iPhone 8/Plus Do I need to upgrade from an iPhone 8?

[davidg4781]

My older aunt has an iPhone 8. She doens't do much more than talk and maybe some text or check the weather app. I usually upgrade her iOS when she comes over for for a holiday and I was planning to do this on Thanksgiving. But, I see iOS 17 isn't supported on her iPhone.

From a security standpoint, do I need to worry about upgrading her phone? I'd prefer not to since her phone seems to run fine and she was apprehensive of getting an iPhone (last phone was a basic flip phone). I read about security issues but never really worried about what that meant.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I wouldn't worry about it. Upgrade her device when she wants a new phone. From what you're describing, she isn't exposed to any real security concerns just doing simple everyday tasks.. If anything, I'd say the 2022 iPhone SE would be the only device I'd recommend replacing her 8 with

 

[rui no onna]

It would still receive security-only updates for a while. My bigger concern would be apps would start requiring newer than iOS 16 maybe 2+ years down the line.

Do you think she'll be comfortable going with FaceID? If not, I suggest getting her the iPhone SE3 while it's still available.

If you're in the US, you can get the Straight Talk iPhone SE (2022) kit from Walmart in-store for like under $100 during the holidays sales. Straight Talk is owned by Verizon now so it automatically unlocks 60 days after service activation.

 

[davidg4781]

It would still receive security-only updates for a while. My bigger concern would be apps would start requiring newer than iOS 16 maybe 2+ years down the line.

Do you think she'll be comfortable going with FaceID? If not, I suggest getting her the iPhone SE3 while it's still available.

If you're in the US, you can get the Straight Talk iPhone SE (2022) kit from Walmart in-store for like under $100 during the holidays sales. Straight Talk is owned by Verizon now so it automatically unlocks 60 days after service activation.

I'm not sure about FaceID. She has trouble with some issues on the phone. She doesn't really use apps, I don't think, aside from Weather and maybe a news app.

I might look into an SE, just to keep it current. She's on my AT&T family plan right now.

 

[jav6454]

My older aunt has an iPhone 8. She doens't do much more than talk and maybe some text or check the weather app. I usually upgrade her iOS when she comes over for for a holiday and I was planning to do this on Thanksgiving. But, I see iOS 17 isn't supported on her iPhone.

From a security standpoint, do I need to worry about upgrading her phone? I'd prefer not to since her phone seems to run fine and she was apprehensive of getting an iPhone (last phone was a basic flip phone). I read about security issues but never really worried about what that meant.

Wait until the new SE is released and get her that.

 

[Reverend Benny]

My older aunt has an iPhone 8. She doens't do much more than talk and maybe some text or check the weather app. I usually upgrade her iOS when she comes over for for a holiday and I was planning to do this on Thanksgiving. But, I see iOS 17 isn't supported on her iPhone.

From a security standpoint, do I need to worry about upgrading her phone? I'd prefer not to since her phone seems to run fine and she was apprehensive of getting an iPhone (last phone was a basic flip phone). I read about security issues but never really worried about what that meant.

Apple seem to support older OS for at least a year patching the most severe security issues found.
Since the iPhone 8 can run iOS 16 I would argue and say its fine for another year untill iOS 18 is being released.

Also batteries age so do have a look at battery capacity, just so make sure that isn't an issue.

So stick iOS 16.7.2 on, check the battery capacity, its its below 80% then it might be a good idea to look for a new phone.

I do find that FaceID actually works better with the older crowd, especially if they are using Apple pay and so on.

 

[canuckRus]

My older aunt has an iPhone 8. She doens't do much more than talk and maybe some text or check the weather app. I usually upgrade her iOS when she comes over for for a holiday and I was planning to do this on Thanksgiving. But, I see iOS 17 isn't supported on her iPhone.

From a security standpoint, do I need to worry about upgrading her phone? I'd prefer not to since her phone seems to run fine and she was apprehensive of getting an iPhone (last phone was a basic flip phone). I read about security issues but never really worried about what that meant.

Have spare vintage 6S still receiving the occasional security updates.

 

[rui no onna]

I do find that FaceID actually works better with the older crowd, especially if they are using Apple pay and so on.

Not necessarily.

