Should I wait for iPhone 15 Pro Max or buy 14 Pro Max

[maverick786us]

I am using iPhone 12 Pro Max since July 2021. Should I wait for 15 Pro Max or Get a 14 Pro Max at good deal.
In my knowledge the only new features that iPhone 14 Pro Max can provide on iPhone12 Pro Max are...

1. Dynamic Island.
2. Always on Display and more brightness option
3. 120GHz refresh rates.
4. Bigger Camera with better photography, more zoom, 8K video recording and Cinematic Video.

What's your opinion?

 

[UnknownSouljer]

I would wait. Waiting is always better. Also, it always feel bad when you buy something and then the new model drops. But buying a new model when it has just come out always "feels good" at least in terms of having the newest, greatest, thing for the longest period of time (even though that is an illusion).

There are other things that will be coming on 15 that I think will also help differentiate the 15 Pro from both the 13/14 Pro models.
https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/iphone-15/

---

First off is the big boost to processor performance. 14 didn't get newer process technology over the 13 due to TSMC lagging behind with their process technologies. Next gen A17 processors will have a 3nm chip, a significant jump vs A15/A16 Bionic, which was essentially the same chip but with 1 more graphics cores and a slight frequency bump.

Second is the huge improvement to battery life. Owing to not only greater efficiency in the processor due to the die shrink (gains of up to 35%), but it's known that every iPhone size is going to receive a larger battery in the coming generation. There are multiple rumors stating and blanks showing that Apple is making the device thicker with the intention of placing in a larger battery.

Third is USB-C. Maybe you care less about this one, maybe you have a bunch of Lightning cables around, but for charging and only needing one future cable (especially if you have a newer gen iPad around and/or a Macbook Pro), only needing one cable/one charger for all of your devices will be a great "nice to have" for the future.

The rest of the improvements after the ones I've listed and the ones you've listed are minor. It’s likely that the 15 will have a bunch of 15 exclusive software features that previous models won’t have due to a much faster processor. Likely machine learning improvements and image quality improvements at the very minimum.
Also as another thing, I would also say that the iPhone finally getting a periscope lens will be a big upgrade for people who use their phones as their primary photography device.

The only "negative upgrade" (aka a downgrade) this gen is likely cost. Not only because, as you note, you can get a cheaper 14 Max now due to late cycle deals - but also due to the inflating costs of manufacturing the phone (TSMC's pricing nearly doubling for bleeding edge process nodes after something like 3 years). Rumors are circling that the Pro Max may have a $100 increase attatched to it. And while that is not "nothing" it may or may not dissuade you from wanting to buy the phone. For those that do 24 month installment plans, that would "only" be an increase of $4.17~ a month, which will likely not affect serial iPhone buyers purchasing decisions.

 

[maverick786us]

I would wait. Waiting is always better. Also, it always feel bad when you buy something and then the new model drops. But buying a new model when it has just come out always "feels good" at least in terms of having the newest, greatest, thing for the longest period of time (even though that is an illusion).

There are other things that will be coming on 15 that I think will also help differentiate the 15 Pro from both the 13/14 Pro models.
https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/iphone-15/

---

First off is the big boost to processor performance. 14 didn't get newer process technology over the 13 due to TSMC lagging behind with their process technologies. Next gen A17 processors will have a 3nm chip, a significant jump vs A15/A16 Bionic, which was essentially the same chip but with more graphics cores and a slight frequency bump.

Second is the huge improvement to battery life. Owing to not only greater efficiency in the processor due to the die shrink, but it's known that every iPhone size is going to receive a larger battery in the coming generation. There are multiple rumors stating and blanks showing that Apple is making the device thicker with the intention of placing in a larger battery.

Third is USB-C. Maybe you care less about this one, maybe you have a bunch of Lightning cables around, but for charging and only needing one future cable (especially if you have a newer gen iPad around and/or a Macbook Pro), only needing one cable/one charger for all of your devices will be a great nice to have for the future.

The rest of the improvements after the ones I've listed and the ones you've listed are minor. It’s likely that the 15 will have a bunch of 15 exclusive software features that previous models won’t have due to a much faster processor. Likely machine learning improvements and image quality improvements at the very minimum.
Also as another thing, I would also say that the iPhone finally getting a periscope lens will be a big upgrade for people who use their phones as their primary photography device.

The only "negative upgrade" (aka a downgrade) this gen is likely cost. Not only because, as you note, you can get a cheaper 14 Max now due to late cycle deals - but also due to the inflating costs of manufacturing the phone. Rumors are circling that the Pro Max may have a $100 increase attatched to it. And while that is not "nothing" it may or may not dissuade you from wanting to buy the phone. For those that do 24 month installment plans, that would "only" be an increase of $4.17~ a month, which will likely not affect serial iPhone buyers purchasing decisions.

Thanks UnknownSoul, I've been reading rumors, of iPhone 15 and 16 Pro, for past couple of months and I am rather excited what the periscope zoom will deliver. Will the base model of iPhone 15 Pro Max will have 256GB storage? If yes, then I can get 512GB model at the cost of 256GB variant of iPhone 14 Pro Max? Then double the storage and all the new features offered by iPhone 15 Pro Max will simply outweigh 100$ premium.

