iPhone 13 Pro Max How to make my iPhone 13 Pro Max last four years or more

[I7guy]

Like I have repeatedly stated, battery health is irrelevant if the device (iPads too) is on its original iOS version. Especially considering that OP has the iPhone with the largest battery ever!

I agree with you battery life is irrelevant. What is relevant is functionality and a secure phone and that means update, update, update. There are ways to mitigate daily battery life that is neither expensive or heavy.

Like you said, functionality, app compatibility and support, and features are all significant drawbacks of staying behind, but like I said earlier, there is a very important fact:

-The only way to maintain perfect performance and battery life is by staying on the original version of iOS, or maybe the second major version like on the iPhone 6s. If OP wants that, they’ll have to adjust, like I adjust. That’s what they asked for, that’s what I gave them.

We have two different interpretations of what OP asked for. Making a phone last four years is not the same as putting it in a time capsule. My sons XR and my xs max lasted four years both on ios 16.

This may sometimes go directly against usability and always goes against features (like you stated and we agreed earlier), but there is no perfect solution as far as longevity goes. Battery life may not be the endgame for some, but it has been a factor in people upgrading their devices from the beginning. It reduces device longevity, unless the user doesn’t care (you are one example: you’ve stated that battery life isn’t as crucial for you as it is for me. You’ve also stated that you have no problem with carrying a battery pack). OP noted that iOS 16 has already worsened it, so I assume they do care. It’d be naive to think it won’t worsen further as iOS updates go by.

As far as I go, my anecdotal evidence, battery life is the same as on ios 15. We don't know if op is in the 1% of 1% where they will never upgrade their ios version. If the battery ages and interferes with the ability to use the phone, get the battery replaced. It's probably cheaper than getting your phone hacked.

I’d be wrong if I were to say that there are no drawbacks, but my recommendation stands: do you want perfect performance and battery life?

No, I want security and functionality.

Maintain the original iOS version and never update. Does it have significant and perhaps deal-breaking drawbacks? Sure! Is there another way? No. I wish there were.

As said in previous discussions, we hit that update button.

Tolerating or outright not caring about battery life and performance issues overshadows the advantages (maybe the user isn’t too demanding, maybe they’re light users so if updates halve battery life they don’t care, maybe they are okay with battery packs, and to top it off, maybe they do require updating), but not caring doesn’t mean the disadvantages don’t exist, it just means that they don’t matter to a specific user. In that case, it’s perfect!

This is not a true universal statement. Security and functionality are higher standards than battery life. Battery life is easily fixed, a hacked phone isn't.

Again, as far as sheer device longevity is concerned, the only possible recommendation is never to update. Note that I did not say it was a perfect recommendation: it’s just the only possible (and imperfect) recommendation.

So my xs max is in ios 16 and last me a day of my own usage. I get security, functionality and battery life. What's the issue?

(OP asked: “Any advice for making my phone last long enough until I can justify upgrading again, which is going to be a long time from now?”)

Making your phone last 4 years is different than preserving it in a time capsule. My xs max has lasted 4 years with a battery replacement. There is no stress in using it, nor do I care, if allegedly ios updates worsen battery life. Using a phone is not my raison d'etre. I got the phone to make my life easier not more difficult.

 

[I7guy]

Battery longevity depends on a million factors:

-The iOS version installed, first and foremost. It’s no coincidence that my 6s on iOS 10 and @eyoungren’s 6s Plus on iOS 9 had great battery life for over 6 years (or was it 5 in their case?)

If we're throwning around anecdotal evidence, my two iphone 5s has the original 10 year old battery that lasts quite a few hours on ios 12. So my conclusion is that updating does not affect battery life.

Assuming the user updates like almost everyone, it still depends on many factors: usage patterns; environment (i.e., heat); charging speed, etc.

There’s no set longevity, but yes, if the user is a moderately heavy one and they update iOS, longevity won’t be amazing.

