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iPhone 7/Plus Oldest iPhone I could get away with for kids

1BadManVan

1BadManVan

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Dec 20, 2009
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So my kids have iPads that they love, but once in awhile they wish they could have something a bit more portable. My one daughter has been wanting an iPod touch for quite awhile, but they are so outdated and discounted now, I figure I would just get an older iPhone and she can use it like that. I wouldn't be adding data to them as they are 10 and dont need a full fledge cell phone yet.

Im thinking something like a 6s or 7 should work? It would be mostly for video streaming and taking pictures. They have iPad airs for their games and such.

My one daughter was showing me this mini 2.5" android phone but it looks like a total pos lol
 
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A 6S, SE1 or 7 would perfectly fit the bill. I was using an SE1 as my daily driver this year and it was perfect for media consumption. All streaming apps function perfectly on those phones, you won’t find any problems with Netflix, Disney+, Prime or YouTube, etc… and they are still quite snappy when on the most up-to-date supported firmware update which is iOS 15.7.1.
 
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1rottenapple said:
Well I agree then 6s or 7 would be fine.
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yea, another one is the iPhone 8, seems to be quite a few used ones for around $150 or so. The A11 is still a decent chip as well.

Just want to make sure these are still usable before im dropping a few hundred on 2 of them for my girls lol.
 
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I wish they were a couple years older lol. I have pretty nice plans through my work. Iphone 12 for $5 a month or a 13 for $10 a month but have to commit to a plan and im not ready to give 10 year olds cellphone plans lol
 
My kids are using an old 6 Plus. I’d say that is below what you’d want. Apps crash often or are not available and lack of the newest iOS is less than ideal.
 
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Brandon42 said:
My kids are using an old 6 Plus. I’d say that is below what you’d want. Apps crash often or are not available and lack of the newest iOS is less than ideal.
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yea I wouldn't go that old. I have an old 6s plus at home but the battery is toast and it's pretty laggy as well. Thats why im leaning towards atleast an 8 or se at this point. Like to keep it under $200, not sure how much they will want to use these compared to their iPads once the excitement wears off lol
 
1BadManVan said:
yea I wouldn't go that old. I have an old 6s plus at home but the battery is toast and it's pretty laggy as well. Thats why im leaning towards atleast an 8 or se at this point. Like to keep it under $200, not sure how much they will want to use these compared to their iPads once the excitement wears off lol
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If you are handy, finding a broken screen model of any older iPhone is a great deal. Replace the screen with a cheap non-OEM and replace the battery while you are inside. You could have a decent kid phone for well under $100
 
I would suggest a refurbished or second hand iPhone X or iPhone XR, those are the cheapest with the "all screen" design, are not as old, and can be found for around 200 dls.
 
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apparatchik said:
I would suggest a refurbished or second hand iPhone X or iPhone XR, those are the cheapest with the "all screen" design, are not as old, and can be found for around 200 dls.
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Where I live, the cheapest ones I can find that aren't broken are $250-$300 for the x and about the same for the Xr. I got lots of time to keep searching, this would be for Christmas for them

I can find tons of androids for under $200 but I rather keep them under the apple family since I already have all their screen time restrictions set up nicely.
 
1BadManVan said:
So my kids have iPads that they love, but once in awhile they wish they could have something a bit more portable. My one daughter has been anting an iPod touch for quite awhile, but they are so outdated and discounted now, I figure I would just get an older iPhone and she can use it like that. I wouldn't be adding data to them as they are 10 and dont need a full fledge cell phone yet.

Im thinking something like a 6s or 7 should work? It would be mostly for video streaming and taking pictures. They have iPad airs for their games and such.

My one daughter was showing me this mini 2.5" android phone but it looks like a total pos lol
Click to expand...
the problem with some old models is that they are stuck on old iOS so they don't get security updates and they don't get the child protection features either. https://www.apple.com/child-safety/

The good thing is, 6s or newer can take iOS 15 which is when child safety was introduced.
but iOS 16 requires 8 and up. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213411
 
If you don't mind an Android for your kid, this might fit the bill. Costs $150 at many Canadian carriers.
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Otherwise, I would recommend at least a iPhone 8 so she could be up to date and possibly get a cheap Public Mobile line when she's older.
 
