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size matters

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macshmack

macrumors newbie
Original poster
so I guess I'm in the market for a new phone, because my 1st gen SE - which is PERFECT and you know it - appears to be nearing the end of its shelf life, in that my bank app is warning me I'll have to upgrade soon, and I can no longer login to twitter on safari.

what I'm looking for is the smallest device possible, running on anything but the latest glassware, and ideally with a good few years left in terms of support. any advice on what to look for appreciated, and sorry for late replies in advance.
 
macshmack said:
will check, I was just wondering in case one comes updated to the latest, can I revert to a previous iOS if I switch back to factory settings?
Click to expand...
Downgrading to iOS 18 from iOS 26 is not possible. You need to connect to Apple's servers to install iOS 18 and it require a signed ipsw which does not exist any longer for iOS 18. I tried recently because after I upgraded to iOS 26 I realized that a feature changed that caused my SIM to turn off after I crossed a border.
 
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MacInTO said:
Downgrading to iOS 18 from iOS 26 is not possible. You need to connect to Apple's servers to install iOS 18 and it require a signed ipsw which does not exist any longer for iOS 18.
Click to expand...

oh dear, so I have to look for an old phone running on old iOS. why can't they just let you revert to the version it shipped with!

MacInTO said:
I tried recently because after I upgraded to iOS 26 I realized that a feature changed that caused my SIM to turn off after I crossed a border.
Click to expand...

what is this about? are you now unable to use your sim when on holiday?
 
macshmack said:
oh dear, so I have to look for an old phone running on old iOS. why can't they just let you revert to the version it shipped with!



what is this about? are you now unable to use your sim when on holiday?
Click to expand...
Yes if you find a phone with iOS 18 buy it! Hopefully they are not selling for a premium.

I use two SIMs simultaneously. When I cross a border, it will turn off the roaming SIM. This 'feature' is made for tourist and they do not have any accommodation for folks to use two numbers from different countries all the time. Annoying to say the least. I switched back to Android because of this.

forums.macrumors.com

eSIM Switched to... Your travel eSIM was turned off

Anyone encountered this kind of issue before? which got two active eSIMs which SIM A is Country A one has free roaming data for Country B and is the default line for both voice and data. While SIM B is Country B line which auto roaming is turned on including data roaming. Then whenever leaving...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
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macshmack said:
so I guess I'm in the market for a new phone, because my 1st gen SE - which is PERFECT and you know it - appears to be nearing the end of its shelf life, in that my bank app is warning me I'll have to upgrade soon, and I can no longer login to twitter on safari.

what I'm looking for is the smallest device possible, running on anything but the latest glassware, and ideally with a good few years left in terms of support. any advice on what to look for appreciated, and sorry for late replies in advance.
Click to expand...
This might not be much help, but I too grappled with the dilemma of giving up my 1st Gen SE. I was going to go with a refurbished 3rd Gen but figured that in just a few years I'd be back in the same predicament-- a "smart" phone that can't access a lot of websites or use the apps that I had come to depend on. So I took a deep breath and snared one of the last brand new, never activated 16e models. I've grown to like it, and the additional bulk is pretty manageable. It doesn't fit in the pockets of my jeans as well, but the battery performance is way better than the SE.
 
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MacInTO said:
I use two SIMs simultaneously. When I cross a border, it will turn off the roaming SIM. This 'feature' is made for tourist and they do not have any accommodation for folks to use two numbers from different countries all the time. Annoying to say the least. I switched back to Android because of this.
Click to expand...

I actually looked into this when whichever SE came out with double SIM, but the way I understood it was that one is not physical, but something called eSIM, and you can't have them both on simultaneously anyway?
I carry two 1st gens on me lol
don't think I'll be be updating both though, one is fine just to take calls, as long as they keep coming through.
 
TomFromAndroid said:
This might not be much help, but I too grappled with the dilemma of giving up my 1st Gen SE. I was going to go with a refurbished 3rd Gen but figured that in just a few years I'd be back in the same predicament-- a "smart" phone that can't access a lot of websites or use the apps that I had come to depend on. So I took a deep breath and snared one of the last brand new, never activated 16e models. I've grown to like it, and the additional bulk is pretty manageable. It doesn't fit in the pockets of my jeans as well, but the battery performance is way better than the SE.
Click to expand...

that's my dilemma, how long will 18 last, provided I manage to get one. I think 15 did quite well in terms of updates and patches, all considered, so for 18 I'm hoping for three more years? which might be just about reasonable if true.
 
macshmack said:
that's my dilemma, how long will 18 last, provided I manage to get one. I think 15 did quite well in terms of updates and patches, all considered, so for 18 I'm hoping for three more years? which might be just about reasonable if true.
Click to expand...
I think that's about right. If you go to Wikipedia and do a search for "List of iPhone models" it will show a timeline of how long the different versions are supported. If it hadn't been for the fact that the 3rd gen SE has been out for a while I would have gladly gone with that, as I really liked the smaller dimensions. I'd guess that you'd probably get 3 or 4 years out of something with iOS18. HTH...
en.wikipedia.org

List of iPhone models - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
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macshmack said:
I actually looked into this when whichever SE came out with double SIM, but the way I understood it was that one is not physical, but something called eSIM, and you can't have them both on simultaneously anyway?
I carry two 1st gens on me lol
don't think I'll be be updating both though, one is fine just to take calls, as long as they keep coming through.
Click to expand...
That does not make sense if there was dual SIM to not use two at the same time as that is the purpose of dual sim. I've been dual SIM phone for over ten years. eSIM is the software version of a physical SIM. iPhone can hold up to ten(?) eSIMs but only two can be used at the same time. If you have a dual SIM phone, you can use two at the same time. The early versions could only use on physical SIM and one eSIM at the same time, but not two eSIMs at the same time. With iPhone 13 and SE 3, one could also use two eSIMs at the same time.

In North America, iPhone 17 are sold with only eSIM and no physical SIM slot. In China and Hong Kong, they had iPhones with two physical SIM slots and no eSIM. The iPhone Air was the first to have eSIM in China - but from what I read, the eSIM is only compatible with Chinese providers. HK may have other iPhones with eSIM.
 
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