Why spend more time strategizing on how to use the phone than using the phone.

Probably below 90% it starts to suffer if updated. That’s something current 6s users complain about: they have to replace the battery every five minutes because iOS 15 is abhorrent (when they use it reasonably heavily and as a main phone, of course).

The 6s was quite the leap up from the 6 but future processors were much more efficient.

 

[Marswarrior462]

I am not in the 0.01% of people who never upgrades the software of their phone, but if iOS 17 is another disaster like 16 was, I will try my best to resist the temptation to upgrade. I really hope that iOS 17 is all about improving performance, stability, squashing bugs, and improving notifications, battery life, shortcuts, photography and AI. I don't care about major features anymore. Just bring back stability

 

[EmanuelF]

The 13Pro has a much bigger battery than its predecessors so even after 3 years of use, the battery will still have a bigger capacity than what a brand new iPhone X would have.

When that time comes, I would gladly pay 100€ to get a new OEM battery, as I plan to keep it very long time since I doubt there'll be any reasons to upgrade it.

It already have all the best features in the "notch-iphones" era. The first decent camera on a phone, 120hz /1000nits screen, 2 days battery life, everything else is/will be fluff for a while.

 

[FeliApple]

I agree with you battery life is irrelevant. What is relevant is functionality and a secure phone and that means update, update, update. There are ways to mitigate daily battery life that is neither expensive or heavy.

I said battery health is irrelevant, not battery life. Those ways to mitigate them are annoying, at least to me. I can carry around my iPhone 6s on iOS 10 with no charger, no power bank, nothing, and I know it will last the day for me. One on iOS 15 wouldn’t. Annoying.

We have two different interpretations of what OP asked for. Making a phone last four years is not the same as putting it in a time capsule. My sons XR and my xs max lasted four years both on ios 16.

The fact that they are good enough for both of you on iOS 16 doesn’t mean they aren’t worse than iOS 12. Like I said earlier, if battery life is good enough for you after updating then that’s ideal.

As far as I go, my anecdotal evidence, battery life is the same as on ios 15. We don't know if op is in the 1% of 1% where they will never upgrade their ios version. If the battery ages and interferes with the ability to use the phone, get the battery replaced. It's probably cheaper than getting your phone hacked.

Didn’t you use an iPhone 14 Pro Max on iOS 16? Original version, of course it’ll be perfect. The Xs Max, even if it is enough for you, is significantly worse than one on iOS 12 in terms of battery life. This is a fact.

No, I want security and functionality.

The question was intended for the OP, if you prefer security and compatibility, then you should update!

As said in previous discussions, we hit that update button.

That is the worst possibly way to guarantee longevity.

This is not a true universal statement. Security and functionality are higher standards than battery life. Battery life is easily fixed, a hacked phone isn't.

See above

So my xs max is in ios 16 and last me a day of my own usage. I get security, functionality and battery life. What's the issue?

For you? No issues. Somebody can say “I have an iPhone 6s on iOS 15, it lasts me a day of my own usage. I get (partial) security, functionality, and enough battery life”. Cool. Then that’s great. For me? It’s not enough battery life, and performance isn’t good enough. The subjective opinion of a user does not, in any way, counteract the objective reality: performance and battery life are worsened by iOS updates.
If performance decline doesn’t bother you, and if the battery life that iOS 15 gives the 6s is enough for you, then all the better! Doesn’t mean they don’t exist, though.

Making your phone last 4 years is different than preserving it in a time capsule. My xs max has lasted 4 years with a battery replacement. There is no stress in using it, nor do I care, if allegedly ios updates worsen battery life. Using a phone is not my raison d'etre. I got the phone to make my life easier not more difficult.

Again, in your subjective opinion you don’t care. Which is cool, because you can get the advantages without caring about the drawbacks. OP asked for longevity, your approach is the worst possible one. Objectively.

