Are all the iPhones the same?

[bopper]

My 7 plus is getting buggy. Honestly I’m starting to buy into the conspiracy theories about Apple making older phones buggy on purpose. I have trouble charging, connecting to CarPlay, getting apps to respond sometimes. Other than that, a new case would make it look brand new.

Anyway, last I looked, the 8 and X were hot and new, but now we’re up to 14!?! Cricket has an SE for 350 and 11 for 500 I think. 11 has a fancier screen and that’s all I really can tell about them. What do yall think? Are they all the same? There software update support too. I believe my 7 got its last update ever.

Edit: I suppose there’s newer chips that are better… but how processing power can a phone possibly need? It’s basically a texting machine that can watch YouTube and browse forums.

 

[beers]

XR to 12 Pro was a noticeable difference in performance. The last couple of iterations are pretty stagnant, I'll probably eye that 15 as the next upgrade since it should be on the "3nm" process CPU wise.

Also the new SE that launched wasn't too bad and included the A15. $500 for an iPhone 11 in 2022 is kind of robbery though.

but how processing power can a phone possibly need?

Depends what you're using it for. If you can complete your work faster in the same power envelope and return to idle more quickly then you'll see longer battery life (and a smoother experience as apps increase in requirements), but process advancements increase perf/watt the most. The 7 is getting pretty old since it was launched in 2016, support finally ended like you indicated this last September.

 

[bopper]

looks like for my uses, they are pretty much the same. I’m in a bit of sticker shock tho. I paid 350 for my 7 when it was only a year or two old.

The 13 and 14 have the A15 chip.
The 12 has a just as good A14.
They also have plenty good cameras and oled screens

The 11 has a comparatively doggish A13 and lcd screen. It would be an excellent phone, but I sure don’t want to pay what cricket is asking.

The SE looks like a fair bargain, but I’m thinking I’d hate how small it is.

Going thru the specs, it looks like cameras are basically the only differences among the pros and maxes… and all phones beside the chips. Apple has some great marketers pushing these things. Since I’ve been researching I do remember the 12, and maybe have heard of 13. I lost interest when they came out with X immediately after 8, skipped 9, and then a few more X submodels. I don’t even recall the 14 coming out.

 

[beers]

it looks like cameras are basically the only differences among the pros and maxes

Also screen size. My wife has the 12 pro max (6.7") while I preferred the smaller footprint of the 12 pro (6.1")

It's always a yearly release, even 12 to 14 I don't really see too many advantages. The original X seemed to have a lot of issues that were revised with the XS/XR lines.

I'd probably just go for whatever the best value play is, they're pretty synonymous across the board aside from maybe the display when you go down to the SE.

 

[bopper]

As far as processors, we really don't care. Really the only advantage the other options have over the SE is OLED, wireless charging, and 5G. Sure they're also smaller per screen size, but that's not worth triple the price I don't think. I reeaallyyy don't want a tiny SE tho... fat fingers and all. My wife is leaning toward the 2nd gen SE for $200 over a 13 mini for $630. What do yall think of Apple's OLED over their LCD?

The new sizes are sure cool though. The 14+ is effectively the same size as my 7+, but has 22% more screen. See attached if you like charts. I arbitrarilly un-weightened the depth and weight for the overall % cause I figure those are less impactful.