Other What were the best and worst upgrade years for iPhone?

[trevpimp]

My two all time favorites would be iPhone 4S and iPhone 11 Pro Max

11 Pro Max was one of the biggest leaps in my opinion in terms of upgraded specs 4s had a great design and just an overall great phone

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None of the Apple phones reach the "Bad List" for me lol

 

[Td1970]

Best was the 6s imo, mine gave me almost 5 years of service, I could probably still use it as my main phone today if the battery life was better. Doubling the RAM compared to the 6 was a big jump.

I have my old 6s as my back up. Has a new screen and battery. Just sitting there

 

[na1577]

The best upgrades were probably the 4 and the 6s. The 4 was a huge step up over the 3GS. I owned a 3GS and I was quite bummed when the 4 came out because it was so much better. The 6s seemed like a pretty small upgrade at the time, but it held up really well over time... the A9 processor is still very usable and the 2 GB of RAM made a huge difference.

The worst upgrades were probably the 6 because it was not much faster than the 5s, had bendgate and touch disease on the Plus. The iPhone 8 was also not very different from the 7 (the X was the real upgrade). The XS basically had nothing new, and its successor brought much better battery life and cameras.

 

[Homme]

The best upgrades were probably the 4 and the 6s. The 4 was a huge step up over the 3GS. I owned a 3GS and I was quite bummed when the 4 came out because it was so much better. The 6s seemed like a pretty small upgrade at the time, but it held up really well over time... the A9 processor is still very usable and the 2 GB of RAM made a huge difference.

The worst upgrades were probably the 6 because it was not much faster than the 5s, had bendgate and touch disease on the Plus. The iPhone 8 was also not very different from the 7 (the X was the real upgrade). The XS basically had nothing new, and its successor brought much better battery life and cameras.

iPhone 8 itself is still a good upgrade over 7 if you don’t count the design itself

First 6 core CPU in which all cores operated simultaneously

wireless charging

4K at 60fps

Apple designed GPU

18W fast charging

True Tone

DDR4X RAM

A11 SoC is also Purely 64bit compared to SoC’s which had both 32/64bit and purely 64bit is faster in general

even the premium feel of the iPhone 8 since the back is made of glass is better in ways

 

[darthbane2k]

iPhones 4 , 6 and X

 

[taneff]

To ME, the best were

3G, cause 2G vs 3G was big back then, HW was inferior to the 2G though
4S, cause 4 was amazing device with many bugs/HW defects, 4S to me is still the best iPhone ever made
6S, cause 6 was nice but with many bugs/HW defects
X, all new design
12, 5G plus new size (Mini, love it)

Worst
3GS, nothing really amazing new here
4/6, cause of hardware problems, despite being a new and amazing (4) to good (6) devices
8, cause of the new X line
XS, ok the Max became a reality but XS vs X was a shameful upgrade, wasn't even an upgrade, was the "same device" with only a bit better camera

 

[teknikal90]

Best:
iPhone 4S, iPhone X and iPhone 12 Pro

Worst:
iPhone 6 - this phone practically died after 1 year, with crappy battery life and abysmal performance after just 1 iOS upgrade. Oh and it bent...

 

[TechLord]

I feel like the 2021 iPhone (12S?) will be to the 12 as the 6S was to the 6. Where as the 6/12 both brought cool innovations in terms of design, the 6S really solidified these innovations into a device with great longevity. Likewise, if the 12S comes along with more ram, a larger battery, smaller notch, a15 (of course), improved 2nd gen 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, improved 2nd gen magsafe and less display bugs, I feel the same could apply. Boring, but practical evolutionary changes as opposed to revolutionary innovations. Of course with the beast A14 chip the 12 won't age anywhere near as badly as the 6 did.

