Other How long do you keep your phone?

[ian87w]

The older you get, the longer you wait to upgrade. I have the 12Pro in gold to match my AW5 SS Gold, so I am in no hurry to change either one. We getting to the point of diminishing returns. At my age, I don't think there will be a significant improvements for a couple more years, Quite happy with what I have.

True. There's a reason why the 6s is still supported. The general hardware performance have caught up to provide good enough user experience. The rest are just icing and cherry on the cake (better camera quality, better screen, better battery life, etc).

When I use my 7+, I don't feel like I need a faster phone. The only thing that feels old about it, other than its design, is its camera quality (it is obvious, even my Galaxy A71 can deliver better looking photos). But the rest, it doesn't feel lacking at all.

OTOH, for some people, a phone has become fashion accessory, thus the need to change on a yearly (or more frequent) basis. It's just the nature of the maturity of the tech.

 

[ScreenSavers]

Hmm, well…take a guess.

View attachment 1734409

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

Also, my iPhone 4 is in a dock in the garage.

Nice. I can’t give away those acrylic cinema and studio displays. Too bad. They are nice monitors even today.

 

[GrandeLatte]

The older you get, the longer you wait to upgrade. I have the 12Pro in gold to match my AW5 SS Gold, so I am in no hurry to change either one. We getting to the point of diminishing returns. At my age, I don't think there will be a significant improvements for a couple more years, Quite happy with what I have.

So true. The older I get, the less I care about technology. I wait until my phone doesn't work anymore, or won't upgrade APPs, that's when I change. Otherwise, there's no real hurry.

 

[Robbosan]

About 4 months 12 64gb - 12 128gb pro max

 

[iHorseHead]

I still use my iPhone 5s.
Looking for a new one. Waiting for Apple to release new iPhones, so the prices would drop. I think I'll get an iPhone 11 when the price drops.

 

[Lwii2boo]

My xr is really starting to slow down. Hopefully they offer another great upgrade deal this fall on att for the 13...

XR and A12 are both blazing fast.
We have at the house a 7, XR, XS and 12 all updated to lastest iOS and honestly XS/XR/12 are almost exact same speed we need to really compare them side by side to see the A12/A14 differences expect for very power hungry niche use case (export huge 4K video, launch screen of huge 3D game etc...). Even the 7 with its A10 is perfectly capable, it just a bit slower on games and big app but for classics non-gaming app, the speed is still very relevant today (ofc the 7 has now a poor camera, screen, battery and design but perf/speed aged pretty well even today!)

2 possibilties
- Your phone has an issue (an used battery can decrease CPU perf, CPU or other hardware issue, glitchy app that use too much ressources in background etc) and you should investigate on it since your phone is still blazing fast by today's standard
- You convince yourself to upgrade despite this is a non-issue (wtf?)

 

[jcorbin]

The only reason I’d want to switch is to gain gesture nav and the camera features of the 12 series. But for now I’m content with my SE2

 

[RannenUAZi]

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.

I also remember that many people had problems with 3gs

 

[eyoungren]

Nice. I can’t give away those acrylic cinema and studio displays. Too bad. They are nice monitors even today.

I got those around 2014, after a member here sold me his G4 Quicksilver. There was a second Studio Display, unfortunately there was an accident when re-arranging things. This is the fourth Mac that's used my six display set up (not all with the same displays). After seven years I am giving serious consideration to one large curved display and possibly just two outliers.

That said, my intention wasn't so much the displays, but the iPhones - all fully functional.

PS. If you live in or near Phoenix, I'll take your displays off your hands.

 

[eyoungren]

This was my shortest upgrade to date. 1 year 9 months. Pixel 3a XL to iPhone 11 Pro Max. Delivered yesterday.

 

[bunnyechoes]

I try to keep my phone for at least two years before upgrading. With Apple supporting older models for so long, there's no need to always have the latest and greatest iPhone.

 

[Quackington]

I kept my iPhone 4 for four years, upgraded to the 6 in 2014 and then upgraded to the 11 in 2020. So my last one was 5 years, though I probably kept it for a year longer than I should have. The 6 was rather sloew by that point. I reckon I could've continued with it for one more year though, would've just had to deal with a slow phone.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Usually upgrade yearly. Apple Watch seems to be every year now too. ipads I keep for 2.5-3 years. My Mac was 5.5 years old when I upgraded.

 

[Taz Mangus]

iPhone 4S —> iPhone 5 —> iPhone 6S Plus —> Next iPhone Pro Max.

 

[QCassidy352]

I voted 1-2 years because that’s my average (9 iphones in 14 years), but I kept my last one (an iPhone 7) for over 3.5 years.

