Returning to iPhone with concerns

[akell2081]

It's a possibility that I'm gonna purchase an iPhone before the end of August. I haven't used an iPhone since the XS MAX so I'm way behind. I'm wondering about a few things and I hope you guys can answer these questions for me.

1. I want to get a used iPhone. What is the oldest usable iPhone that I can activate and use the app store/get updates? I was looking on Swappa at used iPhone 11's & 13's. Are those too old?

2. Unfortunately I'm currently stuck in Texas and I'm worried about the stupid SB2420 rule. I would have to make a new iCloud account as I believe my old one was closed. I'm not submitting my ID to download apps. Is there a way to bypass this? Can you sideload apps?

3. I remember having hell getting my music onto my old iPhone. I have close to 10K songs that I want to put on my phone. I currently use a windows 10 laptop so I need to know if there is a way to get all my music on the phone without using iTunes or apple music?

 

[ElPaso]

It's a possibility that I'm gonna purchase an iPhone before the end of August. I haven't used an iPhone since the XS MAX so I'm way behind. I'm wondering about a few things and I hope you guys can answer these questions for me.

1. I want to get a used iPhone. What is the oldest usable iPhone that I can activate and use the app store/get updates? I was looking on Swappa at used iPhone 11's & 13's. Are those too old?

2. Unfortunately I'm currently stuck in Texas and I'm worried about the stupid SB2420 rule. I would have to make a new iCloud account as I believe my old one was closed. I'm not submitting my ID to download apps. Is there a way to bypass this? Can you sideload apps?

3. I remember having hell getting my music onto my old iPhone. I have close to 10K songs that I want to put on my phone. I currently use a windows 10 laptop so I need to know if there is a way to get all my music on the phone without using iTunes or apple music?

1. Right now, iPhone 11 and newer are receiving updates. I would suggest a 13 because I owned one of those bad boys and they are awesome. However, you may consider going modern - 17e new is only $599 repeat $599 (did I mention $599?) and the ui is not that much different than your old XS.
2. I live in Texas (lol guess which city?) and no ID was necessary to open a new iCloud account about 6 months ago. Disclaimer: I did it at an Apple Store however and they saw my grey hair.
3. Music from PC to iPhone without using iTunes or Apple Music is still a real pain. I did it successfully using an app available at the app store - but I can't remember its name! If you search for "music downloader" or "music player" on the App Store there are a lot of apps that make a lot of promises. Whether they work or not is iffy, and may take some frustrating tries. I sure wish you had a MacBook instead of a PC; from my Neo to my Eye Phone (5 or 6 hundred songs) was a piece of cake. Idea: After you accomplish opening the Apple account, I wonder if you can upload music from the PC into iCloud and go from there? Dunno.

Good luck!

 

[jetsam]

1. Right now, iPhone 11 and newer are receiving updates. I would suggest a 13 because I owned one of those bad boys and they are awesome. However, you may consider going modern - 17e new is only $599 repeat $599 (did I mention $599?) and the ui is not that much different than your old XS.
2. I live in Texas (lol guess which city?) and no ID was necessary to open a new iCloud account about 6 months ago. Disclaimer: I did it at an Apple Store however and they saw my grey hair.
3. Music from PC to iPhone without using iTunes or Apple Music is still a real pain. I did it successfully using an app available at the app store - but I can't remember its name! If you search for "music downloader" or "music player" on the App Store there are a lot of apps that make a lot of promises. Whether they work or not is iffy, and may take some frustrating tries. I sure wish you had a MacBook instead of a PC; from my Neo to my Eye Phone (5 or 6 hundred songs) was a piece of cake. Idea: After you accomplish opening the Apple account, I wonder if you can upload music from the PC into iCloud and go from there? Dunno.

Good luck!

Just to add - I would rule out the iPhone 11. The oldest iPhone to support 5G is the 12. I consider a 5G capable phone essential today.

 

[Reverend Benny]

It's a possibility that I'm gonna purchase an iPhone before the end of August. I haven't used an iPhone since the XS MAX so I'm way behind. I'm wondering about a few things and I hope you guys can answer these questions for me.

1. I want to get a used iPhone. What is the oldest usable iPhone that I can activate and use the app store/get updates? I was looking on Swappa at used iPhone 11's & 13's. Are those too old?

2. Unfortunately I'm currently stuck in Texas and I'm worried about the stupid SB2420 rule. I would have to make a new iCloud account as I believe my old one was closed. I'm not submitting my ID to download apps. Is there a way to bypass this? Can you sideload apps?

3. I remember having hell getting my music onto my old iPhone. I have close to 10K songs that I want to put on my phone. I currently use a windows 10 laptop so I need to know if there is a way to get all my music on the phone without using iTunes or apple music?

Here's my 5 cent....

1. If you don't have a pile of old lightning charging cables laying around, get a version that has USB-C (iphone 15 and above).
2. If you do have a pile of charging cables or can get a hold of them cheap (people are giving them away since Apple moved to USB-C) go for iPhone 14, it has 6GB of RAM (12 and 13 has 4) which will make it handle later OS better.

 

[rambo47]

I'd start with the 12. That's the first model that supports wireless charging, a feature I've come to love.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

3. I have some mp3s that I put in iCloud and play using VLC. Works fine but no Siri voice control. I primarily use Apple Music so I never spent the time to see if or how this could be improved.

 

[1rottenapple]

1. Right now, iPhone 11 and newer are receiving updates. I would suggest a 13 because I owned one of those bad boys and they are awesome. However, you may consider going modern - 17e new is only $599 repeat $599 (did I mention $599?) and the ui is not that much different than your old XS.
2. I live in Texas (lol guess which city?) and no ID was necessary to open a new iCloud account about 6 months ago. Disclaimer: I did it at an Apple Store however and they saw my grey hair.
3. Music from PC to iPhone without using iTunes or Apple Music is still a real pain. I did it successfully using an app available at the app store - but I can't remember its name! If you search for "music downloader" or "music player" on the App Store there are a lot of apps that make a lot of promises. Whether they work or not is iffy, and may take some frustrating tries. I sure wish you had a MacBook instead of a PC; from my Neo to my Eye Phone (5 or 6 hundred songs) was a piece of cake. Idea: After you accomplish opening the Apple account, I wonder if you can upload music from the PC into iCloud and go from there? Dunno.

Good luck!

Whoa they make you submit an ID? WOW