 

[FeliApple]

If we're throwning around anecdotal evidence, my two iphone 5s has the original 10 year old battery that lasts quite a few hours on ios 12. So my conclusion is that updating does not affect battery life.

“Lasts quite a few hours” isn’t “it’s as good as iOS 7 was”. Your conclusion from that statement is flawed.

Why spend more time strategizing on how to use the phone than using the phone.

Because the OP asked for longevity-extending strategies.

The 6s was quite the leap up from the 6 but future processors were much more efficient.

In terms of performance? Yes. In terms of battery life? So far, it hasn’t been the case.

 

[FeliApple]

I am not in the 0.01% of people who never upgrades the software of their phone, but if iOS 17 is another disaster like 16 was, I will try my best to resist the temptation to upgrade. I really hope that iOS 17 is all about improving performance, stability, squashing bugs, and improving notifications, battery life, shortcuts, photography and AI. I don't care about major features anymore. Just bring back stability

This has (almost) never been the case barring that single time when it was, it won’t start now. iOS 12 was the exception, and it didn’t revert the battery life to original versions. At most it was an improvement relative to iOS 11 (which was abhorrent).

If you want stability, iOS updates are what’s to be avoided.

 

[lybentius]

I bought my iPhone 13 Pro Max back in October 15, 2021 for a total of $2558.80 ($1959 for the phone, $249 for the AppleCare, $59 for a crappy 30W charger I sold, $170 for a Belkin charger I replaced with an upgraded version, and the rest for taxes). It was the most expensive thing I've ever bought in my life. Yes it's the 512GB. But in the meantime, I've gotten it replaced due to accidental damage three times, and I've filled almost 400GB of my storage, and I can't afford a new phone. It still works perfectly, and I skipped the 14 because I can't stomach the idea of paying over $2000 for a phone that only feels slightly better than my current one while having a negligible improvement in battery life (if not probably a battery downgrade). Even though I'm a diehard for USB-C, I still can't bring myself to justify buying the 15 Pro Max either, even if I can afford to by then, so I'll likely start subscribing to AppleCare to continue keeping my phone under warranty when it expires. Prices in Canada are even more stomach-churning than what Americans are used to. The fact that the model of phone I have is so astronomically expensive and it won't get any better (if anything, it will get worse) with future generations of it makes me want to hold onto it for longer. To further add incentive to holding on to my phone, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is such a good phone. Even though it's no longer the best iPhone ever made because of the 14 Pro Max obviously, it still feels like it. The screen is the best screen I own (better than my TVs other than the size and resolution, I'd have to spend $5000 or something to get a TV with a screen that good), the cameras are like a mini-DSLR to me, it's plenty fast, and the battery life is still ok (even though iOS 16 kind of ruined it). The only drawback is the lack of a good zoom lens, which is rumoured to be fixed this year on the 15. Any advice for making my phone last long enough until I can justify upgrading again, which is going to be a long time from now?

Once battery health hits 80% just replace the battery. That’s what I’m gonna do for my 13P. For your storage concern maybe iCloud storage? It’s kept me from going over my 128GB limit. There are also other cloud storage services out there. And also maybe don’t upgrade past iOS 18.

 

[I7guy]

“Lasts quite a few hours” isn’t “it’s as good as iOS 7 was”. Your conclusion from that statement is flawed.

It's no different than you saying upgrading to an ios release "severely degrades" battery life without giving specifics.

Because the OP asked for longevity-extending strategies.

Longevity has multiple parameters and is not only battery life. It's about a working phone. In all good faith I can't advise the op to forego ios updates to allegedly gain battery life at the expense of security usability.

In terms of performance? Yes. In terms of battery life? So far, it hasn’t been the case.

Yes, in terms of battery life future processors were much better.

 

[FeliApple]

It's no different than you saying upgrading to an ios release "severely degrades" battery life without giving specifics.

