How many Generations do people wait?

Really depends on the person.

Majority of my friends upgrade after a few years. Some of my friends upgrade every other generation (like 3G->4->5). Another friend and I pretty much upgrade every year.

My friend and I are "technology people" and we like having the latest tech, hence why we upgrade every year.

I go every other generation, I'm a student.
I've had the 3G, then a 4, which broke so I got a 3GS secondhand. Then I got a 4S and now I'm offloading that to my mum for a 5.

If I could, I would go every generation, but I love my tech.
I bought my girlfriend a 4S for Christmas&Birthday present, she had a VERY damaged 3GS and had no intentions of upgrading.

Its all personal I guess. I know a guy who uses a 1st gen because "It suits him"

Adam- said:

I'm just wondering how long people tend to wait before they upgrade their iDevices? I know it will probably be an accelerated rate on MR. I know that people will say until a good update comes along, I suppose I was interested in what people thought were good upgrades.

I got an iPhone 4 two years ago and am coming up for a renewal but am not really too fussed about iPhone 5/5S/Plus decision. Also my iPad 2 is still going strong but with iPad 5 rumours about iPad mini design and possibly getting a cellular data. Having said that EE offers tethering so not sure there is alot of point.

Anyway would be interesting if you guys could post your upgrade timelines and why you upgraded?

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Honestly I had my first iPhone when 4 was released. Now I have the 5 and will be waiting for the 6! Hopefully it impresses me because iOS is pretty plain. I wouldn't bother with the 'S' series because its mostly updates like camera pixels.. Etc.

I upgrade every gen and have since the first iPhone.

Adam- said:

I'm just wondering how long people tend to wait before they upgrade their iDevices?

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Depends on who you ask. It's typically every other generation for me and my wife.

I upgrade whenever my 2 year contract is up, so that means every generation so far!

3G. Then a month after the 4 came out I was eligible for upgrade. Then the 5.

Want the subsidy, rather than the bother of selling my old phone to make up for the subsidy.

I've gone 3G, 4, 5. I wouldn't mind selling to cover the cost difference of upgrading without a subsidy, but it would have to be for truly new functionality. So far, none of the S upgrades have seemed that interesting.

Every gen... I just sell to get money back and keep the S series

2G- eBay keeping it
3GS- eBay keeping it
4- sold to buy 4S
4S- keeping it
5- will sell to get 5S
5S- keeping it


As u can see, just roll the money and ur set

I know lots of people that upgrade whenever their upgrade through their carrier rolls around (so it ends up being every other iPhone model).

Personally, I upgrade yearly because I like having new technology. I just sell the old one to either offset the cost of the new one (during a year when I don't have an upgrade available) or completely pay for the new one (during a year when I do have an upgrade available).

Still using the 3GS. Waiting for the iPhone 7. #true story

Adam- said:

I'm just wondering how long people tend to wait before they upgrade their iDevices? I know it will probably be an accelerated rate on MR. I know that people will say until a good update comes along, I suppose I was interested in what people thought were good upgrades.

I got an iPhone 4 two years ago and am coming up for a renewal but am not really too fussed about iPhone 5/5S/Plus decision. Also my iPad 2 is still going strong but with iPad 5 rumours about iPad mini design and possibly getting a cellular data. Having said that EE offers tethering so not sure there is alot of point.

Anyway would be interesting if you guys could post your upgrade timelines and why you upgraded?

Click to expand...

I don't wait. I upgrade every year because I can (have enough phones on my account to do so). Why wait when you don't have to?

TyPod said:

I upgrade whenever my 2 year contract is up, so that means every generation so far!

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Ummmmmm yeah... iPhone is updated every year, not two.

I bought my first iPhone (a 3gs) second hand a little over a year ago. I was prepared to buy the 5 when it came out, but I didn't like the fact that bands of 4g varied from country to country depending on where you bought the phone.

As a frequent budget oriented world traveler it bothered me enough to step back a reevaluate if I REALLY needed a new phone. Since I would be needing to buy it unlocked, the answer ended up being no. I'll use that money buying a Mac mini server and setting up a media center instead.

I think that inside the US it's a lot easier to justify more frequent upgrades because you're just so used to being on contract anyways. It's much more common in Australia to be pay as you go so you don't get the subsidy.

But that's ok, I probably spend less than $20 a month for my phone bill! If I wanted I could get unlimited texts and minutes, and 4gb data for $40, I cringe thinking what I'd have to pay back home...

Feel sorry for the one that always wait, and in the end they never get anything other than reading reviews years after years!

Every other generation, but then I only got my first Apple product two year ago, an iphone 4 in January 2011 and just upgraded to the 5.

Adam- said:

I'm just wondering how long people tend to wait before they upgrade their iDevices? I know it will probably be an accelerated rate on MR. I know that people will say until a good update comes along, I suppose I was interested in what people thought were good upgrades.

I got an iPhone 4 two years ago and am coming up for a renewal but am not really too fussed about iPhone 5/5S/Plus decision. Also my iPad 2 is still going strong but with iPad 5 rumours about iPad mini design and possibly getting a cellular data. Having said that EE offers tethering so not sure there is alot of point.

Anyway would be interesting if you guys could post your upgrade timelines and why you upgraded?

Click to expand...

2G - birthday present
3G - upgraded solely for storage
4 - 2 year upgrade
5 - 2 year upgrade

I think it pretty silly to upgrade every year, my previous phones go to my GF for PAYG usage.

Upgrade my phone each time a new one comes but not so quick with everythings else as still have an 2010 Imac & 2 x ATV2 & Ipad 2

got the 4 upgraded to the 5 (so 2 years)

but not sure about when my contract is up in 2014, may have moved to a samsung by then

Two generations, since I have a two year contract with Verizon, and generally I'm more than satisfied with my phone for two generations.

Also, usually in two generations the jump to the new phone is fun because of the upgrades, additions and new features which occur after two generations.

Depends on features. My two dumb phones before iPhone 4, I had for 5 yrs, and 3 yrs, keeping them til they broke.

iPhone 4, I sold for $220... which paid for iPhone subsidy + part of accessories. It was so cheap I would have been a fool to resist.

Many on the 4S I know, have no plan to upgrade for the foreseeable future, not interested in anything 5 or 5S might offer. Already has fast dual core SOC, great camera, good small fit in hand size, fast 8-10mbps 4G/HSPA+ data speed. There's really no reason to move on.

Original iPhone (August 2007)
iPhone 3GS (March 2010)
iPhone 4 (October 2010)
iPhone 5 (November 2012)
Next Upgrade : 2014 launch day.

aziatiklover said:

Feel sorry for the one that always wait, and in the end they never get anything other than reading reviews years after years!

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Or they don't waste their lives reading online reviews and nonsense posts about products they have no intention of buying.

ritmomundo said:

Or they don't waste their lives reading online reviews and nonsense posts about products they have no intention of buying.

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Yea true, but if you were reading the first post it has nothing to do with the one that doesnt have intention of buying! Boom headshot? Amirire? I didnt know that waiting for the next generation was the intention of not buying!

aziatiklover said:

Yea true, but if you were reading the first post it has nothing to do with the one that doesnt have intention of buying! Boom headshot? Amirire? I didnt know that waiting for the next generation was the intention of not buying!

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Ok...