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

Do you upgrade your iPhone:

  • Yearly

  • Every Two years

  • In no particular order...

  • I still have my first iPhone


Results are only viewable after voting.

Apples n' Stone

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 13, 2015
1,422
939
Maidstone, U.K
How often do you upgrade your iPhone? There are many opinions on this and I am curious as to the general trend at this time of year. Based on September expectations etc.
 
Last edited:
I never upgrade unless I'm forced to. Though new Apple products are sensationally tempting it's an awfully expensive habit to get into. I had an iPhone 4 and its performance gradually deteriorated from each OS iteration, until the performance on iOS 7 was so unusable that I bought an iPhone 5S. I'll continue to use this one until it's a laggy brick.

Real shame about that iPhone 4 because it was such a gorgeous phone, and it was like absolute butter on iOS 4.
 
Generally every 2 years but this time, I'm looking to change from the 6+ to the smaller 6 (or 6s when it comes out).
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5105973
I had the first iphone and upgrade every two phones normaly.

2G, 3G, Iphone 4, Iphone 5, Iphone 6 plus... so my next will be iphone 7

I always tend to skip the S versions
 
  • Like
Reactions: Blujelly
I normally upgrade every 2 years when my plan supports a discounted phone. However, my current Iphone is my first true smartphone and my first Iphone, and honestly, I'm not sure I will upgrade at the normal 2 year mark if my Iphone has no issues at that time. It will be interesting to wait and see what I do.
 
Every 2 years but with these phones getting so powerful I may start holding on to them much longer. I'm on a 5s now and plan to upgrade to the 6s+
 
I upgrade phones (not necessarily the iPhone) every 2 to 3.5 years, depending. This year happened to be 2.5 years, upgrading from our iPhone 5's to the 6 and 6+. Before that it was 3.5 years on the HTC Touch Pro before we upgraded to the iPhone 5, although my wife went 4.5 years since she only upgraded a year after I did.

It used to be based on contract length plus the time it took to scrape together the upgrade money. With contracts gone on Sprint it's still going to be around the same time as that's when the lease runs out.

We don't sell our old phones to finance the new ones and tend to use them either until they wear out or someone we know needs a phone.
 
Still using a 4s.

Will see how it fares with iOS9 before deciding if I need a new model. I hated having to always carry my TomTom with me, and the 4s was the first device with voice over driving directions, which I why I picked it up. Nothing that Apple has introduced since then has tempted me to upgrade.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Benjamin Frost
Still using a 4s.

Will see how it fares with iOS9 before deciding if I need a new model. I hated having to always carry my TomTom with me, and the 4s was the first device with voice over driving directions, which I why I picked it up. Nothing that Apple has introduced since then has tempted me to upgrade.

Any phone you can buy from the store now would be a significant upgrade.
 
When I was on Android I would update once a year or more (used phones on craigslist). I never felt satisfied with my phone. There was always something with the newer software, better camera, etc. I've had all the major OEM's except for a Sony Android phone. Had the Google Nexus phones/tablets too. Not trying to diss Android, it's still cool. But the user experience is totally different.

I'm on my 1st iPhone now (iPhone 5s) and it's creeping up to 2 years. I still love my phone, but it will be time to upgrade to the 6s or 6s+ very soon. I made a mistake of getting a 16GB iPhone. Never again! lol. That's my main reason for upgrading, I need more memory. And also for an upgraded camera. I take lots of family pictures and videos so that's necessary for me. Hoping the MP does step up a little on this new iPhone. I sometimes print pictures out to hang up for memories. Everything else like a new CPU/GPU, RAM, etc is a great bonus :) Apple does a good job keeping the software up to date that the phone doesn't really feel outdated to me from a user experience stand point.
 
I used to upgrade every two years as my contract expired -- and I was due to get an iPhone 6. However, I considered the final product to be inadequate and too buggy so I'm waiting on the 6s.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gewawd
Around 3 years or so.

I had my 3G for 2 years and 10 months. Then I kept my 4 for 3 years and 9 months...

My 3G was stolen, so I had to upgrade to iPhone 4. Then in March 2014, my iPhone 4 died. So I upgraded to 5S. Interestingly, my iPhone 4 turned back on after buying the 5S... I would have held onto iPhone 4 for another year if this hadn't happened.

I am planning to keep my 5S as long as possible.
 
I used to upgrade every two years as my contract expired -- and I was due to get an iPhone 6. However, I considered the final product to be inadequate and too buggy so I'm waiting on the 6s.

The bugs are likely due to iOS. I liked iOS 7, when iOS 8 came long my phone had a lot of bugs.
 
I get the new iPhone as opposed to the 'S' version and UK contracts last 2 years generally so I see my contract out. It's a complete waste of money buying the new phone each year for very little in the way of an upgrade. It'll be September 2016 before I upgrade again.
 
I normally upgrade every two years because of the subsidized price through my carrier. I waited two years and eight months this last time because I knew the iPhone 6 Plus was coming out. I'm glad I waited and will continue to do so in the future until the phone I want is available.
 
The iPhone 4 was the love of my cell phone life. I regret upgrading to the 5s when I did, but like fellow forum member Don't Stop, I'm the family videographer and picture-taker. Since the 5s, I've been upgrading to get the latest and greatest camera specs.

But my iPhone 6Plus has not given me good photos, though the OIS has worked as expected. There's been a problem with too many pics suffering from that "Monet effect" and the longer I'm owning it the laggier and buggier the camera is becoming. There may be something wrong with my iPhone 6Plus. But overall it's laggy and uh, weird and too freaking big for me so I'm looking forward to giving it back to AT&T.

So I'm on the annual upgrade cycle. But I'll happily jump off if my next iPhone makes me happy.

My natural inclination is to keep and use things until they can't be kept and used any longer. I dont upgrade my other tech items very often. So far it's just been the iPhone I upgrade to the latest and greatest. I'm not even sure I'll upgrade my Apple Watch. I love it as-is but we will see how I feel when the next one actually comes out.
 
I usually upgrade every year, but this year it depends on what features the 6s has. I may end up just keeping my 6 and wait for the 7 next year.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.