It is different. I have given specific numbers many times. My 9.7-inch iPad Pro dropped from 14 hours to 10-11 hours after Apple forced it out of iOS 9 and into iOS 12. The iPhone SE (1st gen) dropped from 9-10 hours on iOS 9 to 5 on iOS 15 (with replaced batteries), iPhone Xʀ users widely report 6-7 hours on iOS 16 when similar usage gave about 11-12 hours, at least. OP themselves reported a decrease. iPhone 6s Plus users report 6-7 hours on iOS 15 (with replaced batteries), and that’s 50 to 60% of the battery life it could give on iOS 9. We’ve been over this, you’ve claimed it’s anecdotal, and I replied that for some reason you deny the undeniable. You can focus on updating’s advantages, but denying this would be factually incorrect. You can deny this until you get tired, and you’d be wrong every time.

Longevity has multiple parameters and is not only battery life. It's about a working phone. In all good faith I can't advise the op to forego ios updates to allegedly gain battery life at the expense of security usability.

Yes, in terms of battery life future processors were much better.

Sure, and if you value those parameters, you should update, like I said. Much better? False, not in relative terms, at least. In absolute terms? Well, sure, they have larger batteries. Just like iPads have been better with the same processor. Updated A9 iPads in terms of absolute battery life are better than updated A9 iPhones. That’s obvious, they have far larger batteries.

 

[I7guy]

This has (almost) never been the case barring that single time when it was, it won’t start now. iOS 12 was the exception, and it didn’t revert the battery life to original versions. At most it was an improvement relative to iOS 11 (which was abhorrent).

If you want stability, iOS updates are what’s to be avoided.

Exactly the reverse. Upgrading to new ios releases with the myriad of bug fixes, new functionality and security patches will cause stability.

 

[FeliApple]

Exactly the reverse. Upgrading to new ios releases with the myriad of bug fixes, new functionality and security patches will cause stability.

This is completely false.

 

[I7guy]

It is different. I have given specific numbers many times. My 9.7-inch iPad Pro dropped from 14 hours to 10-11 hours after Apple forced it out of iOS 9 and into iOS 12.

To me that is slightly reduced, given ios 9 wasn't anything to write home about, anyway. Since those are your numbers, I am definitely okay with this drop. My 5s with a claimed time of 10 hours lasts at least 2 weeks in standby and get about 5 hours of light use before recharging on 10 year old batteries on ios 12.

The iPhone SE (1st gen) dropped from 9-10 hours on iOS 9 to 5 on iOS 15 (with replaced batteries), iPhone Xʀ users widely report 6-7 hours on iOS 16 when similar usage gave about 11-12 hours, at least.

Never got 11-12 on a good day out of my Xr, so those numbers are suspect.

OP themselves reported a decrease. iPhone 6s Plus users report 6-7 hours on iOS 15 (with replaced batteries), and that’s 50 to 60% of the battery life it could give on iOS 9. We’ve been over this, you’ve claimed it’s anecdotal, and I replied that for some reason you deny the undeniable. You can focus on updating’s advantages, but denying this would be factually incorrect. You can deny this until you get tired, and you’d be wrong every time.

The op had the phone replaced 3 times, it's difficult to tell if one of the replacements had a bad battery. I do not believe upgrading ios versions reduces battery life. I do believe doing more things concurrently reduces battery life. All of these conversations are anecdotal at best.

Sure, and if you value those parameters, you should update, like I said. Much better? False, not in relative terms, at least. In absolute terms? Well, sure, they have larger batteries. Just like iPads have been better with the same processor. Updated A9 iPads in terms of absolute battery life are better than updated A9 iPhones. That’s obvious, they have far larger batteries.

We have different defintions of almost every term in the book: better, degraded, prioritized etc.

 

[I7guy]

This is completely false.

It is completely true. I'm not going to get into the circle jerk of "my opinion is right" and "you're opinion is wrong".

 

[Andeddu]

Again, in your subjective opinion you don’t care. Which is cool, because you can get the advantages without caring about the drawbacks. OP asked for longevity, your approach is the worst possible one. Objectively.

