Which iphone to go for

[lucid fable]

which one should i get 13 pro max or 14 pro
im honestly considering 14 pro only bc of that dynamic island . upgrading from XS
#1053488658424008784

[sonic trellis]

Ideally, neither

I cannot recommend anything older than the 15 Pro anymore, ideally even a 16 or 17 series phone

[tepid delta]

Ideally, neither. Both are starting to get old now, lack Apple Intelligence, and the 14 Pro in particular is really awful.

The bare minimum is a 15 Pro. Do not get a base 15 or earlier anymore. Ideally get a 16 or 17 series model (such as a refurbished 16 or a 17)

[boreal spindle]

dude

if your gonna upgrade

dont buy an old phone which isnt sold

buy a new one

[tepid delta]

Depends on your budget, if you can't afford a new 17 series, you'll probably need to get a refurbished 16 series or 15 Pro

Whether it's from Apple or a third party

[boreal spindle]

iphone 17e

is same price as

las year pro

[tepid delta]

For most people the 17e is fine, but OP has mentioned dynamic island as something they want which isn't on the 17e but is on the regular 16 and 16 Pro, so that is one reason why someone would choose a 16 or 16 Pro over a 17e.

If you can stretch the budget a bit then ideally get a 17, but if that's not an option then the 16 / 16 Pro would be fine

[boreal spindle]

alr

btw do u think my deal

for 17 pro max is good

i traded iphone 16 pro max for £555 value and iphone 15 for £290 value for iphone 17 pro max £354 difference paid

[lucid fable]

Well im very tight on the budget another option i have is s23 ultra

[boreal spindle]

dont get android

when i had an android

it wasnt user friendly

[tepid delta]

What is your specific budget?

[lucid fable]

i live in Pakistan so the prices of iphones arent just straigth if i get something like 15 pro or 16 pro in my budget they will be non approved means wont be able to use sim card approved ones cost like 100% more

[boreal spindle]

huh

[tepid delta]

Have you considered an iPhone 16e?

[boreal spindle]

non approved or approved

what does that mean

[boreal spindle]

what is approved or non approved

[lucid fable]

means there is a specific fee before i can use sim card on phones its only in pakistan so approved iphones means sim card works and non approved means everything works except sim card and the price difference is like 300-400$

[boreal spindle]

whats ur budget

[lucid fable]

like 700$ if convert to pak currency like 200k

[tepid delta]

And does that include the sim card fee? If so what's the sim card fee?

[lucid fable]

only for old models if i go for newer models like 15 or up i can only get non approved in my current budget

fees is like 200-400 more

so im mainly looking at refurb

phones

if u serach google u will get the concept of non and approved phones in pak

so i only have these options in my budget

[tepid delta]

You may potentially be able to squeeze an iPhone 16e in that budget if possible.

But if you cannot afford an iPhone 15 Pro, 16 series, or 17 series, either save a little more money till you can afford one, or if you're desperate, get an iPhone 13 Pro

The 14 Pros and base 15s are legitimately awful, anything below a 13 Pro is just too insufficient. So if a 15 Pro or higher is not an option, then either keep your XS till you have more money, or get a 13 Pro if you're really desperate.

[boreal spindle]

whats wrong with 15

[boreal spindle]

nah man xs isnt supported

[lucid fable]

im actually on desparate side cuz been using this xs 64gb since 2020 😂

[boreal spindle]

maybe 16e

[tepid delta]

The 14 Pro and base 15 models have the A16 chip which runs very hot, slow, and drains battery at an insane rate. The older A15 chips in the base 14 and 13 series don't have this issue, the A17 Pro in the 15 Pros can get warm at times but it's nowhere near as bad as the A16, and the A18 chips in the 16 series have fixed these issues.

so if you can't afford a 15 Pro or 16 series, then a 13 Pro is probably the best option

[boreal spindle]

or maybe

he can get a newer one

and save some money

to pay fee

[lucid fable]

if i go for newer nonapproved . ill have to keep another phone for hotspot and sim related functions

and that is one anoying thing

is 14 pro that bad ?

[boreal spindle]

my dad had it

and he had no problems

idk what this guy is talking about @tepid delta

[lucid fable]

I guess this is it then

[boreal spindle]

u getting it?

[lucid fable]

probably i mean my XS is being a little inconvinent for me now lags and storage wise so yes

14 pro will have support for some years right?

atleast 1 -2

[boreal spindle]

i think maybe 3-4 mor

[lucid fable]

Hm

thanks man

[boreal spindle]

no problem

[boreal spindle]

u pakistani?

[lucid fable]

Yes

[boreal spindle]

salam

[lucid fable]

w/salam ;D

you?

