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How long do you generally keep a phone?


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jcorbin

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 18, 2011
1,135
259
D.C.
I know many people on the forums upgrade every year but I was wondering on average how long y’all keep your phone. I used to bounce around between various androids chasing specs and features and then try the new iPhones for a few months before getting bored again. But I’m going to try to stick with my SE for at least 2 years (hopefully more) to get the most value out of it.
 
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From my past phones roughly 2 years or a bit less. Personally I want to reduce this habit and planning to keep phones for longer. But sometimes I got annoyed at one thing so much that I wanted to change.

For example, I upgraded to my Galaxy A71 because of Samsung's promise for 3 years of OS updates. But now I got annoyed the fact that the A71 is being treated like a step child, only on Nov 2020 security patch with Android 11 promised on May 2021. If I knew that it won't be getting the updates in a more timely manner, I would've saved some money and get a Xiaomi instead. Really tempted to get the Poco X3.

On the side, I bought my iPhone 7+ in early 2020. Will see if this old iPhone will outlive my Samsung. :D
 
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I've upgraded every year since the 6...until this year. Tried a 12 mini, but battery life on my 11 Pro is enough for me to hold on to it. It's probably the best phone I've ever had, really no complaints. Hopefully the 13 series is good enough to tempt me though!
 
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Hmm, well…take a guess. :D

2021-02-23 21.02.52.jpg

iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5 and iPhone 6s+.

Also, my iPhone 4 is in a dock in the garage.
 
Use to be yearly, switched to every 2 years, next iPhone will most likely be a foldable iPhone2022 😁 12 pro max is a beast, especially when it comes to battery life, miles ahead of the completion, will do me just fine for another year unless I get tempted 🤦‍♂️😂

Not interested in the 12s this year.
 
Gotta love the stability of a good operating system. 😁
not just OS... but its also because there are so many flagship Android phones with so many brands. So i hop around quite often. But with IOS i dont think ill be changing that often because Apple releases a flagship once a year. Saves me more money :D
 
Started with 3GS in 2008, then 4, 6 and now X in 13 years. So, 13years / 4 phones = 3.25. A little over 3 years on the average it seems.

However I hung on to my 4 and 6 for 4 years. 3GS was the shortest lived phone I had, Also it appears that my X will be 4 years old before I consider replacing with a 13.

So, if we discount the short lived 3GS, 4 years seems to be the norm for me.
 
2010 - 3GS
2014 - 5S
2018 - 8
2022 - ?

I had to write them all down... but I'm sure there was briefly a second hand 5 before the 5S.
 
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I’ve upgraded yearly since the iPhone 6 Plus, but I’m no longer on the yearly upgrade plan. I currently have the 12 Mini and love it. I don’t think I will upgrade this year unless the 12s/13 mini has some incredible upgrades I can’t pass up.
 
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I don’t upgrade every year. Most of the time in my life I bought second hand model while new came in. I have switched from 7 to XS (even on the launch) and last fall from XS to 12 mini. At least I’m thinking about going for two years minimum because I’m buying Apple Care+ for iPhones.
 
3 years. I have XR now and going to switch to the 13.
At this point it is only for the new features and not the usability of the device.

Also I keep it in out of box condition even though I probably won’t sell it.

Now that I’m looking at it, even the screen protector that I installed 2 years ago has no single scratch on it.

Battery is still fine, 94% and gets me through the day with 40-50% left, so it will last another year.
 
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