I'd say the SE2 or XR, you'll still be able to have update support for many years, assuming you'll get them to keep it for a couple of yrs.
 
Stay away from the 7…great device, but problematic with the cellular “searching no service” and the audio speaker greyed out issues…agree on the 8 as a minimum…
 
If you are looking at devices as old as 6s/SE 1/7, then why not the last gen iPod touch? A10 chip, which is also what the 7 had.

I would hunt for 8, SE 2, or Xr. Yes I’m sure a 7 would be fine for a 10 year old now, but it already can’t run the latest iOS, and I assume you want it to last them a few years. I know it’s easy for me to spend your money, but wouldn’t it be better to spend a bit more now and get a couple extra years of use on the back end?
 
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QCassidy352 said:
If you are looking at devices as old as 6s/SE 1/7, then why not the last gen iPod touch? A10 chip, which is also what the 7 had.

I would hunt for 8, SE 2, or Xr. Yes I’m sure a 7 would be fine for a 10 year old now, but it already can’t run the latest iOS, and I assume you want it to last them a few years. I know it’s easy for me to spend your money, but wouldn’t it be better to spend a bit more now and get a couple extra years of use on the back end?
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For me, if I get a couple years out of them I’ll be happy. Once they are ready to get an actual phone plan and use them as phones, I’ll just get them new phones.

As I said, I got great deals through my work to get phones and plans. iPhone 12 for $5 a month currently or a 13 for $10. I just don’t want to be tired into a plan since they don’t need phones in grade 4 lol.

Something new enough to run atleast iOS 15 for the family safety and a decent camera and they would be pretty happy.

The iPhone 8 is looking better as it’s around the $180-$200

Also amazing renewed is about $230 with 90 day warranty. Maybe they’ll do some Black Friday deals
 
Why not just get the phones through your work plan, but lock down the cellular and keep them off? If you enable parental controls, you can keep the cellular off, and they won’t have access to it. Otherwise, you can just keep the iPads too. We refuse to give our little guys phones because they’re around your kids’ age, and they don’t need them. Our older one has a watch, so far that’s allowed us to stave off the phone thing, even though most of their friends have phones (Which we hear about all the time.)
 
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profcutter said:
Why not just get the phones through your work plan, but lock down the cellular and keep them off? If you enable parental controls, you can keep the cellular off, and they won’t have access to it. Otherwise, you can just keep the iPads too. We refuse to give our little guys phones because they’re around your kids’ age, and they don’t need them. Our older one has a watch, so far that’s allowed us to stave off the phone thing, even though most of their friends have phones (Which we hear about all the time.)
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because in Canada, even the cheapest smartphone plans here are like $60 each. So then im paying $120 a month for two phone plans they aren't using. But yea I hear you, always hear about friends with phones etc. Not giving into that but I dont mind if they want a bit more portable deice that can double as a nice camera too for them. Especially on our summer road trips, they struggle trying to hold the iPads up to the windows lol
 
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1BadManVan said:
For me, if I get a couple years out of them I’ll be happy. Once they are ready to get an actual phone plan and use them as phones, I’ll just get them new phones.

As I said, I got great deals through my work to get phones and plans. iPhone 12 for $5 a month currently or a 13 for $10. I just don’t want to be tired into a plan since they don’t need phones in grade 4 lol.

Something new enough to run atleast iOS 15 for the family safety and a decent camera and they would be pretty happy.

The iPhone 8 is looking better as it’s around the $180-$200

Also amazing renewed is about $230 with 90 day warranty. Maybe they’ll do some Black Friday deals
Click to expand...
I checked Amazon, and they have “excellent” condition renewed Xr for like $225 US. Not sure if there’s a similar deal in Canada, but that’s pretty good and would last em a while. The 8 you found sounds like a good option, too.
 
QCassidy352 said:
I checked Amazon, and they have “excellent” condition renewed Xr for like $225 US. Not sure if there’s a similar deal in Canada, but that’s pretty good and would last em a while. The 8 you found sounds like a good option, too.
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$350 renewed for the XR

My amazon renewed pricing breakdown for Canada:
Iphone 7 $175
iPhone 8 $225
Iphone Se 2020 $250
 
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