iPhone 5 or earlier Apple says don’t use iPhone after 7 years.

[sunapple]

I use an iPhone 4S for the purpose of playing music on my wired speakers. Replaced the battery some time ago. You should probably always keep an eye on your battery powered devices. I’d rather use it like normal and replace the battery when required then shelve it for longer periods of time. I used to collect iPods which I do miss, but I’m glad I don’t have to deal with the batteries anymore.

 

[KOTN91]

And I should get rid of everything. I don’t update anything, so nothing gets security updates. My iPad Air 5? The latest model? Just set it on fire, too useless, because it’s on iPadOS 15. My iPhone 6s? Burn it too! My Xʀ on iOS 12? Right down the fireplace it goes.

Maybe we should get together and host an Apple Bonfire! I have a bunch of devices I can contribute so as to light it up. You have several, too!

Obviously I find the “not getting security updates = useless” argument not too valid.

Yes frankly all of those devices should be thrown on the bonfire, except the XR which should be updated to the latest software. Why don’t you update anything? Are you a conspiracy theorist that thinks apple is slowing your device to make you upgrade?

 

[FeliApple]

Yes frankly all of those devices should be thrown on the bonfire, except the XR which should be updated to the latest software. Why don’t you update anything? Are you a conspiracy theorist that thinks apple is slowing your device to make you upgrade?

The Air 5 is literally the latest model...

I will never update this Xʀ. If Apple forces me, I'll throw it into the bonfire myself.

iOS updates severely impact performance and obliterate battery life. I'd like a perfectly functioning device for a very long time, if possible. And it is possible! Never update and it will work correctly forever.

Like I said, the mere suggestion that because a device isn't updated it becomes completely useless and should be thrown away (!) is ridiculous.

A final clarifying paragraph: on the conspiracy theory thing, I don't know whether Apple does it on purpose or not, but frankly, it doesn't matter.
I mean that I don't know whether they could do more to alleviate issues or not. New features consume more battery and put more strain on the processor, which consumes more battery. Whether Apple can slightly alleviate the impact of that, I don't know. I'm inclined to side with Apple here, even: it's more possible that they optimise it the best they can than the opposite, but it doesn't matter. The end result is far worse than I'd like. So yeah, even though I'm more inclined to side with "there is nothing nefarious on purpose going on", it doesn't mean the impact isn't there. No conspiracy whatsoever.


What matters is the final result: Apple obliterates performance and battery life through updates, and I can do nothing to prevent that other than never update anything, regardless of whether it's the latest model (My Air 5 is the latest model and will remain on iPadOS 15), or an older device (my iPhone 6s is not supported anymore and will remain on iOS 10).

 

[ReneeReader]

I didn't look finishing viewing the youtube video, but I still have my old 4S, stopped using it about 6 years ago. I still charge it up occasionally, but the battery life is very short, and most of the apps I use are not compatible with older OSes.

Apple did NOT say don't use the phone for more than 7 years. The representative just said that Apple does not expect their average customer to use/own an iPhone for more than 7 years. Looking at how often folks turn their Apple technology over, especially on this forum, this is indeed true. However, there are many of those of us who use technology more than 7 years old.

The family had an iPhone 4--was this the original battery? If if was, it most likely had to be charged at least once during the daytime as well as at night. Chances are that the original battery was replaced once or twice. The first replacement could have been an Apple OEM one, but any recent replacement would be a third party one. The third party battery quality varies widely, there have been numerous reports of the third party lithium (LIPO) batteries catching fire.

It's interesting that the quoted tech expert recommended getting older technology inspected and if necessary, replace the battery without any caveats regarding third party batteries.

I also wonder why the smoke alarm didn't wake the family up? Lithium batteries burn pretty hot and can spew really nasty particulate matter. Due to the heat of the battery fire one would also expect the countertop to sustain some damage.

I wonder if the phone was being charged with the original 5W (5V 1A) Apple charger or if they were using a higher amperage one like the 10W or 12W.

What is the likelihood that they were using an OEM cable? All of the original cables that we have are long gone and had an extremely short half life. Non-OEM cables could lead to charging issues as well.

No doubt the family did experience a lot of angst--am thankful that there was no other collateral damage. Would be nice to find out all of the facts.

