Mobile Phones > iPhone & iOS > Should You Upgrade Your iPhone? If you have an iPhone 12 or older, you probably should. If your phone is newer than that, it might not be worth it By Sam Costello Sam Costello Writer Ithaca College Sam Costello has been writing about tech since 2000. His writing has appeared in publications such as CNN.com, PC World, InfoWord, and many others. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on September 9, 2024 In This Article Reasons to Upgrade Reasons to Wait What to Do Instead of Upgrading iPhone 12 Owners iPhone 13 Owners iPhone 14 Owners iPhone SE Owners iPhone Buying Tips The Bottom Line How to Buy 0:38 Should You Upgrade Your iPhone? Apple unveiled the iPhone 16 series in September 2024. The lineup includes the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The main updates are larger displays, a new camera button, better mics for AI, and support for faster Wi-Fi. With the new models hitting the market, iPhone owners are forced to ask: Should I upgrade my iPhone? Reasons to Upgrade to an iPhone 16 There are plenty of reasons to jump to the iPhone 16. Depending on the model you select, key enhancements include a titanium body with ceramic shield, iOS 18, even larger displays, a spatial capture for photos and videos, new camera lenses, 8GB RAM, Private Cloud Compute, Visual Intelligence, and Apple Intelligence. The new iPhone 16 Pro displays—6.3 and 6.9 inches—are technically larger due to thinner borders. Colors include Darker Black, Brighter White, Titanium, and Desert Titanium. The phones also offer larger batteries and advanced power management. Features for creators and musicians are also pretty nifty if you fall into one of those camps. New MagSafe charging aspects and compatible cases complete the offering. It also has a neat new Camera Control button that gives you more control over your photography. It makes it easier to preview photos and switch between stills and video. Photo enthusiasts will want to try this out sooner rather than later. Learn more about the iPhone 16 Apple Reasons to Wait on an Upgrade There are good reasons to wait to upgrade your iPhone, especially budgetary ones. If you've got an iPhone 14 or 15, you can likely live without this next iteration. The features are great in the iPhone 16 but unless you really need a specific feature, they just won't be worth the expense at this point. I'd wait for the iPhone 17, really, before plunking down any money just for a feature or two I can conceivably live without in the 14 or 15. After 2 or 3 iterations, however, new features start to pile up and become worth the money when grabbed in a new phone. The iPhone 16 starts at $799 with the iPhone 16 Plus at $899. The iPhone 16 Pro is $999 and iPhone 16 Pro Max is $1199. Maybe an iPhone 15, Though? This could be the right time to jump to the iPhone 15, though. If budget is the only thing really holding you back, look into upgrading to the iPhone 15 series instead of the iPhone 16. The 15 series consists of the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max; pricing on all four should drop substantially over the next year. Apple iPhone 15 Pro Review Key enhancements for the iPhone 15 series include USB-C replacing the Lightning port, photos up to 48 megapixels, and the ability to change pictures to portrait mode after a picture is taken. If you're still using an older iPhone (like a 12 or older), the 15 is a terrific upgrade well worth the money to make the jump. There are always great iPhone deals to take advantage of, particularly as Apple introduces a new series and as cell phone providers try to unload old inventory. Apple What to Do Instead of Upgrading If your current iPhone is a little long in the tooth but you're not quite ready to fork over more cash to Apple, make it last another year or two by sprucing it up: Get a New Battery: Nothing makes an old iPhone feel newer than a fresh battery (replacement batteries start at $29). We can help you decide if the replacement is worth it. Replace Cracked Screen: Fixing a cracked screen is another quality-of-life step, in my humble opinion! Clean Your iPhone: A good cleaning can help your iPhone look and perform better. Check out How to Clean iPhone Speakers and How to Clean Your iPhone's Charging Port. Upgrade iCloud Storage: You can't upgrade your iPhone's physical memory, but upgrading iCloud storage lets you store big files in the cloud and keep just what you need on