My dad likes FaceID and appreciates the 6.1" display. TouchID never worked for him. When his phone died 2 weeks before the iPhone 14 announcement and he had to use my 12 mini temporarily, he complained about how small it was.

My mom prefers her smaller, more pocketable iPhone SE3 with home button (gripe, women's pants often have tiny pockets). She hates using my dad's iPhone. We have a MagSafe charging mount in the car for my dad's iPhone so that's what they usually use for maps. However, if they suddenly need to change routes, instead of using my dad's iPhone for navigation, she'll use her SE3 instead even if it's handheld.

 

[now i see it]

Some people have used TouchID for so long (me) that they’ll hate using FaceID (me). I really despise it.
A Home button can’t be beat.
The iPhone 8 is still great now (I have one) and maybe 3-4 years from now, the 2022 SE (refurbished or used) will make a great replacement.

 

[Kottu]

My wife was using an iPhone 8 and I asked her if she wants to update to 11. She said, she doesn't want Face ID and she is comfortable with the size of her phone and TouchID. So, I bought her a SE. She was glad that there were no changes at all. Later, when she started trying out my 12PM, she started complaining that her phone has smallest display in the family! . So, I bought her iPhone 13. She is happy with it and think that Face ID is better than Touch ID.

 

[Reverend Benny]

Not necessarily.

My dad likes FaceID and appreciates the 6.1" display. TouchID never worked for him. When his phone died 2 weeks before the iPhone 14 announcement and he had to use my 12 mini temporarily, he complained about how small it was.

My mom prefers her smaller, more pocketable iPhone SE3 with home button (gripe, women's pants often have tiny pockets). She hates using my dad's iPhone. We have a MagSafe charging mount in the car for my dad's iPhone so that's what they usually use for maps. However, if they suddenly need to change routes, instead of using my dad's iPhone for navigation, she'll use her SE3 instead even if it's handheld.

I think its more what you are used to or take the time getting used to.
I was skeptical at first myself using faceID but it really is great, but for the older crowd I find two reasons for why FaceID may work better.

1. Dry wrinkly fingers, sounds mean I know but my mums finger just doesn't work with touch ID even if we rescan it and try again. Maybe a jar of Elizabeth Arden would solve it, haven't tried that.;-)
2. Thumb usability, it doesn't come natural to the older crown to use the thumb the way the young crowd to. When it comes to precision it feels like they just struggle laying the finger on the fingerprint scanner and pushing it.
I would almost argue it would have been better having a separate scanning area.

But as you point out, the SE has a better formfactor. My mum thinks all the others are to large.
Might see if I can find a 13 mini, but they do seem to go up in price rather than down.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Some people have used TouchID for so long (me) that they’ll hate using FaceID (me). I really despise it.
A Home button can’t be beat.
The iPhone 8 is still great now (I have one) and maybe 3-4 years from now, the 2022 SE (refurbished or used) will make a great replacement.

Yeah I have a 15 PM and love it. But I would prefer to still have the Home Button even though face i.d. works fine for me.

 

[kltmom]

My MIL has an iPhone 8+ which is still going strong, for her use cases. She's in her mid-70s, and uses it primarily for two things--phone calls and watching YouTube (and to a much lesser extent, for occasional texting). That's it, nothing else. Because she doesn't use it for anything like banking, paying bills, Apple Pay (or any other information-sensitive apps), etc., I'm not too concerned about security. Your older aunt should be perfectly fine with her iPhone 8 as well 🙂 . I would though, as an earlier post stated, check the battery health. I recently checked my MIL's and it is below 80% so I'll be replacing the battery soon.

 

[Piplodocus]

I just went from a 6S to 15 Pro. Although the 6S is stuck on an old version of iOS (15?) it's still getting security updates. So if you don't need new features and it's not too slow the 8 should be fine for a while yet.

 

[zorinlynx]

My bigger concern would be apps would start requiring newer than iOS 16 maybe 2+ years down the line.

Yup, this is what finally forced my mom to upgrade her iPhone 6 years ago. TouchID stopped working to sign into her bank.

You can sometimes keep using an older iOS version for years before stuff starts to break. As long as the phone is receiving security updates, you're good.

 

[xDeadTechx]

My older aunt has an iPhone 8. She doens't do much more than talk and maybe some text or check the weather app. I usually upgrade her iOS when she comes over for for a holiday and I was planning to do this on Thanksgiving. But, I see iOS 17 isn't supported on her iPhone.