I would suggest that your approach is objectively the worst possible for longevity.

The OP appears to want to use his iPhone as a smartphone, not place it within a time capsule and slowly watch all functionality being stripped away one app at a time.

The longest I would be able to avoid updating a phone would be around 3 years as my banking apps would disappear, then streaming apps and instant messenger apps, etc… the phone would end up like your iPhone 6S which is pretty much useless as a smartphone. No wonder you can obtain an all-day battery out of it, it doesn’t do anything! You can’t even browse 90% of websites or use third party apps. It’s a paradox as you have so much battery life but nothing to use it on. My 6S? Well, it’s on 15.7.2 and works amazingly well for its age with full access to the app suite.

I feel sorry for you being a battery and performance extremist because you’ve placed yourself in such a muddle that you have to update every 4 years as your critical apps are unable to run on your non-updated phones.

My phones last around 7-8 years, which means they have more longevity than your phones. Objectively.

 

[FeliApple]

To me that is slightly reduced, given ios 9 wasn't anything to write home about, anyway. Since those are your numbers, I am definitely okay with this drop. My 5s with a claimed time of 10 hours lasts at least 2 weeks in standby and get about 5 hours of light use before recharging on 10 year old batteries on ios 12.

The op had the phone replaced 3 times, it's difficult to tell if one of the replacements had a bad battery. I do not believe upgrading ios versions reduces battery life. I do believe doing more things concurrently reduces battery life. All of these conversations are anecdotal at best.

We’ve discussed this, you can call it concurrency caused by iOS updates, fine by me. The central cause is the same.

We have different defintions of almost every term in the book: better, degraded, prioritized etc.

I’m going to reply to your first point and to this in the same paragraph: I’d say we have different priorities, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You called my battery life decrease on my 9.7-inch iPad Pro “slightly reduced”. Can I say that you think it’s “negligible”? Well, for me a nearly 30% drop is significant. Yes, it’s not unusably abhorrent, but I’d call it significant. Like I said, different priorities and there’s no incorrect opinion here. Perhaps, back in 2019 when that iPad was forced out of iOS 9, you would’ve traded the security and compatibility improvements of iOS 12 for 30% of battery life. And it’s a choice that has two options, neither of which is wrong. It’s a simple choice.

My 5s on iOS 8 is better than that, but yeah, it would be on the realm of 40%, not much more than that. iOS 12 is better than iOS 15 on the 6s, so perhaps even 30%. You’d probably call it negligible. I might disagree with the definition, but semantics are irrelevant: it’s not impactful enough for you. And that’s okay. In fact, I’d say it’s better: you get all the benefits and don’t care about the drawbacks, like I said earlier.

OP, like this conversation implies, there are different definitions of longevity: hopefully this discussion helped you decide.

 

[I7guy]

We’ve discussed this, you can call it concurrency caused by iOS updates, fine by me. The central cause is the same.

The central cause is not the same.

I’m going to reply to your first point and to this in the same paragraph: I’d say we have different priorities, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You called my battery life decrease on my 9.7-inch iPad Pro “slightly reduced”. Can I say that you think it’s “negligible”?

It's not severely degraded. We can add to the debate the adjective that best fits.

Well, for me a nearly 30% drop is significant. Yes, it’s not unusably abhorrent, but I’d call it significant. Like I said, different priorities and there’s no incorrect opinion here. Perhaps, back in 2019 when that iPad was forced out of iOS 9, you would’ve traded the security and compatibility improvements of iOS 12 for 30% of battery life. And it’s a choice that has two options, neither of which is wrong. It’s a simple choice.

My 5s on iOS 8 is better than that, but yeah, it would be on the realm of 40%, not much more than that. iOS 12 is better than iOS 15 on the 6s, so perhaps even 30%. You’d probably call it negligible. I might disagree with the definition, but semantics are irrelevant: it’s not impactful enough for you. And that’s okay. In fact, I’d say it’s better: you get all the benefits and don’t care about the drawbacks, like I said earlier.

