iPhone 11 storage and performance issues: Advice on upgrading to iPhone 17 or 18

katebunchonumbers wrote:

• advice: iphone 17 or 18

using 63.71GB of 64 on my iphone 11 and need to upgrade because it won't take or send photos and text messages disappear

• want to stay with iphone but don't know which to upgrade to

• I don't use it for gaming or anything fussy but I have a LOT of music and take TOO MANY photos

there's a part of me that wants to get the 18 pro because it's the new shiny thing

but just about any phone will seem new and fast and amazing because my current phone is ... not well

if you were me, what would you do and why?

thanks any and all in advance!

The standard iPhone 18 is not yet released and we don't know when it will be. So that leaves iPhone 17 or iPhone 18 Pro/18 Pro Max as your options. You suggest you take a LOT of photos? The Pro Models feature the best camera system Apple offers, so if photography is important, I'd recommend getting a Pro.

It would be helpful for you to compare the models to determine which would be best for you --> iPhone - Compare Models - Apple

And while both the 17 and 18 Pro's start at 256GB, just as you're learning now with the lowest storage option on your current iPhone, people don't think about future storage needs. I would encourage you to buy your next iPhone with most storage you can afford to avoid having a similar issues in just a couple years. A lot of memory will automatically be used for the Operating System with Apple Intelligence, which cannot be made smaller. For the last few years I have only purchased iPhones with 512GB. No one has ever come here complaining they have too much available storage. But people come here daily complaining they don't have enough.

Hello~ About two weeks ago …I made the move from an iPhone 12 mini to an iPhone 17 pro 512gb in silver. I thought it would be a big deal as I like a smaller iPhone. It certainly is a big deal but all for the good. The new features are incredible as well as the camera. Whatever you decide to do get as much device storage as possible.

~Katana-San~

katebunchonumbers wrote:

• I don't use it for gaming or anything fussy but I have a LOT of music and take TOO MANY photos

…

if you were me, what would you do and why?

I would suggest getting a phone with at least 256 GB of storage – at a minimum.

My phone has 256 GB of storage, and it's getting to the point where if I add more stuff, I will need to delete or offload other stuff in order to keep free space at a comfortable level for day-to-day operation and updating.

This is on a phone that is running iOS 26 but doesn't have the overhead of Apple Intelligence (as it is too old to support Apple Intelligence).