Other What’s the real reason for upgrading?

[eyoungren]

For real, Silence Unknown Callers isn't enough. We need to be able to whitelist our contacts and reject all other incoming transmissions. Add a quick toggle if we're expecting something like an SMS code (for the companies that still use this horrible form of verification) or a call from a customer support line you don't have the number to, etc. I made a shortcut for silence unknown callers and put it in control center (iOS 18), it can't be too difficult to add a full block of unsolicited communications. It makes me think of Kramer trying to put an end to junk mail, like Apple wants spam to continue for whatever reason. Who pays for phone service so they can talk to unknown people? With a US election year, sms spam goes up, and this year's been worse with recent events.

This is one of the reasons I was jailbroken way back when. iBlacklist provides the kind of thing you're talking about. Or at least it did. Don't know if it exists anymore. But you had a choice with it on how to handle calls and unknown numbers (you could put in a block of numbers if you wanted). Those blacklisted never reach the device itself.

I used to be with Sprint and one of the things I actually miss about leaving Sprint in 2015 (and only that) was that Sprint allowed you to blacklist numbers. At that level they never even got into the carrier's system. Unfortunately, T-Mobile doesn't offer a similar thing and what they do offer you have to pay for.

 

[Cirillo Gherardo]

You completely missed the points the OP was making

No I don't think so. I found the point he was avoiding making by putting a wall of BS up around it.

 

[SpotOnT]

Not completely sure about what you use your iPhone for but I use all my iPhones as smartphones.

My 13 is used for web-browsing, video steaming on Prime, Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+ and YouTube, banking, maps, trading apps, podcasts, Apple Music, video conferencing on FaceTime, Skype and regular phone calls & WhatsApp messages. I have been using all my phones for these purposes, even my iPhone SE1 in back in 2022, and it performed very well at these tasks. I used my iPhone 8 recently and it’s a great web-browsing machine… I surmise something could be wrong with your device? Perhaps there is battery degradation affecting the performance? I can’t comment on CarPlay as I don’t use it however I am aware that it is demanding on older devices.

I don’t use my iPhone 13 for anything different than my older iPhones.

I also do a lot of Safari web-browsing on my SE1 and 6S and genuinely have no recollection of a website crashing on me. Is your 8 currently on at least iOS 15.8?

The iPhone 13 has double the RAM of the iPhone 8….I feel like that is a completely different situation. My sister has the iPhone 8 Plus, which has an extra GB of RAM compared to my iPhone 8 and even her device works much better than mine.

I agree there is not a world of difference between the iPhone 13/14 and the 15 series….but that isn’t what you originally said. You said that using an iPhone 6s today gives you the same user experience as the latest iPhones…

When was the last time you carried your 6s as your primary phone? Using a 6s in 2020 or 2022 is not the same as using it in 2024. All these apps/websites become more and more resource intensive/are optimized for the latest hardware.

While I agree the iPhone 8 works fine on most websites - maybe 90-95% - loosing reliable access to 5-10% of the internet is still huge. Example: try reading a trending article on the Washington Post, where a lot of user comments are being generated and see how much of the article you can read before Safari crashes/force reloads. Try typing a comment on a live news article, and see how long it takes the iPhone to type a single word.

Anyway, there is nothing wrong with my iPhone 8. All the benchmark tests have it performing above average for an iPhone 8. I am running the most recent version of iOS, 16.7.8.

 

[Cirillo Gherardo]

Ah yes! The old trade or sell the OLD device and use the proceeds to pay for the NEW device trick. Right?

Except that doesn't work when you're the type of person (like me) that doesn't want to trade in my old device.

It's called understanding value.

 

[Stevenyo]

My 13Pro's battery life is fading. I can't wait to get rid of lighting once and for all, and the 3x camera is often shaky. If it wasn't for the USB-C I'd probably just replace the battery and have the camera looked at. So really it's just the USB-C, and everything else is a bonus.

 

[eyoungren]

It's called understanding value.

I believe you mean, 'It's called understanding monetary value.' You may be thinking right now, 'Yeah, that's what I said. Is he dense?'

My devices hold sentimental value. Which is why the monetary value of trading them in holds no interest to me. But that's generally not anything that those who only see the monetary value of something can understand.

My sister is like that and my mother regrets handing over family heirlooms to this day.

 

[padams35]

I need to join YOUR cell carrier!

Mine (T-Mobile) only offers free to new customers or requires old customers to move off their current plan. I stick with my current plan (2015 vintage) because I'm not interested in paying more for my service just to get a free device.

