5 things to look out for when buying an iPhone

Buying an iPhone is a big decision; it's an expensive purchase and a device you'll spend a lot of time with. But even after you've decided you want an iPhone rather than one of the Androids, choosing the right model is just as important.

There are quite a few different iPhones available – especially when you consider all the older models – with some key differences between them, not to mention different prices.

With that in mind, here are the top five things to consider when buying an iPhone.

Bigger or smaller

One of the most obvious differences between iPhones is screen size. However, if we are only looking at the newer models, there are only three different sizes to consider.

The largest are the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Plus, which have 6.7-inch screens. Big screen, but still smaller than some Android models like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Regardless, these largest phones are the ones you'll probably need to use two hands to operate comfortably. Due to their size, they are also cumbersome in pockets and bags. On the other hand, a large screen allows you to see more at once. For example, when browsing the web, or while playing games and watching videos.

Next in line are 6.1-inch models like the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. These phones are significantly smaller and therefore a better choice for one-handed operation, but they are less suitable for watching videos and, say, movies.

Finally, we should mention the 4.7-inch iPhone SE (2022), which is a really small phone that we don't see very often anymore. If you miss the early days of smartphones, where devices had big bezels and small screens, then this model could be for you. Still, its biggest competitive advantage is simply that it's cheaper than other recent iPhones.

Do you need a telephoto camera?

One of the main reasons to choose the “Pro” model is that they have telephoto cameras that the standard and “Plus” models do not have.

All of these phones (except the iPhone SE 2022) have wide and ultra-wide lenses, but if you want optical zoom, you'll have to go with the Pro.

The optical zoom option gives you more versatility in your photography and can be especially useful if you want to photograph distant animals, details high up on buildings, or other things that are difficult to get close to.

But if these aren't things you want to photograph often – or you're just not interested in taking photos with your smartphone at all – then a telephoto camera is probably unnecessary. In this case, you could choose a cheaper non-Pro series model.

Is refresh rate important to you?

Another big difference between the Pro and non-Pro models is the refresh rate, with the Pro models having a 120Hz refresh rate while the standard and Plus series only have a 60Hz refresh rate.

The lower refresh rate makes the user experience and scrolling less smooth. So if you're checking email or scrolling through Twitter—sorry, Xu—everything will look faster on a 120Hz display. However, some people find it more noticeable than others.

If you realize that refresh rate is important to you, make sure you choose a 120Hz iPhone. If you're not sure, it's worth checking what your current phone's refresh rate is - if you're using a 60Hz device and you're fine with that, then there's probably no need to upgrade to 120Hz.

Battery capacity

The battery is another important factor that we must pay attention to when deciding to buy a phone. Differences in battery capacity can be large between different models. In the case of iPhones, as a rule, those models with larger screens also have a better battery, as it can be larger. However, this is not always the case, which is why it is important to thoroughly read the battery specifications every time we are thinking about buying a particular phone.

It is worth noting that none of the latest iPhones has a bad battery. However, it is true that some models are simply better than others. Therefore, if you often travel or are active in nature, for example, and as a result do not always have a charger available, an iPhone 15 Pro Max will be the best choice. Also, if you don't want to charge your phone often, we suggest you consider one of the models that boast a high-capacity battery. If this is not the case, then smaller models, for example, the standard iPhone 15, will be quite enough.

Memory space

The last thing to pay attention to when buying an iPhone is the size of the storage space. We must not forget that iPhones do not have the possibility to use microSD cards, which means that we have to rely entirely on the already built-in memory space.

Obviously, choosing a higher storage capacity means a higher price, but that's probably better than finding out you don't have enough space.

If you're buying the latest iPhone, you'll be able to choose between 64GB and 1TB, depending on the model. We think 64GB is not enough for most users, so you should probably aim for at least 128GB, if you can afford it of course.

Whether you need more than that depends on how you intend to use your phone. Will you be downloading tons of demanding apps and games or storing tons of photos and videos? If that's the case, then you should probably go for at least 256GB or maybe more.

Of course, we should not forget the option of cloud storage, which is used by more and more users.