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Buy New IPhone SE vs Replace Battery Old IPhone SE?

R

ronniejoe

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Original poster
Feb 23, 2020
196
7
Hi. I bought the IPhone SE about 4.5 years ago when it came out. I was using the iphone 4s around the time and battery had ton of issues and so did phone so got the SE and I like it a lot because it was faster and good battery and also wanted smaller size and didn't want big size iphone. Also it was around 400 dollars plus tax I believe so it was the cheapest current iphone as well. I got the 64gb one though i never come close to using anywhere near that much.



Then about two years later or so... battery got worn but apple had that promo where you paid thirty dollars or so plus tax to get replacement battery at apple store and I did that. My battery was very good for l.5 years or maybe a bit more longer than that. Now recently in the last few months or so... the battery is getting bad. The battery health is now 85%. That is pretty much sign of i need new battery right? I read somewhere that if you battery health is 80%, that is near the end of life. Is that correct? Recently i had the battery on power saver mode the night before and it was around 50% battery. Woke up next day and battery was just l%. Now i know i did get a lot of notifications on my iphone during the night which contributed to this... but obviously each time i get notification and my phone lights up... it isn't more than say that many seconds. So that means I need new battery right?



I was going to go to apple store and have them replace the battery and I believe now its 50 dollars plus tax right? Now... i also heard because the iphone SE the old one i have is pretty old... and when more IOS software rolls around like the new IOS 15, then this iphone SE won't be able to upgrade to it and deemed useless. Is this true? If so, when would this IOS come out? I still like this phone and the condition is still very good etc. I mean I did consider getting a bigger screen as even though I liked the small screen... I wouldn't mind a bigger screen but for me this phone is good.
 
Should i buy a new iphone SE or replace battery for this one? I see online its 400 dollars plus tax for the new iphone SE that came out last year for 64gb. But if you double the storage... its only 50 dollars more. Now i won't ever need that much gb... so should i still upgrade double the storage for 50 dollars more? Does it help with resale value? Now what should i do with my old SE then if i buy a new one? Its in very good condition. I don't even really want to buy a new phone but when i hear it might not do anymore updates... then that isn't good. But will it be soon? Like in 6 months? A year? How long? Example... nobody uses the iphone 4s anymore right since it couldn't update to a certain IOS and when was that? So the people who still use that iphone basically would have security issues since it can't update to new IOS?


I like to add... I always update to the newest IOS when I get a software update and I heard with the old SE... this makes the battery weaker the more updates you do? Then again, you have to update or else it has security issues right?



I'm curious but how often do you guys get a new iphone and or get new battery? Seem to me like many people just want to buy the new iphone every year or two and swap the old one for new one? Or some people do a battery change every two years... then next year or two buy a new iphone? I dont even care about the new iphone ten or whatever is out now. But for me... the last battery change was 2.5 years ago so a battery replacement is a must right? I mean, i do have a powerbank and cable with me to charge it as backup so my phone battery still would last a whole day with that powerbank.



I don't mind spending the money to buy a new iphone SE as i heard its a bigger screen which i would like. But screen size is still smaller than the other main iphones people have right?



Now the big issue I have also is... is the sim card exactly the same? My iphone is unlocked and i use it abroad as im abroad almost all year. Im from the US and abroad all year pretty much and sim card i use is the abroad country. So would taking out the sim from this old iphone SE and putting in new iphone SE that came out last year work? If so, that would be good... if not... that would be huge hassle with me as i still use that abroad carrier and have the same number that i use over there.



Also what about backing it up and putting everything in new iphone SE? It shows my cloud storage is full and i always get message of not enough storage... so i guess i have to pay that l or 2 dollars a month on icloud just to back it up to new iphone?
 
I doubt the old SE will be eligible for iOS 15, although it is slightly possible Apple allows it. If it were me, I would wait until the new phones are revealed to decide whether to get the current SE, mini, or one of the newer phones.
 
Also what about security concerns when giving your iphone to the employee at apple store? Last time when i did this for the battery replacement promo... i put a passcode on it before i gave them my phone. I also believed i logged out of my email accounts as well before I did this.