Well, there's your problem! You aren't switching to the new $100/m T-Mobile Go5G Next plan to get those "Free" annual upgrades. 🤮


Come to think if it I have the same problem. I've got a legacy $15/m 5GB data plan but when I checked to see if my carrier (Boost Mobile) was offering any phone promotions they tried to give me a "free*" iPhone 15 with "free*" annual upgrades.

*$65/m for the privilege of locking myself into a 3-year contract to get a $23.06/m device credit ($830/36) with guaranteed trade in value for the remaining balance if after a year or more I choose to trade in the current iPhone for a new iPhone with a new 3-year contract lock. No, I do not want to pay an extra $50/month.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Like every previous year, I will get this year's new iPhone is because..

Like, why do you think anyone has to have or needs a real reason to upgrade?

We'll buy a new purse, vacation, or car just because we can, or any of nine trillion other irrational reasons -Why would iPhone buying be any different?

"It has more RAM"
"I hate the finish on my 14 Pro Max"
"I need USB-C"
"There's a small dent on my 15"
"I feel my 13 is maybe overheating"
"I need the new, better 5G speeds"
"I can't live with current Siri"
"I get it 'for free' with my carrier. I'd be stupid to not upgrade!"
"I already have a $400 Apple Store gift card. So it's like getting it 50% off" and so on.

We'll find a "real" reason to upgrade, trust me.

 

[russell_314]

It’s bad if they are doing it without thinking. I have several friends who are not tech enthusiasts who replaced their iPhone 13/14s for no specific reason other than it has become an ingrained habit to replace their phones after a certain number of years.

I agree with that but again people like new shiny things.

The iPhone SE1/6S have a similar battery life to the SE2/SE3. The cameras are good in daylight however are dire in low light environments.

Absolutely but none of those compare to a 14 Pro Max with battery life. I don‘t think they would compare on battery life to even the standard iPhone 14.

Not exactly what I was trying to say. I would never criticise someone wanting to replace an iPhone 8 with an iPhone 15 because the upgrades are tangible albeit still superficial. Upgrading an iPhone 12 to an iPhone 15, however, is like replacing a 2020 BMW M1 Series Sport with a 2024 BMW M1 Series Sport. Pointless.

It’s funny you should mention cars like upgrading from a 2020 to a 2024. I know a bunch of people that upgrade their cars every three years. They want the latest tech and there are slight improvements in horsepower etc.

It is a habit which is being perpetuated by our consumer based society, which I have explained. We replace working devices that don’t need replaced with new devices for no reason because we’ve been indoctrinated by the culture.

Of course. We’re a society that likes material things. Again I’ll use cars for example. While some people buy a very practical car others feel that’s boring and buy something less practical and more wasteful

 

[CraigJDuffy]

The reality is that people are replacing their phones purely because they want something new and for no other legitimate reason. Much of the time they’re forced to replace the battery or replace their phone and they use the cost of the battery replacement as an excuse to replace their entire device. I have been guilty of this many times in the past because of my love of new technology.

I regularly use an SE1 and 6S (with fresh OEM batteries) and they perform well in 2024.

My iPhone 8, which received an Apple battery replacement last week, is very slick on iOS 16 and can do pretty much anything an iPhone 15 can do without much of a noticeable difference in performance.

An iPhone 12 is as good as anything that’s available today and will be until around 2026.

The consumer based society in which we live is a throwaway and shallow world view which results in so much needless waste.

I shake my head every time I see someone claim that they need a slightly better camera module as the camera in an 11/12 is as good as a regular person will ever require. If you’re not a professional photographer then you should learn how to use a camera properly before using it as a throwaway excuse to spend $1200+ on a marginally better phone. Some of the best photos I’ve ever seen were taken on an iPhone 12 or prior. This includes 4K video footage as proven by top YouTubers such as Marques Brownlee.

The user is almost always the limitation, not the technology. Learn to use what you have rather than purchasing something that’s better. If your photographs are not good, you are the problem.

I used to get excited when purchasing a new phone but when I got my iPhone 13, in Jan 2023, it was a shallow and mundane experience as it replaced an iPhone 12 Mini which was identical in every way other than in size. I just popped on the new case, spent 10 minutes setting it up, and got on with my day. The same would be true if I were to replace my iPhone 13 with an iPhone 15 or upcoming iPhone 16.

We’ve reached peak smartphone now so just learn to use what you’ve got and don’t replace anything unless it’s a necessity to do so.

If you genuinely love new tech and get a buzz every time you unbox a new device, keep on doing what you’re doing… just don’t upgrade because you’re going through the motions and you feel like “it’s time” to upgrade.