Thanks for summarizing the event - and clarifying that the headline is misleading.

 

[ReneeReader]

I use an iPhone 4S for the purpose of playing music on my wired speakers. Replaced the battery some time ago. You should probably always keep an eye on your battery powered devices. I’d rather use it like normal and replace the battery when required then shelve it for longer periods of time. I used to collect iPods which I do miss, but I’m glad I don’t have to deal with the batteries anymore.

Hmm I think I still have an old iPod around that I’d better recycle. Orange, of course.

And come to think of it I still have an iPhone 4S! I imagined i would use it as a travel phone just on wifi. But at this point it’s prolly battery-smoldering under a pile of cables 😂.

 

[I7guy]

The 5S has been dropped by the cellular carriers since it didn’t support a certain frequency (VoLTE) needed for 4G.

Still can use WiFi calling.

 

[MBAir2010]

what if someone did not use a mobile pocket phone from 2005 to 2022?
can they get more years out of their current phone?
happy I still use that iTouch G4 with battery runs on non-flammable fingerprint juice!

 

[I7guy]

I have some old iPads I use for controlling sound equipment, makes no sense to get rid them when they do the job.

I would’ve expected Apple to ask for the phone to be sent in for investigation.

A battery should never catch fire.

I’m highly unimpressed by Apple’s apathy towards, what could’ve been, a deadly incident.

A for consumer battery other than li-ion shouldn’t catch fire. Well made li-ion batteries should have a lower risk of fire than shoddily made ones.

There is no reason apple should have to jump through hoops for a 7 year old battery that potentially was abused.

 

[I7guy]

what if someone did not use a mobile pocket phone from 2005 to 2022?
can they get more years out of their current phone?

Li-ion batteries as I understand it chemically age even if not used.

 

[MmkLucario]

Still can use WiFi calling.

True. Forgot about that

 

[clueless88]

Not sure if the problem is limited to old phones or older technology. Any item with a rechargeable lithium battery cannot be in the cargo bay of any passenger airplane--they can be taken with passengers as carryon items.

You can't ship phones or other items with lithium batteries via USPS Priority Mail, they have to go ground parcel post (there may be a provision in the regs regarding new phones, but typically the clerks will just shake their heads). FedEx can ship them because they have cargo planes and do not use passenger planes in their system.

Clearly someone in charge believes that rechargeable lithium batteries present a fire risk.

 

[Andeddu]

Not sure if the problem is limited to old phones or older technology. Any item with a rechargeable lithium battery cannot be in the cargo bay of any passenger airplane--they can be taken with passengers as carryon items.

You can't ship phones or other items with lithium batteries via USPS Priority Mail, they have to go ground parcel post (there may be a provision in the regs regarding new phones, but typically the clerks will just shake their heads). FedEx can ship them because they have cargo planes and do not use passenger planes in their system.

Clearly someone in charge believes that rechargeable lithium batteries present a fire risk.

There is a risk. The risk is minimal, however, so I am happy to have old phones and other technology in my home. Seems like the risk is also exponential when the device is plugged into a power source. I have no reason to believe an old battery that’s almost completely discharged in my cupboard presents any safety risk.

 

[clueless88]

There is a risk. The risk is minimal, however, so I am happy to have old phones and other technology in my home. Seems like the risk is also exponential when the device is plugged into a power source. I have no reason to believe an old battery that’s almost completely discharged in my cupboard presents any safety risk.

I was just trying to point out that the Inside Edition fluff piece didn't look at all lithium battery devices and safety. Clearly there must have been some instances of rechargeable lithium batteries (most likely phones) igniting in the cargo holds of passenger planes in order for the ban to be proposed and imposed. It would follow logically that many of the devices were relatively new. If that is the case, then an older phone caught on camera exploding is really a non-story, albeit a dramatic video non-story.

 

[1rottenapple]

As of recently, an iPhone 5 doesn't work with Xfinity Mobile (and the Verizon network it's on, I assume). So there's that.

They can happen to anything with a battery.

I would say I would be careful using sensitive apps exchanging passwords. I don’t know the likelihood of that happen but probably higher than an up to date OS.

 

[Greenmeenie]

By the 7th year you should get a new battery if you want to keep using that iphone.

