applefanforever123

dewme said:

Until smartphones become commodity or the manufacturers start to focus more on cost reduction around a static feature set there is always going to be something better coming out next year.

The good news is that much of the adaptability, flexibility, and functional diversity of these devices comes from the software. It doesn't really bother me if some of the apps that I rely on for my iPhone XS Max would run a bit faster or better on an iPhone 11 Pro Max or next year's iPhone 12 Pro Super Max 5G, as long as they keep running on my current hardware. So the real hard line decision point for whether to upgrade or not, for me at least, is more determined by software functionality and compatibility than hardware performance, new hardware features, and higher capacities. I can tolerate running slow or missing a new feature, at least to a point, but I cannot tolerate being left behind with old app and/or iOS versions that no longer serve my needs adequately. 

Apple maintaining a robust foundation for the software developer community (internal and 3rd party) to build their software apps on top of, and keeping the App Store in a healthy and profitable state is as important to me as bumping up the hardware specs on processors, radios, cameras, and memory.

The hard semaphore from Apple that "it's now time to upgrade" is when the device you are relying on is no longer on the supported list. I'm grateful that Apple kept the iPhone 6/6+ and iPod Touch 6th Gen on the supported list for iOS 12, and was hoping they would give them both a ride on the iOS 13 train, but it was not to be. When my iPhone XS Max gets bumped from the supported list I'll be compelled to upgrade, unless I succumb to temptation by something totally out of the blue showing up prior to that point in time.