There's a lot of complaining here, so some reminders:<p>- Apple has this event because it generates buzz, which increases sales.<p>- You do not need to watch the event.<p>- You do not need to pay attention to anything about the event.<p>- You do not need to buy the new device.
I am actually quite excited on this iPhone 18 Pro. Seems to pack a a lot of exciting stuff. 2nm A20 Pro, C2. I wish they have N2 but I guess not. 2nd Generation Vapour Chamber. I thought I would have to wait another generation because Apple like to use new product features for two generation before moving on. And it seems this Vapour Chamber along with other heat desperation features are much better built. Much better Camera. And larger battery. With 60W charging that finally matches or closes to a lot of Android phone has been doing.<p>Never thought they would do it all within one update. In terms of hardware that is pretty much everything I wanted other than Silicon Battery.<p>The only thing that need radical change is iOS.
I have no idea which iPhone version I have anymore. It doesn't feel as though it's missing anything, though.But I'd upgrade immediately if the new models truly offered better AI experience.<p>Forgive my skepticism that Apple will get it right. Even the lauded latest version of Siri is far worse than the labs' offerings or Android at voice dictation (I now have to fix 1 word per sentence instead of 4, previously)
That's kind of like saying the 2026 Corolla isn't really much different than the 2025. People don't expect to upgrade annually. I'm using an iPhone 15, and upgraded to that from a 6S+. The 15 was a night and day difference. Most people are financing their device with their service plan which is 2-3 contract.
Agreed on iPhone versions not feeling significant. I personally consider it a good thing. I'll keep my phone for as long as possible and not feel the need to upgrade.<p>I personally don't care if Siri is the worst LLM of the big players, as long as it can answer my basic questions and search my texts, I'm happy. I don't need "frontier intelligence" for that kind of stuff.<p>As for dictation, they say the new dictation is much better, requiring an iPhone 17. Unfortunately, I won't get to find out if that's true for another five or so years, but I'm hopeful for a better dictation on device, because you're right.
I upgraded from a 13 to a 17 pro. Barely notice a different, my old phone was just dying
I got a battery replacement instead, and still use 13 pro, works like new.
The 13 is the last generation of the mini and I still have mine. Good to know I'm not missing anything. Battery capacity isn't even below 80% so I can't replace it under Applecare yet.
This is the problem for Apple. Expect shorter lifetime for security updates in the next few years. It’s why they’re pushing the “lease to own”, because people aren’t upgrading every year, or two, or even three any more.
Indeed been using the new Siri since June and it fails a ton in comparison to chatGPT voice!<p>Using chatGPT voice i can see Open AI's push for pushing us to a new Internet voice paradigm 1st with screens/visuals secondary & complimentary to possibly none at all. It would be much safer especially when driving to get super intelligent human like directions where voice says drive to the mcdonalds on dorset you go to all the time and across the street is the new 7 Brew coffee shop.
— "Start my chronometer"<p>— "There is no contact named 'Chronometer'"<p>Maybe if we mock the iPhone enough, they'll stop autocorrecting words with other words that are on the opposite side of the keyboard. Or mistype letters with the letters just next to them.<p>iPhone is laughing stock. A neverending comedy of "There is no track named 'Call Mom' in your Apple Music library."
I would love to see some "pro" features hit the Pro or Pro Max. Something I've wanted for a while is the ability to have more than 2 active eSIMs; I think a dual modem would be really cool, maybe with some features targeting users in poor cell coverage/ spotty service areas.<p>Or feature Thunderbolt rather than normie USB-C so you can record 4/8K ProRes to an SSD, and power a multi monitor setup with your iPhone Pro. macOS would be sick. Or (waterproof) exposed PCIE lanes so 3rd parties can integrate an ecosystem of backpacks like how Pi Hats work.
