I buy mainly iphones and top Samsung phones with some outliners every year. Usually by the end of the year when all.phones have been released. I would love to keep one or just two phones for 2 years or more but I just can't help myself. How do some or most of you do it? Ipbones are usually out of loyalty but now things have changed. Samsung made the fold 2 !! Lol. I don't like the z flip but the fold 3 im sure will be a beast. And now im finally acknowledging these awesome trade in deals!! Ugh! What to do? What to do? Stop coming to forums or reading tech sites? And.now.5g will eventually make things even greater. How.do you just buy one phone per year or longer?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Other Im a phone a holic. I need help lol
- Thread starter Joho2078
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Easy. I don't give a hoot about the dumpster fire that is Android. I also don't have time to go device hoping every time someone releases a new phone. I need my phone to do what I need it to do and reliably and be supported for a long time. The iPhone fits that requirement very nicely.
It’s simple in my case. I’m getting old and other responsibilities piling up and care less about new iPhones every year, but still end up getting new one every two years, so I’ll be getting the Pro to replace my xs and so on.
Theres just not much excitement anymore that I used to have
Theres just not much excitement anymore that I used to have
@FuturePilot & @Christian 5G I concur with both of you. In fact for me, both of your reasons are valid.
I don’t consider android devices to be viable alternative since I’m fully in the Apple ecosystem.
And I’m getting older and less excited about having the latest smartphone as the years progress. Although recently I’ve been upgrading every year since iPhone 8 series, but I kept my 11 Pro this year.
I don’t consider android devices to be viable alternative since I’m fully in the Apple ecosystem.
And I’m getting older and less excited about having the latest smartphone as the years progress. Although recently I’ve been upgrading every year since iPhone 8 series, but I kept my 11 Pro this year.
Hey it’s always fun to see another phone-a-holic brave enough to admit it on this forum.
I have a similar level of interest as you do. I don’t really spend money on anything else because at 54 I already established a frugal lifestyle that leaves me room for this one silly extravagant interest. And I only am like this with phones. I wear my watches and use my iPads a long time. Often until they don’t work well anymore.
I’ve been running an Android line and an iPhone line on AT&T ever since my husband and I decided to try the Note 7 and take AT&T’s BOGO deal for the ill-fated Note 7’s. That experience wasn’t as horrible as you might think given the fiasco that was the Note 7. We actually decided we liked Android and I’ve done like you have done ever since we took that deal. I usually cut the cost of the new phone down by trading in one I already own.
My interest hasn’t really died out but things got more complicated when I found out my vision and nervous system are sensitive to the pwm flashing of OLED displays. That started with iPhone X. That sensitivity limits and shapes my choices as to which models I can own.
I’ve sort of got fed up with Google not giving a crap about quality control and also sort of throwing in the towel on customer service so I stopped with the Pixel 3XL.
Samsung is doing interesting things with foldables but I am okay on my S20 and the S21 line is a downgrade in some ways, unless I want to go for the Ultra. And I don’t. So I’m only interested in reading and talking about them now but not actually parting with any money for them. And I am not touching foldables anytime soon. They’re too expensive and too fragile.
I can afford the purchases and trades I do make. So I’m not trying to make a special effort to curb my interest in new phones.
However, I enjoy reading and participating in conversations about phones almost as much as owning them. So it’s not always necessary for me to actually buy all the phones that catch my interest. I have long had an interest in LG and OnePlus phones but I have never owned one. It’s been sufficient to read about them.
Well i guess for me im young and enthusiastic about alot of tech. When it comes to phones I go for the best on either side. My daily phone is my fold 2 and I carry around my 12 pro max as backup. With the fold 3 coming out sooner I don't see them making much change besides an s pen. But as always ill most likely wait until the end of the year to decide. But I do agree or understand that regardless of age its more important to save your money. I'll be making some moves.to do just that where I can save and still be able to upgrade
I gave up on Samsungs awhile back, re sale is not worth it unless you get cheap well below retail, I often buy iPhones on gumtree and keep or flip for a few dollars, latest a week ago was a ip12 for $900AUD and sold it for $1350 on eBay.