 

[scoblep]

I always say the 3GS. It was the first time they did an S design so you were kinda disappointed that the design was retained from the 3G. Also the 3G design was by far the worst iPhone design of them all. Cheap plastic phone that cracked. So keeping it another year wasn't great. The improvements were minimal. Little faster, really crappy voice control (pre Siri), little better camera with video recording. Nothing has been as bad as the 3GS imo.

Nothing has been as good as the iPhone 4 either. Coming off the worst phone to the best was tremendous. The design was incredible. It was the first modern phone in a lot of ways (front facing camera, Retina display, first decent camera in an iPhone with HD video recording). The design was so high quality coming off the cheap plastic of the 3GS.

Generally the new design years are more remarkable than the S years. I had every phone up until the XS that I skipped. I'd rank them something like 4, 5, X, 11, 6, 6S, 7, 5S, 4S, 3G, 3GS. The original iPhone stands alone since that started it all. Nothing to compare it to.

 

[sahni130]

I absolutely hated the 6plus after a year or so. That and the crappy BMW I drive at the time. Those two combined made me so annoyed. Then thankfully I broke the 6 plus and had to purchase a 7plus while I waited 4 or so months for the X. The 7plus was a big upgrade from the 6plus in my eyes, purely for the ram, if nothing else. Didn’t enjoy XS Max either- that’s the one in recent memory I couldn’t wait to get rid of. Somehow I lost that one too 😂…whoops.

My favorites were 3G (first real smartphone except for the original iPhone I had for a short time), iPhone 4, iPhone 5, and iPhone X. But I love the 12 pro max over all of them. Truly a great phone.

 

[Gandek]

5S to 6 purely from a specs was terrible.
However 6 to 6S was absolutely huge as a spec upgrade.

Next one that jumps out to me is X to XS decent spec bump but not much else.

 

[Royksöpp]

For me its the iPhone 6... because it was too slim.

It was more than that. It was underpowered from the very beginning. It only had 1GB of ram which carried over from the 5S. The A8 was only slightly faster than the A7. As far as being too slim, that was not the problem. It was made of an inferior aluminum alloy. It was doomed from the start. Out of all of the iPhones, the 6 and 6 Plus were the worst value out of all of them. Poor materials and underpowered hardware was a recipe for disaster.

 

[blkjedi954]

5, 5S, 6S Plus was wow. (7 and 7s and 7s Plus were bad)

8 and 8 Plus were the worst because there was No 9 and then came the X and XS MAXX

Sorry no such thing as a 7s or 7s Plus...lol. Trolling or genuinely confused?

 

[Spetsgruppa]

It was more than that. It was underpowered from the very beginning. It only had 1GB of ram which carried over from the 5S. The A8 was only slightly faster than the A7. As far as being too slim, that was not the problem. It was made of an inferior aluminum alloy. It was doomed from the start. Out of all of the iPhones, the 6 and 6 Plus were the worst value out of all of them. Poor materials and underpowered hardware was a recipe for disaster.

and the start of bendgate...

 

[Tsepz]

7 to X I think was the most substantial due to the redesign.

Xs/Xs Max to 11/11 Pro/11 Pro Max probably the biggest jump in battery life we have ever seen, it took iPhone from just being great in Stand By to being an all round battery powerhouse even for heavy usage, as well as the camera being more diverse when moving from Xs/Xs Max to 11 Pro/11 Pro Max.
I remember being really happy with my Xs Max but always wanted to have a wide angle lens and felt battery life could be better and Apple nailed all that in 11 Pro/11 Pro Max.

Best in terms of design change will always be 3GS to 4 for me, the iPhone 4 design to me is timeless and still stunning.

Worst:
I disliked pretty much everything from iPhone 5 to iPhone 7 but I liked the 7 Plus due to it bringing Telephoto. I especially dislike the iPhone 5/5c/5S design, I think it’s the worst iPhone design period and hope to never see them go down that path again, I simply do not like the 5 range at all.

