Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Hieveryone

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 11, 2014
5,632
2,347
USA
I got a red iPhone recently but I still love my space grey. It just always works and has been through a lot with me. All my experiences good and bad.

It's hard to explain. But does anyone understand what I mean?
 
  • Like
Reactions: N69AP
I got a red iPhone recently but I still love my space grey. It just always works and has been through a lot with me. All my experiences good and bad.

It's hard to explain. But does anyone understand what I mean?

I have zero sentimental value for my iPhone. It's a commodity and a piece of technology. It's a tool, not something that I share a bond with.
 
Sentimental value for a phone? No,I don't have them that long. To be sentimental about property f any kind,it has to be really special to me,like my first hockey stick,or the old shotgun I inherited from grandpa.
 
I had iPods (Before they became called classics) 1st gen, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, iPod U2 versions, iPod mini with the anodised shell, Hi-fi, iMac G4 'lampshade'. iPad 1st gen onwards to the new Pro's. iPhone 1st gen up to the 6 I have now.

All were sold when the time was right to move to the latest device or a device more suited to my needs at that time. Looking back I could have kept them and had a really great collection of contemporary Apple history but they have been tools, used for my need and then I have moved on. Technology never ages well, the concept and the look is there but in all honesty what purpose does an iPhone 4 have today?!

The only 'retro' machines I have is an iBook G4 in white, couldn't ever sell that as it was a gift for an 18th birthday and my parents would kill me if it was trashed or sold for minimal money, in my parents eyes that machine is still worth full retail price. Same with the G3 iMac, they won't throw it out but it has no real purpose in today's world.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sunny1990
There's something special with my iPhone 4, it fits so perfect and even though I like my modern iPhone SE and 6S+, it's not the same feel.

Then again there is something special about all my iPhones, it's just my first one - iPhone 3G - that I have more or less forgotten about. The ergonomics is nice, but the lo-res screen and the plastic back cover that has a little crack in it makes it less "special". It's not like "a work of art" as the others are.
 
  • Like
Reactions: subjonas
Not really. I've had my current phone for almost 3 years. It's been with me during some significant events in my life, and in some memorable places, but I'll likely be tossing it aside for something better next month.

I understand having emotional attachments to certain objects like a special piece of jewelry or an heirloom, but technology (including cars, because some people get very attached to those) are things that I'll replace in a heartbeat when it no longer suits my needs or I feel that a worthwhile upgrade has come along.
 
My 5c was my first iPhone. It's still the best in hand feel and the most beautiful blue.

It doesn't compare in performance to my more recent devices but it beats my first Android which was the Huawei Ascend. Which I still have and it still works, somehow.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KONVICTED
I don't. Every version I have purchased has been better than the last: From an iPhone 3G to a 4, then a 5, and now a 6. I think the only gadgets I get attached to in any sentimental sort of way are cameras and lenses. When the ergonomics and controls on a camera just seem right for me, I have a hard time upgrading... unless it's to the newer version of the same model.

Back to the iPhone: Consider that the "soul" of your iPhone gets backed up to iCloud regularly, and the physical smartphone is nothing more than an empty shell. When you leave behind one empty shell, and upgrade to a newer model, that new empty shell becomes your iPhone once you restore its soul from iCloud! :)

Sean
 
Back to the iPhone: Consider that the "soul" of your iPhone gets backed up to iCloud regularly, and the physical smartphone is nothing more than an empty shell. When you leave behind one empty shell, and upgrade to a newer model, that new empty shell becomes your iPhone once you restore its soul from iCloud! :)

Sean

This. Maybe I'd get sentimental if I didn't have all the actual "memories" and sentimental contents of the phone readily available and saved, but since I do, all the actual hardware to me is a case. The case happens to get better with each upgrade, so there's nothing about it that I really miss. Like I said previously, all the stuff I'd miss is backed up and ready to be viewed on the new upgraded case.
 
A little bit but not like "oh I pine for you" kinda way. More like "I really miss the body style/ratio" of the iPhone 4. Love my current line up device but I think my favorite "old" iPhone was the 4.
 
  • Like
Reactions: subjonas
I've had quite a few iPhones over the last 10 years. Do they hold sentimental value for me? Not really. Mostly, they're just phones.

Only one of them has any sort of sentimental value for me - the 3GS I bought the day I moved out of my parents house when I was 19 that is still sitting, in-box, in a drawer in my office to this day after I used it for several years. It was there at the beginning of a new chapter for me...filled with meeting new people, new experiences, new living arrangement, college, parties, etc. It's just a phone, but it was with me throughout that new chapter. That's why it holds sentimental value.

All the others? Just phones.
 
I have as much sentimentality for a gadget before I sell them all off.

I might keep a couple of them since they offer me removable battery. But the others with sealed batteries, I sell them all off for $50-$200 depending how long I had them.

I love tech but I don't hold any sentimental value for 98% of them. I use it, abuse it, and then sell it off like a pimp. A gadget won't love you back but your pets could. You might as well fall in love with a robot. An android.
 
I take care of whatever I purchase and own regardless, but I only attach sentimental value to an object when I’ve made it a goal or reward for something I’ve accomplished. It’s an ongoing reminder of what I achieved.

For example, relative to phones, I bought a Motorola Razr World phone full price that wasn’t even available here in the States at the time (it was the all black version that came a year or so later). It was the first phone I bought myself as all my other phones had been provided by work. I thought it was a big deal at the time and it did hold sentimental value enough that I kept the phone for a long time even after I no longer used it. I still rank it as one of my top favorite phones I’ve ever owned.

So while I don’t hold any objects in a personal regard on their own, I can understand something holding a sentimental value for a reason.
 
Last edited:
Had sentimental value for the iPhone 5 I had. It was a Verizon Phone I was using on att, so it would never get LTE (4g was good enough for me). It had voicemail from my dad before he passed away.

Ended up trading it in at the Apple store due to expanding battery, after owning it for over 3yrs - it was otherwise in pristine condition. Never felt any sentimentality for any other iPhone since.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.