After four years with my beloved iPhone 13 mini, I reluctantly upgraded to the iPhone 17, and it's exactly what I expected — for better and worse.
For a lot of people — including most of my cohorts — September means a new iPhone. The new iPhone shows up, and last year's model is carefully packed and returned whence it came.
Not for me, though.
It's me, Apple's worst nightmare. The person who goes years between upgrades.
Depending on who is doing the polling, only about a fifth of iPhone owners upgrade yearly. You'd think that all of my AppleInsider compatriots would do that, but even for us, annual isn't the case for our daily drivers.
Well, except for Wes.
We do generally short-cycle more than the average bear, mostly because we need to have new phones on deck to test — it's all part of the job.
I, however, am a better cross-section of the average user. I upgrade my devices about every 3.5 years. Reports consistently show that most iPhones are upgraded between two years and four years.
There are a lot of reasons for this. For most people, it's because the idea of switching phones is both expensive and a hassle.
For me, navigating iOS is a bodily function at this point — I don't even think about it. My thumb instinctively navigates rabbit hole menus in Settings to enable or disable features a less tech-savvy person may not even know exist.
It is a weird sort of superpower that I've picked up since working here. My iPhone-wielding relatives have learned to take advantage of it.
The iPhone 13 mini
My iPhone is always on the most current stable release of iOS. It's always backed up.
Switching to a new phone for me is barely an inconvenience. But I know that isn't the case for the average iPhone user.
In fact, there is someone in this very household who has a second-generation SE running iOS 16. This will end in tragedy soon, but she just won't listen.
If you're someone who just needs to upgrade your phone because your previous one bit the dust, switching is daunting. You may not know if your iPhone is backed up — or maybe you never enabled that setting in the first place.
You might not know what you need or how long it's going to take. You might worry about losing your photos, your contacts, your logins, and your passwords. This is why a lot of people opt to have the employee at their local carrier store do it for them.
The biggest for me, probably, is that I don't live on my phone. This is where I'm decidedly not average. Everyone I know is attached to their phone 24/7, which is fine.
I try to spend as much time off of my phone, unless I'm making phone calls, as possible. Some of this is because I find that the less time I interact with my phone, the better my attention span seems to be.
Some of it is that I have astigmatism. Staring at a phone screen gives me headaches that I'd rather not deal with.
I don't use it to watch videos, I don't keep social media on it, and I don't use it for gaming. I'm Mac-centric and grew up on AIM, so if it comes to texting, I'd rather do it from a keyboard.
All that to say, unless I'm relegated to riding the bus, traveling, or stuck in a backed-up doctor's or government office, my iPhone largely fills the following roles:
- Phone, as in for making phone calls
- Kitchen timer
- Alarm clock
- Camera
Any of these four functions could easily be replaced by a much cheaper device. But there's a certain level of 21st century ultra-convenience that comes from having one single device handle all four.
The iPhone 17: Effectively a $900 alarm clock that also allows me to call my mom
There are days when my iPhone's entire purpose is to wake me up at 8:00 am and then remind me to eat a kiwi at 10:00 pm.
So my tendency for upgrading every three or four years probably makes a lot more sense in that regard. Unfortunately, 2025 would mark my iPhone 13 mini's fourth and final birthday.
Deciding to upgrade
This year's upgrade was harder than I wanted it to be. I like the iPhone 13 mini.
Apple killed off its diminutive lineup in 2022, which was the whole reason I upgraded in the first place. Before that, I had an iPhone 11 that I did not particularly love.
And, from the second I got the iPhone 13 mini, I was determined to keep it for as long as possible. It was so small, so unobtrusive.
It fit in all my pockets.
The perfectly portable iPhone 13 mini — diminutive, but it the best way
I always said I'd willingly upgrade when Apple released another iPhone mini. Barring that, I reluctantly said I'd upgrade if Apple released an iPhone that I thought would be compelling enough for me to leap.
I said this with the intention of not upgrading for as long as possible. Unfortunately, my iPhone 13 mini had other plans and, in mid-October, started showing signs that it might be gearing up to kick the bucket.
I was pretty upset. But it was kismet, because I'd argue that 2025 marked the first time I had been genuinely intrigued by the iPhones Apple released that year.
I thought, initially, that the iPhone Air might have been the device I'd grab. However, the single camera and over a grand price tag snapped me back to the real world.
But the iPhone 17, on the other hand, had gotten my attention for practical reasons. It had an A19 chip, whereas my iPhone 13 mini has an A16.
I'd been interested in the oft-maligned camera button since its introduction. I'm the one weirdo who thought it was a good idea.
I like the idea of a ProMotion display. I wasn't too sure how I'd feel about the always-on display.
I was also interested in the new Center Stage front camera. I rarely need to take a horizontal selfie or video. But, in the instances where I do, it'd be nice to hold the camera in portrait mode for better stability.
Plus, let's be real here for a second: I probably would have been obligated to switch to the iPhone 17 for my job — we all know where I work. So, off I went.
The good...
