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Thanks for the reassurance and the informative post. I admit I haven't done my homework when it comes to all the different facets of 5G or the hardware that supports it, so it's good to know that this year's modem is a big advance over last year's. Funny how something so critical to performance doesn't get the attention that the notch does.

5G networks are still very much in their infancy. In the US, unless you’re on T-Mobile in an area they have deployed their midband n41 or you only frequent areas that Verizon has mmWave deployed, you’re not going to get much benefit at this point. People have been annoyed by the notch since it was introduced with the X almost 4 years ago whereas the vast majority of people are seeing no benefit to 5G right now. Many people end up shutting 5G off because LTE performs better thanks to the carrier aggregation situation and AT&T and Verizon misleading the public into thinking that 5G DSS is anything more than a marketing stunt. I mean there are still people who buy phones without 5G because they are convinced they don’t need 5G (these people are wrong if they’re in the US since all three carriers plan the bulk of their network expansions in this year and beyond to be 5G but that’s besides the point) so it shouldn’t be that surprising that there isn’t a lot of conversation about modem advances right now.
 
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Different uses, I only use my phone to text/phonecalls and make day traders using robinhood/td ameritrade. I have about 10gb of music, and OS system. I have like a total of like 20 apps (99% of them being the preloaded ones). wouldn't call myself a power user at all. form factor is most important and be able to use pandora/CarPlay.

that said, it would be nice to have a nicer phone so bluetooth reached further for my powerboats pro at the gym. but I use my watch now most of the time.

I use prepaid plans, so theres no incentives for me to get discounted new phones, I pay 200 a year I think for mint mobile.

Ah yeah I pretty much use my 12 Pro Max as a desktop replacement so I always go for the flagship.

I do the same with prepaid. My Tello plan is $8.44 a month with taxes and I’ve never once run out of minutes or data. Almost always home on WiFi and when I’m out and about most of the time there is an Xfinity hotspot I can connect to like today when I went to see the dry eye specialist.

I do feel funny spending less than $102 a year on wireless service but having a $1099 phone haha.
 
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Ugh I could never make that kind of a downgrade for even a week lol.
I dreaded going to the iPhone 7 after my XS Max died, but when I used that “small and outdated” phone then I kinda loved it. Surprisingly, the drop in size wasn’t a big deal because in the end then the tasks performed were identical. I was actually going to just stick with the 7 until the next phone but then I made the mistake of upgrading the OS and that slowed it to a crawl.
 
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Nah, I reckon they’ll be dropped from support after a couple of years actually /s
 
Ah yeah I pretty much use my 12 Pro Max as a desktop replacement so I always go for the flagship.

I do the same with prepaid. My Tello plan is $8.44 a month with taxes and I’ve never once run out of minutes or data. Almost always home on WiFi and when I’m out and about most of the time there is an Xfinity hotspot I can connect to like today when I went to see the dry eye specialist.

I do feel funny spending less than $102 a year on wireless service but having a $1099 phone haha.
I actually was going to buy the 13 mini 100% til 3 days ago. I found out 2021 iMac's was finally in refurb store, picked up silver m1 16gb ram 2tb ssd for 1900. I figure that will be better for stock trading and finally have a desktop. I figure 40 bucks for batter is better than 700 for new phone, tossing the $ saved at iMac.

my friend needs larger phone, he does everything on it. I have gotten away with using MacBook Air. but I really want a desktop. Never had one, excited. gets here tomorrow. I was paying 180 a month on promos from mint, but now its like 200 a year. never heard of Tello myself

I just renewed for a new year or I would consider switching
 
I actually was going to buy the 13 mini 100% til 3 days ago. I found out 2021 iMac's was finally in refurb store, picked up silver m1 16gb ram 2tb ssd for 1900. I figure that will be better for stock trading and finally have a desktop. I figure 40 bucks for batter is better than 700 for new phone, tossing the $ saved at iMac.

my friend needs larger phone, he does everything on it. I have gotten away with using MacBook Air. but I really want a desktop. Never had one, excited. gets here tomorrow. I was paying 180 a month on promos from mint, but now its like 200 a year. never heard of Tello myself

I just renewed for a new year or I would consider switching

Funny thing is I built a desktop earlier this year. Only need to secure a video card which I’ve been trying to do since February (I refuse to pay scalpers) but I sunk about $1500 in parts into the desktop already. It will be a sweet machine when I can replace the 780 Ti with a 3060 Ti/3070/3080.