So why do you guys upgrade? Is there a legitimate reason for it given that there are so many great SIM only contracts available? Do you actually still get a kick when unboxing and handling the newest tech? I am only having a rant because I don’t think there is much to add to current smartphones. The AI gimmick people are using as an excuse to upgrade to the iPhone 16 is laughable also. I also saw someone using a “better camera module” as an excuse to upgrade to an iPhone 16 Pro which made me giggle.

I am not telling anyone how to spend their own money because it’s theirs to do with as they wish, I am just genuinely interested in what motivates individuals to purchase the same tech every 1-3 years with no rational motivation for doing so.

I bought an iPhone X in 2017; was stolen in 2018 and I got a XS on insurance. I continued to use that until earlier this year when I bought an iPhone 13 Pro Max 2nd hand.

Why did I upgrade? Mainly for 5G and 5GHz Personal Hot Spot (I tether my laptop a lot and was getting 24Mbps over a tether on my XS where as on the 13 Pro I can easily get 300/400.

Also, battery life. I rarely made it through a day with my XS on iOS 17 (even with a fresh battery) where as I’m about to go to bed with my 13 Pro on 52%.

RAM - my XS struggled and would constantly reload apps and chug a bit. Less so on the 13 Pro.

The Camera on the 13 Pro is notably better but wasn’t a motivation to upgrade.

That was my motivation.

 

[Andeddu]

Absolutely but none of those compare to a 14 Pro Max with battery life. I don‘t think they would compare on battery life to even the standard iPhone 14.

Absolutely true. I have owned the 6S, SE1, 8 and 12 Mini and the regular 13 has considerably more battery life than any of them by a significant margin.

It’s funny you should mention cars like upgrading from a 2020 to a 2024. I know a bunch of people that upgrade their cars every three years. They want the latest tech and there are slight improvements in horsepower etc.

Yes, that’s my point with this behaviour being caused by the culture rather than the phone market specifically. 20-30 years ago people kept their cars for 10+ years as the norm. You’d be hard pressed to find someone do that today.

 

[scorpio vega]

I'm not justifying it, I am explaining why the 'latest and greatest' is not an applicable thing to me.

As far as the rest - more power to you. You've figured out that kids are not for you and what kind of lifestyle works for you. Not everyone has figured that out and a lot of kids get screwed over because of it.

My lifestyle is very different. I'm a homebody, a recluse and a loner. I'm not interested in travel and there are days where stepping outside the front door is a task in itself for me. Being able to work from home was a massive boon to me. But I don't like being alone and I'm fortunate that I found someone that is the same as me in this regard. 27 years later we're still together. And I still want to be with her.

But my phone is not an extension of my self. For me that's computers and has been since 1985 when I was 14. I love tech and what it can do for me, but I also learned that in the profession I chose to be in, being on the bleeding edge is not conducive to getting work out on a deadline.

Superior technology holds no interest to me unless it can make the same stuff I do right now (and continue to do) better. Everyone is different.

That truly is amazing and I am happy for you. We definitely are vastly different but I respect that and it’s beautiful.

I’m barely 30 so who knows maybe as I age gracefully my outlook on life will change. Highly unlikely. I’m very much anti kid and I can’t stomach a man long enough for a few months let alone 27 years so I definitely commend you for that lol.

I’m happy in the fast life doing my solo thing.

Adding onto your last paragraph which is very true, I do think we (I’m guilty of it myself) are so focused on what’s next and the latest and greatest that we often times miss the small things and lack appreciation sometimes because we are focused on the next big thing.

I didn’t need an Avp lol. But I have one just to say I have it. I love it. It has enhanced my life but I also wasn’t suffering without it lol.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Andeddu]

You end your post with this which sounds innocuous enough, yet the rest of your post really does sound like you’re telling us how to spend our money.


Given all of the following statements you made, you want us to now tell you why we upgrade when we do? I’m completely fine discussing pros and cons of upgrading but your post sounds like we need to justify our reasons to you. Respectfully, hard pass.

I can see how you may think that. I wrote the OP between sets while I was at the gym and didn’t spend a lot of time trying to structure the post which is why I described it as a ‘rant’ as it was purely written as a stream of consciousness.

I genuinely think that it’s brilliant if you enjoy upgrading to the latest and greatest… I am as guilty as anyone else here as I have replaced a perfectly good 6S with an 8 and then the 8 with a 12 Mini before replacing the 12 Mini with a 13. That means I upgrade once every 2 years!

