Do you really need 512GB? If not you can save quite a lot of money there. Especially if you use iCloud, Google Drive, or something similar. iCloud is particularly smart about keeping thumbnails and downloading full-size pics on demand, and off-loading as needed. Really cuts down on the storage photos need — eg on a new phone I have about 5GB of space used by photos, but my photo library is about 60GB.

The newer iPhones will have the best cameras, but previous years’ models are fine. Even the 11s. And they get a fair number of years of support and updates.

The best iPhone really depends upon your budget but I do agree, a year-old iPhone often makes sense if you don’t need the absolute latest.