I still like the convenience of sitting in my armchair tapping on the screen though rather than having to get up and sit in front of the computer so I’ll still use my phone for everything. PC is for gaming haha.

Tello is on T-Mobile like Mint. Better customer service, data rolls over if you manually renew your plan at least a day early, price goes as low as $5 a month so more flexibility than multi-month plans with Mint. I switched in October and other than a rough transition from Sprint to T-Mobile earlier this year I don’t have any complaints. I really appreciate that they don’t throttle hotspot or video and the 100 minutes, unlimited text, and 1GB of LTE data with unlimited 2G speeds for $7 is more than enough for me. I’ve rolled over 6 months worth of minutes and 3 1/2 months worth of data and racked up enough referral credit to pay for almost 2 years of service to boot.
 
Hi everyone, I’m still using my SE 2016 haha but I’m waiting with you for the 13 pro youhou !

i got the 4, 6 but didn’t like the 6. It swiped from my hand too easily, so 9 month later I purchased the SE after my wife got it.
I really like the little size and the lightness, I reach each parts of the screen with my thumbs.
I would like buy the 12 mini before my wife, but it feel too heaving comparing the SE. also the battery not live very well, the statut shows 88% for 10 month, really !!
So I take time to change my mind, appreciate a bigger phone, screen and mass.

today my SE is a veteran lol, battery live 1 hour if y play,
I’m a geek, have several apps but my useful is safari to follow forums.

my 13 would be perfect for filming holidays, playing xCloud or PS5 remote play with backbone pad, safari and YouTube.

cheers guys
 
Ok, I want to hear more about this.

How do you use it to replace your desktop?

Anything I would do on my desktop I do on my phone. It’s pretty self-explanatory. Notes, calendar, emails, browsing, calculator, budgeting… There are very few things I need my desktop for, mainly websites like the county Medicaid office that won’t work properly on mobile iOS. If I want a new credit card, I apply for it on my phone. If I want to check my bank accounts, I have apps on my phone. Every time I buy something, I update the budget on my phone…

Things I use the PC for - video games (it’s connected to my TV with HDMI), sideloading apps on my phone, re-signing those apps when the 7 day certificate expires, and backing up/restoring my phone.
 
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The alternative to a notch with current tech would be:

  • Thicker bezel
  • Punch-hole
  • Under-screen
Am I missing anything? Personally, I don't mind having a notch. I treat it as a top bezel that is carved out to have more screen space to display extra information.
 
I mean there are still people who buy phones without 5G because they are convinced they don’t need 5G (these people are wrong if they’re in the US since all three carriers plan the bulk of their network expansions in this year and beyond to be 5G but that’s besides the point) so it shouldn’t be that surprising that there isn’t a lot of conversation about modem advances right now.

There's a huge chasm between the major telecom companies' marketing (all about 5G) and the conversations about the hardware connecting to their networks. I deliberately avoided the iPhone 12 because I knew Apple would be working out the kinks between their hardware and the networks, which is one reason why I haven't been paying much attention to the modem specs. It would be good to have a modem with updatable firmware, but I have other hardware needs that will require me to upgrade this cycle. Seeing as I'm an AT&T customer in an urban area who already has a 5G unlimited plan (it was cheaper than my previous plan), I'm not expecting the speeds to be earth-shatteringly different, considering my 4G LTE cellular data upload/download speeds often eclipse those of my Spectrum WiFi.
 
I popped my SIM into my old 8 Plus last week and used it for a few days. Still a great phone!
I went from an iPhone 12 to a "new" iPhone 8 Plus and will probably hold on to it until the wheel fall off. I realized the shape of the 12 was the only thing that really drew me to the phone but I still preferred the older aspect ratio (and I gave my wife my Xs Max)
 

« iPhone 13 Pro models will be excellent phones to hold on to for a long time »​


that’s my purpose, keeping it for 5 years, the price is my best motivational. 1000+€ is to expensive for me to change each before 3-4 years.
 
