iPhone 18 Pro: Should You Upgrade or Keep Your Current iPhone?

18 Pro? >> 18 Pro. >> Yeah. >> Adam. >> Cool phone. >> That's what That's That's what at least at the beginning of the episode that's what you said. >> this is a really straightforward thing. You know, again, this is not a huge leap forward. There's not a major redesign of the hardware. Um there's a lot of little enhancements and niceties. They you know, more battery life. I have a 2-year-old phone. I'm on a now at least 2-year cycle. Could be longer. >> Sure. >> Um you know, there's some nice camera upgrades in here. I will tell you um Do you guys remember when Apple first went to the um hardware image stabilization on their cameras? >> Yep. >> And they had that issue with some of them where that would break and the the lens would like rattle around in the phone. This new aperture thing, all those little tiny components, I'm like >> Oh, you're going to drop it once. >> freaking break on this thing, it's going to be that stupid aperture thing. >> You have to think >> people are actually going to use it? >> I I agree. It like >> That is a pro user thing. >> For sure. >> Yeah, so I do worry about that a little bit, but again, for me it's just it's it's a processor upgrade, it's a battery upgrade, it's an AI upgrade. Like there's a lot of nice little enhancements and it's just it's an iPhone at the end of the day. Like I I don't think there's anything like revolutionary or groundbreaking here. And we I don't think we've had anything super revolutionary or groundbreaking in iPhones in the past couple years other than again uh probably you know, Sbot AI. Um but that's you know, that's just processors plus you know, software, so. >> Is it Is it the same form factor? Can you use your 17? >> so it >> Oh, I don't Wait. Wait. Wait. You asked I I answered your first question while you were asking the second one. >> Yeah. >> It is the same size as the 17 Pro. I don't know if the camera bump is different, so I don't know that you can use your 17 Pro cases on it. >> It looks like it is cuz it's got >> I know. >> that whole area at the top where they cram the battery in, so I would presume they didn't change the dimensions cuz don't most cases go around that entire area? >> Yeah, but you've been following Apple long enough, Adam. [laughter] >> They're still pretty happy to change it 4 mm to the left. >> see why. I Oh, also agreed. However, but I think I think in this case it might actually work. We'll find out. We'll find out. >> I like the the burgundy color. They kind of gave us two feature colors cuz they have the glacier now, too. So >> Yeah, glacier. >> And then a deep blue. But I feel like the burgundy is the is the flagship color this year. >> I I want to I didn't I I want to make sure that my comment that sounded dismissive wasn't You said this is definitely you know, the aperture Speaking about the variable aperture in the camera, you said this is definitely a pro pro feature, and I said for sure. It is a pro feature. And if you are someone who is a pro photographer or even a prosumer photographer, that might be considered the revolutionary upgrade, right? To be able to have that in your pocket all the time is like that's kind of amazing. So >> It really is. >> For the people for whom that is important, I think the decision was made instantly. And that's right candidly why Apple led with that. You know, it's like let's let's tell you about this And let's tell you about the vapor chamber. Your phone gets hot, and you can't do this special thing if you're a photographer that want a special thing. So we're going to give you both of those things, and here you go. So yeah. >> Did the 17 Did only the 17 Pro have the vapor chamber or did the 17? >> Yeah, but they've they've beefed it up. I mean, the the vapor chamber is significantly improved, and I think that's that alone would help if you're using Navionics on your boat to >> Oh, cool. Yeah, but I mean, and I didn't mean to be of the >> weren't. I I was. Yeah. >> Um no, but the my my point was being that like iPhone iPhone iPhone, it's it you're what you're going to see every year we've seen every year for the past I don't know how many years we'd have to go back is pretty much updated processor, updated performance, updated graphics, new ca- some kind of new innovative camera features or camera updates. >> Yeah. >> You know, and so it's it's the expected stuff. So like there's nothing My point is is like this isn't the the Duo was the big announcement, right? >> [laughter] >> This is just here's the new iPhone. >> It It was. Yeah. >> And that's not to say it's not cool, but I'm just saying like I don't I don't think we're at the point anymore where we're like on bated breath for what's happening