I was expecting the iPhone 17 to be "better" than my iPhone 13. It was four years newer, after all. What I didn't expect was how much better it was. I'd gotten used to the general "slowness" of my iPhone 13, so much so that I hadn't really noticed it.
I know this is the case for pretty much any piece of tech; you don't really notice it until you do. You get used to that gradual slowdown because of the operating system itself demanding more and more from the device.
But the iPhone 17 is zippy. It launches every app I use — which is admittedly not a ton of apps — instantly.
iPhone 17
Nothing hangs, there are no lengthy loading times, and, perhaps most importantly, it doesn't crash. This was an increasingly common problem with my iPhone 13.
Other quality of life improvements include the improved cameras and the Dynamic Island. I actually enjoy both of those quite a bit.
I take a lot of pictures with my iPhone — it's my primary point-and-shoot camera. My iPhone 13 took good pictures, but predictably, the iPhone 17 takes better pictures.
The low-light performance is significantly better, and I'm genuinely impressed with Action Mode. The zoom is infinitely better, and the Portrait mode seems like it works more reliably.
The square sensor Apple spent so much time talking about is great, too. I like the fact that I can take a horizontal selfie or Center Stage video call if I need to.
The novelty of the horizontal selfie is not lost on me.
The Dynamic Island seems like a silly thing to like, but my iPhone 13 had a notch. The Dynamic Island is novel to me as I'm three years late to the game.
So, overall, there were some pretty nice upgrades.
... and the bad.
Of course, those upgrades didn't come without a price. And I mean that both figuratively and literally.
This thing was so expensive. I buy my phones outright, which means there's no carrier upgrade offer, no folding it into the monthly bill.
And, to make matters worse, Apple was very hesitant to sell me a phone through its platform. As it turns out, my ancient T-Mobile plan that I retain for mostly familial reasons isn't supported by Apple's website, and it deduced that I'd have better luck going through T-Mobile directly.
T-Mobile did not offer a financing option. So that's nearly $900 pulled out in one fell swoop. Ouch.
In addition to the big price tag, there's also the notably bigger form factor.
I am aware that a lot of you like bigger phones. I do not.
It's a valid gripe; I have smaller-than-average hands, and even the iPhone mini could feel a bit big at times. I am still, to this day, championing the iPhone 5c.
Also, I tend to avoid bags and purses. This means that I have to throw the phone in my pocket if I head out.
This usually wasn't a problem with the iPhone 13 mini. I found that the iPhone 17 fit — barely — into the pocket of my favorite jeans.
It didn't fit into the pockets of any other pants I owned, though. Especially anything that I would consider "dressy" — in fact, it just falls out of the pocket of my go-to slacks.
There is a substantial size difference
During the Great Lakes' very lengthy "hoodie and gigantic winter jacket" season, I won't actually notice this problem much. If it's really cold, I'll stash it in the interior pocket of my winter coat, which is large enough to hold an iPad mini.
If it's just "kinda cold," my phone gets relegated to the "kangaroo" pocket of any of the six hoodies I live in until May. It's the May-September season that will have me cursing its size.
Still, neither of the two downsides is enough to make me regret my purchase.
Making the switch
Making the switch is, theoretically, easy. Apple offers a few ways to do it.
I always have my phone backed up to iCloud, which means that I should always just opt for this method. Instead, I try to go for one of the "faster" ways.
This includes either putting the two phones close together or connecting them with the appropriate cable. Well, I tried both, and neither worked.
This resulted in me needing to set up my iPhone 17 about five times. It also gave me flashbacks of the last time I upgraded phones.
I gave up and just used the iCloud method. Apple warned me it could take a couple of hours, and I didn't love that because I had places to be that afternoon.
I guess I forgot that I am a person who barely uses their phone for anything other than a phone. The whole ordeal took maybe 30 minutes, tops, and I was good to go.
Your mileage will vary, obviously. But if you're like me, and your phone isn't filled to bursting, do the iCloud method.
Looking forward
We know who you are, on the aggregate. You like your tech, you are evangelists to your friends and family.
My experience is more like your friends and family than yours, probably. Now you know that they're not alone.
I don't think the iPhone 17 is perfect. It's still bigger than I'd like and expensive.
However, if you've been holding out on updating, I can say that it feels like a substantial update if you're coming from a pre-iPhone 14 model. If you're like me, chances are you'll appreciate the better cameras and the speed boost.
And there's a certain sort of peace of mind that comes with upgrading. I don't feel like my phone is about to crash if I need to check an app while making a phone call.
I also don't worry about getting stranded somewhere if it were finally to give up the ghost. These are marked improvements that I think anyone would appreciate.
Ideally, I should be able to skate by for another four years before needing to upgrade my iPhone 17 to the iPhone 21 — or whatever Apple's calling the post iPhone 20 line. I suppose that gives me enough time to save up $1,500, which I assume will be the price of an iPhone in four years.
Unless it releases the iPhone 18 mini. I would upgrade to the iPhone 18 mini, but I'm not holding my breath.