 

[MisterMillz]

I’ve upgraded every year since and including the 4 launch—my first iPhone purchase. For the last 3 or so years I’ve said the upgrades are more incremental/less impressive than the last and every year I still end up with a new one. Lol

Tried out all of the 12s and settled back on the 11 Pro. I prefer the feel, the size and its cost. Recently bought the 512GB model and hope I can be content with it for 2-3 years. However, if the next 6.1 Pro has an always on display, ProMotion, Qualcomm X60/65 and a bigger battery I’ll probably have to start over next year. 😂

 

[rui no onna]

No set schedule. Just when needed or there's a deal too good to pass up. That was every 1-2 years during the earlier years, particularly since we were doing iPhone musical chairs (passing down older iPhones to family). The iPhone 7 however, I kept 3.5 years and battery was frustratingly bad by the time it got replaced with a nearly identical SE2.

I got monthly AppleCare+ on the SE so now, I can just do express replacement when needed.

 

[bushman4]

The answer is simple
I keep it till a new model comes out with features that my current iPhone doesn’t have

 

[dumastudetto]

Why should 2 years be the maximum people should keep an iPhone? These phones don’t change enough in that time to warrant it being a need. I change mine every 2 years but it’s because I fancy doing it. In reality I could go 3 or 4 years and still have a very capable iPhone in my pocket.

To take advantage of all the new features, the improved cameras (until you can go back in time, your memories deserve to be captured using the best available tech at the time), the performance enhancements, security enhancements, display improvements, additional RAM to realise the most advanced apps at their full potential, new hardware designs that add to the experience, new hardware technologies such as LiDAR, the list goes on and on and on.

 

[dumastudetto]

Why do you say that?

See reply above this.

 

[dumastudetto]

Total nonsense. Especially since every single high end smartphones have plateaued for 3-4 years (except camera department)
I guess consumerism and Apple marketing still work like a charm on weak minds.
Dont get me wrong upgrading every 2 or 3 years is perfectly fine, even more true if you are an enthusiast but saying everyone should upgrade every 1 or 2 year max is just dumb

I've outlined the reasons above this post. The benefits should be clear and obvious to everyone. I don't recommend upgrading just because you feel like it. I recommend upgrading because it's necessary.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

To take advantage of all the new features, the improved cameras (until you can go back in time, your memories deserve to be captured using the best available tech at the time), the performance enhancements, security enhancements, display improvements, additional RAM to realise the most advanced apps at their full potential, new hardware designs that add to the experience, new hardware technologies such as LiDAR, the list goes on and on and on.

That’s only really relevant if you’re someone who uses their phone to its absolute potential. Very few people actually do this and many don’t care. The camera increments year on year are relatively small in my experience. I certainly wouldn’t waste my money changing my iPhone every year and never consider phones costing £1k+. The mid tier iPhones are powerful enough for me. If I want a good camera I use my actual good camera, not a tiny sensor mobile phone. The camera on my phone is good enough as a general point and shoot too.

 

[calliex]

Usually keep it till it starts to have problems. Over the years I had the orig, 4s, 6, and now the 11.
I made a mistake keeping the 3 so long though. ATT was charging me for an upgrade after 2 years even though I never got one. Those were days when the cost of phone was hidden in the monthly phone bill. I actually paid ATT for two phones I never got because the first one was free from apple since I worked there.

 

[adamlbiscuit]

My update schedule has become quite inconsistent over the years, mainly because the rate of improvement between each iPhone generation has naturally slowed down as smartphones mature as a whole.

My timeline is:

iPhone 4 - Early 2011

iPhone 5 - Early 2013

iPhone 6 Plus - Early 2015

iPhone X - Late 2017

iPhone 12 - Late 2020.

So I went from upgrading every 2 years, then to 2 1/2 years, and now to 3 years.

I held onto my iPhone 6 Plus because I loved the phone and when it came time for me to upgrade, I just couldn't see the big benefit of going to a 7. In retrospect, internally the 7 was a lot different to the 6 Plus, but because it looked pretty much the same on the outside I couldn't drum up the excitement for it (I was all about the look back then).

However, later that year when Apple released the X it was all-new and all-exciting so I upgraded. Same story really for the 11, which was the most current iPhone at the time my upgrade time rolled around. Besides better cameras and new finishes I couldn't justify the expense (not only that but I got a good sim-only deal with unlimited data for £20 every month and I wanted to hang onto it).

By 2020 my iPhone X started to slow down quite a bit and I was running out of storage. I also wasn't as fond of it as I was my iPhone 6 Plus so I didn't have as many sentimental reasons for keeping it around. By late 2020 I'd saved up quite a bit of money so bit the bullet, and for the first time bought my iPhone 12 outright (& got to keep my sim-only contract!).

So far, I'm really happy with the iPhone 12 and I'd say it's my favourite iPhone to date, even surpassing the 6 Plus I had. With that in mind it might be three, or even four years before I upgrade it.

 

[Momof2.1107]

I’ve upgraded yearly from the 4 to the XS Max. I kept my XS Max for 18 months before upgrading and paying outright for the 12 Pro Max. I love this phone and the Pacific Blue color, so I’m in no rush to upgrade this year. I do plan to upgrade my almost 3 year old S4, to the S7 this year.