I kept my 11 pro for 13 months then sold it for a 12 on release no outlay.
iPhones are all the same just different sizes few less or more features.
Your not doing anything different than a lot of us do on here yearly or less lol.
I kept my 11 pro for 13 months then sold it for a 12 on release no outlay.
iPhones are all the same just different sizes few less or more features.
Your not doing anything different than a lot of us do on here yearly or less lol.
I have to agree on the resale value. The price for Android phones drop like a rocket from the sky the minute it’s a month old. A couple of years ago I was selling some Android phones and had pretty bad experience. Brand new unused devices were sold for peanuts because people were not interested to pay anything more than almost 1/3rd of their original retail price.
Over the years buying and selling privately on eBay or gumtree seemed to have become more hassle than I’m willing to put up with.
Money or budget was never really a constraint for me but these days I spend when I feel like I’m not wasting it.
Like this year I ordered the 12 Pro Max and then cancelled it as I thought about it more, that huge size is unwieldy for me and the gain in camera technology over the 11 Pro didn’t seem a lot for me to go out and get the upgrade. Also, since I’m on the iPhone upgrade program, the loss of months this year means I’m essentially paying more than I thought I would for this device, had I gone for an upgrade. At this point I’ll just keep this phone until next year then just buy the next model and try to sell it in private. Let’s see how it goes. I hate dealing with people for private selling. Don’t have the time or the energy for haggling over £20-£30 on the asking price. Some people offer to pay so low compared to what you’re asking for that it’s not even worth responding.
Consider sticking with one phone and putting the money you have been needlessly spending on extra phones into investment accounts. Chasing tech is a fools paradise.
Easily said maybe not so easily done but this is the same for a lot of situations where we are set in our ways. Only you can make the change, nobody else can do it for you.
To me it sounds like you need a healthy time out. Sell everything and never look back. Make a plan to buy in device and man up and stick to your decisions.
Same as quitting smoking, just walk away.
To me it sounds like you need a healthy time out. Sell everything and never look back. Make a plan to buy in device and man up and stick to your decisions.
Same as quitting smoking, just walk away.
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me, is there something wrong with buying lots of toys if you can afford to?
Personally, I buy iPhones as my daily drivers, because - and people can argue all they like, I don’t give a hoot. I trust the security and privacy on an iPhone more.
There’s a reason I avoid companies like Google and Facebook, like the plague as best I can for my day-to-day - I’ve read their policies, and I don’t like what I’ve seen.
That doesn’t mean I am anti-Android, far from it. I have several Android devices I have accumulated over the years. And every few years I’ll buy another decently specked one - purely for the handful of things I can’t yet do on an iPhone.
However, I don’t browse the net on them, I don’t use their email, messaging or anything else. I just use the couple of apps I need to, to limit the data they get from me as much as possible.
Not that I’ve anything to hide, indeed I doubt anyone would be much interested in my (now) fairly mundane life. I just have a fundamental issue with companies profiting from data which can be directly linked to my user account - that last part being the crucial element.
I know we’re all different, we all have different opinions on that, and that’s totally fine by me. We should all be different, dear god can you imagine the world if we weren’t?
But when a multi-billion dollar company is getting all of that money, without selling anything to you, I mean c’mon.....
...... I’m sure I had a point when I started this, bloody morphine 😂 😂
Personally, I buy iPhones as my daily drivers, because - and people can argue all they like, I don’t give a hoot. I trust the security and privacy on an iPhone more.
There’s a reason I avoid companies like Google and Facebook, like the plague as best I can for my day-to-day - I’ve read their policies, and I don’t like what I’ve seen.
That doesn’t mean I am anti-Android, far from it. I have several Android devices I have accumulated over the years. And every few years I’ll buy another decently specked one - purely for the handful of things I can’t yet do on an iPhone.
However, I don’t browse the net on them, I don’t use their email, messaging or anything else. I just use the couple of apps I need to, to limit the data they get from me as much as possible.
Not that I’ve anything to hide, indeed I doubt anyone would be much interested in my (now) fairly mundane life. I just have a fundamental issue with companies profiting from data which can be directly linked to my user account - that last part being the crucial element.
