Naturally, there’s no easy answer
Okay, okay, I know that’s a bit of an inflammatory question, and it’s not one that’s easily answered. But it is a question I’ve pondered, on and off, since the iPhone became a somewhat ubiquitous smartphone.
Now, I use an iPhone 15 Pro Max and I am rather smitten by it despite it being quite a boring phone all in all. After years of using some of the best Android phones, I’ve fully fallen for the ‘it just works’ nature of Apple’s iterative smartphones.
But this has been dead easy, thanks to the simple fact that I’ve been able to use the latest iPhones through my job as a tech journalist, rather than pay for them with cold, hard cash. So while I extolled the virtues of titanium and other upgrades, I am doing so from a position of privilege.
The ultimate question – at least in the phones arena – is ‘would I actually buy a flagship iPhone with my own money?’ Which leads to a second question: ‘would it be an easy purchase, or would I be buying into a product that comes close to ripping people off just because its brand is so strong?’
Yes and no, and yes and no. Worth it
Let’s tackle the first yes and no. I love having a flagship phone, and I feel the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are fantastic examples of a top-of-the-line flagship.
The combination of a familiar design that’s been refined over several generations, masses of power, a great battery life, lovely displays with 120Hz refresh rates, a sort-of-customizable Action button, and a trio of great still and video cameras, all wrapped up in a neat user interface thanks to iOS 17, makes these Pro iPhones and their predecessors some of the best phones around.
And while the starting price of $999 / £999 / AU$1,849 for the iPhone 15 Pro is hefty, various contracts (and the fact that iPhones retain their value longer than their counterparts) plus the customer care Apple offers, does translate to a decent amount for a solid chunk of cash.