 

[eyoungren]

Yes, that’s me point with it being due to the culture rather than phones specifically. 20-30 years ago people kept their cars for 10+ years as the norm. You’d be hard pressed to see someone do that today.

In my driveway is a 1997 Honda Accord. Unfortunately, while it still runs it's not being driven anymore. There's no way right now it'd ever pass an emissions test as it's burning coolant. But I was there the day my parents bought the car (my wife too) and we are the second owners.

The one car that is working and doing just fine is a 2013 Sentra. I believe that's an 11 year old car now. We just dropped $900 on it two weeks ago for a new A/C compressor, cabin filter, refrigerant, etc. With one car and four people going four places (soon) I want the A/C working this time.

 

[eyoungren]

That truly is amazing and I am happy for you. We definitely are vastly different but I respect that and it’s beautiful.

I’m barely 30 so who knows maybe as I age gracefully my outlook on life will change. Highly unlikely. I’m very much anti kid and I can’t stomach a man long enough for a few months let alone 27 years so I definitely commend you for that lol.

I’m happy in the fast life doing my solo thing.

Adding onto your last paragraph which is very true, I do think we (I’m guilty of it myself) are so focused on what’s next and the latest and greatest that we often times miss the small things and lack appreciation sometimes because we are focused on the next big thing.

I didn’t need an Avp lol. But I have one just to say I have it. I love it. It has enhanced my life but I also wasn’t suffering without it lol.

Thanks for sharing.

My daughter will probably be like you. She's 16, chafes at being home, has talked about emancipation and has declared that she will never have children.

I was raised by two members of the Silent Generation. So, I was taught that children are to be seen and not heard and to always mind my manners and not be rude. Acting as a lot of kids do nowdays would have brought down my father's wrath, so my sister and I learned to behave early.

We've passed certain things on to our own kids. Bad behavior was never tolerated. I can certainly understand why people out there do not want kids and that's a valid choice.

Be happy!

 

[Andeddu]

The iPhone 13 has double the RAM of the iPhone 8….I feel like that is a completely different situation. My sister has the iPhone 8 Plus, which has an extra GB of RAM compared to my iPhone 8 and even her device works much better than mine.

I agree there is not a world of difference between the iPhone 13/14 and the 15 series….but that isn’t what you originally said. You said that using an iPhone 6s today gives you the same user experience as the latest iPhones…

When was the last time you carried your 6s as your primary phone? Using a 6s in 2020 or 2022 is not the same as using it in 2024. All these apps/websites become more and more resource intensive/are optimized for the latest hardware.

While I agree the iPhone 8 works fine on most websites - maybe 90-95% - loosing reliable access to 5-10% of the internet is still huge. Example: try reading a trending article on the Washington Post, where a lot of user comments are being generated and see how much of the article you can read before Safari crashes/force reloads. Try typing a comment on a live news article, and see how long it takes the iPhone to type a single word.

Anyway, there is nothing wrong with my iPhone 8. All the benchmark tests have it performing above average for an iPhone 8. I am running the most recent version of iOS, 16.7.8.

The experience between a 6S and 13 is pretty incomparable. I just want to be clear that I don’t expect anyone to use a 9 year old phone as a daily driver. I merely want to note that the 6S/SE1 are still VERY usable in 2024. I was stating that the 6S/SE1 can do everything that I demand of my 13.

The difference in experience is obviously noticeable in terms of performance, screen quality, sound quality, camera quality along with other bonuses such as MagSafe charging and edge to edge screen real estate.

I don’t really use iPads and the 13 I have is mostly used for WhatsApp messages so I still use my 6S as a WiFi only device. It has access to the full app suite and can handle any task I throw at it. It’s also surprisingly good at web-browsing despite it being nowhere near as snappy as it was in 2016.

I would say that if your phone is an iPhone 12 or better, there isn’t much to gain with replacing it unless you’re wishing to go with a different size of device, such as a Pro Max.

The 8 you have is a decent phone which I can personally attest to, however you will definitely see a noticeable improvement in overall quality when switching to a 15/16.

Every single aspect of the newer phones are better but it’ll still do the exact same tasks that you did on the 8.

 

[Andeddu]

In my driveway is a 1997 Honda Accord. Unfortunately, while it still runs it's not being driven anymore. There's no way right now it'd ever pass an emissions test as it's burning coolant. But I was there the day my parents bought the car (my wife too) and we are the second owners.

The one car that is working and doing just fine is a 2013 Sentra. I believe that's an 11 year old car now. We just dropped $900 on it two weeks ago for a new A/C compressor, cabin filter, refrigerant, etc. With one car and four people going four places (soon) I want the A/C working this time.

