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iPhone Upgrade Cycles Are Getting Shorter Again
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Still on my trusty XS. When I finally do replace it, I will also be looking at the android side of the aisle.
I was using a 13 Pro Max up until November when I noticed the display on that phone would start to dim so that it was unusable while in the car whenever I would switch between 3-4 apps in a few minutes. I upgraded to a 16 Pro Max and I still use the 13 Pro daily as well. If the display didn't start dimming in normal use, I would never have bought the 16.
I travel a lot with work and it may be a minor thing to carry a lightning connector cable to charge, but it's very inconvenient sometimes when everything else is usb c. It's also a real pain when you have a usb c thumb drive you want to plug in!
Not my fault that Apple are not selling me a new phone.
As long as my 13 mini works fine, it goes nowhere. As I have a few wireless charger's for it, I forget that it still has lightning - but it do 😌
Not a problem, I wont upgrade my trackpad & keyboard to my Studio, that also have lightning but touch-id.
So the mini is in a good company and stays, until there's a real good reason for an upgrade. I love its size ♥️
As long as my 13 mini works fine, it goes nowhere. As I have a few wireless charger's for it, I forget that it still has lightning - but it do 😌
Not a problem, I wont upgrade my trackpad & keyboard to my Studio, that also have lightning but touch-id.
So the mini is in a good company and stays, until there's a real good reason for an upgrade. I love its size ♥️
I'm also in the US.
There are basically two kinds of iPhone buyers, 1) those with 5 minute attention spans that need the newest model as soon as it comes out, and 2) those who upgrade when their requirements change or the phone breaks/is broken.
I hold onto my phones for years. Why not? They're paid off. There are people I know who spend money like there's no tomorrow. No wonder the US debt is $37 trillion, and US credit card debt is a record $1.7 trillion. Only 23% of Americans are debt-free.
The discourse in this comment sections seems misguided to me. Read the whole article and you'll see that the last paragraph actually turns the whole conclusion upside down. And I agree with that conclusion too.
The conclusion is not that "newer features drive more sales". The fact is, iPhone sales are going down.
It's just that the dedicated consumer base tapers off their buying habits at a slower pace than the rest of buyers. This means the dedicated consumer base takes up a bigger proportion of the sales.
When dedicated customers take up a larger part of the total buyers, the average iPhone customer is now more dedicated. The average customer buys iPhones more often, that is true. But there are still less customers that buy iPhones.
The conclusion is not that "newer features drive more sales". The fact is, iPhone sales are going down.
It's just that the dedicated consumer base tapers off their buying habits at a slower pace than the rest of buyers. This means the dedicated consumer base takes up a bigger proportion of the sales.
When dedicated customers take up a larger part of the total buyers, the average iPhone customer is now more dedicated. The average customer buys iPhones more often, that is true. But there are still less customers that buy iPhones.
I’m so tempted to get the new SE (when released) and only upgrade when a new SE comes out. I currently upgrade every year through the iPhone upgrade program.
They should! I think this year they are way behind on iOS release, so would be perfect just to kill the bugs and optimize. I don't think people would mind that.
Same here, rocking my old trusty XS. Had 11Pro that got drowned, apparently the IP resistance is BS. Just the other day I was thinking maybe to upgrade to 16, but the price is 1000 EUR for 256gb model! Insane. Also, not sure if it is because I have XS, but I notice a lot of people around are still with Xs or X iphones. Good testament that phone is actually good product to use long term.
ps: I hate the current phone sizes. Xs is the max I could tolerate. All the new ones should be at least half as thick to compensate for the screen.
I feel like a lot of the value that came from an iPhone was the software, but we all know how that's gone...
