Am I the only one not caring about new phones anymore?

[Tig Bitties]

Not sure why, but I'm just having zero interest in new smartphones lately. I currently have the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and very happy and satisfied, but lately don't even care about the upcoming TSMC based Pixel 10 line. Even the Galaxy S25 Ultra, just looks like more of the same old same old. I had the 24 Ultra last year it was a nice enough phone but nothing special. iPhone 16 Pro or 17 Pro don't care just the same stuff.

In general my lust and want for new smartphones has been fading big lately, they don't excite me anymore, they're all the same now, a 2025 phone compared to a 2024 phone is like the same.

I guess as non tech people have been saying, smartphones are just another appliance, like your Refrigerator or microwave or TV. People don't change out there fridge every single year for a better one. Even nice OLED 4K TV's, you buy a nice one and keep that for several years, nobody changes out a high-end tv every year.

I'm actually more excited by OS software updates than [H]ardware updates nowadays.

 

[MBAir2010]

I hear you, they are should be over-hated as they are over-rated!
not every moron on the face of this earth needs one.

just last early November I popped out the sim card on my iphone 12 mini
until Wednesday just to contact a relative whom just purchased as new house that burnt in Altadena, Ca.
other than that they are my contact.
i did place 20GB of FLAC music via foobar that can be blue-toothed to a klipsch speaker yesterday,
but have not played any music yet, so that iphone just sits there.... displaying the time when tapped.

 

[russell_314]

a 2025 phone compared to a 2024 phone is like the same.

Absolutely. We get caught up in the hype.

 

[MBAir2010]

now M1 is being compared to m4 in detail
as this will conflict get all jerry springer soon!

I-Yaigh YAIGH!

 

[Mariogolf]

Not sure why, but I'm just having zero interest in new smartphones lately. I currently have the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and very happy and satisfied, but lately don't even care about the upcoming TSMC based Pixel 10 line. Even the Galaxy S25 Ultra, just looks like more of the same old same old. I had the 24 Ultra last year it was a nice enough phone but nothing special. iPhone 16 Pro or 17 Pro don't care just the same stuff.

In general my lust and want for new smartphones has been fading big lately, they don't excite me anymore, they're all the same now, a 2025 phone compared to a 2024 phone is like the same.

I guess as non tech people have been saying, smartphones are just another appliance, like your Refrigerator or microwave or TV. People don't change out there fridge every single year for a better one. Even nice OLED 4K TV's, you buy a nice one and keep that for several years, nobody changes out a high-end tv

So why did you switch from s24u to pixel and read about newer pixel line? You would use your phone for longer if you didn’t care. See how long you’ll keep your current phone 😉

 

[J53119]

Until cameras improve significantly (where are more phones with 1 inch sensors?), I'll wait.

I will say I give credit to OnePlus for finally introducing new battery technology.

 

[VaZ]

Still rockin' my iPhone 6s like no tomorrow !!

 

[DaveOZ]

Maybe we've hit peak development. Most phones do the same thing now with no real new features on the horizon.

 

[tbayrgs]

Yeah, have some of that apathy here as well. Didn't buy a new iPhone this year for the first time, ever. And not because it's a bad piece of tech but rather, the changes year over year are so incremental, it's not worth it. I did get a Pixel 9 Pro Fold because that is truly bringing something new to the smartphone arena. Will I upgrade it next year? Only if there are significant improvements. The foldable market has much more room for improvement over the standard slab smart phone, IMO so we'll see.

 

[M.Brane]

I have never bought the latest phone. It's a tool not a status symbol.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Apathy is hitting here too. Thinking about switching to Android to feel something different but quickly also remember that phones are generally all the same nowadays.

besides foldables, none of these companies make anything exciting.

 

[Cape Dave]

And why do phones have to be exciting? They work. They do the job.

 

[Corefile]

I stopped at the 6S but I upgraded Mrs Corefile from a 6S to a 15 via free Best Buy gift certificates. Myself, I just couldn't justify buying another iPhone for 900 bucks so I got a Tracfone Android Motorola Moto phone for 60 bucks for the year including the service. Android is actually OK once you get used to it and puts you in control. I find iOS tedious and annoying now.

 

[mblm85]

Same here.

I have an iPhone 15. It's fast enough, it does what I want them to do, the cameras are better than my photography skills can use, battery life is fine, light enough, got enough spare storage, not bothered about AI, not bothered about thinner phones (certainly not with the huge camera bump that I know is down to lens physics)...

