Any of you just keeping your iPhone until it dies?

[maxsumae]

I still have my iPhone 5.

Apple use to produce one great phone, now they produce a multitiered product line that pits size against function.

(this reminds me of the Apple before Jobs returned, they had so many vertical market machines it was hard to know what to recommend which machine to buy, then Jobs returned and we had two, iMac and Mac Pro, thank you Steve.)

I upgraded every 2 years since the original iPhone.

But then the 6 happened with its ugly antenna bands and "one size - doesn't fit - all functions", a protruding camera, (what a great feature, I would rather have a thicker phone with extra battery power than a lens bump).

Yes, I want a phone that has all the new tech, but I don't have any desire to carry a tablet sized phone in my pocket.

Even the latest iPhone SE was a half effort. After all the hype about 3d touch, image stabilization, etc, they again, produce a sub-par product. iPhones are premium products. We pay more for them, and I personally expect more for the money.

I hope the iPhone 7, 8 or 9 is worth the wait.

My 5 is still running strong!

 

[0007776]

I'm hoping to upgrade to an SE soon because I hate the size of my 6+ but when I get an SE I'll probably keep it until it dies. Any modern phone can easily do everything I could ever imagine wanting to do on a mobile device.

 

[QCassidy352]

I still have my iPhone 5.

[...]

Even the latest iPhone SE was a half effort.

I went from a 5, which I loved, to a 6, with which I was never fully happy, to a SE, which I love again. I can't agree the SE is a "half effort." It's a midrange device, the first time apple's ever made a phone that was not designed to be a flagship at the time it was released (other than the 5c, which was just a different case on the year-old flagship 5). So it doesn't have every single bell and whistle of the 6s, but it's also 2/3 the price.

I think it's a superb product for the price and light years ahead of the 5 in terms of its internals.

 

[5105973]

We have kept older iPhones in the family, passing them along to children or elders who didn't need or want advanced features and valued the compact size and relative simplicity of older iPhones.

We started running into problems keeping the 6Pluses in the family. Nobody wanted hand-me-downs that size. We literally could not give them away and have resigned ourselves to buying SEs for elders who need an upgrade in the future.

The SE's we bought for my daughter and myself will stay in the family. The larger iPhones are traded in for new iPhones that offer the features we deem worth having, even if some of them are only incremental improvements. The batteries degrade at a rate that makes trading even for incremental improvements financially desirable.

 

[Kobbr]

If you sell the phone to help the cost of the new one, it ends up being the same.

Scenario 1, keeping phone till it becomes unusable (3 years let's say):

Year 1 - $1000 up front

Use 3 years
Buy new phone for $1000 up front
$0 from old device

Scenario 2, upgrading yearly and selling old device

Year 1 - $1000 upfront
Year 2 - Sell for $800
Buy new phone for $1000, $200 total in damages to wallet

Obviously a rough example but I bought my iPhone 6+ for $1100 after tax. I sold the same device for $800 and got the 6S plus for $900. So for $100 I was able to upgrade.

Obviously I had to shop around but I've been doing this for years and have always had the newest device for $100-200.

(Not American prices)

 

[stevemiller]

i upgrade every 3 years, and its 95% because the basic functions have become frustratingly slow with OS updates, and maybe 5% actual interest in what is "new and better".

blah blah don't update the OS then, blah blah be thankful apple supports devices that long, blah blah security updates, blah blah go buy android if you think its so bad... there i saved everyone the breath of telling me why i'm wrong

just saying i'd still be totally happy with the performance/features of a 4S on iOS6 *if* that was a feasible option. personally that was peak smartphone satisfaction for me.

 

[Flow39]

Nah, I like upgrading every year. Unfortunately I wasn't able to due to college $$$ but this year I've got enough set aside to get the 7. I wish I could've upgraded to the 6s+, but oh well, my 6 still works perfectly.

 

[lordofthereef]

He phone we kept the longest was the 4s. That was just recently retired and replaced with a 6s. There wasn't anything wrong with it aside from an aging battery, but we decided the free 128gb upgrade T-Mobile was offering (waiving the $200 down completely) meant the upgrade was worth it.

I see us keeping these phones for at least two years, particularly after seeing what the 7 is looking to turn out being. We generally don't upgrade because we need to but rather because we want the newer features available with newer hardware.

 

[nburwell]

I have a friend who I work with that is still using his 4s. Our group of friends generally give him a hard time about when he's going to upgrade, but he has stated that when the 4s dies, then he will upgrade. He's not a huge tech fanatic and the phone does what he needs it to do.

 

[Devyn89]

I'm hoping to use my 6s+ until it dies. It's a great size, the internals are amazing, I love 3D Touch, it's got enough storage for my needs, and the battery life is phenomenal. I'm hoping it'll last at least 3 or 4 years.

 

[Savor]

Not into iPhone since the 4. While that was very good to me rarely giving me issues and excellent battery life, I wouldn't go back to that ancient tech with single core and weak GPU. Stuttered playing Subway Surfers and Candy Crush three years later. My $30 Moto E 4G (2nd gen) blows that phone out of the water in most areas five years after iPhone 4 was released. You will be surprised how good these sub-$100 Android devices are compared to iPhones from prior to the 5s.

I am checking out an iPhone 4s just for kicks on OLX (our Craigslist here). I see plenty of second hand for about $100, but why bother when I have cheap Androids released in 2014 and after that destroys it in most areas? If I want a half decade old 4s, a fair price is maybe $60 tops. I can't see myself getting an iPhone older than a 5s. My $30 Moto E destroys my old iPhone 5 in battery life and is so smooth on how I tweaked it and my $30 Lumia 640 destroys the 5 in camera quality.