Coming from an iPhone 6s Plus, USBc is still the best feature of all the new iPhones. Im using an iPad Pro and I really despise still having to charge with different cables. Im doing lightweight travel and the setup is just not streamlined. I was gonna update with the iphone 15 but then wasn’t close to any Apple Store in time. I then waited a bit and then was gonna go with the 16. But then my partner had a bad service experience at an official Apple Store, just before the 16 was released here and it just made me disgruntled. I will now wait till the 17 Pro Max releases. I hope it has 8K 30fps on the main lens. I need it to zoom in footage after the fact. Then i have an exact 10 year upgrade cycle. iPhone 6s Plus that shoots 4k 60fps in 2015 to iphone 17 pro max that hopefully does 8K 30fps in 20205. Wish me luck
the hype cycle for the iPhone peaked some time ago. this image from the internet sums it up.
lack of new killer must have features, length of time iOS is supported on older devices, relatively cheap battery replacement options, and the increasing costs of a new iPhone are all contributing factors.
lack of new killer must have features, length of time iOS is supported on older devices, relatively cheap battery replacement options, and the increasing costs of a new iPhone are all contributing factors.
iPhone prices and costs are not necessarily that bad. For example, you can get a new 128GB iPhone 16 Plus from AT&T right now for $395.64 ($10.99/month for 36 months). Yes, it requires an AT&T plan but that's how things were in the early days of the iPhone. The price of the original 8GB iPhone was $399, after being quickly reduced down from $599, and that's before adjusting for inflation. AT&T plans were also more expensive back then.
Other carriers may have "better" deals. For example, Boost Mobile offers a new 128GB iPhone 16 Pro for $0.00 with an Infinite Access plan which (after adjusting for inflation) is around $27/month cheaper than even the cheapest AT&T iPhone plan available in 2007.
The problem with the carriers deals from what I can see, and the reason my wife and I started to buy our phones outright, is that the plans that they require you to have to get a "free" or discount on a phone are usually a lot more expensive than what we would choose/need. In the end getting a "free" phone on a carrier deal ends up costing more money over three years than if we bought the phone outright and then chose the plan we wanted (or keeping the plan we already have).
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So weird to hear this because I have an iPhone 15 Pro and am a part of the iPhone upgrade program, and don't see myself "upgrading" any time soon. It's just more of the same...
iPhone users are upgrading their devices at a slightly faster rate, reversing a long-term trend of increasingly long upgrade cycles, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) reports.
According to data from the quarter ending in December 2024, more iPhone buyers retired their devices at an earlier point compared to previous years. Specifically, 36% of those who purchased a new iPhone during the period had owned their previous device for two years or less. This marks an increase from the 31% reported in the same quarter a year earlier. Meanwhile, the percentage of users who kept their previous iPhone for three years or more declined slightly, falling to 33%.
This shift represents the first notable deviation in upgrade cycles since CIRP began tracking the data in 2014. While a long-term trend toward extended ownership remains, recent factors appear to be accelerating upgrades among a segment of users. CIRP says that the proportion of users upgrading after two years has returned to levels last seen in 2020.
The firm attributes this change to a variety of factors, including ongoing carrier promotions and incentives that encourage earlier upgrades. A major factor influencing upgrade behavior may also be the introduction of Apple Intelligence, the company's suite of AI-powered features.
The timing of this shift coincides with Apple's recent financial performance, which has indicated some weakness in iPhone sales. CIRP speculates that the composition of Apple's customer base could be influencing the trend.
If iPhone sales are slowing overall, those who are upgrading may be the most engaged segment of Apple's user base—individuals who are more likely to adopt new hardware sooner than more casual users. CIRP suggests that slower upgraders may be delaying their purchases even further, waiting for a more compelling reason to replace their current devices.
Article Link: iPhone Upgrade Cycles Are Getting Shorter Again
True. I wasn't trying to imply that today’s carrier discount/trade-in deals were necessarily the "best" or cheapest option overall, just that there is/can be better pricing today than in past decades.
Ignoring carrier "deals", the starting price of the then current model iPhone back in 2010-11 (iPhone 4) was $649 or around $940 in today's dollars. The starting price of an iPhone 16 today is $829 and iPhone 16 Pro is $999. Not meaningfully different especially considering carrier plan prices are lower to much lower today.
Same here.
Bought iPhone 14 Pro Max (brand new) in early 2023 then traded it for iPhone 13 Pro (pre-owned) in mid-2024 then traded it for iPhone 11 Pro Max (pre-owned) in late 2024.
I’m the same. I preferred the feel of Lightning but iPhone’s usbc feels really clicky and good when plugging in. It is nice to have fewer cable types. Though we still have multiple batteries and such that use micro usb. Not willing to replace them just to get a different connector.