 

[janeauburn]

The Air 5 is literally the latest model...

I will never update this Xʀ. If Apple forces me, I'll throw it into the bonfire myself.

iOS updates severely impact performance and obliterate battery life. I'd like a perfectly functioning device for a very long time, if possible. And it is possible! Never update and it will work correctly forever.

Like I said, the mere suggestion that because a device isn't updated it becomes completely useless and should be thrown away (!) is ridiculous.

A final clarifying paragraph: on the conspiracy theory thing, I don't know whether Apple does it on purpose or not, but frankly, it doesn't matter.
I mean that I don't know whether they could do more to alleviate issues or not. New features consume more battery and put more strain on the processor, which consumes more battery. Whether Apple can slightly alleviate the impact of that, I don't know. I'm inclined to side with Apple here, even: it's more possible that they optimise it the best they can than the opposite, but it doesn't matter. The end result is far worse than I'd like. So yeah, even though I'm more inclined to side with "there is nothing nefarious on purpose going on", it doesn't mean the impact isn't there. No conspiracy whatsoever.


What matters is the final result: Apple obliterates performance and battery life through updates, and I can do nothing to prevent that other than never update anything, regardless of whether it's the latest model (My Air 5 is the latest model and will remain on iPadOS 15), or an older device (my iPhone 6s is not supported anymore and will remain on iOS 10).

Well said.

Actually the iPhone 6 worked marvelously (and was marvelously thin and light) until Apple crippled it with iOS "updates" that added nothing really critical (except, for Apple, more ways to leech customers' money). The EU ultimately clamped down on this behavior, which led to Apple claiming it was related to old batteries (BS) and offering battery replacements for a time, but the clamping down came too late to salvage the perfectly lovely iPhone 6, which is now an unusable phone for anyone who was duped into installing the crippleware known as iOS updates.

 

[FeliApple]

Well said.

Actually the iPhone 6 worked marvelously (and was marvelously thin and light) until Apple crippled it with iOS "updates" that added nothing really critical (except, for Apple, more ways to leech customers' money). The EU ultimately clamped down on this behavior, which led to Apple claiming it was related to old batteries (BS) and offering battery replacements for a time, but the clamping down came too late to salvage the perfectly lovely iPhone 6, which is now an unusable phone for anyone who was duped into installing the crippleware known as iOS updates.

The iPhone 6 case is an especially sad one. The device was RAM-starved from the beginning, especially the 6 Plus. Even back on iOS 8, when it was launched there was a firehose of complaints related to that. 1GB of RAM just isn’t enough for those screens, again, especially the 6 Plus. Not even the original iOS version was efficient enough to offset the lack of RAM. Performance complaints abounded, and even if Apple touted iOS 12 as a performance-enhancing update (and even if it was significantly better than the fiasco that was iOS 11), it is unusable.

The iPhone 6 especially: like I said, the Plus was RAM-starved from the beginning, but the regular 6 fared a lot better on iOS 8. iOS 12 shredded that, rendering the phone severely degraded at best, unusable at worst. That’s not to take away anything from this issue: if the 6 Plus was bad on iOS 8, it is completely worthless on iOS 12. As Apple won’t allow downgrading, the iPhone 6 especially went from a low-RAM device, yet a perfectly usable one, to a not-so-usable device... forever, because you can’t go back to iOS 8.

The battery excuse is pathetic: severely degraded batteries on iPhones with original iOS versions work flawlessly: That 6s on iOS 10 I mentioned earlier? 63% health, original battery. Not a single shutdown, not a single performance issue. Ever.

 

[janeauburn]

That’s not to take away anything from this issue: if the 6 Plus was bad on iOS 8, it is completely worthless on iOS 12. As Apple won’t allow downgrading, the iPhone 6 especially went from a low-RAM device, yet a perfectly usable one, to a not-so-usable device... forever, because you can’t go back to iOS 8.

I had no complaints about the performance of the 6 Plus on iOS 8. Maybe I wasn't a veteran multitasker at that time, but the phone never bugged me performance-wise. It started bugging me as soon as Apple released the iOS "updates" and crippled the 6 for virtually everyone. I still have the 6 Plus, and with iOS 12 (and a battery at 100%), it's too painful to use even as a single task device.