OP, like this conversation implies, there are different definitions of longevity: hopefully this discussion helped you decide.

This conversation is for the OP. I've already made my decision. I upgrade immediately. Battery life is easily ameliorated. Security and functionality are not.

 

[FeliApple]

I would suggest that your approach is objectively the worst possible for longevity.

The OP appears to want to use his iPhone as a smartphone, not place it within a time capsule and slowly watch all functionality being stripped away one app at a time.

The longest I would be able to avoid updating a phone would be around 3 years as my banking apps would disappear, then streaming apps and instant messenger apps, etc… the phone would end up like your iPhone 6S which is pretty much useless as a smartphone. No wonder you can obtain an all-day battery out of it, it doesn’t do anything! You can’t even browse 90% of websites or use third party apps. It’s a paradox as you have so much battery life but nothing to use it on. My 6S? Well, it’s on 15.7.2 and works amazingly well for its age with full access to the app suite.

I feel sorry for you being a battery and performance extremist because you’ve placed yourself in such a muddle that you have to update every 4 years as your critical apps are unable to run on your non-updated phones.

My phones last around 7-8 years, which means they have more longevity than your phones. Objectively.

Funnily enough, I’d throw my 6s off of a window if it were to be updated, because the performance and battery life I’ve seen on updated 6s models isn‘t good enough for me. The keyboard lags! That’s one small example, and it is unacceptable to me. I will not tolerate any decline, because I shouldn’t have to. To me, that is not longevity, it’s merely tolerance. And I like to use my devices, not tolerate them. But you are right, in terms of app support and compatibility, I am hindering my longevity. It might not have any practical implications so far (my Xʀ on iOS 12 still does everything I need), or it honestly might have some (my 6s on iOS 10 does not). In terms of performance and battery life, I am prolonging my longevity for a very, very, very long time. The 6s in terms of performance has nothing to envy from newer iPhones.

Like I said to @I7guy, there is nothing wrong with having other priorities: maybe it’s fine to you if performance and battery life aren’t flawless. Maybe it’s fine for the OP too!

This conversation is helpful because it allows the OP to read both sides which have sensibly and respectfully argued their position. Now with all of this information, they can choose.

 

[FeliApple]

The central cause is not the same.

Unfortunately, we will not find middle ground here. Like I stated earlier, I appreciate the respectful nature of this discussion, it’s always interesting, thank you.

It's not severely degraded. We can add to the debate the adjective that best fits.

A9 iPhones on iOS 15 are, A9X iPads on iOS 12 aren’t, I agree. Severely is too harsh, I called it “significantly degraded“. Semantics, regardless.

This conversation is for the OP. I've already made my decision. I upgrade immediately. Battery life is easily ameliorated. Security and functionality are not.

Agree that this conversation is for the OP. I’ve made my decision too, and the only one that can change it is Apple, by guaranteeing perfection with iOS updates. That’s utopian by now, I reckon.

 

[I7guy]

Funnily enough, I’d throw my 6s off of a window if it were to be updated, because the performance and battery life I’ve seen on updated 6s models isn‘t good enough for me. The keyboard lags! That’s one small example, and it is unacceptable to me. I will not tolerate any decline, because I shouldn’t have to. To me, that is not longevity, it’s merely tolerance. And I like to use my devices, not tolerate them. But you are right, in terms of app support and compatibility, I am hindering my longevity. It might not have any practical implications so far (my Xʀ on iOS 12 still does everything I need), or it honestly might have some (my 6s on iOS 10 does not). In terms of performance and battery life, I am prolonging my longevity for a very, very, very long time. The 6s in terms of performance has nothing to envy from newer iPhones.

Like I said to @I7guy, there is nothing wrong with having other priorities: maybe it’s fine to you if performance and battery life aren’t flawless. Maybe it’s fine for the OP too!

