OK, actually, I've spent a lot more on my iPhones. I'm based in the UK, and haven't always gone for the base storage option, but I've always had the 'Pro Max' or nearest equivalent – that's £18,200 in UK money, where I am, before we even think about how much I've given to the cellular networks for the privilege of using the phone!
But am I going to carry on buying new shirts for Tim Cook and friends – not to mention funding the cost of cleaning the glass on Apple's preposterous glass donut in California? Well, I like to think that I'll make my decision based on real value of the camera that I always have with me (against the re-sale value for last year's iPhone 16 Pro Max).
Actually, that's a good point – most of that money has come back to me because Apple products do hold their value if you look after them, and I do. Admittedly, the only bad case I ever bought – and the most expensive – was an Apple one, so I'll probably just trust the company with the phones.
Which brings me to this year, and trust. For the last two years Time Cook has spent a lot of his time telling me how much Titanium is a better material than Aluminium for phones, and (if you look at my credit card statement) I lapped it up.
Yet this time things are a bit different. The new iPhone Air, presented before the Pro phones, is made of Titanium but the Pro phones are not. So it's probably not as good, right? After all, the Air did not attract my attention as a photographer.
It's thin and light, except for the camera bump, so it isn't thin really, but it definitely does only have one actual camera (whatever Apple say). By which I mean one actual image sensor. They manage to describe it as two – sort of – because it can be used in a crop mode. This isn't doing a lot for my trust.
But apparently I can have the most pro 'Pro' phone ever now that the thinness isn't the worry that it used to be? Er...
Fine. Actually the iPhone Unibody does sound pretty cool as an idea. Literally, as it will be 'thermally efficient' – the aluminum (or aluminium as I'd prefer) will channel the heat away, and to be fair I'm pretty happy with my MacBook Pro M3 (not so much the intel MacBook Pro 2019 I'm also regularly required to deal with, but that's a whole other story).
But what about the cameras that project out on that big new bump (or 'plateau' as Apple seem to prefer)?
I do wonder – will that big bump get scratched more easily? Is this a trick to reduce the chance of my iPhone remaining spotless for a year? Will the best iPhone 17 Pro Max cases cover the bump?
Ultimately, I'm mostly looking with my photographer's eye, and the long optical zoom and the fact there is finally a 48-megapixel sensor on the telephoto camera is the change that I've been looking for. It's frustrated me that the telephoto has been the worst sensor on previous iPhones and, while I don't buy the idea that it is "the equivalent of 8 pro lenses in my pocket," I am sure a better sensor on the tele will actually make a difference that I can see to the images that I capture.
ProRes Raw is also appealing – though I worry about my need for more and more external hard drives when shooting video and whether I actually will ever do the grading from the 10-bit log video! But that's my problem!
What about some of the other new features? Well, apparently, the screen is a lot tougher? Hmmm... never scratched the previous one. That's why I'm hoping I'll still get a decent amount for it on eBay!
Because, yes, as I type I'm watching Apple's pre-order page tell me "We love that early energy" even though it's already five minutes after the time it was supposed to start accepting pre-orders.
I don't think I'm the only one tempted this time.
I wonder, though, if it's the Air or the striking orange iPhone Pro that's luring other people into the queue?
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I'm not the only iPhone user at DCW wondering about the best iPhone upgrade this time – check my colleague Adam Waring, who says "I think I've decided on which iPhone 17 I'm going to buy, but am I making the same mistake again?"
