Apple finally built the phone I’ve wanted for years — and gave me a reason not to buy it.
Illustration by Dan Baril · Click to enlargeWith the exception of the iPhone 15, there isn’t an iPhone model I have not gotten every year the day of release. Yes, I am an Apple fanboy in that regard; first in line for new releases including virtually every other Apple device, including but not limited to MacBooks, iPads, Apple TVs, AirPods, HomePods, Watches…etc.
As I have said many times before, my attachment to Apple is not a knock against other systems. Android devices are superb too. It’s simply a matter of which platform one prefers or is committed to. And one thing in Apple’s favour, no other devices hold their value the way Apple devices do. I easily sell my year-old iPhones every year for 50%-60% of the purchase price.
Last year, on the day of release, Celia and I both got identical iPhone 17 Pro Max models with 512 GB in exchange for the prior year model. As with previous models, the camera upgrade alone made it worthwhile. This year, I was anxious to see what the 18 Pro Max would bring, and of course the rumoured new folding device; iPhone Duo.
One other important factor, when the iPad Mini first came out, I lamented it wasn’t a phone also. Had it been so, I would have carried one device only. But Apple was deliberate in not eating its own lunch and kept the iPhone and the iPad a few degrees separate. That is, finally, until now. The iPhone Duo is precisely an even more elegant version of the iPad Mini Phone I’ve imagined all these years.
Will I buy it? Not a chance. Why? Keep reading.
For our hobbies and photography work, the camera is always the deciding factor. In terms of the iPhone 18 Pro Max, the ability to control the aperture automatically or manually is a significant step forward. Under any other circumstance I likely would have traded our 17s for the 18s. Including tax, we’d be looking at around $5K CDN for two devices, less roughly $3K for our 17’s, for a net cost of $2K. Not unreasonable for what we’d be getting.
The question I keep asking myself: is variable aperture worth $2K?
Given my involvement in photography the answer for me is yes, but for Celia, probably not. The other option we considered is for me to get the 18, and Celia could have both 17s which would come in handy for her TikTok and cake business. Net new cost $2.5K.
But what I am REALLY disappointed about is that, for everything Apple put into the iPhone Duo, they failed miserably on the cameras. At roughly $3,700, whatever engineering compromises Apple had to make are Apple’s problem, not mine. If the folding design prevents a camera system on par with the 18 Pro Max, perhaps the Duo isn’t ready to command a price above Apple’s flagship.
Seriously, anyone crazy enough (like me) to even consider $3,700 for a Duo is not going to balk at a couple hundred more for a proper camera system. But I am also leery about 1st generation anything.
For the first time in years, Apple has launched two new iPhones I should be excited about — including one I’ve practically been asking them to build for years — and somehow convinced me to buy neither. Maybe the smartest Apple purchase I make this year will be keeping the phones I already have.