Apple Shares Checklist With Important Tips for Buying a Used iPhone

[MrMojo1]

Buy Apple Certified Refurbished iPhones, if it has the model you want.
Apple cleans it and gives you a new battery and comes in a white box. 😆
It'll cost slightly more than other places that sell Refurbed iPhones (i.e. Amazon) but it's from Apple directly and it qualifies for AppleCare.

The hardware itself isn't the issue, it's the software (iOS). With newer hardware, iOS is generally optimized to run better with newer hardware.
Be realistic... why would Apple want to support older devices more than necessary? It needs to generate revenue for itself and for its shareholders, hence the annual sale of the iPhone, it's biggest cash cow.
That works against iPhone owners, the majority of whom generally wants to keep their older iPhone models which still serves their 'needs'.
We all should be lucky for however long Apple makes its iOS to support older iPhone models, hopefully >7 yrs.

 

[Halmahc]

Seems like the pressure is getting to them after Google announced 7 years of support for Pixel 8.

Good, competition is great for all of us. Maybe this will mean better support.

The iPhone 7 only got 6 years of support.

"The iPhone 7 only got 6 years of support"
Only?? Really?
You think 6 good years is not enough for a device that has been released 7 years ago? You should bare in mind that newer iPhones (and other phones in general) will probably receive even more years of support because of the faster chips in them. Eg. The iPhone 15 Pro may probably get about 10 years of OS support.

 

[sack_peak]

The iPhone 7 only got 6 years of support.

2016 iPhone 7 still receives iOS Security/Bug Updates until now with iOS 15.7.9, released September 11, 2023. This is 84 months since the phone's release.

 

[jayvictorusa]

Apple, how about releasing software-locked features to older iPhones as well?

 

[citysnaps]

Yeah Apple is well known for having devices that do not last, have poor resale value, short support cycles and are made of weak materials like metal and glass. 🙄. Good grief you people are absurd.

People always feel better taking a swing at Apple.

 

[sack_peak]

Something about this feels very ironic.

It is favorable for Apple to widen its user base by having iPhone upgraders pass on their 1-5+ year old iPhones to a new user.

These new users often cannot or unwilling to spend more than $429 or half the brand new value of any iPhone.

Any device turned off as a backup, displayed on a shelf like a trophy or lost in a drawer does not create services revenue for them.

 

[dannyyankou]

2016 iPhone 7 still receives iOS Security/Bug Updates until now with iOS 15.7.9, released September 11, 2023. This is 84 months since the phone's release.

And even the 6S had that same security update. Google is being very particular with their language, I hope to be proven wrong but it wouldn’t surprise me if the pixel 8 doesn’t get major feature upgrades in 2030.

 

[sack_peak]

Interesting - I'm trying to figure out how to sell my 12 Pro 256Gb. It's been in a case (Defender knockoff) with a glass screen protector since it first came out of the box, but it could use a battery (is at 86 percent battery health). Everyone else in my family has a 13 or newer, so I can't hand it down.

Widen your definition of "in my family". Since the 90s we've been giving our old devices to my dad's siblings and their kids.

 

[sack_peak]

And even the 6S had that same security update. Google is being very particular with their language, I hope to be proven wrong but it wouldn’t surprise me if the pixel 8 doesn’t get major feature upgrades in 2030.

Correct, the 1 year older iPhone 6 received the months older iOS 12.5.7.

Longest Apple provided Security/Bug Updates has been 112 months (more than 9 years) for the 2013 iPhone 5s with iOS 12.5.7, released January 23, 2023.

If I was in that position I'd just jump to a 2022 iPhone 14 upon release for another 9 years of use.

 

[Wildkraut]

I fully support Apple, my iPhone X which came out in 2017, even thought its not getting iOS 17, will get another year of security updates for iOS 16.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024

That's 7 to 8 years of support and does everything I do without much issue. Yes, there is an observable slow down, but nothing of a hindrance, its expected for a device that will be 8 years old next year.

Apple, I still think you could have supported the iPhone X with iOS 17 with base security functionality.

Well, you're not missing anything groundbreaking by not having iOS17, really!
Keep your X!

 

[Eyes Only]

Interesting - I'm trying to figure out how to sell my 12 Pro 256Gb. It's been in a case (Defender knockoff) with a glass screen protector since it first came out of the box, but it could use a battery (is at 86 percent battery health). Everyone else in my family has a 13 or newer, so I can't hand it down.

