Should You Buy A New iPhone?

Posted September 20, 2018

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Last week, Apple announced three new models of the iPhone. It's a yearly event, new iPhone models, and each year it millions of people trade out their older models to get the newest of the new.

The three new models this year represent a continuation of the new X model of iPhone. The iPhone XS is the new base model, the iPhone NX Max is the "plus" version, and the iPhone XR is the "economy" version which is basically an updated, or "X", version of the iPhone 8. You can read all about the new phones and their specs in our story about it from last week here.

Now that the new models have been announced, you have to decide if you will upgrade to one of the new models, or stick to what you already have. Our concern here is obviously the camera and video capabilities of the phone and that will be our criteria to help you decide.

First off, there are the people who like to have the newest of the new when it comes to Apple and those people need no convincing. If you are one of those people, chances are you have already ordered your new phone are excited. To you, we say congratulations and good for you. 

Now onto the rest of you.

The answer to the questions depends on a few factors, mainly what kind of phone you have now. 

First of all, if you are producing video professionally on your smartphone, then you probably don't want to get the iPhone XR. The camera on this is good, but not great. It's a single lens system, will give you full HD video, but for the same price, or even less you can get a better camera whether it's on an older iPhone model like the iPhone 7 plus or 8 plus, or even an Android device like a Galaxy S8 or Google Pixel 2.

As for the iPhone XS and XS Max, there is not really a difference in the camera system between these two, so your decision between these two comes down to screen size. If you want a larger screen go with the Max, if that's not a big factor for you, then go with the regular XS. Now deciding whether or not to get either of these phones depends on the phone already in your pocket -- and remember our focus here is video production. If the phone you are already using is an iPhone X or iPhone 8 Plus, then the camera system on the XS and XS Max are practically exactly the same, so an upgrade would probably be a waste for you. Even if you are working with an iPhone 7 Plus the upgrade is still minimal. The same goes if you have a Galaxy S9 or Google Pixel 2.

Now, let's say that you have an older iPhone or Android model. In this case, you will see a major improvement in your video quality if you make the upgrade to an XS model. However, as we just explained, the upgrade from 8 Plus or X to XS is minimal, so you may get more bang for your buck if rather than upgrading all the way up to an XS you go for an older X model or iPhone 8 Plus. To be completely honest, even getting an iPhone 7 Plus, which is still available from Apple for a (relatively) low price of $569, will give you broadcast quality video in full 4K or HD. In conjunction with shooting apps like FiLMiC Pro, you can even make this phone's video look like that of a DSLR.  

Our major takeaway here is that you probably shouldn't spend over $1,000 on one of the new models when you can get basically the same video quality on an older model, for nearly half the price. 

Then again, if you are an Apple Fanatic and need to have the new item no matter what it is, then just go ahead and buy it already.