Went to Best Buy today to take a look at the new iPhones and here is what I felt as a XS Max user:

The iPhone 17 Pro Max feels cheaper than my XS Max. The aluminum is kind of nice because it’s metal but if you guys had an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus back then, it’s the same thing except a brick this time. It feels more like the base aluminum iPhones than a Pro series phone. Much less premium feeling than the XS Max’s stainless steel and glass. Big screen is nice. Aesthetically, it’s ugly as hell though.

I then tried the iPhone Air and it reminds me a lot of the XS Max with its build. Same size screen! Feels very premium with the polished titanium sides. Super thin. However, I was a bit shocked at how thin my XS Max is for a 7 year old iPhone. The Air is obviously thinner than the XS Max but not as drastic as I thought. The rounded edges of the XS makes it seem almost as thin as the Air. If someone was going from a 16 Pro Max to an Air the difference is pretty huge. But from a XS Max to an iPhone Air it feels more of the same but in a good way! It’s the most premium and futuristic phone of the whole line up.

They’re cool new iPhones but the cost cutting with the aluminum Pro’s sucks! That’s how they’re able to keep the price down I guess.

Edit: I use my XS Max caseless, so that does make a huge difference.

I upgraded my iPhone 14 Pro on 9/25 and it wasn’t set to ship until 10/15 so I went into Best Buy and asked if it was possible to get my upgrade through them. They said yes and even said several people had come in to do the same.

I cancelled my order on the spot. Though whatever process they do on their little iPad wasn’t working, they had me call their 611 phone number. They said my phone wasn’t eligible for an upgrade which they knew was weird so that’s why they had me call their 611. Called it talked to a rep and they assured if he the ATT rep at Best Buy could try again, it would work. And it did.

They asked me for some account information and quickly set me up with a the new phone. The ATT rep said Best Buy tends to have a large stock of iPhones and dont prioritize new users like ATT does. Tomorrow I’m going into the ATT store to ship out my old phone.

With all that being said, it was super easy and I got my new phone two weeks early. Easy peasy