I will upgrade every year to the latest pro max. I have the money to do it, and I like using the latest phone at all times. The debate on is it worth it to upgrade is different for every single person.
This. I'm not going to stop this year. Esp. since the battery is ***** in my 12 Pro. Down to 87% capacity.
 
TBH, and I know everyone is different, I have not once ever noticed a discernible difference between my iPhone at 60Hz, and my wife’s iPad Pro at 120Hz.
 
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EF6EC90A-BD80-4087-A726-8DB80CAE548F.jpeg
 
Okay disregard this thread it looks like the iPhone 14 models are going to be able to communicate with satellite internet providers such as GlobalStar and that’s too useful of a feature to pass up because it could essentially save you from getting lost in an area with no service.

I’m never going to be able to pass up an upgrade smh 🤦‍♂️
 
My launch iPhone 7 JB 128GB is still going strong. It’s almost 5 years old. Hmm. It’s been an excellent phone to hold on to. I don’t get why everyone is so wasteful upgrading every year or two. I’m making sure I get my $749 out of this thing and I think I have!!! I do admit I REALLY want 120hz but if it’s only on the bigger phones I might have to wait. A mini with 120hz is what I’m waiting for. Might be awhile or never!!
I used to upgrade every other year, maybe even a bit more often than that. Switched brands a couple of times But then I really thought about who I am and exactly what I use my smartphone for, and then I realised that I end up using it for the same few things and none of them need the latest and fastest modems or CPU.

However, I must admit that a big battery upgrade and high power efficiency with the various modems would probably make me upgrade.
 
Okay disregard this thread it looks like the iPhone 14 models are going to be able to communicate with satellite internet providers such as GlobalStar and that’s too useful of a feature to pass up because it could essentially save you from getting lost in an area with no service.

I’m never going to be able to pass up an upgrade smh 🤦‍♂️
Yeah, they really know how to always add something that just makes you go "wow".

But really. Anything that can extend the core functionality of messaging and calls, like a bigger battery and messages via satellite would be pretty solid reasons to upgrade.
 
Couldn't care less about 120 hz in a small screen. If you use them next to each other, sure you'll notice a difference but then you'll get used to it fairly quick and forget about it one way or the other - I'll rather take the savings in Battery Life if I can turn it off.

60hz is entirely fine by me. I do think I'll end up getting the iPhone 13 Pro Max after missing the 12 Pro Max, but realistically any recent phone can hold up for a few years....

BTW OP, glad you're able to maintain the Battery Health at 100%, but setting an alarm to take care of your phone isn't a bit too much? I like to just plug in the phone at night to charge, take it off in the morning, and rinse and repeat - waking up in the middle of the night because the phone has reached the optimal charge % seems overkill for me. My tools need to work for me, I don't work for my tools.

Yeah, honestly that’s not necessary.
The phones are designed to mitigate any issues themselves- once the charge gets to 80%, it slows the current to a trickle. And once it gets to 100%, it stops pulling current all together.
That’s why the charging brick feels hot while charging, but once completed, it’s not warm anymore as no more electricity is going through it.

They are designed to be safe for overnight charging… it’s what I’ve always done- my previous phone 11- after a full year of doing this was still at 100%. My wife’s XS Max is still at 97% (she’s a light user, but when needed- always an overnight charge).
 
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Saying that this will be the iPhone to hold on to for years doesn’t make sense. First you’re not sure of next years features in the iPhone 14. It’s way to early to make a statement like that. What you’re saying is purely speculation
 
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Saying that this will be the iPhone to hold on to for years doesn’t make sense. First you’re not sure of next years features in the iPhone 14. It’s way to early to make a statement like that. What you’re saying is purely speculation
There’s always something better around the corner that’s for sure. Next year who knows could be 48mp iphone/8K and Touch ID And suddenly it will make people upgrade it again.
 
I say the same thing every year “I will keep my new iPhone for 3 years, why do I keep upgrading”. Launch day arrives and I find myself sitting on my MacBook Pro ordering 🙈, I am very happy with my iPhone 12 Pro Max but at this point and after 14 years of owning an iPhone why should I fight the urge 🤣
Haha I say that to myself every year too. I want to use it for a few years like most people do but the resell value is too good to be true.

I am passionate about photography and the iPhone is my main and only camera. It is hard not to get the latest camera tech and Apple knows this is the case for most people...
 
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