Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Other Since the iPhone first launched how many iPhones have you owned?, What was your favourite iphone & Did you have any regret buys!

original 16gb
3gs 16gb
4s 32gb
4 (temporary while getting 4s repaired)
5s 32gb
6s plus 32gb
8 64gb
Xs (64gb)
13 mini 256gb
Xs (256gb)
11 pro 512gb

4s and 6s plus were probably my favourites and 3gs in its own way. liked 5s too but it was so easy to scratch the edges. thought 13 mini was too small. would like a newer pro max next.
 
  1. Previous (and 1st) iPhone: green iPhone 11, 64 GB, bought November 2021 - loved the shade of green, and the phone generally; just wish I could have afforded more storage!
  2. Current/2nd iPhone: green iPhone 15, 256 GB, bought July 2024 - very happy with it so far! I have not owned any other phones from other brands.
 
Eight to thirteen depending upon how you count.

My primary devices: 2G,3GS,4S,5,6,6S,8,11P
Bought for family: 4,5C,11,14P
Bought as a spare phone: XS

Favorite is a tough call between my 6S and 11 pro.

6S story:
Absolutely hated the 5 and 6. They were both unreliable buggy garbage. I hated the 6 so much I switched to Android (Galaxy S6). That brief Android foray only lasted about 8 months – when I stumbled into a very good deal on a used 6S I jumped at the opportunity to switch back. The 6S was special because I got back to iOS and it was the first phone I actually liked since my 4S.

11 Pro story:
Bought it new and I'm still using it. The Lightning port has been dead for a year (Qi charging only) and Face ID sensor just died, but other than that it's still doing its job. This is the first phone I've worn out before getting tired of it and upgrading for newer tech. I actually bought a 14 Pro at launch to replace it - but it's still sitting in the box. I don't like the size increase of the newer form factor, but mostly the 11 Pro just kept working well enough that I never felt compelled to take the time to set up the 14 Pro. My partner is finally going to get the 14 Pro this weekend as her 11 is totaled (broken glass on both sides), and I will either get a new 16 Pro or just use the XS I have in a drawer and hold out for the 17. Honestly, the only feature I really care about on a new phone is upgrading to USB-C so I can be done with Lightning cables (which is ironic since the upgrade to Lightning is why I bought my much-regretted iPhone 5).
 
I have owned 4 iPhones, namely;
  1. Xs Max
  2. 11 Pro Max
  3. 13 Pro Max
  4. 15 Pro Max
My favourite so far is always the latest one I have lol, so my 15 PM is my favourite right now.
In fact the 15 PM to me is the first iPhone I want to call incredibly close to perfect due to USB-C, 5x optical zoom and the lighter and more palm friendly titanium frame. I am a big fan of devices that are focused on great ergonomics and the 15 PM is the first iPhone in a long time to do that.

Cannot say I ever regretted owning any of them. There were regrettable FW updates that were done, lol, but the devices themselves were great. I count iOS 17.6.1 as one of the regrets, jumped on to iOS 18 Public Beta and I am much happier.
 
Last edited:
I have owned:

3GS (2010-2012)
5S (2013-16)
8 (2017-2020)
11 (2021-current)

Was a big fan of the 5S... Was very concerned about moving up to the 8 til I sat the 5S on top of the 8 and realised it wasn't "too" much bigger. The 11 is too big, and I don't like the notch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Marty80
I owned 3GS, 4S, 6, 7, 8 Plus, XS, 12 Mini and 14 Pro Max.

4S and 12 mini are my favourites, but probably XS was the best one.
 
Every phone since 3GS. Can’t count as I don’t remember what model the plus series started with. Didn’t get the X. The odd size bothered me.
 
Total iPhones till date: 7

3G, 4, 5, SE, 7, X, 13P

Regret buy: SE
My best iPhone till date: 4
Favourite phones in order yet: 4, 5, X, 13P, 3G, 7, SE.
 
