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

Other Why Aren't we Keeping our iPhones for Years?

wyliej said:
Serious question: what do you do with all of those pictures? 1000/week is 142/day. Over ten hours, that is one every four minutes, on average. I'm guessing that you aren't a professional photographer, since you are using a telephone to take them.

How many of these get printed and put on your wall or in albums? Of the rest, how often do you even look at them?

I'm just struggling to figure out why anyone would non-professionaly take so many pictures. (I am not judging; I am genuinely curious.)
Click to expand...
I do it as a hobby so nothing commercial but I followed a couple of courses and would consider myself semi pro. The best camera's the one in my pocket and there's photos I can take with my iPhone that I wouldn't be able to take (so easily at least) with a DSLR.

(For the record, I usually bring a regular height tripod, a gimbal and a 10 ft pole for drone-like shots.)

With a digital camera, you have the luxury of being able to take 10-20x the same shot for free with different angles and settings so I try a couple of things. In a single morning around golden hour I can easily snap 150 photos if not double. Also makes me walk a lot and even sometimes run because the light moves fast.

When I come back from vacation, I mark my favorite photos and edit them. I will have 75-150 valuable pictures in the end.

We bought an Aura frame for xmas. It's now in the dining room and I put my favorite photos inside. Makes us dream about going to vacation all the time.
 
Last edited:
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: stiligFox and MacInTO
I average 5-8 years

I don’t care about cameras

That seems to be the only thing that really changes year to year

That’s certainly how they sell it


Incidentally my partner is a “semi-pro”/hobbyist/artist photographer/work in galleries but completed unrelated day job

(Not sure how y’all would classify)

She uses cameras to take photos, not her phone …

edit:

That was by no means meant as a “dis” against anyone that takes pictures with a phone. I was just describing our use cases
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: darkblu
While I wish I could afford to uprade more often (Orange is my favourite colour and the 17 Pro is tempting!) I am still very happily running my iPhone 13 Pro over here. 😀
 
  • Like
Reactions: Luftkopf
wyliej said:
Serious question: what do you do with all of those pictures? 1000/week is 142/day. Over ten hours, that is one every four minutes, on average. I'm guessing that you aren't a professional photographer, since you are using a telephone to take them.

How many of these get printed and put on your wall or in albums? Of the rest, how often do you even look at them?

I'm just struggling to figure out why anyone would non-professionaly take so many pictures. (I am not judging; I am genuinely curious.)
Click to expand...
I suspect PsykX is a documentationalist, as a pastime. Some people take photos, some write in a diary, some collect objects. Some do it for art, some do it for pleasure some do it to record a place and a time. Andy Warhol was one of these people. He was a pack rat. He collected objects, made videos and created other art. They are others like Vivian Maier and Fred Herzog, photographers who were mostly documentationalist that recorded history that nobody else captured at their time. Ironically nobody knows why Vivian Maier took photos because she never showed anyone her photos and they were never in any exhibits or galleries until after her death. Vivian Maier is the original selfie artist.

VM195XZ06951-04-MC.jpg
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Omega Mac, Charlie Bonesx, Luftkopf and 1 other person
MacInTO said:
I suspect PsykX is a documentationalist, as a pastime. Some people take photos, some write in a diary, some collect objects. Some do it for art, some do it for pleasure some do it to record a place and a time. Andy Warhol was one of these people. He was a pack rat. He collected objects, made videos and created other art. They are others like Vivian Maier and Fred Herzog, photographers who were mostly documentationalist that recorded history that nobody else captured at their time. Ironically nobody knows why Vivian Maier took photos because she never showed anyone her photos and they were never in any exhibits or galleries until after her death. Vivian Maier is the original selfie artist.

VM195XZ06951-04-MC.jpg
Click to expand...

Fred herzog is my absolute favourite photographer

Not just because he documented my home, but because he was a true artist

it can look like he just took a zillion pictures. But his composition was excellent

I could go on and on if anyone was interested but it’s not really what we’re on about here
 
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: Luftkopf and MacInTO
MacInTO said:
nobody knows why Vivian Maier took photos because she never showed anyone her photos and they were never in any exhibits or galleries until after her death.
Click to expand...

Many (especially visual) artists are never noticed by anyone until they have passed and people find the work they were making only as their own pastime.
 
Charlie Bonesx said:
Fred herzog is my absolute favourite photographer

Not just because he documented my home, but because he was a true artist

it can look like he just took a zillion pictures. But his composition was excellent

I could go on and on if anyone was interested but it’s not really what we’re on about here
Click to expand...
Fred Herzog is definitely one of my favorite photographers also. It's amazing to see Vancouver in the 1950s and in colour! He was simply a good photographer. He made the mundane look like art. No studio, no lights, just good subjects and composition.