with the iPhone. It's just like we know what's going to happen with the iPhone. They're going to up- update the camera system. They're going to add some new cool software features. They're going to upgrade the processor. They're going to you know, it's like okay, cool. Awesome. I want a new iPhone. >> I Yeah, exactly. I want a new iPhone, exactly. Yeah. No, and and with with Apple intelligence, I this summer is the first uh using the iOS 27 betas. Uh and by the way, well, by the time this episode comes out the 27 release will be on the same day. But but but if you just tell it you want to load the public beta, you will get the release version uh is what it seems like it's being downloaded now. Um the this summer is the first time that I have really been able to get utility out of the AI features on my phone. Now, I say that and and I am immediately being, you know, overlooking being dismissive of the summarization features that I've absolutely loved. Like when a notification comes in and it summarizes or an email comes in and you get the little notification with a summary, that's all Apple intelligence, too. And it's been great at that. But, that's basically been the limit of it up until iOS 27. And having, you know, what is my I should look back at my iPhone storage here, my you know, my 17 Pro has an 18 gig Apple intelligence model on it. That That's That's a lot, and you need a lot of RAM for that. That's why the 17 Pro does better than the 17. And my guess is that the 18 Pro has even more RAM because they want to be able to load these larger models on there and really make Apple intelligence work. And And it it does. Like, so I I I think that that if you want the Apple intelligence features and you have anything less than a 17 Pro, I I think considering an upgrade, the hardware will matter for this. And now >> Go ahead. >> I forgot to mention that is another big reason I'm updating cuz I have a 16 Pro and I do want to take advantage of those features. Now, that said, I've been using the 27 beta on my 16 Pro. >> Right. >> And it is still a fast improvement over what happened before. So, this is more for those of you who are on the fence and maybe are like, do I want to spend the money? Do I really need to spend the money? And if the intelligence stuff is is something for you, what I might advise if you have like a 16 Pro or I don't know how I would assume it's the same experience on like a 15. I don't know how far back it goes. But, you might consider, if you're really on the fence, you might consider waiting for the OS upgrade cuz I don't think there's going to be a problem with getting an 18 Pro. Like, I don't think we're going to be in a supply chain. Like, I don't think that >> It's not going to be like last year, probably. >> you're going to The duo now, that that's going to happen. >> Oh yeah, I'm going to have to have to come to the October. >> But um >> I'm going to throw some elbows for that. Yeah. >> Yeah. So for those people around the fence, you might want to just install the thing, try it, and see >> That's fair. >> it does actually matter to you before you drop a bunch of coin on an upgrade that you know, again, it's for the people who are like I don't really have the money and I'm going to have to finance it and like you know, like You know, and there's a lot of those people in the world. Like I'm even like considering that with my Apple Watch. It's like, do I just get it on a payment plan cuz I don't want to drop another 500 on top of the 1200 I'm dropping on a phone. >> So there's there's some things to keep in mind here that Apple said but didn't say and and they're very much related to what you're talking about. The first is that iCloud plus has essentially is essentially becoming an AI paywall. Apple said that you know, they they you know, some features will have usage limits because they rely on powerful server models. Increased access will be available with most iCloud plus plans. They weren't they didn't articulate anything beyond that in the thing, but you know, in the the support doc and and the Apple intelligence page say that expanded access will be available for a fee. Now iCloud plus is not in that sentence. The stage script was reading from something that might have been older than that. So we don't know what this is at the moment. iCloud plus plus pricing remains unchanged, but I think if you want to really take advantage of some of the more powerful and more more frequent usage of the AI stuff, having an iCloud plus plan will probably be step one for that. >> Question >> on that cuz I'm a little confused. >> Sure. >> Um that's just a paid iCloud plan, is that what that is? >> iCloud Plus is a paid iCloud plan. The thing we The thing we don't know >> at that? >> No, that's