Other What led to you get a new iPhone?

[subjonas]

@subjonas What if the cost of the battery exceeds the cost of the phone?

You mean the resale or trade in value of the old phone? Well, the cost of battery replacement from Apple is $70 or less, so if the phone is that old, then I’d say that person has gotten a good amount of value out of it no matter what they do with it after that.
But that said, IF the phone still suffices for him/her other than the battery, and will conceivably continue to do so for a reasonable amount of time, then there is still financial sense in replacing the battery. It’s still $70 vs $700 (or more) for a new phone.
Also, there is still environmental benefit the longer we use our devices.

 

[Tunster]

It really concerns me that worn batteries is the top reason people replace their phones (tied with better camera). I implore people to not let degraded batteries be the main reason to upgrade. Batteries are consumable. It’s kind of like replacing a car because the tires wore out. Companies do everything they can to keep consumers from realizing that device battery replacement should be common, and that compared to buying a new device it is very inexpensive. Not only is it financially wise, it is environmentally wise.
Please let it be for any other reason, even if you just want to upgrade out of boredom, but just let it not be mainly because of degraded battery.

We need to encourage Apple and the like to go back to designing phones with snap-in replaceable batteries. Seriously, I like uni-body designs. If it was a dead-simple to replace; I'd have kept my iPhone X for another year to two.

I hope that we also see a technology shift in batteries soon enough and away from Li-Ion. It's one area that lets down mobile devices (smartphones, laptops etc).

 

[subjonas]

We need to encourage Apple and the like to go back to designing phones with snap-in replaceable batteries. Seriously, I like uni-body designs. If it was a dead-simple to replace; I'd have kept my iPhone X for another year to two.

I hope that we also see a technology shift in batteries soon enough and away from Li-Ion. It's one area that lets down mobile devices (smartphones, laptops etc).

I’m all for easy user-replaceable batteries (I’m ok with screws, just no glue). And ideally, companies would continue selling compatible batteries for a few years after discontinuing the device. Kind of like how OEM car parts are still available for awhile. I have a feeling market pressure is too weak for this though, so I’m hoping environmental and/or consumer protection laws will require this someday soon (in the US).

It’s disappointing how stagnant battery technology seems to be. Maybe there’s a real insurmountable technological wall there, or maybe there’s not enough financial motivation since it’s a nice way for companies to get people to upgrade their devices.

 

[ghanwani]

It’s disappointing how stagnant battery technology seems to be. Maybe there’s a real insurmountable technological wall there, or maybe there’s not enough financial motivation since it’s a nice way for companies to get people to upgrade their devices.

I thought all tech has been pretty much stagnant. The last 2 decades since the tech bust have been all about cost efficiency. The last time tech advanced was when places like IBM Research and Bell Labs had people being paid to do research (the 80's). The last 2 decades have just been about productizing the stuff they came up with back then. We have forgotten how to do research.

EVs will probably be the impetus for new battery tech. But don't expect miracles. Our brightest people are busy trading options and futures in the financial markets (or developing technology for that).

 

[bedtime]

It’s the sierra blue. It’s such a pretty colour.

 

[subjonas]

I thought all tech has been pretty much stagnant. The last 2 decades since the tech bust have been all about cost efficiency. The last time tech advanced was when places like IBM Research and Bell Labs had people being paid to do research (the 80's). The last 2 decades have just been about productizing the stuff they came up with back then. We have forgotten how to do research.

EVs will probably be the impetus for new battery tech. But don't expect miracles.

I’m no historian but that may be the case. And I’d say it’s been about power draw efficiency and miniaturization as well as manufacturing cost efficiency. Also, it might be that battery tech has gotten better but we don’t see majorly improved battery life because that extra life is being used for more features that require more power.

I hope EVs do bring bigger jumps in battery tech. But one area of improvement that I think is more important than battery life is battery lifespans. If we can make these batteries more resistant to time and heat so that they can hold their charge capacity for longer lifespans, then we can really extend the life of our products, for the benefit of our wallets, our convenience (less battery management hassle), and probably most importantly the environment. This is going to be ever more important as EVs become ubiquitous. We also need to make sure these batteries are as close to 100% recyclable as possible.
But again, the pessimist in me thinks that extending the life of products is precisely why companies won’t make this happen. We may have to look to governments for this.

Our brightest people are busy trading options and futures in the financial markets (or developing technology for that).

Truth.

 

[saber32au]

For me (who selected other) it's a few things:

I was planning to move overseas, and didn't want to buy a phone overseas until I was more settled and certain of my future. My phone at the time (SE) was down in battery capacity, and I was unsure how many more iOS updates the phone would receive. So before I moved overseas, I purchased a second hand phone (XR) which should last me another 3 years (if not longer depending on iOS updates). The SE is now my backup phone.

 

[marty1980]

At this point, it’s guaranteed I will buy a new phone at some point and that it will be an iPhone.

This past upgrade, it wasn’t nearly as much about specific feature or design upgrades. It had been nearly 4 years and I was just ready for something new.

The fact that the new phone is exponentially faster, with improved features while using less energy for the same tasks means I can feel comfortable with my purchase for maybe the next 4 years.

If the question was more intended to be, what drove me to iPhone in the first place: awesome camera, fast SoC, great screens, iOS, more likely to get the games and apps I wanted to play.

 

[sewerx]

I’ve been using the same iPhone since 2010. Still works fine. There’s no serious hardware problem so the only reason to get a new one could be software inconvenience.

This forum makes me think there’s something wrong with battery quality recently. People seems to have battery problems after 2-3 years - it really concerns me in case of future phone. I’ve been using the same battery for 11,5 years and never think about any replace.

 

[circatee]

I’ve been using the same iPhone since 2010. Still works fine. There’s no serious hardware problem so the only reason to get a new one could be software inconvenience.

