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Other People who (generally) keep older iPhones after upgrading, have you ever regretted selling one? If so, why?

FeliApple

FeliApple

macrumors 601
Original poster
So, I like to keep and use my older devices, especially iPhones, as they can be used as music players regardless of how old they are. For some reason (nostalgia maybe? I don’t know), I prefer to use home button iPhones for music.

But here’s the issue. Perhaps the most excited I’ve ever been for a new iOS device was when I bought the iPhone 7 Plus. I bought it in April 2017, after the rather mediocre battery life of previous iPhones. It was a dream. Battery life was amazing, and I loved it… but it came with hardware defects and I couldn’t exchange it. It had a broken camera, took blurry photos, and Portrait Mode glitched entirely and the display turned green. Also, for some reason, the Digital Touch feature of iMessage made it glitch like that as well, with the screen flickering and the display turning green.

That mellowed my enthusiasm, and I ended up trading it in for the Xʀ in 2019. I regretted it ever since. I was using a garbage 8GB 5c for music back then, and even though I’ve since done better (I use an iPhone 8 over the Xʀ for music, because like I said, I prefer home button iPhones for this), I would really love to have the 7+ (which would probably still run iOS 10) for music. I’d have over twice the battery life over the iPhone 8 on iOS 14, and more importantly, it would have four times as much battery life and far better performance than my other music iPhone, an iPhone 6s sadly (and quite horribly) running iOS 13.

It was the only Plus iPhone with a home button I ever had, and I regretted selling it ever since. I’d use it as my music iPhone if I had it, for sure. I’ve never made that mistake again, and I’ve kept all of my own and my family’s iPhones ever since.

How about you? Have you ever sold an iPhone and regretted it? Which iPhone? And why do you regret selling it? If you had it, what would you use it for?
 
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nope. never. loved the 7 plus, got handed down when moved to 10 xs max, the xs max was a beast but it offsets new phone cost and must go.

i also really loved the 7 plus but to stay in the past it's too much effort and from my experience not worth the trouble, would hate to go back to home button, even on ipad, i find it's just smoother to get used to the new way of doing things.
the home button is a thing of the past, let it go 🙂
 
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The only iPhone I regretted getting rid of was my Space Grey 5S. I historically kept all my devices as part of building my private iPhone collection so the other iPhones I have had since I have kept including their original packaging, paperwork and accessory.

I don't typically use devices I have replaced unil I began collecting the 13 mini. I never looked at them until December when I got my first to use. Since then I began using my 13 mini and have grown to really appreciate this iPhone. My Air and 17 Pro takes turns with my other devices, my 15 Pro Max and 15 Pro, regarding which device I will use for the week. This week I'm completely on my green 256GB 13 mini as my primary phone device for full time use. So far no issue going back to the 13 series iPhones to use in today's world. :apple:
 
Three phones I regret, one of which was not an iPhone, but all three over the years have since been recovered.

HTC Touch Pro was sent to a Sprint user sometime in 2016 I think so that they could upgrade and keep their SWAC plan (a discounted employee plan). I got that phone back for $20 off eBay and restored my 2012 backup to it. 😀

iPhone 3GS was given to a MacRumors forum member when they moved from Tempe, AZ to Los Angeles, CA. A gift from my sister, 32GB, the member needed a phone and mine was unlocked and usable on T-Mobile at the time. Got it back from eBay for $25 during COVID. It was never a primary phone for me on an active line, but it did get me comfortable with using iOS (and jailbreaking).

iPhone 6+. In late August 2015 I dropped my Sprint iPhone 6+. Apple replaced it. The replacement was in every way better than my original. Two months later we ported from Sprint to T-Mobile and I had to give the phone up as a trade-in. It's the ONE phone I was really unhappy to let go of. I replaced it from eBay in September 2024 for about $70. A new battery from uBreakiFix and it's been great.

In between I also acquired an iPhone 4 and 4s. Total for both was $45 ($20 and $25).

PS. My wife's iPhone 5 and 6s are still hanging around my desk as well.
 
eyoungren said:
Three phones I regret, one of which was not an iPhone, but all three over the years have since been recovered.

HTC Touch Pro was sent to a Sprint user sometime in 2016 I think so that they could upgrade and keep their SWAC plan (a discounted employee plan). I got that phone back for $20 off eBay and restored my 2012 backup to it. 😀

iPhone 3GS was given to a MacRumors forum member when they moved from Tempe, AZ to Los Angeles, CA. A gift from my sister, 32GB, the member needed a phone and mine was unlocked and usable on T-Mobile at the time. Got it back from eBay for $25 during COVID. It was never a primary phone for me on an active line, but it did get me comfortable with using iOS (and jailbreaking).

iPhone 6+. In late August 2015 I dropped my Sprint iPhone 6+. Apple replaced it. The replacement was in every way better than my original. Two months later we ported from Sprint to T-Mobile and I had to give the phone up as a trade-in. It's the ONE phone I was really unhappy to let go of. I replaced it from eBay in September 2024 for about $70. A new battery from uBreakiFix and it's been great.

In between I also acquired an iPhone 4 and 4s. Total for both was $45 ($20 and $25).

