14 pro or pro max coming from a 12 pro max

[theKHMERboy]

I have had my 12 pro max (pacific blue) for about 2 years now and still love this phone till this day. All in honesty I feel like I want to upgrade to a 14 pro or pro max. What do you guys think would it be worth an upgrade? Anyone else made this transition and what do you guys think? Planning on going with the silver colour this time around. still contemplating on pro or pro max

 

[SteelSteve]

At the end of the day do what you feel comfortable with, but if your 12 is working fine unless there is a feature on the 14 you can’t live with out of wait and see what the 15’s bring.

 

[Mr.Willie]

I went from an 8+ to a 13, back when the 13’s were all the rave.

Personally, I wouldn’t.

 

[imwjl]

I moved 12 Pro Max to 14 Pro Max. My wife the 14 Pro from XS.

It's not a revolution but these things stand out. The camera performance is a leap but mostly noticeable at the extremes of use such as low light or more reach. Always on display with widgets is nice for my use. In IT an infrastructure admin it is handy but not a deal breaker. Improved battery life is noticeable but not a deal breaker. Viewing in bright sunlight is improved too. The 12 Pro Max with Verizon would go kind of flakey with sound when you drove between carrier cells that are a 5G and LTE transition. That is less of an issue but not gone.

Size and weight grew a bit but Max type is still worth carrying if only for my work. The big screen makes a difference for some powerful and professional apps I use but the benefit carries over for personal use such as News+ and video watching.

My work and handing the 12 Pro Max down to a child were the main drivers for my upgrade. I might put different value on it all if I had a different profession. Finally, the "Dynamic Island" has grown on me.

 

[Annie_M]

I'm sitting tight with my 12Pro... it's still awesome. The only reason I would switch is because I love the purple. But, I promised I'd wait for the 15, and I'm keeping that promise!

 

[theKHMERboy]

Thanks for sharing I been back and forth for a while but I think I am going to make the switch. Not really in a rush but want it by the end of this year. And yes dynamic island interesting and would like to see how I am going to like it but I am more interested in the camera. I love taking pictures and making videos and if that will be different. That will be the game change for me

 

[Tartarus]

Thanks for sharing I been back and forth for a while but I think I am going to make the switch. Not really in a rush but want it by the end of this year. And yes dynamic island interesting and would like to see how I am going to like it but I am more interested in the camera. I love taking pictures and making videos and if that will be different. That will be the game change for me

The battery and camera is a huge upgrade if you decide to go iPhone 14 Pro Max. I upgraded from a iPhone 12 Pro Max to 14 Pro Max and don’t regret it one bit.

 

[Up_And_Away]

I’m coming from the 11 so mine is more of an outlier than the 12. But I can also chime in from being a viewer of tech channel comparisons.
1. Battery: very noticeable and substantial improvement from the 12. The very best competing flagships of 2022 don’t even touch the 14 PM. Starting on the 13 PM, Apple has pulled away in battery life (interesting to note the 14 PM has the smallest battery for a flagship).
2. Display is about as sweet as it gets on a smartphone — you will notice the difference. One display metric measuring group said the 14 Pro is the best smartphone display they’ve ever measured. Also include in this upgrade direct sunlight brightness performance.
3. If you are a casual pic/video user, you’ll notice a difference but unlikely to be substantial. But If you like to take closeups, difficult shots such as night or sunlight/shadow mixes, like to sharpen pics after the fact? The 14 PM is a BIG! difference. Industry best in many categories of camera.
4. The most unmentioned feature you’ll actually definitely notice, speakers. The 14 PM speakers are definitely industry best by quite a lot including over the 13 PM. I use my 14 PM both as a speakerphone and as a music loudspeaker in a pinch. I’m not saying it’s OG HomePod good but from a smartphone perspective Apple has kicked it up two notches on the 14 PM speakers.
5. The snap of the A16 is good but that’ll be not regularly noticeable. However, I’ve seen the Bluetooth connection performance increase noticeably but certainly not out of this world different.
6. Always on display. Noticeable and functional but won’t be a big deal to many. Depending on your iPhone use case it could be a big difference for you (or not).
7. If you commit to using the dynamic island (break yourself of the old app switching methods) then it’s very noticeable. It’s a BFD to me. Some of my most common multi app uses: music and texting/surfing, phone call and texting/email/internet, (while driving) music-Apple Maps route display-texting(via voice). The dynamic island provides a much simpler way to navigate apps. Just note that it is limited but I expect it to grow in function (why not have the option to put the last app used in the island)

 

[jstnwlkr]