 

[taneff]

It was more than that. It was underpowered from the very beginning. It only had 1GB of ram which carried over from the 5S. The A8 was only slightly faster than the A7. As far as being too slim, that was not the problem. It was made of an inferior aluminum alloy. It was doomed from the start. Out of all of the iPhones, the 6 and 6 Plus were the worst value out of all of them. Poor materials and underpowered hardware was a recipe for disaster.

I have to disagree. The 3GS was worth. 3G was worth too but at least back then we got 3G network coming from the original iPhone which was massive. But those plastic 3g/3gs phones which cracked for a lot of people felt soooo cheap. As some said here the 4 line became massive after that. Esp the 4S which had almost no flaws. But the 6 line was the second worst after 3GS/3G. That's why the 6S became such a classic, the 6 was a big reason for that. 4s / 6s are really groundbreaking iPhones and classics. They solved big issues from the predecessor.

I already posted my list here but 3GS is really the worst to me, and 2G, 4S, 6S and X are classics now. 4S imo maybe the best iPhone there ever was. Really wish they would make another 4S kinda iPhone, also the 12 line comes close.

 

[ma3740]

The best one from my perspective was the 5S and then the original SE via the 6. There is something about the 5S/SE form factor and design which really, really appeals to me. A phone with similar shape and edges with all screen on the front would be an instant buy for me.

 

[catean]

The best one from my perspective was the 5S and then the original SE via the 6. There is something about the 5S/SE form factor and design which really, really appeals to me. A phone with similar shape and edges with all screen on the front would be an instant buy for me.

12 mini ?

 

[ma3740]

The 12 mini comes very close to scratching the itch, but I’m not a superfan of the available colours. If only it came in graphite like the pro..

 

[Rashy]

How can anyone list the iPhone 4 as "worst" release? That was one of the best jumps in almost every aspect! Retina, 5MP and HD recording, LED, FrontCam, 512RAM, A4, Gyro, good battery and a really impressive design. Compared to that, the 4S was a disappointment. Better A5 but same RAM, Cam a little better, basic-level Siri and 100h less Standby time with overall inferior battery life.

I also regard the 6S as a bit overhyped here. It was basically what the 6 should have been from the beginning in terms of stability/bendgate, RAM and 4K. It still had an ugly camera bump and antenna stripes, pathetic 16GB of entry storage, no IP67, no OiS on the regular model and smaller batteries. The 7 was better in all those aspects + got stereo speakers, also the last iPhone with aluminum back rather than fragile and heavier glass. Since the headphone-jack never came back since then, I would regard the 7 as the much better device of its time. Chances are good it will still receive iOS15, unlike the 6S.

So imho the iPhone 4 and X as most striking new releases, 7 as most-balanced update, and the XR for earning respect as battery-monster. Honorable mentions for the 5S and 6S as solid (but also necessary) upgrades and the SE1 as last 4" phone. I love the current 12 series and my 12 Mini, not missing 120Hz at all, though a smaller notch and 128GB for all models would be nice, sure to come with the 12S/13.

 

[Homme]

I have to disagree. The 3GS was worth. 3G was worth too but at least back then we got 3G network coming from the original iPhone which was massive. But those plastic 3g/3gs phones which cracked for a lot of people felt soooo cheap. As some said here the 4 line became massive after that. Esp the 4S which had almost no flaws. But the 6 line was the second worst after 3GS/3G. That's why the 6S became such a classic, the 6 was a big reason for that. 4s / 6s are really groundbreaking iPhones and classics. They solved big issues from the predecessor.

I already posted my list here but 3GS is really the worst to me, and 2G, 4S, 6S and X are classics now. 4S imo maybe the best iPhone there ever was. Really wish they would make another 4S kinda iPhone, also the 12 line comes close.

ok you say we got 3g network from the original phone in which OG iPhone never had 3G. So I don’t get you

also regarding 3GS despite the fact it looked cheap as it was still a solid phone especially that it got besides the base OS 3 years worth of updates since it didn’t get iOS 7. It came out before OG iPad and OG iPad didn’t get iOS 6 and it did. It and another A4 variant (Touch 4G). were on the same OS Version ( only iPhone 4 of the A4 lineup got iOS 7).

though iPhone 4 is a more better upgrade though doesn’t mean 3GS is the worst upgrade

 

[taneff]

This is an opinion of everyone here.

