5 ms·

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 condit

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.

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.