Is the 6s still a decent upgrade for MIL coming from a 5s?

[dmk1974]

I know that only really my Mother In Law can answer that, but she is still using a 5s and indicated to my wife that she wants a larger phone. I know there is no way she would shell out the cash for a new iPhone 7, but if I got her (or passed to her) a 6s, do you think that should still be a viable phone for a couple years? They can be had for a reasonable price. Thanks!

 

[keysofanxiety]

Oh yeah, the 6S is still a ludicrously capable phone and incredibly powerful. It easily has a good 5 years of iOS updates.

 

[boast]

I hope so! I bought my mom a refurb 6S+ from GameStop for mother's day.

 

[44267547]

I know that only really my Mother In Law can answer that, but she is still using a 5s and indicated to my wife that she wants a larger phone. I know there is no way she would shell out the cash for a new iPhone 7, but if I got her (or passed to her) a 6s, do you think that should still be a viable phone for a couple years? They can be had for a reasonable price. Thanks!

The 6s is still fairly new and will easily be supported for quite some time. And you can find reasonable sale prices with the iPhone 7 being available.

 

[Zaft]

I know that only really my Mother In Law can answer that, but she is still using a 5s and indicated to my wife that she wants a larger phone. I know there is no way she would shell out the cash for a new iPhone 7, but if I got her (or passed to her) a 6s, do you think that should still be a viable phone for a couple years? They can be had for a reasonable price. Thanks!

Its still good but beware that the battery life is not very good. Probably the worst battery i have had on an iPhone since the 4S.

 

[dmk1974]

Thanks for all of your feedback! I may get her one or pass my wife's to her and upgrade hers.

 

[skinsone]

I know that only really my Mother In Law can answer that, but she is still using a 5s and indicated to my wife that she wants a larger phone. I know there is no way she would shell out the cash for a new iPhone 7, but if I got her (or passed to her) a 6s, do you think that should still be a viable phone for a couple years? They can be had for a reasonable price. Thanks!

I went from a 3 year old 5s to a 6s last fall and have no regrets. Since the 3g I always upgraded every 2 years. When the 6s came out, I thought it was too big and loved the 5s size. Now with the costs of the next iPhone higher than 1k, I will keep my 6s as long as possible.

 

[ovo6]

Get the 7 home button, haptic feedback and the new ship makes the phone 3 times better

 

[myrtlebee]

Oh yeah, the 6S is still a ludicrously capable phone and incredibly powerful. It easily has a good 5 years of iOS updates.

5 years? More like 3 most likely.

 

[Arcontia]

Its still good but beware that the battery life is not very good. Probably the worst battery i have had on an iPhone since the 4S.

Can confirm. Don't buy if bad battery will be an issue for you, was enough for me to upgrade to a 7 Plus when I just got so fed up with it. You have to remember the 6s carries a smaller battery than the 6 yet at the same time it has a more powerful processor, Apple can BS all they want but ofc it'll mean worse battery life. I thought the 5s had bad battery life but in reality the 6s was hardly any better if it all. Look at the 6s Plus / 7 Plus otherwise ^^

 

[Reno Raines]

6s is a great phone so I would say yes it would be a great upgrade.

 

[nordique]

OP, it will be a fantastic upgrade for her.

5 years? More like 3 most likely.

How so? How is that more likely? The 4S got 4 extra years of support, as has the iPhone 5 thus far.

You really think a phone as capable as the 6s will stop receiving updates in 3 years? Never mind that it is still more powerful than most phones releasing in 2016 & 2017, never mind it having 2GB of speedy mobile ram, never mind it having 3D Touch and a super fast second gen Touch ID or supporting cell phone radios that still aren't being utilized to their maximum capacity since few places support such speeds...if anything, it will end up being one of the longest supported iPhones.

