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iPhone 11 Which I phone for my kiddo?

J

JaysonW

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 4, 2019
32
7
Austin, TX
Would like to get an iPhone for my daughter who is 8 years old. She's away from us for 5 hours a day at gymnastics and would like to know that she can call home if needed or friends when she's on break. She already uses my old iPhone 7 Plus and loves it. Our carrier, AT&T, is offering $5/mo for the SE and the 11 for $11.67 for 30 months. Is the 11 worth the price increase over the SE?

Thanks!
 
JaysonW said:
Would like to get an iPhone for my daughter who is 8 years old. She's away from us for 5 hours a day at gymnastics and would like to know that she can call home if needed or friends when she's on break. She already uses my old iPhone 7 Plus and loves it. Our carrier, AT&T, is offering $5/mo for the SE and the 11 for $11.67 for 30 months. Is the 11 worth the price increase over the SE?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Worth? Very subjective wording. Give your daughter the iPhone 7 and then I would make your decision based on what’s comfortable, being the SE and 11 are completely two different phones in terms of weight, thickness and overall poses a different grip in the hand.
 
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I gave my daughter an iPhone 5 last year when she was 11. She's handled phones before, but not ones with an active line of her own (2GB).

She lost it in the first week. Fortunately, her principal knew who took it and was able to get it back.

My wife asked me a couple weeks ago why my daughter does not yet have my wife's old iPhone 6s. I reminded her about the above incident and that was it.

Since my daughter has WiFi in nearly all of the places she goes, the 2GB cellular line is sufficient I think.
 
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Is an 11 superior to an SE for an 8-year-old? I'd say no. If anything, smaller hands may prefer a smaller phone (SE).

If you want to compare technical specifications, the Apple web site has a Compare feature. My guess is that you'll end up deciding that the 11 isn't worth the higher price.
 
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Well the SE would make a better phone because its just the all round phone that everybody can use and be happy with.
I think the 11 is a very powerful phone as the SE is the perfect match for all uses
 
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I got my grandson an XR because I had an offer for $1/month, but wound up trading it to a friend of my daughter’s for an SE2. The XR/11 are just a lot for little hands.

He loves it - so much easier to handle. I like that the SE still isn’t too big, even with a case and screen protector on it.

We take serious advantage of screen-time limits and content restrictions though. Aside from my daughter wanting him to be able to contact her if there were an emergency while he was at his dad’s, he had been asking for an iPod, and I really just felt like overall the SE was a smarter move. People harassed me about it asking why he just couldn’t use his dad’s phone or something if there was an issue, but if the issue is something happened to dad, and dad has a passcode on his phone, the kids have no options.
 
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JaysonW said:
Thanks everyone for the replies. (I never thought I would be one to give my child a cell phone - until I became a dad)
Click to expand...
I had always planned for that, I was just not going to give them (my son and daughter) phones until I needed them to have one.

And never a better phone than the one I am using. They are, of course, completely free to purchase any device they want with their own money.
 
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My 11 year old has the 1st version SE iPhone we bought her new, she has had it since she was 10, she will be 12 next month. My soon to be 10 year old will probably get the new SE, so probably upgrade the old one as well. Or, wife and I upgrade and they both get our iPhone X we have.
 
My xsm is huge in my 8 year olds hands lol, but he handles it sorta.. I would get an se2 for the kid. Because my 6 and 8 year old have no problems handling our old 7s.
 
JaysonW said:
Would like to get an iPhone for my daughter who is 8 years old. She's away from us for 5 hours a day at gymnastics and would like to know that she can call home if needed or friends when she's on break. She already uses my old iPhone 7 Plus and loves it. Our carrier, AT&T, is offering $5/mo for the SE and the 11 for $11.67 for 30 months. Is the 11 worth the price increase over the SE?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I’d say find an SE gen1 and pay cash for it. Great little phone and good size for a kid. I bought mine 2 years ago new from Verizon for $175. Used market now should be dirt cheap. Honestly, transitioning from it to my 11 I found it just as capable and quick for most of the same functions. I believe your post is referencing the gen2 SE so if you’re set between the two you mentioned I think the SE gen 2 would be a better bet. Another thing worth considering, the SE 2 should be a cheaper repair.