It can do phone calls, though. This is slightly off-topic, but phones after the 6 seemed not to have the phone call quality (for listeners to my voice) that the 6 had.

 

[FeliApple]

I had no complaints about the performance of the 6 Plus on iOS 8. Maybe I wasn't a veteran multitasker at that time, but the phone never bugged me performance-wise. It started bugging me as soon as Apple released the iOS "updates" and crippled the 6 for virtually everyone. I still have the 6 Plus, and with iOS 12 (and a battery at 100%), it's too painful to use even as a single task device.

It can do phone calls, though. This is slightly off-topic, but phones after the 6 seemed not to have the phone call quality (for listeners to my voice) that the 6 had.

I tested an iPhone 6 Plus on iOS 12, and yeah, it was unusable. Keep in mind I don’t update anything, so my performance standards are, honestly, extremely high, but it wasn’t good at all.

That’s interesting! My Xʀ is far better than my 6s on both ends. People heard you better on the 6? First time I heard that!

 

[retta283]

The battery excuse is pathetic: severely degraded batteries on iPhones with original iOS versions work flawlessly: That 6s on iOS 10 I mentioned earlier? 63% health, original battery. Not a single shutdown, not a single performance issue. Ever.

Interesting. Your experience is much different than mine. I likewise never update devices once they are bought, and I have a 6s on iOS 10 that has come down to 75% health and the battery has suffered immensely for the last 2 years already. I rarely leave data or Wifi on and use few apps, but it was becoming untenable with the battery life.

I upgraded that to an SE 2nd gen (got a bargain deal for a new device) that is on an iOS 15 version which will also remain there. Battery life was good until this month. At 96% health this thing just shreds my battery life when in standby and I cannot figure out the cause. I'm starting to get real ticked off though... Nothing has changed, I haven't installed a new app or anything since the spring.

 

[FeliApple]

Interesting. Your experience is much different than mine. I likewise never update devices once they are bought, and I have a 6s on iOS 10 that has come down to 75% health and the battery has suffered immensely for the last 2 years already. I rarely leave data or Wifi on and use few apps, but it was becoming untenable with the battery life.

I upgraded that to an SE 2nd gen (got a bargain deal for a new device) that is on an iOS 15 version which will also remain there. Battery life was good until this month. At 96% health this thing just shreds my battery life when in standby and I cannot figure out the cause. I'm starting to get real ticked off though... Nothing has changed, I haven't installed a new app or anything since the spring.

Interesting! That poor? Mine has far worse battery health and works well. It’s well optimised, however. I tweaked settings for maximum efficiency. The 6s has no standby drop at all, and whilst runtime isn’t like the newer iPhones, it is like it was on iOS 9 with a new battery. How bad is it? How’s screen-on time?

You mentioned that your SE2 has poor standby time. Unfortunately, it’s not your device only (which means that a solution might not be possible). I believe that started on iOS 11 or 12. I have an iPhone Xʀ running iOS 12, and standby has been awful since it was new. Original version, so updates aren’t at fault. Even while new on its original version, it was worse than my 6s on iOS 10 which is almost 7 years old! I assume Apple added some background task on iOS 12 that prompted the downfall, at least for iPhones. My 9.7-inch iPad Pro is also on iOS 12 (worth mentioning that Apple forced it out of iOS 9 due to the A9 activation bug on iOS 9) and standby time is like-new. I cannot explain the discrepancy.

 

[Andeddu]

Interesting! That poor? Mine has far worse battery health and works well. It’s well optimised, however. I tweaked settings for maximum efficiency. The 6s has no standby drop at all, and whilst runtime isn’t like the newer iPhones, it is like it was on iOS 9 with a new battery. How bad is it? How’s screen-on time?

You mentioned that your SE2 has poor standby time. Unfortunately, it’s not your device only (which means that a solution might not be possible). I believe that started on iOS 11 or 12. I have an iPhone Xʀ running iOS 12, and standby has been awful since it was new. Original version, so updates aren’t at fault. Even while new on its original version, it was worse than my 6s on iOS 10 which is almost 7 years old! I assume Apple added some background task on iOS 12 that prompted the downfall, at least for iPhones. My 9.7-inch iPad Pro is also on iOS 12 (worth mentioning that Apple forced it out of iOS 9 due to the A9 activation bug on iOS 9) and standby time is like-new. I cannot explain the discrepancy.