> I think a dual modem would be really cool, maybe with some features targeting users in poor cell coverage/ spotty service areas.<p>Can already do iMessage over satellite. Most “data” is download and I predict some satellite service that sends basic broadcasts (traffic, news, Text-to-speech podcasts) squeezed into a few mbps by pointing your phone at the sky (or a small cabled antenna for around the clock use). Would love to go carrier-less.
I’m still waiting on a mini
we’ll be waiting a while. The last Mini was iPhone 8 sized, when I considered anything larger than the 5 to be too much.<p>The Mini thus, undersold, because if you were fine with the 8 then iPhones of that size were still available (2nd Gen SE). Nobody bought: So Apple thinks theres no market.
> The last Mini was iPhone 8 sized<p>It was smaller than the iPhone 8. It was slightly thicker (0.01"), shorter (by 0.27") and narrower (0.13"). And it had a bigger display despite being overall smaller. It was bigger than the 5, though.
Always seemed like a marketing issue on Apple's part. People have different opinions when they actually see and handle the Mini. Apple appended so many "Pro" and "Max" names to everything which ended up creating a "status symbol" that was contrary to the actual needs of the consumer to have a more reasonably sized phone. "Fablets" weren't particularly popular for that reason, and Apple still managed to lead people down this road.
I think you forgot the history.<p>Apple was the last hold out with small phones, years after everybody else moved to huge phones.<p>But even Apple couldn't resist the pressure from the consumers, and eventually yielded.
Despite the Lightning port, I prefer my 13 Mini to upgrading.
An updated 13 Mini with USB-C and modern chipset would be <i>fantastic</i>. That would get me to upgrade. My hope is that Apple decides the world needs an iPhone Mini once in a while, just not a new one every year.
My contention is every 5 years release a mini spec with hardware bumps. Everyone jumps in and everyone upgrade. It only has the larger size space spec.<p>Rinse and repeat.<p>If you have a "known" or "expected" cycle, people can rely on that.
With SiC battery no less.
Same, got battery replaced 5 months ago.<p>Wish I'd got the biggest storage size when I bought it though :(
The new iPhone Duo in single screen mode is the same size (5.4") as the iPhone 13 mini but with a different aspect ratio<p><a href="https://photos.reportinglive.com/p/2026-09-09/f-bf86c6f5adb3411c82839319e493ceb7f03c3b4a.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://photos.reportinglive.com/p/2026-09-09/f-bf86c6f5adb3...</a>
I think the screen might be the same diagonal length but it looks wider overall…
It's wider though, and surely going to weigh more...
I wouldn’t mind buying half of one of those for 1/4 the price.
I wish they'd alternate each year or something between iPhone / iPhone mini if they're struggling for sales.<p>The body shapes and cases seem to change each year anyway now, so it's not like people get to re-use cases that much anyway...
Me too. Everyone who sees my phone loves it, and I always share a nod with my fellow mini owners. I really don’t want a huge phone and it is still more than fast enough (a 12 at that!)
iPhones got Good Enough at least 6 years ago. Same with macbooks.
That’s certainly an iPhone, alright.<p>Apple basically need to release a new model every year to fit the phone upgrade cycle so I suppose it’s not that surprising to see one with so few compelling features. Maybe next year.
> the most advanced camera in an iPhone<p>I mean, I can't remember the last time they DIDN'T say that. Variable aperture is kinda cool I guess. 256Gigs of storage basically means everyone's going to have to upgrade their iCloud storage monthly spend just to back this thing up. I've stopped sending my camera roll to iCloud just to save on space.
Apple events are full of these meaningless statements, which always drive me crazy. Of course it's the "best iPhone Apple has ever made." If it wasn't, then wouldn't I be better off buying an older model?
> eSIM-only models deliver up to 36 hours of video playback on iPhone 18 Pro and up to 45 hours of video playback on iPhone 18 Pro Max.<p>That might convince me to upgrade. Not because I care about watching video for two days straight, but hopefully it means the battery is large enough that it'll last 5+ years before battery degradation becomes annoying.
