Some people live for the next iPhone launch. They can’t wait to upgrade to the latest technology. The dazzling new camera features. The longer battery life and increased memory. The latest color trends.

Not me. I want to hold on to my existing phone for dear life. I know how it works, where to find everything, and it fits in the pocket in my purse. We’re kind of a team.

But there comes a day when it’s time to part ways. The battery doesn’t hold a charge. Strange malfunctions occur. Your family laughs at you for having the oldest phone on the plan.

When I woke up one morning and saw that my battery had barely charged overnight, I knew that time had come. I was out of town, traveling alone – and didn’t want to risk my phone dying on the return trip.

Because, who hasn’t experienced the challenge of finding a functioning charging station at the airport, in the lounge, or on the flight. Often, the outlet fails, leaving you at 18% and hoping for the best.

Armed with these concerns, I made my way to the nearest Apple Store. A young man in a beanie greeted me warmly when I arrived. Once he established why I was there, he pointed me to a table where another employee, Zach, was working with three other customers.

“Feel free to listen in as I explain the technology,” he said. “And you can also try out the various iPhone models on display.”

As I looked around the table, I noticed that the other customers all seemed to be around my age. In other words, we were at the mercy of Zach – who probably had an iPhone in his hand since preschool.

Zach knew the product and was doing a stellar job of explaining all the features, but I just wanted to get this errand checked off and move on with my day. Still, even though the technology was way over my head, I did my best to pay attention.

After telling Zack that I was ready to purchase the iPhone 17, he checked his inventory device, and with a disappointed look on his face, informed me, “We’re out of stock on that model. We can order you one, but it will take about a month.”

As I considered what to do, another customer at our table started to mansplain why I should consider the Apple Air model over the iPhone 17 or 17 Pro versions. “That’s what my fiancée has,” he exclaimed, “She loves it!” And, “If price is no object, you should go for the Air.” He then told the group, “I used to work in a campus bookstore,” as if that explained anything.

Since I was determined to walk out of the store that day with a new phone in hand, I asked Zach if the iPhone 17 Pro was in stock. It was – and we were back in business.

Next, I was assigned to another employee, Maria, who showed me the color options for my phone: silver, cosmic orange or deep blue. I considered the silver briefly before settling on the cosmic orange.

I also chose a coordinating rust-orange protective case and a new charging block. I was happy to learn that this model has the same charging cord as my iPad and earbuds, the USB-C port. Score one for simplifying.

Now it was time to pay. I handed Maria my credit card and signed the contract. Ouch. At that price, even with a trade in, I’ll be keeping this phone for a long time. I added on an Apple protection plan for good measure.

The final step was the data transfer process. This required logging on to my Apple ID. No problem, I thought. I made sure I came prepared with my login and password jotted down on a Post-it. But on first attempt, the password failed… hmmm.

Had I written it down incorrectly? Or had I changed it at some point? I tried three more variations and began to panic when none of them worked. “We may need to reset it, said Maria – “but that could take an hour or so.”

On a wing and a prayer, I tried the original password one more time – and voila! This time it worked. Apparently, my first attempt contained a typo. Thankfully, we were back on track.

While this was going on, the helpful mansplainer stopped by to make sure I bought a protective case for my phone. “Oh, good,” he said eyeing the case, “You’ll need that if you drop it. My fiancée is always dropping her phone.” I thanked him, trying not to roll my eyes while thinking “his fiancée sure is a lucky girl.”

We then set up facial and voice recognition. “You can do the rest of the set-up at home,” said Maria. She obviously had more confidence in my abilities than I did. I told her I’d rather just get it done before leaving the store.

With a knowing look, she guided me to a seating area and introduced me to Shea, whose job was to help people set up their phones. Several customers were seated at small square tables as Shea rotated among them, offering encouragement and tips.

I repeatedly checked with her before pressing any buttons like “next,” “proceed,” or “skip,” worried that I might make a mistake and disrupt the entire transfer. The prospect of losing precious family photos, contacts, and years of stored passwords is nerve-wracking.

After successfully completing the data transfer, I left the store with an Apple bag in hand and a new phone tucked safely in my purse. It fit! And after opening my phone for the first time, to my relief, everything was working just fine.

Nothing was missing. My contacts were all there. Both emails were functioning. All texts and photos were safe in their new home. My apps were loaded and functioning. The learning curve has been relatively pain-free and intuitive.

I’ve had my iPhone 17 Pro for several weeks now. It’s so easy to use that even a Boomer can figure it out! With a little help from the Apple Store employees, that is.

And, as with my old phone, the new phone and I have become a team. I suppose I’ll be ready for another upgrade in four years or so. But by then, it may be a solar powered brain implant instead of a handheld device. You just never know…

A Boomer iPhone 17 Pro review

The iPhone 17 Pro requires a 6-digit code, unlike the 4-digit code that worked for my iPhone 13 and iPad Air.  But with Face ID, you’ll only need the code to restart or when Face ID fails. Choose your numbers wisely, lest you forget…

I’ve never used Siri on an iPhone before, but it’s a very convenient feature. During set-up, I went through several prompts reading a script so that Siri would recognize my voice.

Later that day, I used maps to navigate to a hair salon. It was nice to just say: “Siri, end navigation” instead of fiddling around with the phone.

The “silence” feature is a button instead of a switch. There’s also a new short-cut side button that opens the camera.

And of course, there are many new camera features that I have yet to try.

The battery life is much longer and will fully charge in an hour or so. No more panicking over a dying phone.

Storage begins at 256GB which is plenty for me – and goes up to 1TB. That’s a lot of grandbaby pictures.

It was much easier to sync the 17 Pro to Apple CarPlay than with past versions. Or maybe I’m just getting better at it. Could it be that I’m becoming at one with my phone?