Think my phone will last a good few years barring theft or accident.

 

[Populus]

I feel you, OP. I've been an iPhone enthusiast for many years, the innovations in the smartphone field were spectacular. The iPhone 4 to the iPhone 4S: Almost double the performance, and a massive jump in camera quality. iPhone 5, double the performance again, adopting a slimmer profile with a bigger screen. Then the 5S with one of the most significant innovations: Touch ID. Then, the best seller iPhone: iPhone 6, a radical redesign, only followed by the 6S doubling the performance again. Those years we had a fast development of smartphone hardware technology and, on the iOS side, from iOS 12 to iOS 16 the development and implementation of software features has been quite fast as well.

That quick development of the smartphone in the first 12 years that drove our enthusiasm, has been stalling slowly during the past years. Hardware wise, the smartphones both iPhone and Android, have adopted the optimal "slab of glass" shape. Maybe the iPhone 17 Air will go a bit further in that minimalistic approach, but there's little room for innovation. On the Software side, now the AI features are being born, but that's pretty much it.

Smartphones have peaked. They are a mature product now, just like it was the x86 personal computer. Now with Apple Silicon, Macs are living a second youth but in a few years they will be again a completely mature product. And, if there's no need for radical changes, because they already do what we need, why try and push change for the sake of change? Well, maybe to boost sales.

I'm perfectly fine with my last batch of hardware. I've been using an old A11 smartphone (iPhone 8), and old A12X iPad Pro, and a vintage 2014 Mac mini. And during the past few years, I've upgraded to the A15 iPhone SE 3, the M2 iPad Pro, and the M4 Mac mini, and with those devices having lots of RAM (my iPad Pro has 16GB, and my M4 has 24GB), a perfectly capable Neural Engine, good GPUs and the improved cachés we saw on the A15, I really expect them to last many, many years. And even when they lose software support, I'll probably be fine with them as long as they don't degrade the experience on older devices.

I'm happy doing good purchases, and using those products for many years. It is good for our planet, it is good for my economy, and it brings me satisfaction. I don't think I need more power, or more features, on my devices.

 

[Mizouse]

For phones, there hasn’t really been anything ground breaking for a long time now.

For me I’ve been an iPhone user since the 1st gen and for a while I was upgrading every 2 years.
Original > 3GS > 4 > 5 > 6+ > 7+ > 12PM > 15PM
(iPhone 4 was an exception because AT&T said I qualified for an upgrade so why not and it was a significant change).

My most recent upgrade from 12 to 15 I kind of regret, outside of 120hz promotion and USBC the experience has been mostly the same.

Hopefully by the time the 18 rolls around there will be enough to entice me to upgrade otherwise I’ll wait for the 19.

 

[drinkingtea]

Same. I barely post here anymore. I’m saving up for a new car. Now that I’m no longer a student, I’m being more deliberate about my spending in order to enjoy more important things (such as a new car). 🤷‍♀️

 

[smirking]

I have never bought the latest phone. It's a tool not a status symbol.

However, if one were to somehow still be rockin a Blackberry 8700 series, you would probably be seen as extremely cool!

 

[aggie99]

I’m there. I have my devices from 24 and I’m just going to rotate them if I want a change. Right now I’m settled in good with the 16PM on my personal and 9 Pro Fold on my business line. Think I’m just gonna roll that way for a while until something significantly different drops. Maybe switch up my work line between the 9PF, S24U, ZF6, or 9PXL. Still holding onto all of them 😂

 

[unchecked]

You’ll hear the same with things like cameras too. Plenty of people aren’t always chasing the newest and greatest when they are happy with what they currently have.

We have hit a plateau in how much we’re asking out of our tech. You can say the bubble is forming.

It’s also why tech companies are trying so hard to get us excited over AR/VR or AI. Just so the bubble doesn’t pop.

 

[androo79]

Not sure why, but I'm just having zero interest in new smartphones lately. I currently have the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and very happy and satisfied, but lately don't even care about the upcoming TSMC based Pixel 10 line. Even the Galaxy S25 Ultra, just looks like more of the same old same old. I had the 24 Ultra last year it was a nice enough phone but nothing special. iPhone 16 Pro or 17 Pro don't care just the same stuff.

In general my lust and want for new smartphones has been fading big lately, they don't excite me anymore, they're all the same now, a 2025 phone compared to a 2024 phone is like the same.

I guess as non tech people have been saying, smartphones are just another appliance, like your Refrigerator or microwave or TV. People don't change out there fridge every single year for a better one. Even nice OLED 4K TV's, you buy a nice one and keep that for several years, nobody changes out a high-end tv every year.