3GS, 4S, 5S, 6S+, X, 14PM. Regret the 6S+ (slippery and ugly as sin) as I instantly missed the 5S after, and feel the 14PM is cumbersome (should have got the regular 13 or the mini instead). Waiting to jump on the rumoured 17 “Air.” Loved the 3GS (you never forget your first time), 4S, 5S, and X. Perhaps the 5S and X tied as my faves if I had to choose.
 
3G, 3GS, 5, 7, XR, 12 Pro, 14 Pro. My favorite was the XR. The XR a big leap forward for the mainstream iPhone. Gorgeous screen, Face ID, overbuilt and durable, great battery life, and the A12 is still a beast.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Royksöpp
My first iPhone started with the 4S in 2011. I was hooked on the Apple mobile devices with my iPod touch 2 and iPod touch 4, so it seemed fitting to finally merge everything together as my phone and iPod. White 4S stayed with me for 2 years, and I remember being so excited to run the iOS betas on it.

2013 I got the iPhone 5S in space grey and loved the form factor. Little bit taller but still very thin like iPhones before it. Had a bit of bad luck where I got a few replacements because 1 had loose display glass and the replacement for that one had dead pixels on the display. 3rd times the charm, but it wouldn’t last long as I would water damage the hell out of the display when I was in my first year of college in 2014/2015. I downgraded to a friend’s 4 in the meantime and that was rough trying to run iOS 7 and find compatible jailbreaks to speed up the device and add iOS 8 features. I dealt with a screen replacement but the screen just kept peeling off.

Traded in my breaking 5S for a 6, and tbh this was the worst iPhone I ever had. Battery was bad, performance wasn’t that great, and by the time I traded that one in I was able to slide a whole sheet of paper in between the glass and the aluminum of the phone. Best Buy gave me $220 for it so I can’t complain.

My fam switched to AT&T from Sprint and we got 6S Plus’s. Tbh this phone was a tank. I think this was the first time I got a phone that had increased storage? It was 64GB. Had this from 2016 to 2019.

Got a 256GB XS in 2019 and holy moly this thing was great. So compact and so much storage. Camera was fairly decent. Couldn’t let this one go for a trade, so I gave it to my dad to use as his first personal smart phone.

Currently rocking a 14 plus and I’m kind of not that impressed. I thought I wanted a bigger screen, but this thing is too unwieldy. 128GB is surprisingly not enough for my use case anymore. I’m also not a fan of the computational photography and the auto processing. At least with my 6S Plus (maybe my XS too) I could turn off the auto HDR. Maybe after the last payment is made on my 14 I’ll downgrade to a 13 mini or something.
 
5, 6+, SE, 8, 11pro, 12, 13pro, 14pro, 15pro
Really in love only with the black 5: my first smartphone, black as color, just awesome.
 
  1. 4S (First iPhone ever! I was lucky to get to use iOS 5 and 6. What a great first experience!)
  2. 6 (Wooed by the bigger screen, but left disappointed with the build quality)
  3. 6S (Double the ram of the 6 and improved build quality. I loved it, but it was nothing to write home about. It was reliable and the phone I had the longest)
  4. XR (GOAT)
  5. 11 (More of a Vanity upgrade. Didn't really use the wide camera very much. I could have held on to my XR for another year)
  6. 12 (Loved the OLED screen and new chassis. I loved using the MagSafe wallet and cases)
  7. 13 Pro (This was the first time the Pro models became worth it for me. Promotion, larger camera sensor, bigger battery, and a smaller notch. This is where I learned that I hated the Stainless Steel finish)
  8. 14 Pro (Bought it mostly for the 48MP sensor. The Dynamic Island turned out to be more of a gimmick than useful. Still hating the Stainless Steel)
  9. 15 Pro (USB C, more ram, a new finish, great battery life. Well worth the upgrade. It finally felt like a new phone)

My all time favorite is the XR. It had incredible battery life and the photo quality was equally impressive. I took it on a trip and the photos it took are some of my favorite photos ever. The 15 Pro comes in at a close second, even though it tends to get warm very quickly.