Battery degradation is a verifiable phenomenon and your battery on 63% health will not be able to hold a charge as it did on day 1 unless you have very few charge cycles on record. I also believe you have lucked out in the lithium-ion battery lottery with that unit as not all batteries are equal with some degrading much faster than others due to differing chemical compositions.

 

[retta283]

The 6s has no standby drop at all, and whilst runtime isn’t like the newer iPhones, it is like it was on iOS 9 with a new battery. How bad is it? How’s screen-on time?

I will say that the standby time on the 6S has remained very good. I am giving rough figures because it has been a while since I used the device, but when watching locally synced video content I could see 3-4 hours before the device shut off. For texting I could see maybe 5-6 hours over a few days before needing recharged, again I'm just giving a rough figure on this one.

I was cursed by being stuck on iOS 10.1.1, so the device shuts down randomly once below 30%. I did find a little trick to help this, once it is plugged in it immediately restarts and you can make use of the remaining juice. I rigged up a cable that would jumpstart the device without needing real power, which got to be a major pain.

I had considered moving to one of my red iPhones, I have a 7 on 10.3.2 and an 8 on 11 something, but both are in mint condition and 100% battery health so I'm almost afraid to use them. This standby issue is really getting on my nerves though with the newer phone. I wonder how appreciable it is on a bigger iPhone with their much larger batteries, but I do not like spending a premium on such a device.

 

[FeliApple]

Battery degradation is a verifiable phenomenon and your battery on 63% health will not be able to hold a charge as it did on day 1 unless you have very few charge cycles on record. I also believe you have lucked out in the lithium-ion battery lottery with that unit as not all batteries are equal with some degrading much faster than others due to differing chemical compositions.

It dropped a little in terms of screen-on time (like I said, half an hour, negligible), but it’s perfect on standby time. It just doesn’t drop. It’s why I called it like-new: half an hour isn’t significant enough for me to say it dropped, and standby time is perfect.

The 6s has 1400 cycles, it was used, quite heavily. It has been on iOS 10.0 since I got it.

I’m not disputing the chemistry, I’m disputing its impact on runtime.

 

[FeliApple]

I will say that the standby time on the 6S has remained very good. I am giving rough figures because it has been a while since I used the device, but when watching locally synced video content I could see 3-4 hours before the device shut off. For texting I could see maybe 5-6 hours over a few days before needing recharged, again I'm just giving a rough figure on this one.

I was cursed by being stuck on iOS 10.1.1, so the device shuts down randomly once below 30%. I did find a little trick to help this, once it is plugged in it immediately restarts and you can make use of the remaining juice. I rigged up a cable that would jumpstart the device without needing real power, which got to be a major pain.

I had considered moving to one of my red iPhones, I have a 7 on 10.3.2 and an 8 on 11 something, but both are in mint condition and 100% battery health so I'm almost afraid to use them. This standby issue is really getting on my nerves though with the newer phone. I wonder how appreciable it is on a bigger iPhone with their much larger batteries, but I do not like spending a premium on such a device.

No way, you have an iPhone 7 on iOS 10! I used a 7 Plus on iOS 10 but its hardware was broken so I traded it in to Apple for my Xʀ. That’s pretty cool! I should have kept that 7 Plus, I regret the trade-in. The 7 on iOS 10 is amazing! The 8 is great too! I think it was the only device which wasn’t affected by iOS 11’s battery life fiasco (it was a disaster for everything without an A11 Bionic). So it should be outstanding, too!

Honestly, I have a Xʀ on iOS 12 and it’s pretty bad as well. I don’t think a large iPhone would make a huge difference. It should, but it doesn’t in practice. It’s another little thing in which the practice doesn’t align with the theory.

I wonder how’s the 8’s standby, though. I’m sure iOS 10 isn’t to blame, but I don’t know whether the culprit of the beginning of the standby issue is iOS 11 or iOS 12. Do you know, by any chance? Maybe we can determine whether the issue started on iOS 11 or if it did on iOS 12.

I’ve used the 6s below 30% and it doesn’t shut down, ever. That’s odd, too!