PS. My wife's iPhone 5 and 6s are still hanging around my desk as well.
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That is very cool! We might have discussed this at some point, but do you still use them? If I recall correctly, I think you used them, but we spoke about it a while ago. My memory is good but it’s not THAT good!

If you do, what for?

Honestly I wish I had a 6+, I’d use it for music and it would be the perfect iPhone for that!

I’d love to have an iOS 6 iPhone. I’ve never had one. I don’t think I’d use one though, sadly I no longer have a use for one. I don’t think I’d even use an iPhone 5 on iOS 6.
 
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FeliApple said:
That is very cool! We might have discussed this at some point, but do you still use them? If I recall correctly, I think you used them, but we spoke about it a while ago. My memory is good but it’s not THAT good!

If you do, what for?

Honestly I wish I had a 6+, I’d use it for music and it would be the perfect iPhone for that!

I’d love to have an iOS 6 iPhone. I’ve never had one. I don’t think I’d use one though, sadly I no longer have a use for one. I don’t think I’d even use an iPhone 5 on iOS 6.
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My 6+ is used for anything I can think of that it'll do. A few days ago it was streaming music to my headset. For various reasons sometimes, I don't want my headsets connected to my Mac so I'll use my phones.

My original iPhone 5 got updated to iOS 6.0.1 and then jailbroken. The only reason it continued to get updated was because it got replaced three times for battery swelling and once for a bad mic. The current iPhone 5 is the fourth replacement. I'd have replaced it again (battery swelling) but by that point Apple had obsoleted it. So, I left it in the garage for a year and a few months (discharged) on concrete until the swelling of the battery went back down to normal. Now, if I use it, I make sure to let it drain all it's power before charging it up and using it again.
 
honestly not phones. The tech just keep advancing. BUT I did keep my mini because I still feel it was a great phone even though I use it as an extra device for random purposes.

I do regret selling a jeep and a bmw 1 series sedan though. But phones. No.

I regret selling my Dreamcast and Saturn. And ps3.
 
FeliApple said:
That is very cool! We might have discussed this at some point, but do you still use them? If I recall correctly, I think you used them, but we spoke about it a while ago. My memory is good but it’s not THAT good!

If you do, what for?
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Not an iPhone, but here is my Android 12 limited Google Pixel 3a XL with the latest version of YouTube. I tried to get an older version of YT working on my 6+, but the app failed to load anything. So, Pixel to the rescue. Oh! It's streaming the audio to my Shokz Open Run Pro 2 bone conduction headset.

Space ambient music…😉

2026-02-12 18.34.21.jpg
 
I also keep old devices, and try to fill in the gaps in my ‘collection’ if I can pick up older devices fairly cheaply. So I don’t regret giving any away, but in my naive early days of device collecting, I picked up a surprisingly cheap unused and boxed iPhone 6 Plus in mint condition, still running iOS 8.0. Naturally, the first thing I did was update it to the latest version of iOS 12. 🤦‍♂️
 
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No regrets. I just traded in a phone and got $300 for it. I don’t have any use for it to justify giving up $300. OTOH, we’re about to upgrade my spouse’s iPhone 15 Pro and since one of the camera lenses in the back is cracked, it looks like I can only get $138 for it on trade. For that amount, we’ll just keep it and let my 10 year old grandchild play with it. She can surf with it and play games. Were it not for a clear ability to keep using it, I would have traded in at any price. I see no reason to keep old iPhones laying around.
 
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Le Big Mac said:
I used to keep them for whatever reason - I tend to keep too much stuff - but have been trading them in for whatever value I can get now. I haven't regretted that decision, even if it's only $100-200 I get back.
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When I got my 16e last year, I traded in my Iphone 13 with the provided trade in kit. It was super easy to transfer everything over to the 16e.

I have no doubt that sometime this year, my iphone 16e will be traded in for something else.
 
ger19 said:
Fair enough, but in the early days, we kept a few phones and they basically just sat and got older. I used an iPhone 4 for a while on my treadmill but even that got obsolete.
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Yes. at some point they just become impossible to use for anything. I had to shut down my Touch Pro because there are just no apps on it that work (waayyy too old) and the system itself is glitching (Windows Mobile).
 
I generally trade in, but this year I kind of regret trading in my 16 PM. I miss the titanium and don't like the new colors. I got a blue 17PM and it's... fine.
 
I’ve kept all my iPhones such as the 6S, OGSE, 8 and 13, currently on the 17 Pro.

I do have minor regrets giving away my 12 Mini to my mum (to replace her OGSE) as it would’ve made an amazing secondary iPhone for use in bed as I like to watch something before nodding off to sleep. The 8 is presently the iPhone that does the job for now.
 
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I usually keep my last iPhone as a backup in case something happens to the new one, so I can get up and running before I replace or have the broken phone repaired. My last 13 Pro, though, I gave to my sone when he needed something to replace his Xr, so I bought a 16e last year as my backup.

But to me I have no nostalgia at all for old phones. I really like iPhones, but they are just a device, and having something old sitting around doesn't interest me at all. So trading in my old spare phone when I buy a new one is something I've never regretted, and never will.
 
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