I know we’re all different, we all have different opinions on that, and that’s totally fine by me. We should all be different, dear god can you imagine the world if we weren’t?
But when a multi-billion dollar company is getting all of that money, without selling anything to you, I mean c’mon.....
...... I’m sure I had a point when I started this, bloody morphine 😂 😂
Are you on iPhone Upgrade Program? Seems like that's the ideal solution for you, at least on iPhone side.
For me, it's easy keeping a phone (or two) for years. There's no such thing as iPhone Upgrade programs in my country, and carriers are not actively subsidizing phones as post paid plans are not big seller. With iPhones being marked up significantly (the iPhone 12 series just went official in my country, and it's starting price is ~$920 for the base mini, ridiculous), it's easy keeping a phone for years. Just look at my own bank account.
Are you on iPhone Upgrade Program? Seems like that's the ideal solution for you, at least on iPhone side.
For me, it's easy keeping a phone (or two) for years. There's no such thing as iPhone Upgrade programs in my country, and carriers are not actively subsidizing phones as post paid plans are not big seller. With iPhones being marked up significantly (the iPhone 12 series just went official in my country, and it's starting price is ~$920 for the base mini, ridiculous), it's easy keeping a phone for years. Just look at my own bank account.
I think that’s pretty much the price across most of the world, if you’re buying outright. In the UK the base iPhone 12 mini is £699, which converts to about $940.
Not that I’m saying for a second it’s not a lot of dough. It is, and becomes more so based on an individual’s circumstances. I’ve just upgraded to the 12PM from my 11PM, but I very much doubt I’d have bothered this year, if the Apple trade in hadn’t cut the price in half.
That, along with a S6 Watch and iPhone 12 Mini as part of the wife’s Christmas. I’m avoiding my bank account 😂
Are you on iPhone Upgrade Program? Seems like that's the ideal solution for you, at least on iPhone side.
For me, it's easy keeping a phone (or two) for years. There's no such thing as iPhone Upgrade programs in my country, and carriers are not actively subsidizing phones as post paid plans are not big seller. With iPhones being marked up significantly (the iPhone 12 series just went official in my country, and it's starting price is ~$920 for the base mini, ridiculous), it's easy keeping a phone for years. Just look at my own bank account.
One thing to note about the iPhone upgrade program, at least in the UK, I learned this year that it is a hard credit check every time you upgrade, doesn’t matter if you’ve been on the program for years. I mean for a damn phone if they’re going to do a hard credit check I’ve got issue with that. I’m not buying a house or Ferrari for Christ sake!
Going forward I’ll just buy the damn phone outright.
I have fold 2 and 12 pro max and finding it very hard to combine both devices certainly when the iPhone is in my ecosystem
I’m only interested in owning one phone. There is absolutely no reason for me to have another phone just for the sake of having the latest from both companies. It’s a waste of money and tech, in my opinion. I was a Samsung girl for 8 years before I decided to finally leave and go back to Apple with the 11 Pro Max. I then gave the 11 Pro Max to my sister when I upgraded to the 12 Pro Max and I’ll be sticking with this phone for a while. With the pandemic going and how the world is right now, it’s best to save as much money as I can because you just never know. It’s cool that people have the means to get however many phones they want, but for me, one phone is enough and the 12 Pro Max will be my best friend for the next couple of years.
I said I would not upgrade from my 11 Pro max at all..... Well that lasted a few weeks until last weekend when I just decided at the last second to get the 12 Pro Max. I also have a Samsung 20 FE as backup that I got for free by T-Mobile for opening up a line.
That should be sound advice, but finding investment accounts worth bothering about with the relatively piddling amount of money phones costs - well, you tell me.
If we say current extra phone spending is $1,000.00 plus any accessories, a person could buy a share of Apple every month, not counting for any other monies already set aside for savings. That may not sound like a lot but, for a young person that can add up nicely over the years. That is just one example of investment the OP could make use of. He could even get involved in fractional shares with Charles Schwab.
Fractional Shares | Invest in Stock Slices
Schwab Stock Slices™ is an easy way to buy fractional shares for a set dollar cost. You can buy shares from up to ten S&P 500® companies for $5 each.