I read if you drop your iphone at apple store for battery replacement... you should be putting a passcode... but also make sure you do the option of it wiping itself after ten wrong passcode attempts. Do most agree on this? Back then when i got my iphone back, everything seemed fine. I mean... they could try all the passcodes but then again with trial and error it would take a long time entering every single 6 digit number or whatever it is. But was there this option few years ago with ten attempts it auto resets? Obviously hard to guess passcode if you have ten tries and its like a 6 to 8
digit passcode.



But always backup your iphone on icloud before you drop your iphone at apple store for battery replacement right?
 
$50 wins over $400. If you like your current SE and it meets all your requirements, choose to keep it going until it doesn't.
 
Okay well when i took a look at the iphone SE new one recently... it weigh less than the current iphone SE. Then again, i did have a case with my current SE. But the case isn't those heavy cases though. Also isn't the texture of both phones much different? The old SE feels more smoother... the new SE felt like more marbleish feeling? That is what i remember and wasn't that big fan of it. I did notice the screen size is bit bigger with the new SE.



Someone on another forum said the SE will be obsolete when the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off in June? Does anyone know what they mean by that? I can't use it anymore or what do you mean? Someone said once they roll the IOS 15 update in late September or October, then the old SE can't update to the new IOS but it still would be usable right?



The thing is I will be soon abroad for another 6 months or so outside the US... so as Im in the US right now for a short while, I don't want any issue with my phone being abroad. But could i continue to use my iphone for the next 6 months or so without issue? Again, i dont mind not being able to update to the new IOS... i would just continue using whatever i can. Or could that possibly be a problem?



I was also thinking... forget about the battery change for now since yes the battery is bad... but its still okay and since i have a powerbank and the charging cable with me... im still good for 6 months etc. Thoughts on that? I did notice my battery had issues maybe like three months ago but since abroad... well i didn't want to get new battery abroad and also because i had the powerbank/charging cable. Like right now, its not too bad etc.



What are your thoughts on this? I dont mind getting a new iphone like 6 months plus later when i get back to the US. But by then, the prices of the current iphones should still be the same? But I most likely will stick with the new SE.



Thanks.
 
Your old SE won't be "obsolete" in June, it may not get the iOS15 update but it will run fine on iOS14 and will continue to receive security updates for a couple more years..
 
ronniejoe – I'm in a similar position, though my first-generation iPhone SE can still survive an hour's walk with music playing.

The current iPhone SE is way better for performance, battery life, and future-proofness, but, of course, that means buying another phone – and if you love the smaller first-generation SE like I do, it's also a melancholy upgrade.

My plan is to wait until June 7 to learn whether iOS 15 will support the first-generation SE. If it does, I'll probably go for the battery replacement.
 
I just bought new SE to replace my old 6s back in Jan21. However, I bought new iphone XR 2 days ago for my wife with just 50 bucks more than new SE. Comparing the two, it’s very clear that XR is much better than new SE. So, if you are fine with a bit larger phone, but with longer battery and more solid body, plus you are not heavy user, XR can be better option too.
 
Isamilis said:
I just bought new SE to replace my old 6s back in Jan21. However, I bought new iphone XR 2 days ago for my wife with just 50 bucks more than new SE. Comparing the two, it’s very clear that XR is much better than new SE. So, if you are fine with a bit larger phone, but with longer battery and more solid body, plus you are not heavy user, XR can be better option too.
Click to expand...
Hey. I dont know anything about those other iphones. But besides being that little cheaper than the XR... what is the negative of it compared the new SE?


So if you are heavy user, SE is better? What is definition of heavy user for a phone even? Like using it a lot of hours during a day and playing music and using data?
 
SE is for lite users. If you are heavy user you may want to consider iPhone 11 or the expensive iPhone 12. SE is smaller than XR or 11/12. Personally I like more SE design but concern on its battery life.
 
Apple_Robert said:
I doubt the old SE will be eligible for iOS 15, although it is slightly possible Apple allows it. If it were me, I would wait until the new phones are revealed to decide whether to get the current SE, mini, or one of the newer phones.
Click to expand...
cnet indicates both current se's are iOS 15 compatible.
 
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