Sure battery isn't it's strong point but battery life has never been super good for iPhones (other than the plus models) and still the 6s still gets all day battery life on it with normal use, which is likely how OP's MIL will be using it

There's a lot of factors that go into battery life too...I get almost identical use from my 6s and my 7 battery life wise yet the 7 has a larger capacity battery. People with Samsung chips get worse battery life than TSCM chips. Battery life stress tests will show that the 6s lasts longer and is more efficient (thanks to A9/M9 and chip node) than any previous iPhone before it (except 6+). There are very real software bugs that can influence battery life too. And so on....theres a laundry list of possibilities or combinations that people glaze over.

 

[myrtlebee]

OP, it will be a fantastic upgrade for her.



How so? How is that more likely? The 4S got 4 extra years of support, as has the iPhone 5 thus far.

You really think a phone as capable as the 6s will stop receiving updates in 3 years? Never mind that it is still more powerful than most phones releasing in 2016 & 2017, never mind it having 2GB of speedy mobile ram, never mind it having 3D Touch and a super fast second gen Touch ID or supporting cell phone radios that still aren't being utilized to their maximum capacity since few places support such speeds...if anything, it will end up being one of the longest supported iPhones.

Sure battery isn't it's strong point but battery life has never been super good for iPhones (other than the plus models) and still the 6s still gets all day battery life on it with normal use, which is likely how OP's MIL will be using it

There's a lot of factors that go into battery life too...I get almost identical use from my 6s and my 7 battery life wise yet the 7 has a larger capacity battery. People with Samsung chips get worse battery life than TSCM chips. Battery life stress tests will show that the 6s lasts longer and is more efficient (thanks to A9/M9 and chip node) than any previous iPhone before it (except 6+). There are very real software bugs that can influence battery life too. And so on....theres a laundry list of possibilities or combinations that people glaze over.

I'm just going by Apple's history of iOS updates. It's already been around for nearly 2 years. It was released with iOS 9 in 2015, so to me iOS 13 in 2019 with support until 2020's release of iOS 14 seems most likely.

 

[nordique]

I'm just going by Apple's history of iOS updates. It's already been around for nearly 2 years. It was released with iOS 9 in 2015, so to me iOS 13 in 2019 with support until 2020's release of iOS 14 seems most likely.

But thats not going by Apples history, that's going by your own postulations

The last iPhone apple supported for 3 additional updates was the iPhone 4 (iOS 5-7)

Further, current in market iPhones (which includes the 6s) are pretty powerful. They can outperform Many laptops which support Windows 10 or macOS Sierra. I don't see why the 6s won't be supported longer unless there are some major overhauls which demand more ram or significantly more processing power than the phones currently have. Nothing on iOS today except a handful of games (which run perfectly well) pushes the 6s to any limits where a higher specced chip is warranted.

Further, "iOS 13" is more than 3 updates from iOS 9...

 

[myrtlebee]

But thats not going by Apples history, that's going by your own postulations

The last iPhone apple supported for 3 additional updates was the iPhone 4 (iOS 5-7)

Further, current in market iPhones (which includes the 6s) are pretty powerful. They can outperform Many laptops which support Windows 10 or macOS Sierra. I don't see why the 6s won't be supported longer unless there are some major overhauls which demand more ram or significantly more processing power than the phones currently have. Nothing on iOS today except a handful of games (which run perfectly well) pushes the 6s to any limits where a higher specced chip is warranted.

Further, "iOS 13" is more than 3 updates from iOS 9...

If you would actually read, I was talking about three years (3 iOS updates) from now, plus the two it's already been supported, which is five years and 5 iOS updates in total. And no, I am going by Apple's history, no my own assumptions.

 

[nordique]

If you would actually read, I was talking about three years from now, plus the two it's already been supported, which is five. And no, I am going by Apple's history, no my own assumptions.

You didn't explicitly state 3 years from now. You implied it, and I misinterpreted that - that's my bad, apologies there. Still, it doesn't change that Apple could support the 6s for longer than what you consider historical....

The point I was getting at with regards to the 4S and 5 is that both of those devices had been supported for an extra cycle than prior devices. Why? Well I'm sure it was a lot of factors, from how long those devices were in the market for, but processing power plays a role and probably the biggest role.

