One Reason to Upgrade Your iPhone Nobody Talks About
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After more than 4 years with the iPhone 13 Pro, I recently upgraded to the iPhone 17 Pro. The iPhone 13 Pro was a dutiful sidekick. It survived countless drops without ever needing a repair. I loved the Super Retina XDR OLED display with ProMotion, as I’m a stickler for a 120 Hz refresh rate.
The battery owed me nothing either, holding at 82% maximum capacity the day I traded it in to Verizon. I’m sure I could have squeezed another year or two out of the iPhone 13 Pro with an $89 battery replacement, but that’s no fun.
Vanity got the better of me. I wanted the newest iPhone for many of the same reasons most of us upgrade: the awesome screen, insane optical zoom, the ability to power Apple Intelligence, new Siri, and other AI services. Also, there’s no way I could carry a 13 Pro in my iPhone Pocket. That move would earn me a one-way ticket to Club Android. Pants pockets are for the birds.
As it turns out, I didn’t just want the new iPhone 17 Pro; I actually needed it. Here’s why!
I live in a notorious cell signal dead zone. It’s incredibly frustrating to spend most of your free time in an urban area with awful cell coverage. For years, dropped calls, dead spots, and a lack of cellular internet became the norm. Residents completely gave up even trying. People across carriers had the same complaints. As much as we desire to disconnect, daily life demands the opposite.
Cellular service is so poor that I’ve been spending $40 per month for landlines in my home for the last two years. That’s nearly $500 a year for the luxury of uninterrupted phone calls, the ability to call 911, and receiving about 50 unsolicited calls a week. For whatever reason, Wi-Fi Calling never resolved this issue on my 13 Pro, either.
Enter the iPhone 17 Pro. Immediately upon activation, my new iPhone provided clear and reliable phone calls in my home, even with Wi-Fi intentionally turned off. I was astounded. I’m no longer relegated to making calls in one small corner of the house that will sometimes support a complete phone call. I don’t have to automatically respond to callers with “let me call you back on my landline.”
Apple says the iPhone 17 Pro’s antennas are “integrated around the perimeter for the highest-performing antenna system ever in an iPhone.” From my limited experience, I concur. It’s likely the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon X80 modem in the iPhone 17 Pro plays a part as well. This modem is a few generations newer than the one in the 13 Pro.
It’s understandable that Apple wouldn’t want to highlight third-party hardware in its marketing materials — especially as it transitions to its own in-house C-series modem chips. However, from what I can tell, the formula of the upgraded antenna architecture together with the X80 modem dramatically improves cellular connectivity.
If you’re thinking about getting a new iPhone, take some time to consider any frustrations you have with your current phone rather than the features you’ll gain with a new one. If a new phone can solve the problem, that’s the best reason to upgrade. Are performance, connectivity, and reliability issues for you? If so, upgrading could save you money in the long run. It certainly will in my case, as I can now ditch my monthly landline bill.
