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Other Upgrade question, limited budget

G

gsusser

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 20, 2012
312
17
Medellín, Colombia
I need to upgrade from the Xs. My budget is limited to around $300-$350. My plan is to wait until the 14 is released and then look on eBay for a used 12 or 12 mini with at least 128gb. I'm assuming prices will drop significantly for these phones. In comparing the two 12s, the only big difference I see is the size of the phone. If that's the case, I can live with the smaller phone and go with the mini.

Any thoughts?
 
A used mini will likely present battery issues within a year. I have a friend who has one and he has become obsessed with keeping it charged.
 
Thanks, it's very helpful to know about the limited-capacity battery. A little more detail about my usage - I was hoping to get the mini but not if I need a new battery in less than 2 years. Do y'all think that will be the situation?

I'm living in South America where parts and service for the iPhone are much more costly. I basically only use the phone for texts and calls. Listening to music as well, though I may continue to use my Xs with 512gb capacity for that. I use my iPad much more extensively for everything else.
 
i would use swappa.com instead of ebay … thats my main go to and i’ve never had any problems
 
I'm not familiar with swappa - thanks for the tip. All tips welcome :) I've been out of the phone market for 4 years and haven't kept up. I previously replaced my phone every 2 years.

Regarding battery capacity, what's the percent minimum capacity that I should buy a used one if I want the battery to last 2 years? If not feasible, over 1 year?
 
I’d say just go easy on yourself/your budget and go with a new SE 2022. It might be slightly too pricy actually but just save a little extra? I’m sorry I know that probably sounds quite insensitive but it’s really a great little phone (my dad has one; he switched from a 6S) and I’d hate for you to go with something that has a degraded battery that might end up costing you additional money anyway.

My iPhone 12 battery degraded steadily down to 84% over the period of time I owned it—from November 2020 to March 2022. So far my 13 mini’s battery has held strong at 100%.
 
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If you can afford it, I’d go for the 13 mini. I have a 12 mini. I still really love it. I do get good battery life, but my usage is moderate. I’ve owned it almost exactly one year and my battery health is 91%. I do have the screen set not to turn on when I receive notifications. That helps save the battery, but I also have an Apple Watch, so I get my notifications there.

I expect I’ll need to replace the battery in about a year (which will be the two-year mark). I think the 13 mini would give you a little better battery life, but the 12 mini is great.

For comparison, my other phone for work is an iPhone XR. I get two days on my battery for that phone. But it gets a lot heavier usage during the workday.
 
Thanks all. The SE was completely off my radar and seems a good option for my basic needs. After nearly 15 years of using the latest and greatest iPhones, it's time to scale down.

I'm wondering if I can save even more without sacrificing much and get the previous SE model, the 2nd generation version. 5G is not currently available where I'm located in South America. Any thoughts?
 
gsusser said:
Thanks all. The SE was completely off my radar and seems a good option for my basic needs. After nearly 15 years of using the latest and greatest iPhones, it's time to scale down.

I'm wondering if I can save even more without sacrificing much and get the previous SE model, the 2nd generation version. 5G is not currently available where I'm located in South America. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
The thing I will say is that the second generation SE is also known for having poor battery life. Less importantly it also has an A13 chip, which is only one year newer than the one in the XS. I don't know if there's something wrong with your XS but it's not much an upgrade from it in general.
 
I love my Xs and I wouldn't replace it unless it was necessary. It will be hard to give up 512gb and touch ID. I have thousands of HD-quality songs loaded and the memory is almost full. However, the battery capacity is down to 82% and I have to charge it 2x or 3x daily even though I'm far from being a power user. More importantly, there's something going on with the screen. It looks like a liquid seeped in under the screen and is expanding from either vertical side. I don't think it's actually liquid but I have no clue what's causing it. It started about 6 months ago and is only worsening. Plus, the touch screen doesn't react the same as it used to. I could probably use it happily for another 6 months, but that's about it.
 
gsusser said:
Thanks all. The SE was completely off my radar and seems a good option for my basic needs. After nearly 15 years of using the latest and greatest iPhones, it's time to scale down.

I'm wondering if I can save even more without sacrificing much and get the previous SE model, the 2nd generation version. 5G is not currently available where I'm located in South America. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
I have had both. The SE 2022 does have better battery life and the same processor as the iPhone 13.
 
gsusser said:
I love my Xs and I wouldn't replace it unless it was necessary. It will be hard to give up 512gb and touch ID. I have thousands of HD-quality songs loaded and the memory is almost full. However, the battery capacity is down to 82% and I have to charge it 2x or 3x daily even though I'm far from being a power user. More importantly, there's something going on with the screen. It looks like a liquid seeped in under the screen and is expanding from either vertical side. I don't think it's actually liquid but I have no clue what's causing it. It started about 6 months ago and is only worsening. Plus, the touch screen doesn't react the same as it used to. I could probably use it happily for another 6 months, but that's about it.
Click to expand...
If you have TouchID, that isn't a Xs.
 
gsusser said:
I love my Xs and I wouldn't replace it unless it was necessary. It will be hard to give up 512gb and touch ID. I have thousands of HD-quality songs loaded and the memory is almost full. However, the battery capacity is down to 82% and I have to charge it 2x or 3x daily even though I'm far from being a power user. More importantly, there's something going on with the screen. It looks like a liquid seeped in under the screen and is expanding from either vertical side. I don't think it's actually liquid but I have no clue what's causing it. It started about 6 months ago and is only worsening. Plus, the touch screen doesn't react the same as it used to. I could probably use it happily for another 6 months, but that's about it.
Click to expand...
Well in that case how much of an upgrade it is isn't so relevant. The battery is probably the main concern with the SE, particularly the 2nd one. But if your usage is light enough you may be able to make it work. I do consider the latest SE a decent improvement from the second both because of the newer hardware and better battery life.
 
How much storage will you need? Right now the cheapest mint condition 12 mini is $530. I would not expect a dramatic decrease from that price. It was one thing when each year brought a completely new device with moderate upgrades. But now, without subsidized pricing contracts and what appears to be mature technology, people are keeping their phones 3,4,5 years instead of the annual upgrades of old. I do hope you find the phone you want at the price you want. Good luck!
 
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