And your first phrase doesn't make sense. What are you trying to say? 3G network was massive. So it was an important upgrade to the 2G. The 3GS had nothing important the 3G didn't have. I don't know what you want to say here.

3g/3gS were the worst hardware quality iPhones ever, maybe with 5C. But 5C was of way better plastic quality. 3G/3Gs was made of cheap plastic that cracked. A No-Go. Lke the 6 which bent. They did a massive hardware downgrade when going from 2G to 3G, when you don't consider 3G network.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

For me it was the iPhone 7. It was so minimal from the iPhone 6S I ended up saving £200 and opting for the 6S instead when upgrading from the 6. Probably the most boring release Apple made and felt like a filler year.

My favourite iPhone to date was the iPhone 5 and the 8+. The 8+ was effectively an iPhone X and I got a great deal on mine. The most reliable iPhone I have ever used and my outright favourite. Miss that device even now.

 

[KOTN91]

How can anyone list the iPhone 4 as "worst" release? That was one of the best jumps in almost every aspect! Retina, 5MP and HD recording, LED, FrontCam, 512RAM, A4, Gyro, good battery and a really impressive design. Compared to that, the 4S was a disappointment. Better A5 but same RAM, Cam a little better, basic-level Siri and 100h less Standby time with overall inferior battery life.

I also regard the 6S as a bit overhyped here. It was basically what the 6 should have been from the beginning in terms of stability/bendgate, RAM and 4K. It still had an ugly camera bump and antenna stripes, pathetic 16GB of entry storage, no IP67, no OiS on the regular model and smaller batteries. The 7 was better in all those aspects + got stereo speakers, also the last iPhone with aluminum back rather than fragile and heavier glass. Since the headphone-jack never came back since then, I would regard the 7 as the much better device of its time. Chances are good it will still receive iOS15, unlike the 6S.

So imho the iPhone 4 and X as most striking new releases, 7 as most-balanced update, and the XR for earning respect as battery-monster. Honorable mentions for the 5S and 6S as solid (but also necessary) upgrades and the SE1 as last 4" phone. I love the current 12 series and my 12 Mini, not missing 120Hz at all, though a smaller notch and 128GB for all models would be nice, sure to come with the 12S/13.

You can say that again. The way that it is revered here makes it seem like it’s the second coming or something. I always thought of it as one of the more insignificant upgrades, introducing only 1 new feature which has since been deprecated

Then again I am heavily biased towards the new numbers rather than the S years. The S updates may well have more longevity and be the sensible option. But it is the new numbered iPhones that are the most iconic, such as the 4, 5, 6, X and 12. (7 is a 6SS and 11 is an XRS)

 

[cambookpro]

Best

• iPhone 4: big jump in almost every area, brand new industrial design, and was the flagship phone for the longest of any iPhone as it was released in June 2010 and not replaced until October 2011.
• iPhone 6 and 6s: both great upgrades for different reasons. The 6 set the iPhone design language for the next 6 years. The 6s improved on this internally, and had great longevity.
• iPhone X: still looks modern today, and combined a new design with more than capable internals.

Worst

• iPhone 7: a minor bump. The 7 Plus was slightly more interesting due to the dual camera system, but neither were significantly different from the 6s.
• iPhone 8: a perfectly fine phone, but already seemed outdated from day 1 due to the X.
• iPhone XS: if Apple didn't have to produce a new iPhone each year, I doubt this would have been released. What was new apart from a marginally quicker SOC and a slight camera bump?