[boreal spindle]

iraqi

but born in uk

[lucid fable]

heard iraq isnt in good shape right now war or something

[boreal spindle]

there was some bombs that israel did

during iran-israel war

but i think it stopped

[lucid fable]

you are currently in UK?

[boreal spindle]

im in holiday rn

so nah

[lucid fable]

oh so u work in UK?

[boreal spindle]

i study there yes

[lucid fable]

goooood man what do u study

Uk is my dream place to work

[boreal spindle]

maths

[lucid fable]

hopefully one day

[boreal spindle]

just find a job

and come in visa

and there u go

[lucid fable]

Im preparing for license exam

im a pharmacist

[boreal spindle]

alr

[boreal spindle]

wow thats a nice job

[lucid fable]

not quite nice if u are in Pak 😅

[boreal spindle]

oh yeah

in other countries

u can get paid way more

[lucid fable]

Yes

canada us uk

[tepid delta]

Yes it's really that bad

[boreal spindle]

yes

[boreal spindle]

my dad used it, he had no problems

[sonic trellis]

Absolutely, it’s unfortunate but it’s one of if not the worst iPhone apple has pushed out in the last five years

[lucid fable]

overheat issue thing that u said ?

[tepid delta]

It's very inconsistent, some people experience it, others don't even notice it. But the A16 chip in the 14 Pros is so much worse than the A15 in the 13 Pros that I'd rather use the 13 Pro

[sonic trellis]

I would rather use a 13 Pro over a 14 Pro

and ideally, I’m not picking either

[tepid delta]

Yes, the 14 Pro is plagued with these issues and the 13 Pro is not

Ideally choose a 15 Pro or higher, and more ideally a 16 series, but if none of those are options, and you're extremely desperate, get a 13 Pro

[lucid fable]

i might just have to go for non approved 15 pro and get a second phone for sim functions then

[tepid delta]

But if you're super desperate and cannot afford an iPhone 15 Pro or 16 series, the 13 Pro is a decent-ish choice

[lucid fable]

that can be option but annoying asf

[sonic trellis]

that still makes no sense to me even after reading through the thread

what an ass backwards system

[lucid fable]

what would be ur best suggestion then?

[tepid delta]

Pakistan has this weird thing where there's approved and non-approved phones, and only approved phones can connect to the network. It's such a messy system, especially as a Canadian

[sonic trellis]

I don’t know, but anything that keeps you away from the 14 Pro is a win tbh

the 15 Pro is a much better piece of hardware

[tepid delta]

Well I mean you could live the two-phone life and buy a 15 Pro for wifi and then use your XS for mobile data, but if you think that can get annoying then I guess just get an approved 13 Pro then?

The 15 Pro (more ideally a 16 series phone) is a far better recommendation

but even a 13 Pro is better than the 14 Pro

[boreal spindle]

yeah, i never heard of this before

i dont get why pakistan does it

[lucid fable]

this wasnt a thing before 2020 but yea its a mess

[sonic trellis]

If I buy a phone I expect to be able to use it as a phone

[lucid fable]

higher end phones mostly come from abroad so its like a tax

[boreal spindle]

ahh

so an import tax

or vat

[tepid delta]

First time I've heard this too. It makes just as much sense to me as a Canadian as the TV licensing crap in the UK... so yeah none of this makes any sense here.

[boreal spindle]

uk isnt the only country

that has tv license

[tepid delta]

true, but I believe most of the complaints come from there

[boreal spindle]

i think so yeah

[blazing dome]

that is preference

[blazing dome]

yeah no problems, but compare its battery to another iphone model

[boreal spindle]

i had a samsung galaxy a10

it wasnt good

only 32gb storage

lagged

[blazing dome]

yeah, that is an A10

not even the S series

[boreal spindle]

my parents thought every samsung is cheap

so they just went with the cheapest one

at the time

i may try to buy an android again

but a flagship one this time

[terse zealot]

I consider 14 Pro if your budget can

[sonic trellis]

Please do not go back and get a 14 Pro, that’s the worst decision you can make here as we had already discussed above

[boreal spindle]

disagree

i dont think the 14 pro is as bad as what ppl say

[sonic trellis]

it absolutely is, I’ve seen what it does

literally the 13 Pro is more valuable

[tepid delta]

Terrible advice

[terse zealot]

Oh thanks

[tepid delta]

The iPhone 14 Pro is literally the worst phone Apple has ever released

[terse zealot]

Are u kidding me

[tepid delta]

Even an iPhone 13 Pro would be better but ideally a 15 Pro or higher

[terse zealot]

😭

The only problem it has is Overheating in warm conditions

[tepid delta]

Overheating happens even in normal conditions for a lot of people. The A16 chip was just really bad

You'd be better off buying a 15 Pro or higher

Hell even a 13 Pro is more valuable but I wouldn't normally recommend that as it's getting there in age

And oh yeah, the 14 Pro has awful battery life. It's about as bad as a 13 mini for some people, if not worse.