I’m coming from the 11 so mine is more of an outlier than the 12. But I can also chime in from being a viewer of tech channel comparisons.
1. Battery: very noticeable and substantial improvement from the 12. The very best competing flagships of 2022 don’t even touch the 14 PM. Starting on the 13 PM, Apple has pulled away in battery life (interesting to note the 14 PM has the smallest battery for a flagship).
2. Display is about as sweet as it gets on a smartphone — you will notice the difference. One display metric measuring group said the 14 Pro is the best smartphone display they’ve ever measured. Also include in this upgrade direct sunlight brightness performance.
3. If you are a casual pic/video user, you’ll notice a difference but unlikely to be substantial. But If you like to take closeups, difficult shots such as night or sunlight/shadow mixes, like to sharpen pics after the fact? The 14 PM is a BIG! difference. Industry best in many categories of camera.
4. The most unmentioned feature you’ll actually definitely notice, speakers. The 14 PM speakers are definitely industry best by quite a lot including over the 13 PM. I use my 14 PM both as a speakerphone and as a music loudspeaker in a pinch. I’m not saying it’s OG HomePod good but from a smartphone perspective Apple has kicked it up two notches on the 14 PM speakers.
5. The snap of the A16 is good but that’ll be not regularly noticeable. However, I’ve seen the Bluetooth connection performance increase noticeably but certainly not out of this world different.
6. Always on display. Noticeable and functional but won’t be a big deal to many. Depending on your iPhone use case it could be a big difference for you (or not).
7. If you commit to using the dynamic island (break yourself of the old app switching methods) then it’s very noticeable. It’s a BFD to me. Some of my most common multi app uses: music and texting/surfing, phone call and texting/email/internet, (while driving) music-Apple Maps route display-texting(via voice). The dynamic island provides a much simpler way to navigate apps. Just note that it is limited but I expect it to grow in function (why not have the option to put the last app used in the island)

This is a great perspective that I was looking for. I'm going to be ready to move on my my 12pro in about 2 months. Contemplating the 14pro max although I've never been a max device user.

I also realize that it's about 5 months out from the iphone 15 announcement. So there's that conflict as well.

 

[o4liberty]

As long as your battery is OK you could probably get another year out of your 12.

 

[Up_And_Away]

This is a great perspective that I was looking for. I'm going to be ready to move on my my 12pro in about 2 months. Contemplating the 14pro max although I've never been a max device user.

I also realize that it's about 5 months out from the iphone 15 announcement. So there's that conflict as well.

I completely understand. I actually had the trigger pulled on a 13 PM then backed out at the VERY last second.
Your 12 Pro should last for a number of more years and it has a good SOC to keep up with apps annual creeping increase in computational resources. Unless you want to go the annual upgrade plan (I think Apple’s is…?….40$ a month for base Pro Max), imho I’d wait.
The only minor curveball is the secondary market value decrease. Don’t quote me on this but I think year 3 right at the September new iPhone release is the biggest step down in value next to year one. Waiting until the 15 PM is still the better value but it’s less due to that secondary market drop.

 

[jstnwlkr]

As long as your battery is OK you could probably get another year out of your 12.

Unfortunately my battery health is at 86% overall. This thing is dreadful.

 

[jstnwlkr]

I completely understand. I actually had the trigger pulled on a 13 PM then backed out at the VERY last second.
Your 12 Pro should last for a number of more years and it has a good SOC to keep up with apps annual creeping increase in computational resources. Unless you want to go the annual upgrade plan (I think Apple’s is…?….40$ a month for base Pro Max), imho I’d wait.
The only minor curveball is the secondary market value decrease. Don’t quote me on this but I think year 3 right at the September new iPhone release is the biggest step down in value next to year one. Waiting until the 15 PM is still the better value but it’s less due to that secondary market drop.

You raise a good point with that 3rd year market drop off in value. I want to maximize what my carrier can offer me for my trade in while I can.

 

[Up_And_Away]

You raise a good point with that 3rd year market drop off in value. I want to maximize what my carrier can offer me for my trade in while I can.

That’s even another curveball. Carriers may give you a better deal one year over the other, even one month over the other imho use the secondary market value for your value decision making. Then if a carrier deal comes up that is better (they are offering above secondary market value), take it!

I believe my 11 had a pretty solid trade in on September 2021 IPhone 13 release when I almost bought the 13 PM. If I recall it was 340$ offer from T-Mobile. I remember being stoked thinking great value for a stock non pro 11. On September 2022 my trade in value with my T Mobile 14 PM actual purchase, I got 175. These are secondary market value but they are set based of the secondary market.

 

[Up_And_Away]

Unfortunately my battery health is at 86% overall. This thing is dreadful.

86% is fine, that’s plenty of life. My 11 at trade in was mid 70s. Didn’t effect value.

Side note suggestion, if possible charge every night at bedtime even if it’s 50%. The optimization algorithm is best when you have a regular charging schedule. It allows it to more easily know when you’ll be up, leaves it away from 100% until you will be waking up, will even charge slower/cooler if it knows it has time (the schedule is what let’s it know it has time).

 

[FFR]

You raise a good point with that 3rd year market drop off in value. I want to maximize what my carrier can offer me for my trade in while I can.

Do what you feel is right.

If you want to wait for the 15, got for it.

If you can’t wait with and want to have and iPhone 14 pro max, do it.