Every few years, I get trapped in the classic Apple upgrade loop. Three years ago, I jumped up from an iPhone 12 Pro Max to a 512GB iPhone 15 Pro Max for its big screen and flagship camera specs. This year I was ready to do the same for the iPhone 18 Pro Max — until I saw the insane prices, even with trade-in values added in.
Making things urgent, my trusty iPhone was aging. Despite my best efforts, the battery health steadily declined over the years and a minor issue with the USB-C port popped up when charging it one day.
Thinking about having to pay nearly $600 for out-of-warranty repairs, $100 for a new battery, or dropping $1,000 for the latest iPhone 18 Pro Max, I decided to do something I’ve never done before: give up on the iPhone’s Pro tier altogether.
I traded in my 15 Pro Max and bought a base 256GB iPhone 17 instead. Sure, I might have given up storage space, camera features, and the screen might be smaller, but moving to a standard iPhone didn't feel like a downgrade from an older iPhone Pro model. Here’s why it was a relief to me, and my wallet.
Times are tough, and with the cost of living going up in NYC, the biggest factor in my decision was the iPhone pricing. With Apple’s trade-in values, I get a lot for my old iPhone Pro model when trading it in for a base-tier iPhone 17. It almost felt like a steal.
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