My finances limit us to one new phone purchase every 2.5 to 3.5 years. So, not buying anything else is pretty easy.
Usually we finance and down payments are made via our tax refund. That means we usually miss September Apple launches.
That said, we keep our phones. With the exception of the iPhone 6+, which I had to trade in when I jumped carriers, I still have every phone I've bought since 2007, plus I filled in the gaps because old phones are cheap. Thus I have a 3GS, a 4, a 4s, a 5 and a 6s+.
My problem is finding things for all these phones to do.
EDIT: For the record, my upgrade path from 1999 (our first cell phone): Samsung SCH-3500>Samsung Phone (forget which one)>Sanyo Katana (2007)>HTC Touch Pro (2009)>iPhone 5 (2012)>iPhone 6+ (Feb. 2015)>iPhone 6s+ (October 2015, traded in the 6+ when we jumped carriers)>Pixel 3a XL (May 2019).
The 3GS, the 4, and the 4s were later purchases, with the 4s costing the most at $25.
^^^Just so no one thinks I went all the way up the line each year starting with the 3GS.
Usually we finance and down payments are made via our tax refund. That means we usually miss September Apple launches.
That said, we keep our phones. With the exception of the iPhone 6+, which I had to trade in when I jumped carriers, I still have every phone I've bought since 2007, plus I filled in the gaps because old phones are cheap. Thus I have a 3GS, a 4, a 4s, a 5 and a 6s+.
My problem is finding things for all these phones to do.
EDIT: For the record, my upgrade path from 1999 (our first cell phone): Samsung SCH-3500>Samsung Phone (forget which one)>Sanyo Katana (2007)>HTC Touch Pro (2009)>iPhone 5 (2012)>iPhone 6+ (Feb. 2015)>iPhone 6s+ (October 2015, traded in the 6+ when we jumped carriers)>Pixel 3a XL (May 2019).
The 3GS, the 4, and the 4s were later purchases, with the 4s costing the most at $25.
^^^Just so no one thinks I went all the way up the line each year starting with the 3GS.
Last edited:
Very fair comment. I do tend to look at things as what I am, a man approaching 73, so it’s pretty hard for me to see enough years ahead to make any investment worthwhile!If we say current extra phone spending is $1,000.00 plus any accessories, a person could buy a share of Apple every month, not counting for any other monies already set aside for savings. That may not sound like a lot but, for a young person that can add up nicely over the years. That is just one example of investment the OP could make use of. He could even get involved in fractional shares with Charles Schwab.
Fractional Shares | Invest in Stock Slices
Schwab Stock Slices™ is an easy way to buy fractional shares for a set dollar cost. You can buy shares from up to ten S&P 500® companies for $5 each.www.schwab.com
Put aside your tax refund until September. Problem solved. Also, why are you wasting money on old devices that you don't need when you can barely afford your main phone?
1. We use the tax refund to purchase stuff we've had to put off. Phones are one of those things, but only every so many years. I file for the refund as soon as I can after Dec. 31st and when it arrives it's spent. That's usually the first part of the year.
2. Wasting money? Because I want to…and it's my money to waste (in other people's opinion). I paid $20 for a 3GS, $25 for the iPhone 4s (8GB) and $20 for the iPhone 4. Not all at once either. The iPhone 5 was paid off in 2014 and the iPhone 6s+ was paid off in 2017. The only phone I owe on is the Pixel and I only have 5 months to go before that's paid off. We will be on the Pixel probably until late 2022 - with paid off phones. At which point the Pixels get added to the collection when we get new primary phones.
If we stayed only on what I could 'afford' at any given time my wife and I would still be using the Samsung SCH-3500 from 1999. That's why new phones every 2.5 to 3.5 years via our refund is how we upgrade.
This is what it boils down to me for me. Apple aren't perfect, but they're a damn sight more transparent and pro-security than Google or Facebook ever will be. I'm not 100% confident with Apple given how many iCloud hacks/leaks there have been, but I'd still rather pay a premium for Apple purely for the security element. Will never go back to an Android phone again.