I’ve been buying and selling iPhones on swappa.com for years. bought 2 256 12 pro maxes about a year ago for close to $500 each and both still had apple care that could be transferred.

 

[orev]

Interesting - I'm trying to figure out how to sell my 12 Pro 256Gb. It's been in a case (Defender knockoff) with a glass screen protector since it first came out of the box, but it could use a battery (is at 86 percent battery health). Everyone else in my family has a 13 or newer, so I can't hand it down.

Sell it in-person on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. It's the only way to get full value and it's easy enough to do.

 

[klasma]

"The iPhone 7 only got 6 years of support"
Only?? Really?
You think 6 good years is not enough for a device that has been released 7 years ago?

The PC I built ten years ago still runs fine with current Windows, and might for another five to ten years. This is a benefit of having separate suppliers for hardware and software: the software suppliers have more incentive to continue supporting existing hardware.

 

[sack_peak]

I’m glad because it will pressure companies that can actually keep their word to follow along. <1% chance Google actually honors this though.

A reason why most Android brands could not or would not provide Software Updates beyond 1-2 years is because of their ultra thin profit margins and numerous SKUs they make that rarely go beyond a 1 million units in that SKU's lifetime.

Apple simplified their code base around the Apple A chip that all their devices share with minor forks that are relatively easier to maintain. They are financed by SKUs that regularly shipped millions of units within its lifetime.

This is all financed by iPhone having a 85% profit share of all smartphones.

 

[mashdots]

although Google recently announced that its latest Pixel 8 phones will receive full Android updates for seven years

While technically true, until it comes to be, I will believe it when I see it.

There are users on other tech forums who say you can't conflate Google's graveyard with how they've treated Pixel devices and that you can trust google on this. And while the former might be true, it doesn't mean the latter will be. It's easy to commit to 7 years of support. It's hard to actually follow through.

Google's given up on stadia users and pixel pass users. They've gone through more messaging solutions than my brother has had girlfriends. They've even just sold domains. That **** isn't just another google service; it's an internet infrastructure service. A friend of mine works at google on GCP and internally people were angry because they were just blindsided by the decision. All of this is to say that their behavior has undermined a lot of trust, and just because they stood on stage and promised 7 years of software updates and got a big applause for it doesn't mean we should just believe they'll follow through on this.

 

[sparkinstx]

The PC I built ten years ago still runs fine with current Windows, and might for another five to ten years. This is a benefit of having separate suppliers for hardware and software: the software suppliers have more incentive to continue supporting existing hardware.

Windows 10 only has support until October 14th, 2025, and a device built ten years ago won't run Windows 11, unless you work around the CPU and TPM requirements. I have two 15-year-old desktops at home, running 10 (they went from XP, to 7, to 10), and I'm finally going to replace them either later this year, or early next year.

 

[sack_peak]

The PC I built ten years ago still runs fine with current Windows, and might for another five to ten years. This is a benefit of having separate suppliers for hardware and software: the software suppliers have more incentive to continue supporting existing hardware.

All Windows versions since 2007 Windows Vista has had Software Support for 122 months. But the quality of life user experience of anyone using Vista on almost all but the top-end hardware from Vista's General Release date & earlier was VERY BAD. Hence Vista's bad reputation until the hardware-friendlier 2009 Windows 7 came out. Running Vista 2009 released hardware was way better.

2015 Windows 10 supports hardware as old as 2004 Pentium 4 "E0 revision"chips. 10's EOL is Oct 2025. With a 3rd party browser that adds 5 additional years of support would allow anyone to safety use that CPU on the Internet for 26 years.

For 2021 Windows 11, Microsoft placed a "soft" minimum hardware requirement 14nm Intel 8th gen chips released after Sep 2017 & 12nm AMD 2nd gen Ryzen chips released after Apr 2018. End user needs to intentionally bypass this "soft" minimum hardware requirement to work on older hardware.

With 2024 Windows 12, Microsoft may harden that minimum hardware requirement fruther by cutting off pre-2017 Intel chips & pre-2018 AMD chips. This would be a quality of life improvement.

 

[winxmac]

Correct, the 1 year older iPhone 6 also received it as well.

Longest Apple provided Security/Bug Updates has been 112 months (more than 9 years) for the 2013 iPhone 5s with iOS 12.5.7, released January 23, 2023.