From a security standpoint, do I need to worry about upgrading her phone? I'd prefer not to since her phone seems to run fine and she was apprehensive of getting an iPhone (last phone was a basic flip phone). I read about security issues but never really worried about what that meant.

When Apple stops releasing security updates for the 8 then I would consider upgrading her phone. If she uses it as a basic phone and doesn't care for feature updates then you should be good for the time being. Just watch the battery health if it goes down past 80%.

 

[Taldric2022]

This past weekend I upgrade my 83-year-old mother-in-law from a 7+ to a 15+. The old phone's battery depleted really quickly, and she couldn't update to the latest OS so we could all share the AirTags on her and my father-in-law's keys. Also, the new iOS has a new Assistive Access option - it let me setup just a few large buttons for her (call, message, photos) that have new super simple (and LARGE) GUIs. She has been bugging me that her iPhone was too complicated... her dementia made it very difficult (impossible?) to learn how to use the normal apps on the iPhone. We had been working with her for more than a year on just the simplest things.

 

[sw1tcher]

Wait until the new SE is released and get her that.

We don't know when the next SE will be released. Rumors suggest first half of 2025 at the earliest, so that's at least 1.5 years away.

Personally, I'd get the 2022 iPhone SE from Walmart for ~$100 [$49.99 + 1 month service plan (Bronze @ $35/mo or Silver @ $45/mo)] right now. Then trade in the iPhone 8 at Apple Store and get $60 for it. Makes the iPhone SE 2022 ~$40. This ought to last her for the next 3-4 years.

I doubt you'll get the next iPhone SE for under $200 during the 1st year of its release. And by then, the iPhone 8 will be worth even less.

The iPhone 8 is still great now (I have one) and maybe 3-4 years from now, the 2022 SE (refurbished or used) will make a great replacement.

You're not going to get a better deal on a used or refurb 2022 SE than what you can get brand new from Walmart right now.


Just make sure the Walmart store you go to has a WARP (Wireless Activation Retail Platform) system to activate the phone and service as not all Walmart stores have it.

 

[AlastorKatriona]

Some people have used TouchID for so long (me) that they’ll hate using FaceID (me). I really despise it.
A Home button can’t be beat.
The iPhone 8 is still great now (I have one) and maybe 3-4 years from now, the 2022 SE (refurbished or used) will make a great replacement.

Of course it can. A button that takes up space that you have to press vs. nothing at all. Pretty easy to beat it that way.

 

[AlastorKatriona]

I'm not sure about FaceID. She has trouble with some issues on the phone. She doesn't really use apps, I don't think, aside from Weather and maybe a news app.

I might look into an SE, just to keep it current. She's on my AT&T family plan right now.

Is your plan a 5G plan? Because everyone suggesting that you upgrade her to the latest SE is ignoring the fact that she will now need a 5G plan which are more expensive for almost no benefit.

 

[SpotOnT]

I usually don’t start worrying about the security until about a year after the last supported release, which seems to be about when Apple stops issuing security patches. Which is to say, I would think about upgrading an iPhone 8 by September 2024. That is my plan with my iPhone 8 anyway.

 

[SpotOnT]

Is your plan a 5G plan? Because everyone suggesting that you upgrade her to the latest SE is ignoring the fact that she will now need a 5G plan which are more expensive for almost no benefit.

Just because your phone is 5G capable, doesn’t mean you need a 5G plan….

 

[sers]

No. I’m still using a 2016 SE.

 

[sw1tcher]

Is your plan a 5G plan? Because everyone suggesting that you upgrade her to the latest SE is ignoring the fact that she will now need a 5G plan which are more expensive for almost no benefit.

You do NOT need a 5G plan to use the iPhone SE 2022. You can turn off 5G (default is 5G Auto) and just use LTE under Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Voice & Data > LTE

 

[rui no onna]

You do NOT need a 5G plan to use the iPhone SE 2022. You can turn off 5G (default is 5G Auto) and just use LTE under Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Voice & Data > LTE

If the carrier has 5G disabled on your plan, the 5G options may not even show up in cellular settings.

I noticed my cellular settings would change depending on what SIM card is active.