Found this:
www.ebay.com

Apple iPhone SE - 16 GB - Gold (Unlocked) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Apple iPhone SE - 16 GB - Gold (Unlocked) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com www.ebay.com
 
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ssledoux said:
I got my grandson an XR because I had an offer for $1/month, but wound up trading it to a friend of my daughter’s for an SE2. The XR/11 are just a lot for little hands.

He loves it - so much easier to handle. I like that the SE still isn’t too big, even with a case and screen protector on it.

We take serious advantage of screen-time limits and content restrictions though. Aside from my daughter wanting him to be able to contact her if there were an emergency while he was at his dad’s, he had been asking for an iPod, and I really just felt like overall the SE was a smarter move. People harassed me about it asking why he just couldn’t use his dad’s phone or something if there was an issue, but if the issue is something happened to dad, and dad has a passcode on his phone, the kids have no options.
Click to expand...

Very informative post. Just a heads up in case of an emergency. You can still contact 9-1-1 with a locked phone. Swipe up and then hit the “emergency” button on the lower corner of the screen and you can dial 9-1-1.
 
TantalizedMind said:
Very informative post. Just a heads up in case of an emergency. You can still contact 9-1-1 with a locked phone. Swipe up and then hit the “emergency” button on the lower corner of the screen and you can dial 9-1-1.
Click to expand...

True! I did know that. But it was more for if he had issues and needed to contact his mom or me From his dad’s. For sure in an emergency calling 911 is the right thing to do. I need to be sure he and his sister both know how to do that on any phone.
 
ssledoux said:
The XR/11 are just a lot for little hands.

He loves it - so much easier to handle.
Click to expand...

More posts in the thread you referred to told you it was too big, than any other issue... ;)

ssledoux said:
True! I did know that. But it was more for if he had issues and needed to contact his mom or me From his dad’s.
Click to expand...

Regardless of the fact grandson now has his own iPhone, it might be a good idea to get his dad to do this (with mums contact and yours) as a backup:

Use SOS to contact emergency services on your iPhone

support.apple.com
 
nicho said:
More posts in the thread you referred to told you it was too big, than any other issue... ;)



Regardless of the fact grandson now has his own iPhone, it might be a good idea to get his dad to do this (with mums contact and yours) as a backup:

Use SOS to contact emergency services on your iPhone

support.apple.com
Click to expand...

You’re probably right. I guess at the time I was just thinking $1/month and nothing else. I’m starting to learn though. ;-p

Thanks for that! I’ll absolutely get them to check it out!
 
TantalizedMind said:
Very informative post. Just a heads up in case of an emergency. You can still contact 9-1-1 with a locked phone. Swipe up and then hit the “emergency” button on the lower corner of the screen and you can dial 9-1-1.
Click to expand...

If Control center is disabled, I don’t think you can access 911 from the ‘locked screen’.

However, by rapidly pushing the ‘power button‘ five times, then that would activate an emergency call within a ‘three‘ second window.
 
Relentless Power said:
If Control center is disabled, I don’t think you can access 911 from the ‘locked screen’.

However, by rapidly pushing the ‘power button‘ five times, then that would activate an emergency call within a ‘three‘ second window.
Click to expand...

Yah you can.

Make an emergency call from a locked iPhone – Apple Support (UK)

Even if an iPhone is locked, you can still make an emergency call and check for Medical ID. Medical ID helps first responders access critical medical information
support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
TantalizedMind said:
Very informative post. Just a heads up in case of an emergency. You can still contact 9-1-1 with a locked phone. Just hit the “emergency” button on the lower corner of the screen and you can dial 9-1-1.
Click to expand...
Relentless Power said:
However, by rapidly pushing the ‘power button‘ five times, then that would activate an emergency call within a ‘three‘ second window.
Click to expand...
I just tried that on my XR and it didn’t work. But I swear I tried that a few years ago either on this phone or my original SE and it did wasn’t you mentioned....

any ideas?
 
nicho said:
Yah you can.

Make an emergency call from a locked iPhone – Apple Support (UK)

Even if an iPhone is locked, you can still make an emergency call and check for Medical ID. Medical ID helps first responders access critical medical information
support.apple.com support.apple.com
Click to expand...

Nope. If control center is disabled from the home screen, then how do you access 911? Because I tried it, and there’s no physical way of actually invoking any action without Control center active, without using the power button on the side to tap rapidly five times that I already mentioned as the secondary alternative.
 
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