 

[Aurelius]

Thanks UnknownSoul, I've been reading rumors, of iPhone 15 and 16 Pro, for past couple of months and I am rather excited what the periscope zoom will deliver. Will the base model of iPhone 15 Pro Max will have 256GB storage? If yes, then I can get 512GB model at the cost of 256GB variant of iPhone 14 Pro Max? Then double the storage and all the new features offered by iPhone 15 Pro Max will simply outweigh 100$ premium.

There's murmurs the iPhone 15 Pro family will start at 256GB, but nothing official.

 

[UnknownSouljer]

Thanks UnknownSoul, I've been reading rumors, of iPhone 15 and 16 Pro, for past couple of months and I am rather excited what the periscope zoom will deliver. Will the base model of iPhone 15 Pro Max will have 256GB storage? If yes, then I can get 512GB model at the cost of 256GB variant of iPhone 14 Pro Max? Then double the storage and all the new features offered by iPhone 15 Pro Max will simply outweigh 100$ premium.

There's murmurs the iPhone 15 Pro family will start at 256GB, but nothing official.

Yeah basically this. As has been talked about to death even in this sub-forum, 128GB chips are kind of ceasing on the manufacturing side. It has come up before because M1 computers came with 2x 128GB flash memory in the base model vs M2 with 1x 256GB, halving the bandwidth and therefore the speed of the entry level machines despite having the same memory size. And has been said that the reason for that change is because 128GB modules are becoming increasingly harder to find. The upside though is that my understanding also is that 256GB is costing what 128GB used to. Meaning there should be no increased cost in bumping up the base level on all devices, other than Apple or other companies wanting to increase margins.

However, if 256GB is the base model, then I would suspect that any price increase wouldn't be due to the flash memory, but the increased cost of the silicon from TSMC.

Will we get 256GB base? I certainly hope so. Another spec not talked about is whether or not A17 will have increased RAM. A17 is only coming to the Pro models, the regular models getting last years A16 again. So conceivably the A17 'could' have 8GB of RAM. Does the phone need it? Honestly, probably not, but it certainly will increase the headroom of the phone and allow it to buffer more stuff.

 

[maverick786us]

If apple don't increase the size of the sensors in iPhone 15 Pro Max, they might figure out a way to overcome it by superimposing images using the computational power and AI engine of of A17 Pro CPU. I think in future the concept of photography will change where AI engine of CPUs will replace physical hardware like Sensors, lens, apertures and so on.

I don't want to post something bit off the topic. I am just excited about Cinematic Video recording provided by iPhone 14 Pro Max, is this something that provides one hell of a difference if you are recording choreography video or some performance video on stage? If the stage is bit far from you, high optical zoom with Cinematic Video will make me feel the difference compared to normal video recording using the optical zoom that limited to 2.5X zoom in my iPhone 12 Pro Max?

I know that in iPhone 14 Pro Max models, there is a limitation in Cinematic Video recording mode, that at 4K, you can only record up to 24FPS (though I am not sure). With A17 Pro CPU can apple overcome this limitation and the user will be able to record 4K Videos at 60 FPS in Cinematic mode?

 

[Zorachus]

I would wait. Waiting is always better. Also, it always feel bad when you buy something and then the new model drops. But buying a new model when it has just come out always "feels good" at least in terms of having the newest, greatest, thing for the longest period of time (even though that is an illusion).

There are other things that will be coming on 15 that I think will also help differentiate the 15 Pro from both the 13/14 Pro models.
https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/iphone-15/

---

First off is the big boost to processor performance. 14 didn't get newer process technology over the 13 due to TSMC lagging behind with their process technologies. Next gen A17 processors will have a 3nm chip, a significant jump vs A15/A16 Bionic, which was essentially the same chip but with 1 more graphics cores and a slight frequency bump.

Second is the huge improvement to battery life. Owing to not only greater efficiency in the processor due to the die shrink (gains of up to 35%), but it's known that every iPhone size is going to receive a larger battery in the coming generation. There are multiple rumors stating and blanks showing that Apple is making the device thicker with the intention of placing in a larger battery.

Third is USB-C. Maybe you care less about this one, maybe you have a bunch of Lightning cables around, but for charging and only needing one future cable (especially if you have a newer gen iPad around and/or a Macbook Pro), only needing one cable/one charger for all of your devices will be a great "nice to have" for the future.

The rest of the improvements after the ones I've listed and the ones you've listed are minor. It’s likely that the 15 will have a bunch of 15 exclusive software features that previous models won’t have due to a much faster processor. Likely machine learning improvements and image quality improvements at the very minimum.
Also as another thing, I would also say that the iPhone finally getting a periscope lens will be a big upgrade for people who use their phones as their primary photography device.

