Why I'm Sticking With My Iphone 12 For Another Year - And I'm Not Alone

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

Apple conscionable announced nan iPhone 17 lineup, pinch a caller slim iPhone Air model.
Despite a fewer hardware updates, galore consumers won't beryllium compelled to upgrade.
If your iPhone supports nan latest OS, you mightiness find nan upgrade excessively incremental to justify.

People utilized to switch their iPhones each fewer years. There was a clip erstwhile each caller iPhone felt for illustration an all-new device, packed pinch caller features and important leaps guardant successful hardware capabilities.

As nan iPhone became much refined, however, these caller features felt little bombastic and much incremental pinch each caller version. This, mixed pinch progressively resilient hardware, intends that nan user upgrade rhythm has slowed down.

Also: Apple Event unrecorded updates 2025: iPhone 17, AirPods 3, Apple Watch Series 11, and much news

Consumers are besides much budget-conscious these days. In a caller study published by Statista, researchers recovered that group are waiting longer to upgrade their phones, and that hold clip is only going up -- projected to beryllium an mean of 2.93 years betwixt upgrades by 2027.

I'm successful that category, and I'm not alone. In fact, I'm still rocking my iPhone 12 -- a telephone that came retired successful 2020. At nan opening of nan year, I told myself I'd upgrade to nan iPhone 17 erstwhile it came retired this fall. Five years pinch 1 telephone is enough, right?

Well, now that it's here, I've changed my mind. I'll beryllium waiting different year. Why? Because my iPhone 12 is still good. The artillery still rocks, my show only has 1 hairline crack, and it'll tally Apple's latest operating system: iOS 26. Below are a fewer much reasons why I'm waiting to upgrade.

Older models still get iOS 26

What is Liquid Glass? Everything we cognize astir Apple's awesome UI overhaul astatine WWDC

Apple's latest operating strategy upgrade is disposable connected devices arsenic acold backmost arsenic nan iPhone 11. This is important because a monolithic portion of utilizing immoderate Apple merchandise is nan operating system. These products are designed to beryllium an ecosystem, moving together to amended nan experience, not existing arsenic standalone devices.

In that sense, having entree to nan latest OS gives you entree to galore of nan latest package features, specified arsenic nan revamped Liquid Glass UI design, quality-of-life improvements to a big of apps for illustration Camera and Photos, automated telephone screening, and (depending connected really caller your iPhone is) AI-powered features for illustration real-time translation, Shortcuts, and Visual Intelligence.

Also: 5 iOS 26 features that made updating my iPhone worthwhile (and really to effort them)

Software support is besides longer these days. Although Apple doesn't explicitly group a number for really agelong it promises support, you tin decidedly expect 5 years, and mostly expect 7 aliases much years of information updates.

If truthful overmuch of nan personification acquisition boils down to nan operating system, you don't needfully request nan newest iPhone to usage nan latest features. That being said, galore of these are relegated to circumstantial models, truthful you'll want to double-check to spot which features your instrumentality is compatible with.

Apple's hardware is resilient

Look, I've owned a cardinal phones, from my Nokia flip phone successful nan early 2000s to my Blackberry (RIP) to multiple iterations of nan iPhone complete nan years. The hardware connected these devices is simply getting much and much resilient and, pinch each caller model, much durable.

Don't get maine wrong, nan hardware connected nan iPhone 17 is surely a important upgrade -- nan instrumentality is thinner and lighter, it features a 120Hz ProMotion show that was erstwhile reserved for nan Pro model, has a vastly improved cooling system, nan all-new A19 chip, 12GB of RAM, and nan capacity to grounds video successful 8K. But each of these features guidelines successful guidance to an important question: Do you request them?

Also: The iPhone 17 bid could beryllium Apple's boldest move successful years - here's why

While contented creators and tech enthusiasts whitethorn beryllium chomping astatine nan spot for nan upgraded shape facet and 48MP telephoto lens, nan reality is that nan mean iPhone personification whitethorn not return afloat advantage of these features. I tin still return amazingly bully photos pinch nan iPhone 12's dual 12MP camera. For high-quality photos, I whip retired nan DSLR.

What I mightiness miss retired on

There is 1 altogether caller point nan iPhone 17 lineup has to offer: nan Air model. The caller ultra-thin iPhone measures conscionable 5.5mm and features a 6.6-inch surface pinch razor-thin bezels, truthful it's thinner, lighter, and has a bigger screen. In that sense, it surely looks like an upgrade, arsenic Apple's thinnest telephone to date.

If you're successful emotion pinch nan creation of nan iPhone 17 Air, it could perfectly beryllium worthy nan upgrade since there's nary different iPhone connected nan marketplace rather for illustration it. Apple besides publication nan room here, arsenic it's not bringing each of these features to an exorbitant caller premium value tier: it's an affordable $900.

Also: If Apple unveils nan iPhone 17 Air pinch these features today, I'm fresh to upgrade

There are trade-offs to nan Air's ultrathin design, however. For 1 thing, it drops some nan ultrawide and telephoto lenses for a azygous rear 48MP lens. In that sense, this telephone is simply a committedness to nan bladed and ray shape factor, not needfully a hardware upgrade.

Lastly, if you're geared up for each nan latest Apple Intelligence features that iOS 26 has to offer, you're going to request an iPhone exemplary pinch nan A17 Pro spot aliases higher. This includes spicy features for illustration AutoMix successful Apple Music, Hold Assist, Spatial Photos, aliases AI-generated Genmojis -- each of which require nan iPhone 15 aliases up. If you person an older model, you won't person entree to these features.

Also: Every iPhone exemplary that supports Apple's caller iOS 26 AI features (and no, its not conscionable nan iPhone 17)

With each caller iteration, nan iPhone becomes much resilient, much powerful, and pinch that, worthy keeping astir a fewer other years. The iPhone 17 is simply a coagulated upgrade, and 1 of nan much impactful models to travel retired successful nan past fewer years, but I don't request it conscionable yet. I want to spot really agelong my iPhone 12 lasts, aft all, it was built to past successful nan agelong run.