been that way for a while, right? >> I have Apple One which includes that, but >> that, correct. >> marketing confused and I thought other people might be getting marketing confused as well. >> question. That's a fair question. Yep. So you will pay for that usage somehow. It might be some amount of it I think will be included in every you know, Apple One or iCloud Plus subscription and then there might even be it an opportunity to pay more. I also noticed that they said that the devices, the iPhone 18 Pro is when they mentioned it, are built to use powerful third-party models. So I don't know what that means either and and also let's not get confused with like you know, you're not going to be running the Claude's fable model on your iPhone. Like powerful third-party models that can run on a single device is a very limiting factor here. So just you know, you you will need Yeah, you will need to use the cloud models for things. I mean, go ahead. >> Is there I'm assuming there's some use cases for doing that and it's probably mostly app-related stuff, right? So if you don't want to use Apple's models in your app and you want to use some sort of >> Yes. >> other on-device model you're as a developer That felt more like a developer feature to me >> That's fair. Yeah. >> You're going to run some personal Maybe people will, but like I don't think the average person is. >> Probably not. It you know, I'm curious to see what that evolves into and we'll find out. The other thing they talked about this Apple upgrade, you know, program. Apple's footnote calls this a lease. It is Apple upgrade lease. This offer is for a consumer lease, not a purchase or loan. Lease provided by Klarna Inc. for 12, 24, or 36 months term. 36-month terms. Um and that and that that's kind of been out for a while. They mentioned it in the keynote, but that just a reminder that there is a buyout uh if you get to the end and want to keep your phone as opposed to just keep paying the monthly fee and get a new phone. So, that's the >> Yeah. >> And people need to be careful with that because most of the time I think what people count on is the trade-in value. And that works. It works often a lot of the time for a lot of people I know. And so, they're like, "Okay, I just keep getting a new one and I'm just on this constant lease." But um if your buyout doesn't cover what's remaining on your lease, just like any other kind of lease, you got to pay the difference. So. >> [laughter] >> I think I think the way Apple has structured it is if you keep paying and you get to the end of your term, your lease term, that they will they will absorb your old phone and let you just pay you know, lease a new phone from them at the end of that term. But you can't do it before the end unless you want to buy it out, right? So. >> Well, yeah. But I mean again, if you if you re-up your lease and the trade-in doesn't cover the purchase cost of your new phone, it either gets rolled into your new lease and new payment. >> Correct. >> So, you're just pushing the ball forward. You have to be He's got to be very clear when people are making financial decisions like recognize what you're doing. I'm not saying don't do it. I'm just saying like know that there's a risk just like anything. It's like if you lease a car or whatever, you know, you get whatever value. >> Look at the they call it the money factor on a lease. That's the term they use. And this is for cars. I would assume Apple would do the same thing cuz it's not Apple, it's Klarna. Um the the money factor is the interest rate. That is all it is. It's just a renamed interest rate to make it easier to look at. So, if you're going to lease an iPhone, look at the interest rate and figure out is it better to lease it through somebody else? You know, is there a third party that's going to do this cheaper than Apple? Almost certainly the answer is yes, right? To Apple there's the convenience factor of doing it through Apple and all of those things, but um but make sure you Yeah. >> Yeah, good point. Good point. >> I guess the the the problem is is the mindset I see people get into is like, "Well, of course I lease my phone because I'm going to buy one a new one every year and I'm just getting a free free new phone." It's like, ain't free, people. >> Nope, never [laughter] is. >> Not even close. >> Never is. That's right. >> Or a free upgrade, you know, like no. >> Your base model's a $1,200 phone. They aren't giving it to you. >> Yeah. [laughter] Yeah, exactly. Yeah. >> if you're snowballing the amount and it's going up and you're like, "Well, you still leased the $1,200 this time and you had $200 left over, so you actually leased $1,400 this time and then it's another $200 the next time and it you know, like