I'm thinking about buying one that's still sealed in the box from eBay. The cost is around $300. Is this a good idea or bad idea?
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iPhone 6(S)/Plus How long will the iPhone 6+ be supported?
- Thread starter Merkava_4
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Define supported. It is not on the latest software updates if that's what you mean
Bad idea.
iPhone 6+ itself no longer receives any more iOS updates. They are stuck at iOS 12. Depending on the willingness of developers and how Apple deals with older versions of iOS, you will probably receive app updates of 3-5 years for iOS 12.
iPhone 6+ itself is not particularly amazing either. Slow, prone of bending, and have meh camera. With only $100 more you get 2nd gen iPhone SE with A13 (twice as fast at least), decent build quality, better camera and more. Also you get iOS 14 and longer iOS support than a essentially discontinued device.
Sealing a box isn’t very hard either. There’s still a chance of buying a second hand iPhone 6+, which is way worse.
iPhone 6+ itself no longer receives any more iOS updates. They are stuck at iOS 12. Depending on the willingness of developers and how Apple deals with older versions of iOS, you will probably receive app updates of 3-5 years for iOS 12.
iPhone 6+ itself is not particularly amazing either. Slow, prone of bending, and have meh camera. With only $100 more you get 2nd gen iPhone SE with A13 (twice as fast at least), decent build quality, better camera and more. Also you get iOS 14 and longer iOS support than a essentially discontinued device.
Sealing a box isn’t very hard either. There’s still a chance of buying a second hand iPhone 6+, which is way worse.
I guess what I mean by "supported" is an iOS that's still late enough to qualify for browser updates.
Thank you so much for the advice. I had forgotten which generation of iPhone had the bending issue. The iPhone SE does have a good reputation, but I'm not sure the screen size is big enough. I'm going from never having a cell phone to an iPhone because I'm so used to the Mac OS.
I'm using a 6+ as I type this message (on iOS 9 LoL). I don't know how well it runs on iOS 12 and I have no plans to find out.
I'll tell you what it's like to use a six year old iPhone running on a six year old, long discontinued operating system:
All banking apps stopped working long ago (like years ago) and the banks disabled them. But guess what? They're totally unnecessary. Their websites still work.
Lots of websites don't work anymore with this ancient version of safari (or chrome or Firefox). Often just a blank white page comes up or if it does load, frequently links don't work correctly. It's a really bad web experience.
But since I typically only visit a few websites anyway, (that do work correctly) it's no big deal.
If I need to access a website for shopping or whatever and it won't work in my Plus, I'll visit it on my Mac or iPhone 8 (running iOS 13).
All the apps I downloaded years ago (and never updated) still work just the same (except banking apps) as they did in the beginning.
Ebay recently blackballed their app on iOS 9 so that no longer works, but their website still works fine.
My iPhone 6 Plus is running exactly at the same speed it did when I bought it new six years ago It hasn't slowed down at all (since the OS never got updated). I use it every day for most of the day. Also the battery is still original and has over 90% life left in it with over 1500 loadcycles on it.
Soooo...
Can an old iPhone run way beyond when it has been deemed obsolete and unsupported? Heck yeah. I'm still using mine and I see no end in sight
I'll tell you what it's like to use a six year old iPhone running on a six year old, long discontinued operating system:
All banking apps stopped working long ago (like years ago) and the banks disabled them. But guess what? They're totally unnecessary. Their websites still work.
Lots of websites don't work anymore with this ancient version of safari (or chrome or Firefox). Often just a blank white page comes up or if it does load, frequently links don't work correctly. It's a really bad web experience.
But since I typically only visit a few websites anyway, (that do work correctly) it's no big deal.
If I need to access a website for shopping or whatever and it won't work in my Plus, I'll visit it on my Mac or iPhone 8 (running iOS 13).
All the apps I downloaded years ago (and never updated) still work just the same (except banking apps) as they did in the beginning.
Ebay recently blackballed their app on iOS 9 so that no longer works, but their website still works fine.
My iPhone 6 Plus is running exactly at the same speed it did when I bought it new six years ago It hasn't slowed down at all (since the OS never got updated). I use it every day for most of the day. Also the battery is still original and has over 90% life left in it with over 1500 loadcycles on it.
Soooo...
Can an old iPhone run way beyond when it has been deemed obsolete and unsupported? Heck yeah. I'm still using mine and I see no end in sight
I'd say don't do it.
Running any outdated operating system in this world is really not a good idea regarding security. Even iOS. iOS 12 still has security updates, but still obsolete. Anything prior iOS12 is shooting yourself in the feet.
300$ for this is not justified. You still get a really outdated phone with soon unsupported softwares and not the latest features. Get an iPhone SE. This is the best bang for the bucks ever at Apple.
Running any outdated operating system in this world is really not a good idea regarding security. Even iOS. iOS 12 still has security updates, but still obsolete. Anything prior iOS12 is shooting yourself in the feet.
300$ for this is not justified. You still get a really outdated phone with soon unsupported softwares and not the latest features. Get an iPhone SE. This is the best bang for the bucks ever at Apple.
The better question is why do you want a phone that is almost 6 years old? It's only got 1 GB of ram. Get the SE.
I’ll do you one better, as I’m still rockin’ an iPhone 6. ?
