Time for a new phone. Or not. I don't know...

"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
07/03/2019 at 00:23 • Filed to: None

My 6S Plus is paid off. Now that I freed up a bit of space it’s working much, much better. But it has its issues - battery life isn’t what it used to be, and the little vibrator motor thingy is loose because of a couple of drops. Cosmetically it’s fine - it’s been in a Mophie battery case since new, and that case is helping with the battery life issues, but I’d rather be up to full strength on the internal battery.

I’m not really interested in moving back to Android, and the added features on the various iPhone X models don’t make me want to rush out and spend $$$ for a top-of-the-line unit. I’m OK with being a generation of two behind on my phone, so I’m thinking that an 8 Plus should hold me over for a few years, but do I really need a new phone?

I’m still on iOS 10, by choice, and I’m finding that many apps no longer have versions that work for me, so this may force the upgrade issue. Heck, my dad is still using an iPhone 5. I wanted to get new phones for both of us using AT&T’S BOGO offers, but those only apply if you want to add another line - there’s just the three of us, so no need for another line. The other option was to upgrade to unlimited data without tethering for another $50/mo in order to get $450 off of a phone, but that doesn’t make sense either. We don’t use all of the 12 GB we have now, so why go unlimited?

Decisions, decisions...

DISCUSSION (23)

Wheelerguy > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/03/2019 at 03:18

Get a basic X. Much more powerful than the 6S without being too current.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Wheelerguy
07/03/2019 at 05:09

I’m leaning more towards the 8 Plus, TBH. Same basic guts, and therefore power and lifespan, as the X, but with just a slightly smaller display (and lower resolution and lesser technology) , a little slower on the telephoto lens, but with a familiar home button and longer battery life . Plus it’s about $7.50/mo less expensive. It seems like the sweet spot in their lineup.

jimz > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/03/2019 at 06:29

I’m still on iOS 10 , by choice

Kinja'd!!!

Wheelerguy > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/03/2019 at 06:39

Fair pick. As long as it can run the most recent iOS you’re pretty much golden.

deekster_caddy > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/03/2019 at 06:53

The 6S is still a decent phone. iOS 12 is pretty good, I have no complaints. We just had the battery replaced in my daughter’s 6S for $49.

If you are insistent on a new phone , I had a 6S until a few months ago, our work upgraded phones and I got an XR - it’s a fantastic upgrade. I would never recommend the XS or XS Max knowing how good the XR is. It’s the new 6S! I manage about 30 phones at work and was never a big fan of the 7 or 8 as a big improvement over the 6S, but the XR is a massive upgrade.

deekster_caddy > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/03/2019 at 06:55

The XR packs a lot more tech over the 8 Plus and the screen is plenty. The dual camera bit in the 8 Plus isn’t worth it afaik - the XR’s camera more than makes up for it.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > jimz
07/03/2019 at 06:55

I have a number of older apps that I still use that were never upgraded to be compatible with IOS 11+, plus I usually see that newer OS versions on older devices just t ends to slow them down.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > deekster_caddy
07/03/2019 at 07:04

Hmm, maybe I’ll have to take another look at the XR.

Someone just have me an aftermarket replacement battery for the 6S, but I haven’t had the best of luck with third party batteries, plus I don’t want to risk buggering up an otherwise working phone. As they cram more crap into smaller packages, the margin for error seems to diminish exponentially.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/03/2019 at 07:05

This discussion is helpful to me as I still use a 5s for my work phone. I really only use it for voice, email and photos, so I have no problems, but I know it won’t last forever. Sounds like an XR is probably a good replacement.

I still have a Galaxy 7 for personal use including apps, etc. I'll probably need to upgrade that next year.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
07/03/2019 at 07:14

I still keep a couple of Android devices around, including an S5 and a ZTE 981 something that I got for free. Sometimes it’s easier to set up a Google device on Android even though they say they have apps that work with iOS. The ZTE is great for transporting tons of data with a 256GB card and for watching movies on long flights on that big-ass screen.

i86hotdogs > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/03/2019 at 07:25

I’m in the same boat as you. I refuse to give up my 6s with the max storage capacity (128GB?) for one reason only: Headphone jack. I can’t seem to let go of the headphone jack. I don’t own any wireless headphones, nor do I really want to. I plan on keeping this 6s until it is beyond the grave.

Just Jeepin' > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/03/2019 at 08:05

The upgrade performance problem isn’t that simple. Some upgrades are actually pretty significant boosts, as Apple gets rid of cruft or optimizes parts of the system.

But yeah, sometimes it’s not such a good idea, but then you’re facing security problems.

Nibby > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/03/2019 at 08:30

get an iPhone 4S

liam > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/03/2019 at 09:02

Apple Refurbished. Like new, same warranty as new but a little cheaper:

https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/iphone

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Nibby
07/03/2019 at 09:28

Why would I need a second 4S?

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > liam
07/03/2019 at 09:39

Good idea. It looks like I can get just the phone I want for about $120 less. Now I just need to find out if I can do payments on my phone bill like I did for the 6S.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Just Jeepin'
07/03/2019 at 09:46

I remember my Mac mini getting slower and slower with each release after 10.6, and then got a massive bump in speed (well, back to 10.6 performance levels) with 10.11. But it's easy to try a new OS release on your computer by using a cloned external drive, but not so easy to roll back a phone if you don't like how it behaves. I haven't read anything about a performance boost with newer releases, so other than a few new features and emojis I don't see a need to upgrade the OS.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > i86hotdogs
07/03/2019 at 09:52

Yeah, the headphone jack is still something I use as well. In fact, I made a little adapter for my car that can control many of the functions of my phone with a factory Mazda switch that I grabbed at a junkyard. It’s just the guts of the multi-function switch found on the headphones being controlled by a switch on the dash. Nice and clean and looking factory, without the need to hunt for a tiny switch on the cable or to actually look at the display. I guess you could consider it a electronic safety feature, but one that actually works!

i86hotdogs > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/03/2019 at 10:31

That’ s pretty interesting!

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > i86hotdogs
07/03/2019 at 11:05

It’s a very simple DIY project if you're semi-handy with a soldering iron.

deekster_caddy > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/03/2019 at 12:29

The $49 battery replacement is through Apple. As long as there is no water damage they will do it. The store we took it to had it back to us in under an hour, we went and had lunch while they did the battery swap. If there isn’t an Apple store near you I believe Best Buy is starting to do them officially, as an Apple Authorized repair center.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > deekster_caddy
07/03/2019 at 13:23

That’s good to hear. I thought I’d be without my phone for a few days. I was going to the Apple store to look at New phones today, but I might just get the battery while I’m there.

Nibby > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
07/03/2019 at 14:13

Cause2 of them make an iPhone 8