iPhone 15 Pro Opinions and longevity

[nickosbad]

Hi all,

Reluctantly I’m looking to sort my daughter out with an iPhone for when she starts high-school (purely so we can stay in touch when she is walking to and from school and let her have more independence and spend time outside with her friends) and want some opinions if possible!

I’ve purchased an 15Pro from Musicmagpie (cost £499), the device is in pristine condition but the only slight drawback is that the battery health is at 81% with 1100 cycles

I’d rather not spend the additional £300 for the IP17 as it’s a lot to spend on a device that I’d like her to keep use to a minimum (we will be blocking all social media and setting up a child account)

But….is this device likely to last her right through high school (the next 5 years) and what’s the thoughts on the battery situation??

 

[Tsepz]

Hi all,

Reluctantly I’m looking to sort my daughter out with an iPhone for when she starts high-school (purely so we can stay in touch when she is walking to and from school and let her have more independence and spend time outside with her friends) and want some opinions if possible!

I’ve purchased an 15Pro from Musicmagpie (cost £499), the device is in pristine condition but the only slight drawback is that the battery health is at 81% with 1100 cycles

I’d rather not spend the additional £300 for the IP17 as it’s a lot to spend on a device that I’d like her to keep use to a minimum (we will be blocking all social media and setting up a child account)

But….is this device likely to last her right through high school (the next 5 years) and what’s the thoughts on the battery situation??

I think the 15 Pro will be a perfect for her, it is a great device overall with a great camera and will be able to handle most things she throws at it especially if Social media apps etc…are banned from it.
I would say just replace the battery so that it is reliable enough for the phone to stay on for when it is needed.

 

[eyoungren]

Hi all,

Reluctantly I’m looking to sort my daughter out with an iPhone for when she starts high-school (purely so we can stay in touch when she is walking to and from school and let her have more independence and spend time outside with her friends) and want some opinions if possible!

I’ve purchased an 15Pro from Musicmagpie (cost £499), the device is in pristine condition but the only slight drawback is that the battery health is at 81% with 1100 cycles

I’d rather not spend the additional £300 for the IP17 as it’s a lot to spend on a device that I’d like her to keep use to a minimum (we will be blocking all social media and setting up a child account)

But….is this device likely to last her right through high school (the next 5 years) and what’s the thoughts on the battery situation??

Lucky her! 😉

My daughter (who is 18 now and graduated earlier this year) started with an iPhone 5 in 6th grade. My wife's old 5. She then got my wife's old 6s in 2020. Right now she's using an SE2 that was bought new for her in 2022.

The SE2 will run iOS 27, so the 15 Pro you got her will be fine. As @Tsepz said, just get the battery replaced.

 

[now i see it]

I’ll answer your question with this:
I’m using an iPhone 6S plus as my main iPhone and it does everything I need it to do. It is way more iPhone than a child needs. Some apps that I don’t want are no longer are available on iOS 15 - but so what.

An iPhone 15 is only two years old. My iPhone 6S Plus is 11 years old.

BTW - I have newer iPhones too - but I don’t like using them. The 6S Plus is my favorite.

 

[nickosbad]

Thanks, I’d probably agree that a 15Pro is potentially overkill for her use case. She has been using my old iPhone XS for music and messages when we are travelling and in all honesty she would be OK with that except it won’t have iOS 27 and I want to use the new parental control features.

It’s finding the right balance between price and future proofing….we considered a 13/14 or even the standard 15 instead but the 15Pro will have Apple Intelligence (if it gets better in the next year or so) and better cameras.

 

[velocityg4]

No way that battery lasts 5 years if it's already at 81% and 1100 cycles. I mean it may still technically function but battery life is going to be horrible. Especially considering how much a high school student will use it. An iPhone 17e is only £100 more than that worn out 15 Pro.

 

[Mrbobb]

Depends on usage but @1,000 cycles, u should budget for a new batt.

 

[Homme]

I’ve purchased an 15Pro from Musicmagpie (cost £499), the device is in pristine condition but the only slight drawback is that the battery health is at 81% with 1100 cycles

Good choice for your daughter. Best iPhone ever made of all time.

But the thing is when you always buy second hand phones is the condition of the battery. 81% is still fine even for 1100+ cycles but it’s cheaper to get the battery replaced. Do that then turn on Apple Intelligence + Adaptive Power Mode for even longer battery life

Lucky her! 😉

My daughter (who is 18 now and graduated earlier this year) started with an iPhone 5 in 6th grade. My wife's old 5. She then got my wife's old 6s in 2020. Right now she's using an SE2 that was bought new for her in 2022.

The SE2 will run iOS 27, so the 15 Pro you got her will be fine. As @Tsepz said, just get the battery replaced.

Even with the SE2 getting iOS 27 the battery health will deteriorate rapidly. Even on iOS 13 the SE2 will drop to 99% in around a month ( happened to me twice when I had it + battery change)

No way that battery lasts 5 years if it's already at 81% and 1100 cycles. I mean it may still technically function but battery life is going to be horrible. Especially considering how much a high school student will use it. An iPhone 17e is only £100 more than that worn out 15 Pro.

Yeah the 17e is much better than the 15 Pro battery wise but the 15 Pro is better than the 17e in over half to most areas of specs

 

[Homme]

we considered a 13/14 or even the standard 15 instead but the 15Pro will have Apple Intelligence (if it gets better in the next year or so) and better cameras.

It’s good that you didn’t get the standard 15 or lower for your daughter.

Because of the 15 Pro titanium back the probability of the battery swelling and breaking the phone past 80% are low compared to other phones ( particularly the 14 Pro) due to the durability of the 15 Pro

And yes Apple Intelligence will be much better for her with the next iOS Update

 

[eyoungren]

Even with the SE2 getting iOS 27 the battery health will deteriorate rapidly. Even on iOS 13 the SE2 will drop to 99% in around a month ( happened to me twice when I had it + battery change)

She and my son both have the SE2. The battery and another part have already been replaced on my son's SE2 (third-party repair). My son travels with a power bank and my daughter has always had access to a charger, either at school (where she was not supposed to be using her phone at ALL during class), or at home. I suspect she does need a new battery considering how much time she spends on her phone. But she hasn't mentioned it to me yet.