Apple makes disposal phones but they aren't the only one guilty of doing it. Where every OEM uses to bait for new and returning customers is battery life. I read on Pocket Lint so much cool battery technology where phones can charge in seconds or recharged 200,000 times without degradation. But why would OEMs want to make the perfect battery that can last forever? Less upgraders. If they don't bait the customers in degraded battery, they do it with no software updates or firmware that slows down your old device.

That's how phones become disposal - degraded battery (esp non removable) that needs replacement with most customers just say why bother and get a newer device. Or software updates that will be compatible to the phone but slow down or no software update so you get a newer device to try it out. Making phones harder to fix like the HTC Ones and S6/S7 edge is also another way to force customers to upgrading. Like what Falcon said in Captain America: Civil War - "Everyone has a gimmick."

 

[I7guy]

You can keep your sub 100 android phone. My iPhone 4 circa 2010 is still going strong. One phone for 6 years or a bunch of sub 100 android phones. Seems like a no brainier to the environment and I still FaceTime, iMessage etc.

 

[M. Gustave]

Apple makes disposal phones

I think you meant "disposable"? And it's nonsense. Plenty of people on these boards are using 4s, 5, 5s. Apple's long term support for these devices disproves your conspiracy theory.

Some benefits to using iPhones that you won't see from spec shopping: security, privacy, support, and higher quality apps.

 

[The Game 161]

upgrade my phone every year

One positive to this Yeats iPhone looking the same? I can buy it and my girlfriend will not know I've bought the new one..bonus

 

[maflynn]

You fork over $600 to $900 for the latest greatest iPhone

When my wife and I got the iPhone 6, we did not fork over 600 to 900, but 299, so our prior habit was such that we could easily justify a new phone every other year. Now that subsidies have gone by the board, my purchase decisions will be altered. I cannot justify spending almost a 600 - 900 dollars every other year on a phone.

 

[The Game 161]

When my wife and I got the iPhone 6, we did not fork over 600 to 900, but 299, so our prior habit was such that we could easily justify a new phone every other year. Now that subsidies have gone by the board, my purchase decisions will be altered. I cannot justify spending almost a 600 - 900 dollars every other year on a phone.

Personally it works out cheaper

My plan going forward is go sim free and dump two year contracts. I pay 57 pounds a month for my phone contract but sim free it would only be 20 a month with unlimited data and texts.

Just means selling my iPhone a week before the launch where I can get better value and could get maybe 450 for it so I would end up paying say 300-350 pounds for the new phone which is hell a lot cheaper than going down the two year contract route

 

[Arran]

I'm hoping to upgrade to an SE soon because I hate the size of my 6+ but when I get an SE I'll probably keep it until it dies. Any modern phone can easily do everything I could ever imagine wanting to do on a mobile device.

Agreed. The early iphone releases all introduced seriously desirable features: either something truly useful or just irresistibly cool.

Lately, not so much. The technology's matured.

 

[maflynn]

Lately, not so much. The technology's matured.

Agreed, coupled with subsidies, it was a no brainer to get the latest and greatest. The phone sector definintely has matured, but with that said, apple is behind the curve with their designs, and implementation.

They don't have wireless charging, water proofing, curved displays.

 

[M. Gustave]

Agreed. The early iphone releases all introduced seriously desirable features: either something truly useful or just irresistibly cool.

Lately, not so much. The technology's matured.

I guess you haven't used Touch ID, 3D Touch, or ApplePay?

 

[krazzix]

I'm still on my iPhone 5, my dad still uses the 3Gs I had before.

I see no reason to upgrade yet. Maybe next year with the anticipated big upgrade.

 

[Shirasaki]

I guess you haven't used Touch ID, 3D Touch, or ApplePay?

But does all those features you cannot live without, such as "making a phone call"?

I bet those features are more like a gimmick than actually critical feature.

 

[Arran]

I guess you haven't used Touch ID, 3D Touch, or ApplePay?

I use Apple Pay on my watch a couple of times a day and Touch ID all the time. But those are 'old' innovations.

3D Touch is the only recent innovation I can think of (maybe higher pixel count cameras too???) but I'm happy without them. Not worth the hassle of upgrading.

 

[stringent]

I tried to keep my 5S for 3 years, but the battery started getting less and less, so I traded in and got a 6S, 4 months before the 7. So, I'd have kept it, I could have changed the battery, but didn't want to incase my trade in at Apple got affected due to me tampering with it.

 

[bigjnyc]

But does all those features you cannot live without, such as "making a phone call"?

I bet those features are more like a gimmick than actually critical feature.

Most of Apples groundbreaking features introduced so you can buy a new iphone are gimmicky in my opinion (even though I still always buy it) with the exception of touch ID, that is the only feature I use and love, typing in the password every time to unlock the phone was getting really annoying... the rest I use at first then they kind of faded away for me, like siri, facetime, apple pay, 3D touch (even though 3D touch I still use every once in a while and it is a feature that is still being developed and expanded so this may become useful)

 

[Peter K.]

My 2012 carrier-locked iPhone 4s is running 9.3.2, slow but tolerable. Battery life has always been limited, and it needs a power bank to get through the day when cellular data is on. 3g gets slow when other devices are tethered to it. The 16gb is always full, and I have to be frugal with its contents. But it is very reliable, and have it set up exactly how I want it.

I finally decided to upgrade to an SE yesterday when I got a generous bonus at work, I yearned for LTE, and the 4s was left off the iOS 10 list. But I'm keeping my 4s as a backup until all my contacts start communicating with me on my new number (I had to get a new sim because my late 1990s mini-sim cut down to micro-sim could not be cut down to nano-size anymore).

Perhaps slightly OT, but I don't think you have to change your number when you need a new SIM.