If I was in that position I'd just jump to a 2022 iPhone 14 upon release for another 9 years of use.

iOS 12.5.7 - iPhone 5s, 6, 6 Plus
iOS 15.7.9 - iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, SE 2016, 7, 7 Plus

 

[klasma]

Windows 10 only has support until October 10th, 2025, and a device built ten years ago won't run Windows 11, unless you work around the CPU and TPM requirements.

You’re right, unless you run Windows 10 LTS. And Microsoft has been rightly criticized for that. But at least you can easily work around the issues. And then there’s still Linux and WINE as an option. Lastly, even the 12 years of regular Windows 10 support are double of what Apple provides.

 

[omihek]

although Google recently announced that its latest Pixel 8 phones will receive full Android updates for seven years, whereas iOS 17 only supports iPhone models released up to five years ago.

Painting what Google "recently announced" vs what Apple is actually doing as a win for Google? Lol get back to me in 7 years when Google has actually followed through for once.

 

[klasma]

Apple just released a security update for an 8 year phone last month and they’ve been doing that for several years.

The occasional security updates unfortunately don’t help if your banking apps require a current OS version for security reasons (whether real or imagined, I don’t know). You might blame the app providers for that, but it’s a direct consequence of Apple dropping support of devices after only a few years in newer OS versions.

 

[winxmac]

All Windows versions since 2007 Windows Vista has had Software Support for 122 months.

2015 Windows 10 supports hardware as old as 2004 Pentium 4 "E0 revision"chips. 10's EOL is Oct 2025. With a 3rd party browser that adds 5 additional years of support would allow anyone to safety use that CPU on the Internet for 26 years.

For 2021 Windows 11, Microsoft placed a "soft" minimum hardware requirement 14nm Intel 8th gen chips released after Sep 2017 & 12nm AMD 2nd gen Ryzen chips released after Apr 2018. End user needs to intentionally bypass this "soft" minimum hardware requirement to work on older hardware.

With 2024 Windows 12, Microsoft may harden the minimum hardware requirement by cutting off pre-2017 Intel chips & pre-2018 AMD chips. This would be a quality of life improvement.

You're forgetting Windows 2000 and Windows XP

Windows 2000 - general availability on Feb 17 2000 and extended support ended on July 13 2010
Windows XP - general availability on Oct 25 2001 and extended support ended on April 8 2014

Windows ME and older had about up to 5 years of free support...

 

[dannyyankou]

The occasional security updates unfortunately don’t help if your banking apps require a current OS version for security reasons (whether real or imagined, I don’t know). You might blame the app providers for that, but it’s a direct consequence of Apple dropping support of devices after only a few years in newer OS versions.

I understand that, but the fact that google doesn’t explicitly say “7 years of major OS upgrades” tells me they’re going to follow a similar update model to Apple.

 

[sack_peak]

The occasional security updates unfortunately don’t help if your banking apps require a current OS version for security reasons (whether real or imagined, I don’t know). You might blame the app providers for that, but it’s a direct consequence of Apple dropping support of devices after only a few years in newer OS versions.

What incentive is there to support users on a more than 5 year old phone when more than 9 of 10 users have upgraded to a device that is capable of running iOS 17?

Today we are in Oct 2023

- iOS 16.x requires 6yo 2017 A11 Bionic chip
- iOS 17.x requires 5yo 2018 A12 Bionic chip

You're forgetting Windows 2000 and Windows XP

Windows 2000 - general availability on Feb 17 2000 and extended support ended on July 13 2010
Windows XP - general availability on Oct 25 2001 and extended support ended on April 8 2014

Windows ME and older had about up to 5 years of free support...

I isolated it to all 122 months of support. But if you want to get pedantic I will 1-up you with this table below.

Release Year	Version	Release Date	End Support Date	Months
2021	Windows 11	10/5/2021	12/5/2031*	122
2015	Windows 10	7/29/2015	10/14/2025	122
2012	Windows 8	10/26/2012	1/10/2023	122
2009	Windows 7	10/22/2009	1/14/2020	122
2007	Windows Vista	1/30/2007	4/11/2017	122
2001	Windows XP	8/24/2001	4/8/2014	151
2000	Windows 2000	2/17/2000	7/13/2010	124
1998	Windows 98	6/25/1998	7/11/2006	96
1995	WIndows 95	8/24/1995	12/31/2001	76
1992	Windows 3.x	4/6/1992	12/31/2001	116

*Estimated EOL assuming 122 months support is maintained.

 

[danpass]

For Apple the ecosystem is clearly more important than the hardware.

I don't blame them.

I've knowingly bought in to the ecosystem and it is transparent over my Apple devices.

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