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A longtime iPhone user explains why the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro Max does not feel worth upgrading.

Longtime iPhone user questions upgrade lure of iPhone 17 Pro Max

Over the past year I used the iPhone 15 Pro Max as my main phone, and I remain happy with its performance. Yet with rumors about the iPhone 17 Pro Max, I find myself not eager to upgrade. Rumors point to a bigger 6.9 inch display and a redesigned camera block that some see as a visual shift that may not suit every user. If you care about design, the new look could divide opinions. The rumored RAM increase to 12GB and a potential A19 Pro chip built on 3nm could bring better speed, but for many daily tasks the current iPhone already feels fast. The iPhone 15 Pro Max will receive software updates for years, making the incremental gains less urgent.

While hardware improvements like the camera and screen are nice, one of the main things I look for is improved performance. While we don’t have any leaks about the A19’s performance, we do know that the A19 Pro chip could be built using TSMC’s 3nm process. If this is true, it would mean a marked performance improvement. However, it’s worth noting that Apple phones are already some of the more powerful devices you can buy. While the new chips might be more powerful, at a certain point, the difference becomes negligible to the average user. It isn’t just the chips that are likely going to be better, as Apple is reportedly increasing in RAM, from 8GB to 12GB. Now, this isn’t a change that you might notice straight away, but it is one that Apple has needed to make for a while.

As a brief bit of history, the majority of Apple phones only have 6GB of RAM, but with Apple Intelligence needing at least 2GB to function, the iPhone 15 Pro series and the iPhone 16 series all saw an increase. It was a necessary change at the time, and the same is true with this 12 GB improvement. However, I worry it might lead to some problems in the future. 12GB of RAM being the standard could leave me in the dust.

So, is it an automatic upgrade? We’re hanging onto our phones for longer than ever, meaning companies have to really produce something spectacular to draw customers. As it stands, I don’t see the iPhone 17 Pro Max being the phone to get me to upgrade to, although if I had an iPhone 14 Pro Max, I might be convinced otherwise. However, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, which could be getting TSMC’s 2nm chip process, is another story. In the interest of fairness, these rumors and leaks have to be taken with a grain of salt. There’s a lot we don’t know, and many details likely won’t match the finished product. The best thing we can do is wait for Apple to officially announce the phone to make up our minds. On that note, we’re expecting Apple to release the phones in September, as long as it follows its usual trends.

Upgrade fatigue is shaping how people think about new devices. A bigger RAM boost and AI features may sound impressive, yet the real life benefit for many users can be modest. The story matters because it shows how a phone already good enough can stretch into a yearly cycle of what counts as a leap.

There is also a clear tension between rumors and reality. Leaks create hype and urgency, while official details often shift once a product lands. The piece reminds readers that a leap worth spending on should be measured in everyday usability, not just numbers on a spec sheet. The risk is that hype pushes readers toward impulse buys instead of careful planning.

Highlights

Technology moves fast, but what matters is how a device fits your life not the headlines surrounding it.