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>And eight in 10 don’t like feeling pushed by manufacturers to keep up with the times – opting to get their tech as and when they need it instead. This is why

>And eight in 10 don’t like feeling pushed by manufacturers to keep up with the times – opting to get their tech as and when they need it instead. This is why I opt to buy iPhones, even at a premium up front. I bought my iPhone 7 at launch four years ago and it's still going strong. Apple still supports it with iOS 14, so it's good for at least another year. Newer models look nice but my 7 still just works.

giantDinosaur 6y ago
Why buy at launch? I'm usually ~2-3 years behind the latest, and especially recently that has worked absolutely fine. I buy my phones second hand in good condition for ~80% less than what they cost at launch. Looking at my current phone, a 7, I realise I'm actually 4 years behind and didn't even notice.
- the_snooze 6y ago
  I find buying a phone and getting settled into it a big hassle. It's more important to me to do that as infrequently as possible. The cost savings are trivial to me when amortized over the life of the phone. If I buy an iPhone at launch, then I'm set for 4-6 years before iOS updates for it cease.
- sokoloff 6y ago
  If they were 80% less after 2 years, a lot more people would do it. That’s what I do as well, but I find they’re more like 50-60% off new, not 80% (which means they’re 2-3x as expensive as if they were 80% off).
- vmception 6y ago
  > I’m usually ~2-3 years behind the latest The trick to doing that is to buy something new, premium and high quality at first, or eventually, and first hand. It is cheaper over time. Not only will it last you 5 years or more, you can also resale it to subsidize the next new device. When you buy a cheap phone or any consumer electronic 3 years old and second hand, you are already deep into its lifecycle and utility. It will just become a paperweight when you get the next device out of necessity.
  - luckylion 6y ago
    If they last 5 years, buying a used phone after three years for 20% of the original price sounds like a great deal. Two years later, you'd buy the next one. After doing that for ten years, you'd have spent the price of one new phone, while buying new and using them for 5 years will cost you the price of two new phones over ten years.
    - vmception 6y ago
      the resale value of the premium device is greater as in you can flip the premium device after 2-3 years and have the next premium device new
- germinalphrase 6y ago
  The only reason I finally moved from my 6 was storage. It worked well enough, but having bought the smallest storage option at the time, I constantly was deleting pictures, music, etc. to keep it functional. Storage will always get sucked dry by system updates, etc.
- madeofpalk 6y ago
  My latest iPhone died after cycling in the rain with it for a little too long after it was previously dropped and cracked, and I'm back to my iPhone X (3 years old) and it's perfectly fine, more or less indistinguishable in performance from my latest one. I wasn't planning on upgrading this year (a first), but this model has a dodgy mute switch that I never got fixed, so it looks like I will be after all.
mantas 6y ago
Even after iOS updates stop, it's fine. iPhone 6 here. No iOS updates, but all major apps work fine. Aside from those that lack hardware support for AR.
- leegraham 6y ago
  One thing that is missing from an iPhone 6 or older is the Exposure Notifications API. I just upgraded my 5s, but apart not being able to use the NHS contact tracing app, it worked fine, albeit a little slowly in places.
- sheeshkebab 6y ago
  That means Mail, Messages, and Phone apps only I presume?
  - ghaff 6y ago
    No? I still have a backup iPhone 6 I use to play music/podcasts on my stereo and which I travel with to Europe with a local SIM for GPS etc. At some point, I'll retire it but it still works fine for what I need it for (which isn't everything but I haven't noticed real issues with it being out of support).
  - mantas 6y ago
    Only app that didn't work so far was some Ikea supplemental app because no AR hardware support. Looking at App Store update logs, following updates were installed recently: Gmaps, Vinted, Spotify, Things, Barbora, Mattermost, Trello, Revolut, Strava, Slack, Dropbox, Duo, Geocaching...

giantDinosaur 6y ago

Why buy at launch? I'm usually ~2-3 years behind the latest, and especially recently that has worked absolutely fine. I buy my phones second hand in good condition for ~80% less than what they cost at launch. Looking at my current phone, a 7, I realise I'm actually 4 years behind and didn't even notice.

the_snooze 6y ago
I find buying a phone and getting settled into it a big hassle. It's more important to me to do that as infrequently as possible. The cost savings are trivial to me when amortized over the life of the phone. If I buy an iPhone at launch, then I'm set for 4-6 years before iOS updates for it cease.
sokoloff 6y ago
If they were 80% less after 2 years, a lot more people would do it. That’s what I do as well, but I find they’re more like 50-60% off new, not 80% (which means they’re 2-3x as expensive as if they were 80% off).
vmception 6y ago
> I’m usually ~2-3 years behind the latest The trick to doing that is to buy something new, premium and high quality at first, or eventually, and first hand. It is cheaper over time. Not only will it last you 5 years or more, you can also resale it to subsidize the next new device. When you buy a cheap phone or any consumer electronic 3 years old and second hand, you are already deep into its lifecycle and utility. It will just become a paperweight when you get the next device out of necessity.
- luckylion 6y ago
  If they last 5 years, buying a used phone after three years for 20% of the original price sounds like a great deal. Two years later, you'd buy the next one. After doing that for ten years, you'd have spent the price of one new phone, while buying new and using them for 5 years will cost you the price of two new phones over ten years.
  - vmception 6y ago
    the resale value of the premium device is greater as in you can flip the premium device after 2-3 years and have the next premium device new
germinalphrase 6y ago
The only reason I finally moved from my 6 was storage. It worked well enough, but having bought the smallest storage option at the time, I constantly was deleting pictures, music, etc. to keep it functional. Storage will always get sucked dry by system updates, etc.
madeofpalk 6y ago
My latest iPhone died after cycling in the rain with it for a little too long after it was previously dropped and cracked, and I'm back to my iPhone X (3 years old) and it's perfectly fine, more or less indistinguishable in performance from my latest one. I wasn't planning on upgrading this year (a first), but this model has a dodgy mute switch that I never got fixed, so it looks like I will be after all.

mantas 6y ago

Even after iOS updates stop, it's fine. iPhone 6 here. No iOS updates, but all major apps work fine. Aside from those that lack hardware support for AR.

leegraham 6y ago
One thing that is missing from an iPhone 6 or older is the Exposure Notifications API. I just upgraded my 5s, but apart not being able to use the NHS contact tracing app, it worked fine, albeit a little slowly in places.
sheeshkebab 6y ago
That means Mail, Messages, and Phone apps only I presume?
- ghaff 6y ago
  No? I still have a backup iPhone 6 I use to play music/podcasts on my stereo and which I travel with to Europe with a local SIM for GPS etc. At some point, I'll retire it but it still works fine for what I need it for (which isn't everything but I haven't noticed real issues with it being out of support).
- mantas 6y ago
  Only app that didn't work so far was some Ikea supplemental app because no AR hardware support. Looking at App Store update logs, following updates were installed recently: Gmaps, Vinted, Spotify, Things, Barbora, Mattermost, Trello, Revolut, Strava, Slack, Dropbox, Duo, Geocaching...