Was it worth sticking to a one-year upgrade cycle on the iPhone Pro Max? (see the comments in Are iPhone 18 sales off to a weak start? for the costs: “$414/year for annual, $345/yr for every 2 years, $281/yr for every 3 years.”)
So far, I think so! The provisioning process wasn’t too bad, maybe because I had the new phone copy everything directly from the old phone rather than going through the cloud. It seemed that a lot more apps were already signed-in and ready to use. Battery life is vastly superior to the year-old iPhone 17 Pro Max. Is the camera way better? Tough to say. Here are some samples.
Predator emerges from the sea in Jupiter, Florida:
(This isn’t Mindy the Crippler, in case you were wondering. She actually doesn’t like the water!)
A high-contrast scene due to shadows from the mangroves:
Let’s check text sharpness:
This high-contrast scene of a father and son strolling by the Juno Beach Pier doesn’t seem to have been handled well… (the humans are too dark):
Here’s one that worked out, though:
A local restaurant (Double Roads in Jupiter, Florida) held a small car show. Click to read some of the text and, also, think back with nostalgia to a simpler time when Americans could buy cars that weren’t tainted by any Nazi associations (1966 Volkswagen Beetle). In my opinion, it is impressive how well the camera handled the engine, which has a lot of Black parts (that matter) and is shaded by an overhanging lid.
(Maybe the Tesla Y, currently at 4 million, will surpass the Beetle’s production record of about 23 million? Elon doesn’t seem to be in any mood to update the name or the body shape.)
This 1960 Corvette was handled well:
I bought the wrist strap and the Apple silicone case. My idea was that the strap would be useful when using the device primarily for photography. Unfortunately, it gets in the way when using the smartphone as a smartphone, e.g., putting it into and pulling it out of one’s pocket. It would be great if there were a way to store the strap somehow inside the case or up against the case, but there isn’t.
Loyal readers know me as a historical hater and mocker of Apple (part of my successful record as a stock picker!) so it pains me to admit that Apple has done a nice job with the iPhone 18 Pro Max!
I bought an iPhone 17 Pro not too long ago (so no iPhone 18 for me!), and it’s a1 TB model (but at the old price!). Had to pay full price, but my phone plan is <$200/yr, which makes up for that. I upgraded from a 512GB iPhone 12 Pro and like you, let the phone do its wireless phone to phone copy over (≈14 hours). My next phone will be a 21 or 22? 😉 While I have yet to do a definitive comparison of iPhone 17 Pro photos vs. older iPhone 12 Pro or DSLR[s], I recently shot some (just 720P) video with it in poor-ish concert lighting and thought it did fairly well (and the audio is fine too) — on this clip from the Cabot Theatre (most venues will not let you bring in "detachable lens cameras", so I used to bring my LX5). Clip, further ruined by Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19G5H2ZL9x/ The version at my @autoxtl3 on Instagram looks a bit better, I think. Wait until the end to see the zoom out. 🙂
Paul: Why do you want 1 TB? To capture huge amounts of video? It looks like my initial configuration is 155 GB out of 256 GB used. Given that Apple doesn’t provide extra credit for trading in phones with more memory, I don’t want to buy more than I need.
On the scene with that father/son and pier. Tap the screen over the father/son, and you will get an exposure slider to drag up or down. Seems to work really well, I use it for ski photos when there is a very bright background and my subjects are dark. It seems to do a good job with just the subjects – not sure how.
Paul: Interesting! I tried your idea and it does work. To think of all the brain cells that people have wasted learning Photoshop.
Why did you buy an iPhone instead of a Pixel 11 which has a better camera in blind tests?
Anon: There is a difference between a lab test and real-world practical performance, which can include how well the camera makes decisions regarding subject motion, camera shake, white balance, etc. Apple gets way more revenue from a given camera subsystem and, therefore, can afford to spend much more on engineering the entire subsystem (sensor, processing pipeline, software, etc.).
https://www.dxomark.com/smartphones/#sort-camera
is a good source for the lab tests. They actually rate the iPhone 18 Pro (same camera subsystem as in the Pro Max) as superior to everything other than the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra, which is the true photographer’s device (has a full 1″ sensor, so I’m surprised that it doesn’t crush everyone else). The Huawei Pura 80 Ultra isn’t really practical for an American to own/use given our passionate hatred for Huawei.
The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL’s camera is rated slightly lower than the iPhone 18 Pro’s. For “lowlight”, which is where smartphones should fall apart, the Pixel is rated 142/150. The iPhone 18 Pro is 150/150. That should be a real advantage for the iPhone in terms of percentage of acceptable images (any smartphone can do a reasonably good job in bright sunshine).
(Separately, fans of social justice will be pleased to see that https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-18-pro-camera-test/ is consistent with Apple’s marketing. 100% of the humans who appear in images are Black (whose Lives Matter).)
I’m sure that I’d be reasonably happy with a Pixel 11, but Apple does have a slight edge.
Phil serious question: why do you pay those junk fees?
Here is my line of thought:
– You are always complaining about how the working class is getting screwed over
– Junk fees like those are illegal in California, at the minimum they should take it off when you ask them to
– You could protect the working man by fighting back and asking them to remove those fees.
– You happily pay the fee and do not tolerate that unpleasantness, thereby further entrenching this absolute scam of a practice.
Why?
@Anonymous, clearly Philip hasn’t heard about the Obamaphone. Clearly, he missed the memo that everyone else, both smart Americans and illegal migrants, already got!
That is why he ponied up for the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
forget phones, any small compact camera you recommend?