Least favorite was the 6. It felt so flimsy in the hand. I dropped it once while it was in the silicone case and it dented the housing around the headphone jack. I had to get a replacement! The difference between the aluminum on the 6 and 6s was night and day.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Andeddu
iPhone 4
iPhone 5
iPhone 6
iPhone 7/+
iPhone 8/+
iPhone X
iPhone XS
iPhone 11
iPhone 12
iPhone 12 Mini
iPhone 12 Pro
iPhone 12 Pro Max
iPhone 13 Pro Max
iPhone 14 Plus
iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone 14 Pro Max
iPhone SE
iPhone SE 2020
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max

Writing this down makes me realize that I genuinely have a problem. Trying to break the cycle. Some of these came later in life. Some were sold/returned/traded-in/hand me downs
 
  • Like
Reactions: WarmWinterHat
Too many to count...

Original iPhone, 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S, 5, 5S, 6+, 6S+, 7+, 8+, 11 Pro Max, SE2, 12 Pro Max and 14 Pro Max.

My favorite of all time was the 4. They changed up the designs to the squared edges and it was just awesome... despite everyone holding it "wrong". And then the iPhone 6+ when Apple finally gave us a big screen.
 
Last edited:
My iPhone journey:
Original iPhone: waited in line on launch day for this.
iPhone 3G
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
iPhone 4S
iPhone 5
iPhone 5S
iPhone 6
iPhone 6S
iPhone 6S Plus
iPhone 7 Plus: this was probably my favorite. I loved the haptic feedback home button and I had it in red which is my favorite color. The red metal of the 7 Plus was amazing versus the red glass on successive phones.
iPhone X
iPhone 11 Pro
iPhone iPhone 12 Pro
iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max: my current phone.
 
I've had every single iphone since the first one in 2007 - and each one on launch day. I don't remember when the pro/max phones arrived but I have always gone for the biggest phone available and the pro version.
 
  • iPhone 5 - first “expensive“ phone, was tempted by a deal on the Lumia 920 but ultimately couldn’t trust that Windows Phone wouldn’t be a dead end (thank God)
  • iPhone 6 Plus - my only real gripe with the iPhone at the time was Apple’s stubbornness against larger screens, jumped on a bigger iPhone immediately
  • iPhone XS Max - shrugged off the 6s and 7, was tempted by the X but it didn’t quite feel like a “big” phone so held on one more year for the rumoured larger size. This was definitely my biggest upgrade in terms of design and overall experience
  • iPhone 12 Pro Max - not sure I would’ve upgraded this quickly if I didn’t get a subsidy from my employee that made it essentially free. Camera, 5G and battery life were decent quality-of-life improvements
  • iPhone 16 Pro Max - upgrading this year because my 12 is starting to show its age, and I feel there’s been enough cumulative changes now to make the jump worth it. ProMotion and USB-C are the obvious ones as I am so used to those on my MacBook and iPad
I can’t say I’ve had a ”bad” experience with any of them really. 6 Plus battery longevity wasn’t great, but got a new battery cheap under the replacement program so that saw me through.

Overall I’d say the most rewarding upgrade was the XS Max, it’s only real weakness was that the 11 Pro Max destroyed it significantly in battery life the following year.
 
I’d have to count..
3gs
4 in black
4 in white
4s
5
5s
6 plus
6s plus
7 plus
8 plus
X
XS max
11 pro max
12 pro max
13 pro max
14 pro max
15 pro max

So I’m at 17.
 
I need to count.
3GS, 4, 4s, 5, 5s, 6 plus, 6S plus, 7 plus, X, XS Max, 11 Pro Max, 12 Pro Max, 13 Pro, 14 Pro, 15 Pro Max.
 
5 iPhones so far:
4, 5, 6, X, 12Pro

It now dawns on me that I have always (and only) upgraded whenever there was a change in the screen size of the „normal sized“ pro phone…

Makes sense that I‘m now ordering the 16 pro… ^^
 
Original
4
6
11

I liked all of them but the 4 was a huge upgrade over the original. I still think it’s one of the best-looking, too. Obviously the original was very exciting.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cptcaveman
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back