I currently have an iPhone 15 Pro. After 35 of 36 monthly installments, I’m just one payment away from fully paying it off.
Normally, I’d be thinking about upgrading to the latest and greatest, which would be the iPhone 18 Pro. But now, I’m seriously considering keeping my phone for longer.
One reason is because my phone is still more than plenty fast for my very casual needs which are messaging, shooting photos, managing to-do lists, and paying for groceries.
The other reason to forego the upgrade is that my mobile bill will be reduced by $23 monthly. That will come in handy, should I decide it’s worth paying for a subscription to Claude or ChatGPT to take on AI-related projects or enhance my upskilling.
As I’ve previously noted, I’m annoyed at the prospect of tacking on a monthly subscription just for AI services, especially when I’m already paying for Microsoft 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud.
At least the extra monthly cash will make it easier. My mobile phone carrier has been dangling a trade-in deal to get the iPhone 18 Pro for $0. It’s kind of tempting, but I think I’ll hold off for at least one year. I’m curious to see what is going to be available with the 20th anniversary iPhone in 2027.