I'm actually more excited by OS software updates than [H]ardware updates nowadays.

You’re not the only one. I bought a new phone every year from the 3GS until 13 Pro Max. Now only upgrading on major camera improvements.

 

[CausticSoda]

You are far from the only one! I had the first gen model and used to be excited to upgrade every year or so, and I didn't have that much money then. Now I could buy one every year and barely notice any financial consequence I am not at all interested. I take pleasure in buying good stuff, looking after it, and making it last. I'm well past any consumerism phase and increasingly resentful of desperate marketing attempts to make us upgrade, Apple AI being the latest such nonsense. I'm on the 15 PM now (I was about ready then and wanted the USB C). My next is likely to the iPhone XX and certainly nothing before. I may put a new battery in at some point before then. I feel the same about my M1 MBA. I could go and buy the latest Mac today. However, I have no interest whatsoever in doing that. It's such a great feeling. Those who know, will know!

 

[XboxEvolved]

Not sure why, but I'm just having zero interest in new smartphones lately. I currently have the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and very happy and satisfied, but lately don't even care about the upcoming TSMC based Pixel 10 line. Even the Galaxy S25 Ultra, just looks like more of the same old same old. I had the 24 Ultra last year it was a nice enough phone but nothing special. iPhone 16 Pro or 17 Pro don't care just the same stuff.

In general my lust and want for new smartphones has been fading big lately, they don't excite me anymore, they're all the same now, a 2025 phone compared to a 2024 phone is like the same.

I guess as non tech people have been saying, smartphones are just another appliance, like your Refrigerator or microwave or TV. People don't change out there fridge every single year for a better one. Even nice OLED 4K TV's, you buy a nice one and keep that for several years, nobody changes out a high-end tv every year.

I'm actually more excited by OS software updates than [H]ardware updates nowadays.

Yeah I think it is a combination of a lot of things. The main thing is that the hardware has matured greatly, where it doesn't require newer hardware to have the latest updates. For me I think its the older I get, and I pay straight cash for my phones, and I figure Apple stuff should last pretty long, and my iPhone 11 is still chugging along. That and when I finally do upgrade in September, it will be a greater leap in tech, especially because I'm getting the Max so you appreciate it more.

For me to think, going from the 11 to 17 Pro Max, would be like going from my first iPhone (4S), to the freaking iPhone X, which a few years ago would be insane for most people to do.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Not sure why, but I'm just having zero interest in new smartphones lately. I currently have the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and very happy and satisfied, but lately don't even care about the upcoming TSMC based Pixel 10 line. Even the Galaxy S25 Ultra, just looks like more of the same old same old. I had the 24 Ultra last year it was a nice enough phone but nothing special. iPhone 16 Pro or 17 Pro don't care just the same stuff.

In general my lust and want for new smartphones has been fading big lately, they don't excite me anymore, they're all the same now, a 2025 phone compared to a 2024 phone is like the same.

I guess as non tech people have been saying, smartphones are just another appliance, like your Refrigerator or microwave or TV. People don't change out there fridge every single year for a better one. Even nice OLED 4K TV's, you buy a nice one and keep that for several years, nobody changes out a high-end tv every year.

I'm actually more excited by OS software updates than [H]ardware updates nowadays.

There’s actually millions, maybe even billions more that don’t care about new phones. Fortunately for Apple, there are billions that don’t own iPhones and over 300,000 folks being born every (correction) day that have yet to START caring about iPhones, much less get tired of them.
Unlike large portions of the market, Apple doesn’t have to be the top selling phone to be profitable, so they’re able to tackle a new set of 200 million folks every year. By default, that means that someone that has already bought 5 phones might not find much to be excited about and it’s by design.

 

[BotchQue]

I've never cared about the "newest" phone. Instead I've dreaded when I had to replace my current phone.
Got a letter from my carrier Tracfone saying I had to upgrade my Motorola flip-phone (it could do texts) because they were no longer supporting 2G. I settled on a new iPhone SE v2. It took me a long time to figure it out (I'm still not there) but it constantly amazes me how I can take a quick movie with it, edit, and send it to my friend in Sweden, in a few minutes; damn that's cool!

I had a few more thoughts on tech being much better than I'll ever need, on a current "TV" thread on this forum, but that thread has become a d***-size contest, enter at your own risk. Basically I'm thrilled with the state of Tech, in many areas (governance, not so much).