The iPhone 17 and the rest of the lineup is officially available. I won't be buying one, despite having the perfect excuse to do just that.
I write about Apple every day, often all day. Longer than anyone probably should.
I also have an iPhone 15 Pro Max right now, having skipped the iPhone 16 lineup in 2024.
So, with that in mind, you'd think I would have every reason to have preordered a shiny new iPhone 17 Pro Max when preorders went live.
But I didn't. Believe it or not, I blame Apple for that.
Why do I blame Apple for me not giving it around $1,200 for a new iPhone 17 Pro Max? That's a good question to ask, and I'm going to answer it right here, right now.
Buckle up.
It's not me, it's you
I mentioned that I currently use an iPhone 15 Pro Max and I have done since it went on sale in September 2024. It's been a stalwart, following me around the world, taking great photos and keeping me abreast of Very Important Business — like soccer scores.
It's the best iPhone I've ever owned. And I'd wager, it's perhaps a little too good for Apple's own good.
It has a huge 6.7-inch display that looks gorgeous. It has some great cameras that take stunning images.
My iPhone 15 Pro Max has 256GB of storage, which is about 50% more than I actually need. It's also blazing fast thanks to the A17 Pro chip.
Put all of that together, and you have a pretty great iPhone. And it's just as good now as it was in 2024.
And that's kind of the problem. Normally, two years later, I'm itching for an upgrade.
Two years of big iOS updates, more impressive games, and power-hungry apps normally brings any other iPhone to its knees. It starts to feel sluggish, like a boxer that's gone one too many rounds.
But my iPhone 15 Pro Max? It just keeps getting back up for more, no matter how I mistreat it.
I'll probably treat it to a new scratch-free display sooner or later. That'll be its second, and I truly hope Apple's latest displays are more scratch resistant than its old ones.
If there is one disappointment I have with my iPhone, it's the way it scratches. All I have to do is give it a good, sharp stare, and it gains a new scratch. But it's never broken, thankfully.
The A17 Pro is just so good, so fast, that I've yet to feel any need for something more performant. The A19 Pro is quick, I'm sure. But I doubt it'll open Safari, BlueSky. or any of my other most-used apps any more quickly.
Love it or loathe its looks, iOS 26 is pretty slick as it is. It doesn't stutter or hiccup, especially in ways that a new phone will fix. So why bother?
The iPhone's M1 moment
Apple's chips being almost too good is nothing new, of course. It managed a similar fate with the Mac, too.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is still a great smartphone
The first M1 chips brought a huge improvement in performance and battery life when compared to existing Intel Macs.
In fact, the M1 was so good that people didn't need to upgrade to the M2 or even M3 machines when they eventually rolled around. Only now, with the M4, is an upgrade worthwhile.
If the iPhone is now in a similar position, how long will it be before A17 Pro chips start to feel the pinch? It seems unlikely to be soon, given the fact it only put the chip in its new iPad mini a year ago.
The nice-to-haves
An iPhone's worth doesn't begin and end with its silicon, though. If my iPhone 15 Pro Max is fast enough to hold its own today, what about the rest of the package?
I looked at the iPhone 16 Pro Max in 2024 and decided that the slightly larger display and Camera Control button weren't enough to warrant an upgrade.
Today, on iPhone 17 Pro Max launch day, we can add a new round of cameras to the conversation. Are they enough to make me interested?
On paper, sure. Who wouldn't like the sound of a trio of 48-megapixel Fusion cameras? And early indications are that those cameras take great shots.
But, you know, so does my iPhone. I've used it to capture a cruise through the Norwegian Fjords, and it did an excellent job.
I've used it to snap the lovely blue oceans of southern Spain. It did that with similar aplomb.
I can honestly say that I've never looked at a photo taken with my iPhone 15 Pro Max and thought that it needed a little something. Something a little extra.
Except, perhaps, with exception — the telephoto camera. I admit I'd like the iPhone 17 Pro Max's extra pixels there. In fact, I'd like them quite a lot.
But is a four-times uptick in pixels enough to warrant a whole new iPhone? Especially in a camera that I use sparingly, to say the least?
I don't believe it is, no. And trust me, I kind of surprise myself when I say that.
The lack of a will to upgrade amongst the AppleInsider staff comes as a bit of a surprise too. In what perhaps comes as a shock to the casual reader, we are not bombarded by free iPhones, nor do we have a drawer-full of them to give away to those who ask.
Less than half of us are upgrading personal devices in 2025.
I'd love to look at the new iPhones and need one. I'd love to be itching to get my hands on the new handset.
But in reality, that hasn't happened in a little while. In fact, I remember the last time it happened pretty clearly.
It was when i got my iPhone 15 Pro Max, two years ago.
