The iPhone 17 pre-order deadline is looming, and I don't know which one to buy. What I do know is that I want to get one of them. It's not because I'm an Apple fanboy who has to have the very latest iPhone the moment it comes out. But I am firmly entrenched in the Apple ecosystem: as a journalist, I've used Macs for years, I use my Apple Watch to pay for everything and leave my wallet at home, and I never go out without my AirPods planted firmly in my ears.
No, the reason it's time for an upgrade is that my current phone is the iPhone 13, and, at four years old, it's beginning to show its age with the battery starting to conk out before I'm done for the day, so it really is time to get a newer model. Plus, I've been meaning to upgrade my 'standard' AirPods to the Pro version after trying a friend's and being blown away by the sound quality – and noise cancellation in particular – and pre-ordered the AirPods Pro 3 on the day of the announcement.
But something else caught my attention with the latest ’Pods, and that's their ability to translate languages automatically. I'm a keen traveler to Europe, and aside from a smattering of Spanish, I rely on pointing and gestures to get myself understood, usually with limited success, so that's a feature I definitely want to take advantage of, and for that you need a phone with Apple Intelligence…
So, I'm getting a new iPhone. I'm also a photographer, so which one is best for me? My one regret, when I bought the 13, was that the cameras on offer were a fairly wide 'standard' focal length, and an even wider one still. I'd upgraded to that model from the iPhone 8, which had standard and telephoto lenses, which I found much more useful.
Logic would seem to say that it has to be the iPhone 17 Pro, with its three-camera array claiming 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, and 'macro' focal length options (or perhaps the Pro Max; with my eyesight not being what it used to be, bigger is better when it comes to screen size). But boy, are they expensive, and I've just shelled out on the new AirPods, too…
What about the new midrange impossibly thin 'iPhone Air'?. Yes, it looks stunning, but it only has one camera (even if Apple is claiming it also has a 2x optical zoom – but really just crops in), and has no macro facility, which is something I would definitely use.
Then there's the base model. It has two cameras, but claims 0.5x wide-angle, standard, and 2x telephoto focal lengths (again by cropping, but what the hey!), and importantly, has the macro feature. And while it's not exactly cheap, it's a lot less expensive than models higher up the range.
So that's what I'm going for. The money I've saved on not going for a higher-end model pays for my new AirPods. And besides, the lack of telephoto reach on my older phone meant I always carried a 'proper' camera with me when embarking on 'serious' photography.
I just hope I don't regret it.