This conversation is helpful because it allows the OP to read both sides which have sensibly and respectfully argued their position. Now with all of this information, they can choose.

The OP is going to roll their eyes. Keeping a phone for 4 years is pretty much out of our hands. There are two views on opposite side of the fence. One view is never update for "flawless performance", which is a myth in and of itself. The other view is hit the update button the second an update is available. I'm the latter and after 4 years I'm pleased with my iphone xs max. The battery life is better than ever, especially after a battery replacement. The iphone 13 should be a champ in this regard as it's 3 generations later then my phone.

edit: you tolerate reduced functionality on the xr. It's much easier to tolerate reduced battery life, which can be ameliorated. Functionality can't be magically updated unless IOS is updated. You just choose what you want to tolerate least. There Xr on ios performs flawlessly.

 

[Andeddu]

Funnily enough, I’d throw my 6s off of a window if it were to be updated, because the performance and battery life I’ve seen on updated 6s models isn‘t good enough for me. The keyboard lags! That’s one small example, and it is unacceptable to me. I will not tolerate any decline, because I shouldn’t have to. To me, that is not longevity, it’s merely tolerance. And I like to use my devices, not tolerate them. But you are right, in terms of app support and compatibility, I am hindering my longevity. It might not have any practical implications so far (my Xʀ on iOS 12 still does everything I need), or it honestly might have some (my 6s on iOS 10 does not). In terms of performance and battery life, I am prolonging my longevity for a very, very, very long time. The 6s in terms of performance has nothing to envy from newer iPhones.

Like I said to @I7guy, there is nothing wrong with having other priorities: maybe it’s fine to you if performance and battery life aren’t flawless. Maybe it’s fine for the OP too!

This conversation is helpful because it allows the OP to read both sides which have sensibly and respectfully argued their position. Now with all of this information, they can choose.

That’s fine but you’ve given yourself no headroom by being an extremist.

I can tell you right now that the performance of the A9 on iOS 15 is acceptable and is not something that needs to be tolerated. This is from my own experience as I downgraded from a 12 Mini to an OGSE and currently use a 13. I do not multitask a lot nor do I do much social media scrolling, however. Someone who does do those things will find the A9 chip, on any version of iOS, intolerable as 2GB RAM is simply not enough in this day and age. Even your higher performance 6S is unable to scroll on social media because your version of Safari has become redundant.

We are retreading old ground but I would say that my devices have to work for me and not the other way around. If my device does not run the apps I require it to run, I have no use for it. I simply refuse to change my behaviour to ensure my device has a prolonged battery life by staying on the original iOS version. All my devices get updated as soon as an update is available. If a device becomes too slow (which hasn’t happened to my iPhones) or the battery becomes unsuitable, it doesn’t matter because I will have naturally upgraded to a newer iPhone anyway.

I agree with your point that we just value different things. You want Day 1 performance and battery life, and I want functionality. Apple has ensured that we cannot have both so we pick the path which best suits us.

 

[Marswarrior462]

Also, even if downgrading was an option, I can't because I have the Apple Watch Ultra, which requires watchOS 9, which in turn requires iOS 16, and I care about security, and have turned on Advanced Data Protection, which required me to update every single Apple device I own and wipe the ones that are obsolete

 

[FeliApple]

The OP is going to roll their eyes. Keeping a phone for 4 years is pretty much out of our hands. There are two views on opposite side of the fence. One view is never update for "flawless performance", which is a myth in and of itself. The other view is hit the update button the second an update is available. I'm the latter and after 4 years I'm pleased with my iphone xs max. The battery life is better than ever, especially after a battery replacement. The iphone 13 should be a champ in this regard as it's 3 generations later then my phone.

I hold the hope that, like iPads, sheer battery capacity will propel the iPhone 13 Pro Max to at least acceptable battery life many iOS versions in. That remains to be seen.