There's so many reasons to avoid the 14 Pro

[terse zealot]

Ofc the 15 Pro would be better but if his budget doesn’t match with his purchase, also it’s a community opinion, there are many people who still use a 14 Pro or 13 Mini completely fine.. also if the A16 was that bad it would never be in the latest iPad 11th generation. It’s so powerful that it was put in an iPad. The only problem is thermal issue, but it’s not really that bad

[sonic trellis]

the base iPad should never be used as a token of argument, it’s consistently Apple’s worst product

which of course is true now more than ever

[terse zealot]

Give me the reasons then

[sonic trellis]

and yeah, the thermal issue is the Achilles heel of any A16 device

[tepid delta]

The thermal issue isn't as noticeable on the iPad 11th gen but it is still there. And also, the 11th gen has always been Apple's worst product and only exists for schools and stuff.

And if your budget doesn't allow a 16e or 15 Pro but you absolutely need a new phone, the option would always be a 13 Pro

[sonic trellis]

14 Pros and 15s all over are suffering from battery longevity issues from the poor thermal control and its effect on the battery cell

[terse zealot]

Another reason to get the 14 Pro is that it has one more year of iOS service, so that’s why I consider 14 Pro

[sonic trellis]

such was never a problem on A15 devices like the 13 Pro

I doubt the A16 phones last longer than A15 ones, they’ll probably both be cut out around the same time to make way for modern iPhones

[terse zealot]

I’m currently using the A16 on my iPhone 15 base and I upgraded from 13, it’s way better

[tepid delta]

If you care about software support, get a 15 Pro then

[sonic trellis]

exactly

the 15 Pro will last years longer than the 14 Pro

[terse zealot]

And if you care about the budget about the products he can afford? Get a 14 Pro

[tepid delta]

Either you're very lucky or somehow you don't notice it at all. I have some 15's in my collection and they get warm just by browsing the web.

[sonic trellis]

The 14 Pro should never be considered in 2026, period

Either step up to a 15 or fall back to a 13

[tepid delta]

*15 Pro

Not base 15

[sonic trellis]

Obviously the former is preferred, but the 13 is a much more solid and reliable phone

[terse zealot]

I have never noticed anything like this even though I use many programs and have big numbers of screen time

[sonic trellis]

yes of course

[tepid delta]

Everyone I know who has a base 15 or 14 Pro are hating it because it always heats up and their battery life is awful. They're already thinking of upgrading to some 16 or 17 series model

[terse zealot]

Can I ask a question? What’s that painful use everyone does and doesn’t love their phones? It’s a solid choice, I don’t notice overheating or anything, benchmarks and camera are great, it has Dynamic Island.. the only problem I know and everyone would agree is the missing Apple Intelligence cause of its Ram. The battery is absolutely fine.

Oh also I forgot to mention that one more problem is the missing always on display

[tepid delta]

Even with all the modern features, I still wouldn't suggest buying a 14 Pro or base 15. You must be the very small lucky minority because I know a lot of people with base 15's and they don't like it

[sonic trellis]

my grandfather upgraded from a 14 Pro to a 15 Pro after just one year, and he’s since held on to the 15

it’s that bad

[tepid delta]

the 14 Pro and base 15 has some of the worst Apple Silicon ever

it's almost like those old Intel MacBooks from 2016-2020

[terse zealot]

The Apple A16 Bionic is good because it combines fast performance, strong graphics, and high power efficiency, meaning apps run smoothly, games look great, and battery lasts longer, while its built-in AI and optimization with iOS help everything feel fast and stable without overheating. Overheating happens in very strickt coditions like in very warm places or stuff like that.

[tepid delta]

"high power efficiency" "battery lasts longer" yeah that's straight up false for the A16, especially considering a lot of people I know have horrible thermal problems and battery life issues

if you want efficiency and long lasting battery get something with an A18

hell even an A17 Pro holds up better even though that had some less severe issues

[terse zealot]

A16 was designed for a thermal upgrade, if you just listen to tech influencers who call the A16 the worst chip cause we didn’t get many upgrades from the A15 then that’s why you are telling me that, and of course an A17 could handle it better, you are comparing two different chips, with the A17 being more expensive and powerful as well

[lucid fable]

I thought this thread was over just saw this

i bought a 14 pro

its been a month so far so good happy with the purchase

feels alot going from an xs to a 14 pro