My experience is pretty much the same. Most apps still run but I’m on iOS 12.4.6. Granted, it’s not the fastest at opening apps, but what’s a few extra seconds.
Where I run into problems is if I need iOS13 as the iPhone6 isn’t supported (i.e. for the Apple Watch)
If I’m dropping any money on any iPhone, I’d probably stay clear of the entire 6 line given it’s really on the way out. Some carriers here in Canada were basically giving it away for next to free. They only required you to enter into a 2 year contract. That would be the only way I would even think about an iPhone 6/6s.
Terrible idea, unless you are hung up on aluminum and a headphone jack a 8 or even a SE2 would be a way better buy.
Bad deal. $300 for a 6+? You should be able to get a 7 or 8 for less than that. Just get the brand new SE for 399
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Well; The browser is tied to the operating system. iOS 12 is getting security updates and is likely security supported until September should anything be needed on the security front. At that point it will most likely lose security support as well unless something huge hits
It’s unclear if this is about a 6+ or a 6s+, since the thread title and the prefix disagree. But either way, don’t do it. $300 for even a 6s+ is way too much. For a 6+ it’s absurd. You should be able to get a 7+ for that, maybe even close to a used 8+. Or do as others have suggested and get the SE for $100 more. It would be a better experience by light years.
Regarding the posts by people who are still using a phone that old: that’s very cool, and I definitely support using older devices as long as they meet your needs (my phone is approaching 3.5, and I had each of my first two iPads for over four years). But it’s different to still be using a working device that you’ve had for 6 years than it is to overpay for one today.
Regarding the posts by people who are still using a phone that old: that’s very cool, and I definitely support using older devices as long as they meet your needs (my phone is approaching 3.5, and I had each of my first two iPads for over four years). But it’s different to still be using a working device that you’ve had for 6 years than it is to overpay for one today.
There is no phone that is going to be large enough to do anything that we can loosely call “multitasking”. One reason Apple has Yet to introduce split screen on iOS (yeah the iOS for iPhone) is the experience is terrible (you can’t reasonably type anything in landscape mode).
I bought iPhone XS Max cause I wanted a big screen phone for all my needs. But ever since I got iPad, big screen iPhone became kinda redundant and unnecessary. Everything is so tiny and hurts my eye, and I just can’t multitask on iPhone. Whatever I’m doing on iPhone will fully occupy my screen time and I’m stuck on it until it finishes. On iPad, I can let an app running at the front, use slide over for another supported app and maximise my screen time. It’s amazing.
Wait until the certificates get updated or they stop supporting anything except TLS 1.3...
If that is true then you have struck gold with that battery.
I agree with most of the posters. 300$ for a 6+ is ridiculous nowadays, if at least you told me a 6s+ which is a far better phone and still supported... but still not worth it. If you are searching for a device that can last a long time the SE for 100$ more is the choice to do.
Absolutely not. I'd recommend trying to get a SE for $400 new from Apple or a used 8.
Even the 6S is still decent for daily use, but I'd recommend moving past it at this point. The 7 is a mixed bag because while its A10 is still used in new Apple products to this day, it's been known to have some hardware issues. Plus, it's too similar to the 6S. Only major upgrades were the DCI P3 display, 450mbps LTE support, "stereo speakers" (using the earpiece as the front facing speaker), 7MP 1080p front camera, and the A10 (which is based on the same architecture as the A9 and is only up to 40% faster to boot, even the GPU is based off the A9 but merely clocked higher iirc).
The 6 and 6 Plus were probably the worst iPhones, which is partially why the 6S is considered the biggest S upgrade out of all the S iPhones (A9 which is almost twice as fast both in CPU and GPU, Taptic Engine, dual stream 102.11ac WiFi, much better front and rear cameras, stronger aluminum, 2GB RAM LPDDR4 RAM, 3D Touch, 300mbps LTE support, second gen Touch ID). The processor was underpowered for the display and resolution, so the 6 Plus was a bit laggy from day one. To make matters worse, Apple put 1GB of RAM in both which simply wasn't enough.
Even the 6S is still decent for daily use, but I'd recommend moving past it at this point. The 7 is a mixed bag because while its A10 is still used in new Apple products to this day, it's been known to have some hardware issues. Plus, it's too similar to the 6S. Only major upgrades were the DCI P3 display, 450mbps LTE support, "stereo speakers" (using the earpiece as the front facing speaker), 7MP 1080p front camera, and the A10 (which is based on the same architecture as the A9 and is only up to 40% faster to boot, even the GPU is based off the A9 but merely clocked higher iirc).
The 6 and 6 Plus were probably the worst iPhones, which is partially why the 6S is considered the biggest S upgrade out of all the S iPhones (A9 which is almost twice as fast both in CPU and GPU, Taptic Engine, dual stream 102.11ac WiFi, much better front and rear cameras, stronger aluminum, 2GB RAM LPDDR4 RAM, 3D Touch, 300mbps LTE support, second gen Touch ID). The processor was underpowered for the display and resolution, so the 6 Plus was a bit laggy from day one. To make matters worse, Apple put 1GB of RAM in both which simply wasn't enough.
Twice as fast??. A13 Bionic is 4x more faster than the A8, so where did you get twice as fast from lol