Other What are your future plans (upgrading)?

[Ralfi]

With Apple's back-to-back years of bumping up pricing for their iPhones, will you continue to upgrade every year, or reassess & hold onto your iPhone for longer?

I don't care what allegiance you hold, they're only material devices that happen to be the most used of any generation, but when it comes to corporations taking their consumer base for granted, as I feel Apple have for the past 2 years, I feel we now have the upper hand (& numbers) in determining how they gauge us in future.

Will you continue to encourage Apple's dominance via exorbitant price hikes, or will you be a part of a generation that, at bare minimum, slaps a plateau on their ridiculous profit-making campaign that they appear to be hellbent on executing since the iPhone X?

Don't get me wrong, I love their products, but feel we need to discourage their blatent gauging & not continually becoming apart of their quarterly profit estimates.

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

Do you want lesser quality products for cheaper? Or more quality products that are pricier? Apple have had the same profit margin they've always had, just now putting more expensive components in the devices which effects the price.

Personally, I upgrade when I need to. I've never felt the need to upgrade every year, not revolutionary has ever happened in the space of 12 months... Just buy what you need when you need it.

 

[DJ_Smith]

Honestly Apple hardware so good these days you just don’t need to upgrade it every year.

My plan is i will not upgrade my Max until there’s no significant redesign. (Like 6 to X)

 

[Ralfi]

Do you want lesser quality products for cheaper? Or more quality products that are pricier?

I want high quality products sans the trending inflated costs we've seen since 2017.

Cost of the XS equivalent next year can't continue to demand the price of this year imo. It needs to be reeled in & reflect the cost of the standard iPhone of generations ago.

Maybe not as low as the 6S/7S/8S, but nearer to it. It'd be a slap in the face to consumers if we have a new baseline for the standard iPhone price - that of the X...

 

[alFR]

I want high quality products sans the trending inflated costs we've seen since 2018.

In other words you want to have your cake and eat it. Not the way the world works, unfortunately.

It'd be a slap in the face to consumers if we have a new baseline for the standard iPhone price - that of the X...

The new baseline is the XR, which isn't really any more expensive than iPhones past. John Gruber dealt with this on Daring Fireball recently in his iPhone XR review roundup:

On a related note, I would argue that iPhone prices aren’t really going up. Last year’s X and this year’s XS models are a new premium tier. The iPhone XR is the phone at the previous “regular” top-of-the-line tier. New top-tier iPhones used to cost $600-650, yes, and the iPhone XR starts at $750. But when you account for inflation that starting price is about the same. The iPhone 4 was introduced in June 2010 starting at $600. $600 in June 2010 dollars is about $700 today. That $600 got you a 16 GB iPhone in 2010. The 32 GB model cost $700. That’s about $810 in today’s dollars — $10 more than the price of a 128 GB iPhone XR, which I think is the sweet spot in the lineup for most people. Inflation adjusted, the iPhone XR is right in line with the iPhone 4 prices from 2010.

Considering how much more capable an iPhone XR is compared to an iPhone 4, I’d say $750 is an amazing bargain.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I'll buy a new phone when the XS comes waaaay down in price, or they release a significantly updated SE2, XS in a smaller form, or something similar.

A friend lent me a 5S to replace my 4S, and that speed upgrade has made me quite happy and content. So until apps start not working on it, or the above happens, I'll stick with it. I am not paying Apples new crazy prices otherwise.

 

[eyoungren]

I upgrade every 2 to 3.5 years. That has never been dependent on any manufacturer. Just the usual amount of time where finances catch up to the desire to upgrade.

Looks like it will be 3.5 years this time around though. We've had our 6s and 6s+ for over 3 years now.

However, it won't be Apple this time. Price aside, Apple is not manufacturing devices I like to look at for 2 to 3.5 years. But the fact that the price has gone up definitely makes it easier to go elsewhere.

 

[gurase]

Apple doesn’t expect most of their customers to upgrade every year. I had my 6S+ for 3 years and plan on keeping my XR for at least that long - not because I want to “stick it to Apple”, but because I simply see no compelling reason to do so.

 

[44267547]

Cost of the XS equivalent next year can't continue to demand the price of this year imo. It needs to be reeled in & reflect the cost of the standard iPhone of generations ago..

That’s not a reality anymore, and we already Know the iPhone has inflation with pricing due to costs of more advanced technology, materials and R&D, etc, the consumer will pay for it one way or the other. It’s just a matter of choice, does the consumer choose to support these prices or not.

Furthermore, Apple introduced the XR, a similar variant of the XS, $250 cheaper and still offers much of the same functionality as the XS.

I’m not saying you’re requests isn’t reasonable, it’s just distorted reality being that the pricing is not going to ‘reflect generations’ ago.

 

[x-evil-x]

I'll buy a new phone when the XS comes waaaay down in price, or they release a significantly updated SE2, XS in a smaller form, or something similar.

A friend lent me a 5S to replace my 4S, and that speed upgrade has made me quite happy and content. So until apps start not working on it, or the above happens, I'll stick with it. I am not paying Apples new crazy prices otherwise.

man, if you think the increase from the 4s to 5s was big don't try a new x or xs phone. not even close to same in terms of speed

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

man, if you think the increase from the 4s to 5s was big don't try a new x or xs phone. not even close to same in terms of speed

Yeah, I know it will be faster, but most of the time the 5S is fast enough. 1000$+ is not worth it to me.

 

[Mr.C]

I tend to upgrade every time a new iPhone is released. It’s not necessarily because I need the newest features but more because I’m the kind of person who wants the latest and greatest and the best that’s available.