I like to own my cars and keep them for around 10 years also. It’s around that mark where they become quite expensive to upkeep due to the requirement for constant repairs. The car I own right now is exactly 10 years old so I am due a replacement later this year. I just dropped $700 on a repair so I think I can justify keeping it for another year since the bodywork is still looking great. I’ve never been massively interested in having a new car but I can understand the attraction.

 

[3304614]

I am not telling anyone how to spend their own money because it’s theirs to do with as they wish, I am just genuinely interested in what motivates individuals to purchase the same tech every 1-3 years with no rational motivation for doing so.

I really don’t think you are genuinely interested. Not when (in the same sentence) you say “no rational motivation for doing so”.

If you are genuinely interested, that a really (!!!) s****y way of expressing your genuine interest. 😂😂😂

 

[eyoungren]

I like to own my cars and keep them for around 10 years also. It’s around that mark where they become quite expensive to upkeep due to the requirement for constant repairs. The car I own right now is exactly 10 years old so I am due a replacement later this year. I just dropped $700 on a repair so I think I can justify keeping it for another year since the bodywork is still looking great. I’ve never been massively interested in having a new car but I can understand the attraction.

We tend to keep our cars because affording a new one has never really been in the cards. 2013-2014 was a little different and this Sentra we have is the first car we've ever actually bought. It was from a used car dealer, but it got paid for when we moved into our house (part of the deal). While all the cars I have ever owned have been kept for a really long time, they've all either been paid off when I got them or shortly thereafter. Except for this Sentra every car has come through my parents as they bought new cars and gave me their old ones.

We're gonna need a second car soon though.

 

[Andeddu]

I really don’t think you are genuinely interested. Not when (in the same sentence) you say “no rational motivation for doing so”.

If you are genuinely interested, that a really (!!!) s****y way of expressing your genuine interest. 😂😂😂

I am saying that it is irrational to replace a device such as an iPhone 14 Pro with an iPhone 15 Pro, yet people do it. I wanted to know what the motivation was.

And being irrational isn’t necessarily a bad thing — it’s part of the human condition.

 

[Tevosn]

Camera and nits, the latter is a one time upgrade when I replace my 13 pro in a few years.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

There are many cultures in the United States, and one of them is consumer culture, a spinoff of the Protestant Work Ethic that the Puritans established here after getting booted out of everywhere else for being a bunch of psychos. In it, the value of an individuals life is determined to be the product of their work as valued by the market. You are your work. Add an industrial revolution and a couple centuries of fundamentalism, and a few other ideas result as a consequence. Such as, life has no inherent value of its own. Your value is your income. Material wealth is then a sign that you are of high worth. As such, you must deserve it by being a great person. Anyone who has less material wealth than you deserves to suffer, as they must be worse people. Then, both taking a disproportionately large share of the available payroll as well as spending it frivolously reinforces the sense of self worth and righteousness in the culture itself. People need to feel successful in an economy that runs like a game show or they stop playing. Buying fancy junk you don’t need is the metric of success and self worth in American consumer culture.

 

[3304614]

I am saying that it is irrational to replace a device such as an iPhone 14 Pro with an iPhone 15 Pro, yet people do it. I wanted to know what the motivation was.

And being irrational isn’t necessarily a bad thing — it’s part of the human condition.

But you did say it was bad (in another reply).

It’s bad if they are doing it without thinking. I have several friends who are not tech enthusiasts who replaced their iPhone 13/14s for no specific reason other than it has become an ingrained habit to replace their phones after a certain number of years.

 

[Andeddu]

But you did say it was bad (in another reply).

Yes, it’s bad if there is no real motivation other than an arbitrary decision based on entering a new contract immediately after one ends without thinking about the alternatives.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Like every previous year, I will get this year's new iPhone is because..

View attachment 2399378
Like, why do you think anyone has to have or needs a real reason to upgrade?

We'll buy a new purse, vacation, or car just because we can, or any of nine trillion other irrational reasons -Why would iPhone buying be any different?

"It has more RAM"
"I hate the finish on my 14 Pro Max"
"I need USB-C"
"There's a small dent on my 15"
"I feel my 13 is maybe overheating"
"I need the new, better 5G speeds"
"I can't live with current Siri"
"I get it 'for free' with my carrier. I'd be stupid to not upgrade!"
"I already have a $400 Apple Store gift card. So it's like getting it 50% off" and so on.

We'll find a "real" reason to upgrade, trust me.

All true. If you go by real needs in life. Why do you even need an iphone. Humans did just fine for thousands of years without an iPhone.