This forum makes me think there’s something wrong with battery quality recently. People seems to have battery problems after 2-3 years - it really concerns me in case of future phone. I’ve been using the same battery for 11,5 years and never think about any replace.

Wow, interesting. What model iPhone?

 

[Andeddu]

A few years ago, I went from a 7+ to a refurbished 8+, because my 7+ had a bad charging port, and that model wasn’t available any longer.

A few months ago, I did an AppleCare swap to a new (refurbished) 8+, due to… a bad charging port.

(P.S. I now use wireless charging as much as possible...)

Strange that your charging port keeps going. Are you rough with it or do you not clean your phones? The pins inside the charging port can get stuck if you do not carry out minor maintenance on them. I have been using iPhones since the 6S and none of mine had any charging port issues.

At least wireless charging should never fail as there are no moving parts.

 

[Andeddu]

I’ve been using the same iPhone since 2010. Still works fine. There’s no serious hardware problem so the only reason to get a new one could be software inconvenience.

This forum makes me think there’s something wrong with battery quality recently. People seems to have battery problems after 2-3 years - it really concerns me in case of future phone. I’ve been using the same battery for 11,5 years and never think about any replace.

You’re obviously someone who doesn’t use their phone for more than 30 minutes on a daily basis. Modern smartphone users have between 4-8 hours of screen on time on a daily basis.

Phones today are all-in-one computing devices that are used for web-browsing, media consumption (Netflix, YouTube, Disney+ and Amazon, etc…), social media, instant messaging, gaming, podcasts, GPS, photography, video conferencing, shopping, etc…

Sounds like you just use your phone as a phone, lol.

 

[forestinjersey]

Doesn't the Mini feel rather small in the hand?

Am thinking of going from a 12 Pro Max, to a 13 Pro...

Yes, its a bit small for my old eyes now.

 

[mpavilion]

Strange that your charging port keeps going. Are you rough with it or do you not clean your phones? The pins inside the charging port can get stuck if you do not carry out minor maintenance on them. I have been using iPhones since the 6S and none of mine had any charging port issues.

At least wireless charging should never fail as there are no moving parts.

I don’t think I’m rough on it… I plug it in at night, unplug in the morning. Sometimes charge in the car. What maintenance steps do you take? Cleaning didn’t help for me.

 

[Andeddu]

I don’t think I’m rough on it… I plug it in at night, unplug in the morning. Sometimes charge in the car. What maintenance steps do you take? Cleaning didn’t help for me.

Same. I just plug in at night then unplug in the morning. Are you sure it’s your lightning port or do you think it could be the plug as they are quite fragile and regularly need replaced in my experience. Since the iPhone 8 I have washed my phones underwater once every 2-3 months to clean the ports. I can’t say if it has helped but I have never had any issues with my ports.

 

[sewerx]

Wow, interesting. What model iPhone?

iPhone 4

 

[sewerx]

You’re obviously someone who doesn’t use their phone for more than 30 minutes on a daily basis. Modern smartphone users have between 4-8 hours of screen on time on a daily basis.

Phones today are all-in-one computing devices that are used for web-browsing, media consumption (Netflix, YouTube, Disney+ and Amazon, etc…), social media, instant messaging, gaming, podcasts, GPS, photography, video conferencing, shopping, etc…

Sounds like you just use your phone as a phone, lol.

 

[Andeddu]

View attachment 1979766

What do you do with it? It’s not going to be suitable for modern apps due to you being stuck on ancient firmware. Even Safari won’t support websites these days. I have seen people complaining about the iPad 2, which is the equivalent of a 5S, struggling to do basic web browsing.

 

[mpavilion]

Same. I just plug in at night then unplug in the morning. Are you sure it’s your lightning port or do you think it could be the plug as they are quite fragile and regularly need replaced in my experience. Since the iPhone 8 I have washed my phones underwater once every 2-3 months to clean the ports. I can’t say if it has helped but I have never had any issues with my ports.

It’s not the plugs, they work on other phones. Maybe I just got unlucky with these last few phones. At least it has pushed me to use wireless charging, which I mostly ignored previously.

 

[decafjava]

Same. I just plug in at night then unplug in the morning. Are you sure it’s your lightning port or do you think it could be the plug as they are quite fragile and regularly need replaced in my experience. Since the iPhone 8 I have washed my phones underwater once every 2-3 months to clean the ports. I can’t say if it has helped but I have never had any issues with my ports.

Underwater? I know Apple has improved water-resistance over the last few years but I get nervous even getting rain on my 13 Pro Max which is supposedly pretty robust.

 

[Andeddu]

Underwater? I know Apple has improved water-resistance over the last few years but I get nervous even getting rain on my 13 Pro Max which is supposedly pretty robust.

It’s fine. I used to fill up my sink and wash my 8 once every month even though it was only IP67 rated. Never had an issue and it is still in perfect condition to this day. I have cleaned my IP68 rated 12 Mini by completely submerging it into the sink many times also. These phones are basically water proof up to a depth of around 3 meters so don’t be afraid to get it wet!

 

[Andeddu]

It’s not the plugs, they work on other phones. Maybe I just got unlucky with these last few phones. At least it has pushed me to use wireless charging, which I mostly ignored previously.

Sounds like you’ve just been unlucky then. I tend to wireless charge these days also so the ports aren’t a concern to me. When I had the 8 I was probably 50/50 wireless and lightning cable.

 

[ozapple]

“Was wondering what your reasons were for getting a new and improved iPhone…”

I’m a greedy, selfish, materialistic capitalist pig. Does that count?

 

[ignatius345]

marketing

 

[babyexercise]

The result exactly matches how Apple does marketing and the pricing different of each model.