I'm on the iPhone 13 pro max since launch and my phone comfortable gets through an entire day of usage. (Given my usage is pretty light). If the battery fubars in one of the next years I wouldn't be upset, 5+ years of battery life is enough.<p>But I also don't see it failing me any time soon on battery. I think local AI models in a future iPhone could be an actual reason to upgrade.
I have a 12 Pro Max purchased at release, battery is now at 83% capacity. Still lasts all day and then some, rarely think how much I've got left on a charge.
Don't. Large iPhones are the deadweight of a ball and chain, and fits in no pockets. Next one will be the SE, and even if I buy an external battery, it's still lighter than the ingot Pro Max. Also you can buy one every 1.5 years.
Meh I just replaced a battery in my 14 pro (and the charging port) for ~200 EUR. I didn't want to upgrade yet and I would not even be considering upgrading if the device had USB-C
Is the C2 modem the satellite data chip?
I really don't care at all about phone models, I just want software to launch quickly.<p>Waiting 15 seconds for a simple app is just infuriating in this day and age. This is mostly on crappy app developers, but a lot of that falls on Apple for not having a rating system that encourages basic good app behavior.<p>Every bad app that I encounter, which sends advertising notifications, takes a long time to launch, etc. is dominated by 5 star reviews, somehow. The whole ecosystem feels broken.<p>(And I'm also really offended by how ugly, unpolished, and broken the Tahoe visual style is on iPhone. The whole thing feels like a buggy beta, something completely unworthy of Apple of the past. That it's still not fixed is an indication of the Apple of the future, unfortunately...)
I don't know why we even have this event anymore. There's a new iPhone every September. It's incrementally better than the last iPhone. Phones keep getting more expensive while doing basically the same thing for some reason. Just buy whatever is out when you need a new phone.<p>I bought an iPhone 11 in 2019 I think? It last until 2 years ago when I limped along until the iPhone 16 Plus. I like the big screen area. The premium for Pro isn't worth it to me. I hope to get another 3 years out of it.<p>What I would like is an iPhone with Touch ID as an option and no, I don't mean the small one (SE?). I want a big screen. Put the Touch ID on the back of the phone like the samsung Galaxy did.<p>I literally hate Face ID with a passion and it's a massive accessibility issue for people with visual impairments.<p>No amount of slightly better CPU and camera is going to get me to upgrade every year anymore.
How is Face ID un-accessible for those with visual impairment? I hadn't heard that before.
You’re in luck, the Duo has Touch ID and a big screen.
Now everybody who bought the orange iPhone needs to sell it and buy the burgundy one.<p>Because the only thing worse than not having an iPhone is having the previous one.<p>Brilliant strategy from Apple, make the colors stand out, then swap them for other stand out colors.<p>In the past the shape or camera layout would change and signal the version, but now that stabilized, so you need to use the color to clearly show what model you have.
> Brilliant strategy from Apple, make the colors stand out, then swap them for other stand out colors.<p>Bog standard marketing strategy. Nothing at all to remark on or complain about.
I swear only Apple brings out comments where people will insinuate a whole nefarious conspiracy over phones being sold in different colors.
Mine is in a blue case. My last case was black. Only when my cases wear out do I remember that my phone is actually white.
99% of people put their iPhone in a case that covers up the color. This is not something anybody actually thinks.<p>Sometimes I tell my teenage daughter “stop inventing things to be mad about”. Good advice for HN commenters, too.
I don’t know, in both the USA and Vietnam I see a massively disproportionate amount of people with the orange iPhone 17 Pro. Personally I like the orange color, but based on how ubiquitous the color choice seems to be, is does look a lot like conspicuous consumption to me.<p>And even in a case now that they have those huge camera plateaus you can still definitely tell what color iPhone someone has.
Yeah I had a pink iPhone 13 for ages when my 15 pro got stolen.
Where's the foldable? :-D
Designed by Apple in Israel, assembled in India.