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How many years of realistic operational life?

R

Retired Cat

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 12, 2013
1,210
380
How many years should an iPhone theoretically last? What are major points of failure?

I had a flip phone for about 4 years prior to buying an iPhone 5. The flip phone began to have issues with its charging port, and the external LCD occasionally displayed weird bright lines. Also, the mute switch began to get fairly loose. Oddly, the LiPo battery seemed to hold its capacity well.

I'll be happy if I can get my iPhone to last as long, but reading all the articles here may temp me to upgrade before then!
 
I know that many have been able to keep their iPhone for ~4 years because they took care of it and didn't care about having the latest software or features, but I personally wouldn't want to keep one for any longer than 2 years since there's a new one each year :p

There's no reason you couldn't have it for 4 years if you kept it in a case or were just careful with it.
 
Retired Cat said:
How many years of realistic operational life?
Click to expand...

Over time there are 2 things that will wear out :
1) the battery (completely normal)
2) the buttons (especially the power button on top)

With Apple they offer service on their devices for 5 years, so if anything happens you can pay to have it repaired or a replacement battery.

If someone were so inclined and kept their iPhone on its original firmware instead of upgrading I could see a person able to keep an iPhone 5s for 8 years or more (granted that they paid $80 for a replacement battery around year 4/5 and any button repairs needed).
 
I've never had one beyond the next generation....I get the best resale value that way, but I take good care of them, and I know my 4S is still going strong. I wouldn't want to be an OS out though.....:)
 
Great, thanks everyone!

Power/lock buttons seem to be a problem for smart phones in general. A friend of mine has an LG Android smart phone and it takes 2 or 3 presses to lock. Another person I know who bought an iPhone 5 on launch day told me this morning he has the exact same issue.
 
My iPhone 4 will be 4 years old in May, sometimes I have to push the home button twice, but that might be fixed with a cleaning. Other than that, it's still fine. Just upgraded to a 5s and am going to get the 4 unlocked to give to a friend in Europe. That same friend still has my iPhone 3g that is over 6 years old and uses it with another SIM when she travels to the US.

If you treat it well, it should last until you want to upgrade and get the benefit of a newer model.
 
The average person would get 2 years out of most phones before things start failing i would think.
 
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