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Other How long do you keep your iPhone before upgrading to a newer model?

How long between upgrades?

  • less than 1 year (specified below)

    Votes: 4 1.2%

  • 1 years

    Votes: 94 29.3%

  • 2 years

    Votes: 86 26.8%

  • 3 years

    Votes: 69 21.5%

  • 4 years

    Votes: 39 12.1%

  • other (specified below)

    Votes: 29 9.0%
  • Total voters
    321
Used to upgrade every 2 years, I have now switched to a yearly upgrade plan from my carrier.
I plan to get the iPhone 11 next month, will give my current iPhone XR to my daughter to replace her 6S.
Would have kept the XR and sold the new phone if my daughter had a newer phone.
 
I’ve been upgrading yearly since the iPhone 6 Plus.

Before that I had the iPhone 3G for a year before I upgraded to the 4 but kept the iPhone 4 for almost 2 years before it was stolen. After my iPhone 4 was stolen I tried android for a few years. When I was on android I was upgrading a few times a year. So now only upgrading yearly is an improvement for me!
 
2 years. I was trying to stretch my iPhone 7 to 3 years and wait for the 2020 iPhone, but it was giving me issues. I hate the current X design, so I upgraded to an 8 Plus which I'll probably keep for a year, maybe longer.
 
My 6s will be 5 years old by the time it will be replaced next year by the 2020 iPhone. Still works like a charm, faster and more reliable than my friends' androids! 😂😂
 
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I’m still on my iPhone X and see no reason to upgrade personally. Besides the camera improvements, the 11 Pro doesn’t offer enough for me to want to spend another grand on a mobile device.

i used to upgrade once every 1-2 years (starting with my conversion from android to iPhone 6), but I just can’t warrant a trade up when the iPhone X still does everything I need, with plenty of speed. I’ll probably try to go four years with this one (half way there’s!).
 
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From reading comments on this forum I'm actually shocked that yearly upgrades (what I do) is the most selected choice.
 
Used to be every other year. When the carriers stopped subsidizing phones on contracts I kept my current phone (iPhone 6 Plus [got upgraded by Apple for free to 6S Plus]). The 6S Plus has been fast enough, even on iOS 13, that I don't feel the need to upgrade. The only thing I wish it had was a better camera.

I plan on upgrading this next year and using Apple's Upgrade program. Still, I doubt I'll upgrade every year or two. All the extra money we can save goes toward our retirement and/or traveling.

Also, smartphones are simply good enough now and they don't come with any widespread must have features generally anymore (although the night mode in the 11 is incredible and borderline must have). It probably doesn't hurt that I have an Apple Watch and don't pull my phone out nearly as often as I used to.
 
If it wasn’t for upgrade annual programs through carriers/Apple, 99% of members on here wouldn’t be upgrading annually.

Traditionally, I used to always pay full price for my iPhones, but with the influx of how expensive iPhones are today, I just don’t see the point in spending that type of cash for price for a ‘smart phone’, not when I plan on keeping it no more than a year before I upgrade to the next model. If I’m going to spend $1200 annually, I’m not doing that on a smart phone full price anymore , I’d rather spend that on something else or invest elsewhere.
 
I upgrade when I find something I like, but typically no sooner than 2 years. I'm on year 4 with current phone, so I'm in the phase where I'm not upgrading because I don't like the current offerings.
 
7+ still going strong, plus I took advantage for of the battery offer last Dec. Waiting for next years phone as that should be a decent upgrade. I will say out of all the mobile phones I’ve owned since the late 90’s the 7+ is the longest serving phone I’ve had!
 
MisterSavage said:
From reading comments on this forum I'm actually shocked that yearly upgrades (what I do) is the most selected choice.
Click to expand...
This is a enthusiast forums so it definitely doesn’t represent the rest of 99.99% of the population. My non tech relatives and friends upgrade 4yrs or so. I’m the weird one here upgrading frequently. My phones screen is pretty scratched and has a crack. It’s about a year old now. So I might upgrade this year.
 
e1me5 said:
My 6s will be 5 years old by the time it will be replaced next year by the 2020 iPhone. Still works like a charm, faster and more reliable than my friends' androids! 😂😂
Click to expand...
I keep going back and forth between picking up an 11 this spring (or the SE2 or 8 new or whatever it's called) but honestly, I'm going to wait like you for the fall I think. still fast as hell, and aside from wanting a better camera and more memory, I love this thing, and it does everything i need it to.
 
1rottenapple said:
This is a enthusiast forums so it definitely doesn’t represent the rest of 99.99% of the population. My non tech relatives and friends upgrade 4yrs or so. I’m the weird one here upgrading frequently. My phones screen is pretty scratched and has a crack. It’s about a year old now. So I might upgrade this year.
Click to expand...

Bolded: Funny you say that about the four years comment, actually, it is four years that the average consumer upgrades their phone. I believe there was a recent study that Macrumors posted while back. Which we all know it’s due to the price influx of these phones today and smart phones generally execute most basic tasks of what we need, {communication/notifications}.
 
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