The poster you responded to identified the 6s as having enough power, which is a key point to make about the device... it is significantly more powerful than the 4S which has to date received the most iOS upgrades yet before officially being unsupported. We may see the 5 tie it come WWDC but that could be more due to the 64 bit app focus Apple has, as the 5/5c runs iOS 10 much better than the 4S runs iOS 9. But this can also be attributed to processing power.

That is why I also mentioned the Macs. Those old macs/macbooks that are getting Sierra are much more powerful than the 4S....but not so compared to the 6s. What changed? Did Apple stop supporting them based on apparent history? No, they support them as long as they felt those computers were capable of running the latest operating system. Apple has a history of doing this as well.

If one wants to use history as the main point for how many updates the 6s might get, we should also look to Apple continuing legacy support the more powerful the device gets, not limiting it...both for phones/ipads and for their computers. Consider the extent mobile chips have come these last several years.

Neither one of us can peer into the future so we can't say for sure. For all we know, you could be right on the money. iOS 13 could be so taxing on the current devices that it will demand 6GB of ram or something. But at the same time, to imply only 3 more years is most likely, is to ignore how the 6s is different from previous iPhone generations

 

[Math889]

You didn't explicitly state 3 years from now. You implied it, and I misinterpreted that - that's my bad, apologies there. Still, it doesn't change that Apple could support the 6s for longer than what you consider historical....

The point I was getting at with regards to the 4S and 5 is that both of those devices had been supported for an extra cycle than prior devices. Why? Well I'm sure it was a lot of factors, from how long those devices were in the market for, but processing power plays a role and probably the biggest role.

The poster you responded to identified the 6s as having enough power, which is a key point to make about the device... it is significantly more powerful than the 4S which has to date received the most iOS upgrades yet before officially being unsupported. We may see the 5 tie it come WWDC but that could be more due to the 64 bit app focus Apple has, as the 5/5c runs iOS 10 much better than the 4S runs iOS 9. But this can also be attributed to processing power.

That is why I also mentioned the Macs. Those old macs/macbooks that are getting Sierra are much more powerful than the 4S....but not so compared to the 6s. What changed? Did Apple stop supporting them based on apparent history? No, they support them as long as they felt those computers were capable of running the latest operating system. Apple has a history of doing this as well.

If one wants to use history as the main point for how many updates the 6s might get, we should also look to Apple continuing legacy support the more powerful the device gets, not limiting it...both for phones/ipads and for their computers. Consider the extent mobile chips have come these last several years.

Neither one of us can peer into the future so we can't say for sure. For all we know, you could be right on the money. iOS 13 could be so taxing on the current devices that it will demand 6GB of ram or something. But at the same time, to imply only 3 more years is most likely, is to ignore how the 6s is different from previous iPhone generations

Iphone 4S was supported for 5 years. It got 5,6,7,8,9. I think Apple will continue that pattern by giving an extra year of iOS updates for A7 devices. Iphone 5S is pretty powerful.

Apple may support IPhone 5S for 6 years. iOS 12 will problably be the last iOS version for iPhone 5S.

Well, I think the 6s will be able to run iOS 15 if Apple supports iPhone 5S next year.

Apple doesn't have a good history of supporting older devices . Ipad 2 and iPhone 4s IMO aren't capable of running iOS 9 good . Terrible experience

 

[nelsonammo]

Do you want to keep the 5s size? Then upgrade to SE. If you want the bigger phone, 6s or 6s plus.

 

[dmk1974]

She wants a phone larger than her current 5s so the SE would be out.

I saw that GameStop has their refurbished 32gb iPhone 7 Verizon model for $449.99. Assuming it truly is clean with no issues, is that a good price? 32gb would be way more than plenty for her use.

 

[cynics]

She wants a phone larger than her current 5s so the SE would be out.

I saw that GameStop has their refurbished 32gb iPhone 7 Verizon model for $449.99. Assuming it truly is clean with no issues, is that a good price? 32gb would be way more than plenty for her use.

That is a fair price assuming its a good shape. That is around the average on swappa.com.