I've been using the iPhone 15 Pro Max for a year — here's why I don't plan on upgrading to the iPhone 17 Pro Max

For the last year, I have been using the iPhone 15 Pro Max as my main phone, and, for the most part, I am very happy with it. However, I am faced with an issue as the iPhone 17 Pro Max is on the horizon.

While we don't know anything official about the next generation of iPhones, there have been a lot of rumors about what Apple could change and update. For the most part, the rumored iPhone 17 Pro Max looks like a marked improvement in some places, but I can honestly say that I'm just not that interested.

In the interest of fairness, I will say that I am one of those people who dislikes upgrading (I kept my iPhone 12 for far longer than I should have done.) However, I have noticed that with modern phones, there is even less push to do so. This is down to several different factors, but here are the main ones that I find when looking at the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

What are the known specs of the phones

The display is bigger, but I'm not a fan of every rumored change

To get the elephant out of the room, I’m really not a big fan of the rumored new design of the iPhone 17 Pro line. This is obviously a personal preference, but the expanded camera block just doesn't appeal to me. Now, I could just get a case for the phone, but most of the leaked cases we've seen don't appear to cover the area that I would want covered.

When it comes to display size, the iPhone 17 Pro Max seemingly has the same 6.9-inch display that we saw with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, although there are rumors that the Dynamic Island could be smaller.

That might be disappointing for someone with the latest iPhone, but it's still a bigger screen than my iPhone 15 Pro Max's 6.7-inch display. However, having tried the latest iPhone, I do find that they tend to be nearly too big for my pockets.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is also rumored to feature a pretty impressive trio of cameras, at least compared to the ones I have on my current iPhone. However, and again, this is a more personal thing, getting a 48MP Ultrawide and a 48MP telephoto lens doesn't really mean much to me. While Apple might be aiming to focus on videographers and content creators, I am neither and rarely use more than the base camera.

What about the improverd performance, and that RAM

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

As I said, 12GB of RAM isn't the biggest difference when it comes to performance, but what it does mean is that Apple Intelligence features can begin to improve. Let's be real, Apple's AI has had some real issues, even though it has only been released on a few devices. Part of this has been Apple's inexperience with using AI, but it's also down to the self-imposed limitations Apple placed on itself.

If the iPhone 17 series launches with more RAM, it will give Apple more to play with, but it leaves the rest of us with a bit of a predicament. Considering Apple was happy to leave most of its range on the cutting room floor when it came to Apple Intelligence, I have no doubt a big push will be made for more features on the next generation of iPhones, features that the rest of us will never see.

On the other hand, if I wanted the best AI experience, I would probably just use one of the best Android phones instead. Apple would have to release something really impressive to convince me that I needed the new phone, and I don't know if Apple is capable of that just yet. Not to mention, the iPhone 15 Pro Max will be supported with software updates for at least another three years, and the phone is more than powerful enough for what I use it for.

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.

More from Tom's Guide

• iOS 26 will bring GPT-5 to Apple Intelligence — what you need to know
• Does your Google Messages app keep crashing? This could be the reason why
• iOS 26 public beta 2 has just landed — here's everything that's changed