The iPhone 13 Pro Max is rated for 25 hours of streamed video playback. Well, hopefully its final iOS version drops it to 12-14 hours. That would be totally usable. My Air 5 on iPadOS 15 with light use gives me at least 25 hours of screen-on time. Hopefully its final iOS version drops it to 12-14 hours too.

In terms of iPhones which suffer more than iPads, if like-new battery life can’t and won’t be guaranteed, then make it irrelevant through sheer battery capacity: install batteries so large that even if it drops it will be enough for a full day, always. The iPhone 13 Pro Max is a step in the right direction with that 25-hour runtime according to Apple. The iPhone Xʀ had 16 hours and it is significantly better than say, the iPhone 6s, even on iOS 16. This is good.

 

[FeliApple]

That’s fine but you’ve given yourself no headroom by being an extremist.

I can tell you right now that the performance of the A9 on iOS 15 is acceptable and is not something that needs to be tolerated. This is from my own experience as I downgraded from a 12 Mini to an OGSE and currently use a 13. I do not multitask a lot nor do I do much social media scrolling, however. Someone who does do those things will find the A9 chip, on any version of iOS, intolerable as 2GB RAM is simply not enough in this day and age. Even your higher performance 6S is unable to scroll on social media because your version of Safari has become redundant.

We are retreading old ground but I would say that my devices have to work for me and not the other way around. If my device does not run the apps I require it to run, I have no use for it. I simply refuse to change my behaviour to ensure my device has a prolonged battery life by staying on the original iOS version. All my devices get updated as soon as an update is available. If a device becomes too slow (which hasn’t happened to my iPhones) or the battery becomes unsuitable, it doesn’t matter because I will have naturally upgraded to a newer iPhone anyway.

I agree with your point that we just value different things. You want Day 1 performance and battery life, and I want functionality. Apple has ensured that we cannot have both so we pick the path which best suits us.

I’ve tested apps and they all run blazingly fast on the 6s. Yeah, I have to use older versions, but everything I use, runs flawlessly. Some websites don’t run, but those which do, run flawlessly. They load quickly, there’s no lag at any point, and its battery life’s own limitations are sheer battery size: it doesn‘t have a 3 or 4K mAh battery, it obviously cannot do wonders, but it gives me 6 full hours of full LTE usage with outdoor brightness. That’s good.

You require usability and henceforth the 6s would be useless to you on iOS 10. As my main device, it would be useless to me too. Luckily it isn’t my main device.

@I7guy has mentioned this and you’ve mentioned it on prior discussions too, eventually, either through sheer degradation or by the original iOS version’s obsolescence, a device is no longer fully useful. It’s a shame, but it’s reality.

Like you said, we cannot have day 1 performance and battery life, and app compatibility. I wish we could, but we can’t.

 

[MacCheetah3]

I’m still very meticulous in the care of my devices, gadgets, etc though gotten better at accepting they are tools and as such will have some wear and tear.

My current, relevant examples of longevity:

I’m still using an iPhone X (circa Nov. 2017). The battery is at ~76% health (fell below 80% only after 1000 cycles, double the expected). Nonetheless, it lasts all day without concern — my screen on time averages one to three hours. I also still regularly use a sixth generation iPad (purchased Jan. 2018).

I am waiting to see what the eleventh generation iPad features and if Apple returns to more of a “budget” price, however, will probably be enticed by the iPhone 15.

Five to ten years is almost always my upgrade cycle (tech or otherwise). And I will tell you, when you wait the long/pass on several product generations, the replacement truly feels like a upgrade.

iPads which now are a decade old still give decent runtime,

I have no complaints about my iPad 2 runtime (i.e., battery capacity). FYI, in December 2020 it was at 1285 cycles — I haven’t checked it since.

The performance on the other hand… It’s laggy, games crash frequently enough, and Web surfing is practically impossible, almost every page crashes and reloads constantly. However, indeed, it is on the last supported OS, iOS 9.3.5.