your phone. If You Have an iPhone 12 or Older If you have an iPhone 12 or older—especially if your phone is older—we recommend upgrading to the latest iPhone. While the iPhone 12 is a good phone, you won't believe how much has changed simply in terms of sizing, features, and capabilities. You're missing out on a whole new world of technology (depending on the upgrade you select), such lightweight titanium phone bodies, thinner bezels, Dynamic Island, USB-C, a ton of upgraded camera features, improved gaming, improved location finding, water resistance, Emergency SOS, and Roadside Assistance via Satellite. If You Have an iPhone 13 If you've got an iPhone 13, deciding whether to upgrade is tougher. The 16 is better in every way, but it's not the same leap from the 12 to the 15 or 16. The 16 series has a much faster processor than the 13, better battery life, more cameras than you can shake a stick at, titanium casing, Apple Intelligence, an improved Siri experience, and the new A18 chip. A good-condition iPhone 13 still has a few years of life left however, so if it was me, I wouldn't feel the pressure to upgrade right away. If You Have an iPhone 14 Upgrading from an iPhone 14 to an iPhone 15 or 16 is harder to justify unless you simply want the latest and greatest or money is just burning a hole in your pocket. The iPhone 15 series is an improvement over the 14, but most aren't significant. The camera system adds a few nice options (especially applying focus effects after photos are taken), the Pro processor is a bit faster, the Pro models are lighter, and the 15 has USB-C. On the other hand, many aspects—battery life, screen quality, storage capacity—are essentially the same. An upgrade from a base iPhone 14 to an iPhone 15 Pro brings more significant gains, but upgrading equivalent models (i.e., 14 Pro to 15 Pro) may not be worth the cost. Upgrade to a 16, however, and you'll get all of the above plus an improved Siri experience, Apple Intelligence, wildly improved camera capabilities, and the new A18 Pro chip (available in iPhone 16 Pro models). And all the other bells and whistles that make iPhones so much fun to own. All that said, the iPhone 14 is still a great phone that can serve you for several more years. If You Have an iPhone SE We recommend you upgrade if you have a 1st or 2nd-generation iPhone SE, as every aspect of the iPhone 16 is much better than the SE, full stop. Even if you have a 3rd-generation iPhone SE, we still recommend an upgrade at least to the iPhone 15. If you choose the iPhone 15 over the 16, you'll still get a variety of upgraded features like a brighter, bigger screen (4.7" on the SE vs. 6.1" or 6.7" on the 15), the Dynamic Island, a faster processor, a much better camera (48-megapixel images vs. 12, up to 4 zoom options vs 1, Night Mode, improved video), and higher-capacity storage (starting at 128GB vs 64GB). You'll also get Animoji and Memoji, Face ID, MagSafe charging, satellite safety features, and a better battery (up to 75 hours of audio on the 15 vs. 50 on the SE). The 16, of course, builds upon all of these plus includes multiple camera upgrades, sound editing features, Apple Intelligence, and a crazy fast chip that can run 35 trillion operations per second. Come on, that's fast. And who can't use more speed in today's crazy world? Unless you just bought an SE, start thinking about which iPhone 16 model is right for you. iPhone Buying Tips Ready to upgrade to a new iPhone? Make an informed decision by checking out these tips: 9 Things to Know When Buying a Used iPhone The Newest iPhone Models Every iPhone Ever Made The Bottom Line It's not the right time for every iPhone owner to upgrade to the iPhone 16. If you've got a reasonably recent iPhone that's still working well—an iPhone 14 or 15—you can probably skip this generation (unless you love the latest and the greatest). But, if you've got an iPhone 12 or earlier, an upgrade brings so many improvements that it justifies the cost for most people. It might be worth upgrading an accessory at this point, even if you don't upgrade your entire phone. How to Buy If you're ready for an upgrade, you can buy all iPhone 16 models directly from Apple. Your phone carrier will probably be offering some deals as well. Get the iPhone 16: $799 at Apple Get the iPhone 16 Pro: $999 at Apple Going with the iPhone 15 instead? Here's where to get yours: $699 at Apple If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.