The only "negative upgrade" (aka a downgrade) this gen is likely cost. Not only because, as you note, you can get a cheaper 14 Max now due to late cycle deals - but also due to the inflating costs of manufacturing the phone (TSMC's pricing nearly doubling for bleeding edge process nodes after something like 3 years). Rumors are circling that the Pro Max may have a $100 increase attatched to it. And while that is not "nothing" it may or may not dissuade you from wanting to buy the phone. For those that do 24 month installment plans, that would "only" be an increase of $4.17~ a month, which will likely not affect serial iPhone buyers purchasing decisions.

That's an excellent post there. Sounds like the iPhone 15 Pro will be a pretty big internal upgrade hardware wise.

Dare I say a massive leap forward and tech? I will keep my eyes open for that come September.

 

[UnknownSouljer]

If apple don't increase the size of the sensors in iPhone 15 Pro Max, they might figure out a way to overcome it by superimposing images using the computational power and AI engine of of A17 Pro CPU. I think in future the concept of photography will change where AI engine of CPUs will replace physical hardware like Sensors, lens, apertures and so on.

I don't think there will be much of a change to hardware, in terms of the sensors for iPhone 15. They might, but it's most likely that at least the primary camera sensor that just got put in on iPhone 14 will remain the same. If there are updates to sensors, I would expect that the most likely candidate would be to the telephoto sensor, as it would be a terrible shame to give it this great periscope optic and have it hobbled by the current 12MP sensor. Which is "good enough" for most things, but if paired with the 48MP sensor could allow it to compete with Samsung's "moon shots" and just night photography in general. (the 48 MP sensor quad-downsamples in most situations, notably low-light to increase SNR. And gives the option of "up to" a 48MP image if you choose to shoot in RAW, which I have to be honest isn't necessary for really anyone).

RAW images also give more latitude in post, if you are the type to actually spend time manipulating photos. Unlike me, who is lazy and often just posts whatever with a basic filter.

As to your direct querry, I'm sure there will be computational improvements this gen owing again largely to the much greater computing power that A17 should have. And I'm also again sure that they will do their best to pair this technology with their periscope telephoto lens. In other words I expect that they will stack everything onto that "one feature" to really show off a big improvement vs the previous generation.

The telephoto lens, just due to physics, will also have shallower depth of field. Not sure what the aperture will be on it, but I'd imagine around f/2.8. With computational photography they might attempt f/1.8 "imitation" of an s35 sensor. These are just guesses though. Honestly I haven't been impressed with all the computational photography stuff yet, at least the way Apple is using it. I'm unsatisfied with the way "boke" looks and Apple really needs to allow shadows to be shadows: Apple's images constantly try to flatten shadows on faces and make them look "evenly lit" and I very much dislike that.

Anyway, I've blah-blahed enough, and I'll admit that everything above is mostly conjecture and/or personal opinion. Though based on being a photographer and also reading a lot about iPhones future.

I don't want to post something bit off the topic. I am just excited about Cinematic Video recording provided by iPhone 14 Pro Max, is this something that provides one hell of a difference if you are recording choreography video or some performance video on stage? If the stage is bit far from you, high optical zoom with Cinematic Video will make me feel the difference compared to normal video recording using the optical zoom that limited to 2.5X zoom in my iPhone 12 Pro Max?

It's your topic. Personally I think it's better to ask more questions in a single thread rather than spamming multiple threads to ask questions about the same device (/opinions).

There are big boosts for sure vs the 12. Even the 12 to 13th had some nice improvements. Less going from 13 to 14. 15 I expect to have a jump though again, you have a very specific application and honestly it's going to be hard to say without getting our mitts on it first.

I do think it will have shallower depth of field for the telephoto shots, and should give better subject isolation. However how much better, like attempting to quantify it? Hard to say.

I know that in iPhone 14 Pro Max models, there is a limitation in Cinematic Video recording mode, that at 4K, you can only record up to 24FPS (though I am not sure). With A17 Pro CPU can apple overcome this limitation and the user will be able to record 4K Videos at 60 FPS in Cinematic mode?

Unknown right now. But I wouldn't doubt it. If I had to guess, there might be a solid 20-30% boost to performance this year. A17 basically is the first chip in a while that has had 2 years to develop. A17 now is what the A16 was supposed to be, but because 3nm got pushed back that means they had another year to add more improvements to it. I expect a pretty big jump in performance as a result. The only way it's not going to be at least 20% faster is Apple chooses to maximize efficiency and battery life instead of performance (and they can change this scale simply by clock speed, how aggressively it ramps, etc). However I think it will likely be a golden year for performance in a single gen. It's conceivable that they will get a 20% improvement in performance and a 25%+ boost to efficiency due to the die shrink.

If they improved the media engine "at all" then I think 4k 60 should be easily achievable in cinematic mode. Probably while shooting ProRes too. It's also more or less guaranteed that the neural engine will have big boosts too. Apple for sure is pushing machine learning in order to keep up with what is happening with 'AI'.

I expect iPhone 16 to have a much smaller leap in performance, but many other refinements - FaceID under the display finally, improvements to the entire camera stack, etc. If iPhone 15 is tick, then iPhone 16 will be tock. But that again is beyond the scope of this thread.


Also, in other news:

 

[Zorachus]