Another I did not list is Edward Burtynsky, he was also documentationalist but for industrial things.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Luftkopf
Charlie Bonesx said:
Many (especially visual) artists are never noticed by anyone until they have passed and people find the work they were making only as their own pastime.
Click to expand...
Her story is quite unique. Her life could have passed unnoticed if someone had not purchased the contents of her storage locker. There is a documentary film called Finding Vivian Meyer. You may like it. She and Fred Herzog have similar photographic styles.
 
turbineseaplane said:
The only thing that makes me want to move on from my 13 mini is just that they don’t seem to continue paying attention to how new iOS versions will look and perform on my particular screen size (and specs).
Click to expand...
This is a very good point. Years ago due to work requirements I migrated from a 13 mini to the Pro Max series, a phone that's gargantuan in comparison. With all the changes in iOS I can fully understand the compromised way it presents on the mini.
turbineseaplane said:
To me it’s really sad that Apple doesn’t because this is where software is supposed to shine.
Click to expand...
So true, where once Apple did really shine, as time goes on it seems that they've abandoned their commitment to delivering bug free, or reasonably bug free well designed software.
turbineseaplane said:
All that said, I have nothing to move onto anyways since they only make huge phones now.
Click to expand...
While I'm fully aware of the "reasons" the company no longer offers a compact enjoyable small iPhone, it's hard to imagine that they cannot afford to create a stellar replacement for the discontinued mini series. It seems it's more a matter of being stubborn.
 
  • Like
Reactions: turbineseaplane
zenmacx said:
While I'm fully aware of the "reasons" the company no longer offers a compact enjoyable small iPhone, it's hard to imagine that they cannot afford to create a stellar replacement for the discontinued mini series. It seems it's more a matter of being stubborn.
Click to expand...

While I am certainly empathetic to your small phone feelings

It doesn’t matter what they can afford or not

And had nothing to do with being stubborn

Modern global feudal capitalism dictates that increasing shareholder value is their only consideration

So they will do whatever they think meets that end

I’m not saying I like it, but it’s silly to argue against because it is literally all that matters now
 
  • Like
Reactions: Luftkopf
I keep mine well past the point they are completely out of date, generally, though I find the batteries are holding up worse than they used to for some reason. I had a 5S for 4 years, 6S for 3 years, SE2 for about 2 years, and so far an iPhone 12 for about 2 and a half years (this was only because this is what they had to replace mine with in the shop at a time when I was strapped for cash, otherwise no way would I have gotten it).

I don't like spending much money on my phone because I only really use it to text/call my wife or set up appointments on a consistent basis. I do snap pictures here and there but don't put much weight into the picture quality, I don't really like the iPhone photo look myself.

The 12 has been a good unit actually, even though I got it way after it was introduced, but the battery is slipping. Don't know exactly when or what I'll replace it with but I am starting to get FOMO with price increases.

My wife who uses her phone a lot more than me is still running her 15 Pro but is looking to upgrade this fall, in part because of battery as well. So it's definitely not everyone that upgrades every year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: turbineseaplane
Things that have prompted people to upgrade;
1.)USB cable connection
2.)Need for more storage
3.)Better audio and video
4.)Screen size
5.)Faster processor
6.)Better screen (brighter and more color accurate while delivering sharper image)
7.)Mag Safe charging (quicker charging)
8.)Staying current with ability to upgrade IOS
9.)Colors of case(if that matters)
10.)Better and multiple Bluetooth pairing
11.)If your in the Apple ecosystem it makes transfers very smooth
12.)Longer battery life
13.)Better camera
14.)Better calling (improved chip and antennae)
Might of left off something need another cup of coffee.
 
Harddrive said:
Still rocking a 15Pro and the battery is still good storage is getting full.
Click to expand...
"Still"... as if a three years old high end computer is normally for nothing good anymore.
Okay, to be fair, artificial because Apple isn't capable of producing high-quality software and doesn't want to let users keep their devices for very long.

Or is it a matter of mindset, and you (like many others) don't see a high-end computer that would easily last another ten years, but just a cheap, disposable phone? (independent from the price)
 
con2apple said:
"Still"... as if a three years old high end computer is normally for nothing good anymore.
Okay, to be fair, artificial because Apple isn't capable of producing high-quality software and doesn't want to let users keep their devices for very long.

Or is it a matter of mindset, and you (like many others) don't see a high-end computer that would easily last another ten years, but just a cheap, disposable phone? (independent from the price)
Click to expand...
A lot of people get new phones annually - so the term "still" is applicable. Reading through this thread shows us that keeping an eyefoan for 3 years or longer is a bit of an accomplishment. 🙂
 
I treat them like tools will it get the job done better and faster since mine is divided between personal and work where I find myself lately I should have bought one with more storage soon I will have to offload things on a USB drive.
 
Still got my iPhone 11 Pro Max. Battery health is at 76% though... but I don't plan to replace the phone until a version of iOS comes out that removes support for it (probably iOS 28?)
 
ClaraStahlbaum said:
Personally, I don't understand the sense of "accomplishment" that some people seem to have when it comes to keeping a phone for several years.
Click to expand...
I don't know if I would call it a sense of "accomplishment" - as much as a sense of realization that these days there's not much meaningful difference year-to-year between models. Also, ya spend a lot less lol - - -
 
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