems with durability within 1 year of daily use. It seems material technology has not yet advanced sufficiently to address this issue. All signs point to Apple releasing a foldable next year but I seriously doubt they can overcome this fundamental problem.

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#3413652 11-Sep-2025 09:23

I'm still horrified at the upper end pricing and wonder who they would really be for.

Who'd pay over $4k for a phone?

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#3413654 11-Sep-2025 09:36

Handsomedan:

I'm still horrified at the upper end pricing and wonder who they would really be for.

Who'd pay over $4k for a phone?

Apple's Storage pricing ladders have always ended up on the moon, and make little actual sense, its the same with their desktop and laptops, the fist step is always outrageously expensive...

in the case you point out 256-512 is $400, but 512-1TB is also $400, but to go from 1-2TB is $800...

Now that they have USB-C most people jsut pocket the cost and buy a large SSD or USB-C stick (although you're limited to USB2 speeds unless you go 17pro....

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#3413655 11-Sep-2025 09:37

I guess there are some people out there.

There is the Huawei Mate XT or the upcoming Mate XT 2 for example.

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#3413660 11-Sep-2025 09:53

My 15 PM has 1 TB of storage.

I did it because when I travel I use the phone to back up from my proper camera using the manufacturer’s app.

I also have Lightroom running so I can edit quick and dirty if I want to.

It’s a good deal easier than faffing about carrying my MBP.

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#3413666 11-Sep-2025 10:45

For the price of the 2TB Pro, you could get the 256GB Pro and almost 8 years of 2TB iCloud storage.

It's a tricky year for me. I'm still on my 12 Pro Max but the health is 76% and I'm keen to drop Lightning across all my Apple stuff. I'd like the Pro Max but it's insanely expensive now. The base 17 would cover what I need in terms of features but it's too small and they no longer make a plus version. The Air has too many compromises for my liking.

I guess I might be waiting another year for the 18 or just paying the $2.5k for a Pro Max since clearly I keep phones for five years+ now.

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