That said I had stopped upgrading my iPad every year and currently own the original 9.7” iPad Pro. Although I am seriously tempted to and may well upgrade to the new 11” iPad Pro for the virtually bezelless screen and Face ID. But this time I will probably go with the Wi-Fi only model as opposed to the cellular model as I have never used the cellular capabilities of my iPad.

 

[xxray]

Plan is to use my XS Max for 3 years minimum. Goal is to use it until it’s frustratingly slow or dies.

 

[Garemlin]

I had my 7 plus for two years. Probably would have kept it another year if I hadn't traded it in for a Pixel 2 XL. Now I'm back with iOS and the XR.

My hope is I will be able to keep the XR for 2-3 years.

My fear is with the lower price came unseen corner-cutting in build quality and it won't make it that long. Fingers crossed that isn't the case.

 

[x-evil-x]

Yeah, I know it will be faster, but most of the time the 5S is fast enough. 1000$+ is not worth it to me.

I dont miss the 2012 days besides my jailbreak. I couldn't go back to anything pre 6s. Everything was a dog it feels like before my x I had last year.

 

[eyoungren]

I dont miss the 2012 days besides my jailbreak. I couldn't go back to anything pre 6s. Everything was a dog it feels like before my x I had last year.

What are you doing that requires more and more computing power?

Not asking snarkily, just curious. We all use our phones differently.

I have a 6s+, but there isn't anything I do with it that I wasn't doing with an old WinMo phone back in 2009. Email, texting, light web browsing is my main use. Quite frankly my iPhone 5 and my 6s+ are overpowered for that. I've also got a 4 running iOS 7 and a 4S running iOS 6 and they both handle those jobs fairly well, I just don't use them as my primary phones.

 

[x-evil-x]

What are you doing that requires more and more computing power?

Not asking snarkily, just curious. We all use our phones differently.

I have a 6s+, but there isn't anything I do with it that I wasn't doing with an old WinMo phone back in 2009. Email, texting, light web browsing is my main use. Quite frankly my iPhone 5 and my 6s+ are overpowered for that. I've also got a 4 running iOS 7 and a 4S running iOS 6 and they both handle those jobs fairly well, I just don't use them as my primary phones.

I edit pictures a lot but nothing too bad. I just feel it overall wise. Just using the phone I've never done things faster then with my x after I learned how to use all the gestures more smoothly. Everything I do on the phones now are basically instant and fast. Its never felt like till I upgraded my 6+ to the 7+. Then going to the X from that the gestures and speed just made the 6+ phone feel pretty horrible in comparison. I think my 5 was just as fast as the 6+ was in overall speed. I notice how I use the phones now to be different too. Same with my iPad mini 2 I dont use it as much because it lags. Im used to the speed of an x and max now that its hard to use the mini for long periods of time without getting a little frustrated at things.

 

[ginhb]

To answer,

I moved from the iPhone 6 to the iPhone 8 Plus. Skipped the X, so far at least. Tempted by the XS or XS Max. If I don't give in to temptation by the middle of next year I'll probably wait for the following model to see what new features they put into it.

 

[Cashmonee]

Do you want lesser quality products for cheaper? Or more quality products that are pricier? Apple have had the same profit margin they've always had, just now putting more expensive components in the devices which effects the price.

Personally, I upgrade when I need to. I've never felt the need to upgrade every year, not revolutionary has ever happened in the space of 12 months... Just buy what you need when you need it.

Apple did not really up the quality with the current gen. Or really any gen lately. What has changed is Apple replacing unit volume with increased margin to maintain revenue and profits while the unit sales begin their natural decline.

As for me, I would not have upgraded this year for the first time in a very long time, but I switched to Verizon and my AT&T phone was not 100% compatible. I do not plan on upgrading for at least 2 years. I am also not upgrading my 5 year old MacBook Pro, nor my iPad Pro due to price increases, and now am seriously considering non-Apple alternatives in the future. Apple has priced one of their most loyal fans out of their market.

 

[nburwell]

I'm on the IUP and coming from the X, I honestly did not need to upgrade to the Xs. Looking back, I would have simply kept my X and upgraded next year. Which I may do with my Xs, hold out on upgrading in 2019 and then purchase a new device in 2020.

I do agree with the majority that prices are getting ridiculous. But it's not just Apple (see: Google, Samsung, etc.)

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I’m due for an upgrade next month per IUP but, truthfully I’m on the fence about getting rid of my X for an Xs. My X has been fabulous for the last 11 months and not sure if the small improvements are worth upgrading for. I skipped the 7 when I had my 6s because of the same reason and the 6s performs like a champ as my backup to this day.. The 4x4 MIMO, upgraded water resistance, camera improvements and cpu/gpu/neural engine bump are tempting though..

 

[karmatourer]

I WAS 1 of the drones that upgraded every year. I stopped at the 6S+. Now I have the 10R but the 6S+ was in mint condition.

 

[ET iPhone Home]

I've never upgraded annually. I had a 5S prior to upgrading to the XS Max. I gave the XS Max to my mom took her 6 Plus. I'm hoping for a Product Red XS and purchase then. If one does get released, I plan on using it for 3+ years. I don't require a new iPhone at every launch.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I've upgraded every year since the 5S. It really depends on what features the phone has next year, because with the ever increasing prices and minimal updates it's becoming not worth upgrading every year. I got the max this year. I could stay with it for a while.

 

[frostbit3]

I got the X last year and have no plans on upgrading, same with my wife. I'm sure we'll get a phone next year when apple announces the next model but only time will tell.