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alyssap22

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 13, 2014
178
125
How is the iPhone 8 holding up in 2021? I got a good deal on an excellent condition one with replacements battery for my son. He will mostly be listening to music and watching YouTube.
 

Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
15,722
11,047
Even iPhone 7 is good for music and watching YouTube. Heck, no iPhone released in 2017 and beyond can’t guarantee fluent music and video playback. Just pick the deal and let your kids happy.

Unless he also wants to play games, in which case this might be debatable. But still.
 

alyssap22

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 13, 2014
178
125
Even iPhone 7 is good for music and watching YouTube. Heck, no iPhone released in 2017 and beyond can’t guarantee fluent music and video playback. Just pick the deal and let your kids happy.

Unless he also wants to play games, in which case this might be debatable. But still.
Thank you! Just want him to be able to make texts and calls easily and listen to his music! He’s not much of a gamer. Really into podcasts right now. So I think it will work good for all that!
 

TheRealAlex

macrumors 68030
Sep 2, 2015
2,918
2,137
I’m using a Used iPhone 8 Plus which I bought for $200 last year. And just traded it in for a iPhone 12 Pro Max and got $800 Trade in Value on Tmobile.

$1,100 -$800 = $300 paid cash.
 

Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
15,722
11,047
Thank you! Just want him to be able to make texts and calls easily and listen to his music! He’s not much of a gamer. Really into podcasts right now. So I think it will work good for all that!
Not only that, an iPhone 8 (outside of battery) could last a long time. If your kids take care of it enough he might still be able to use it when touching his adulthood, albeit with some caveats (software support etc but who knows).
 

alyssap22

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 13, 2014
178
125
I’m using a Used iPhone 8 Plus which I bought for $200 last year. And just traded it in for a iPhone 12 Pro Max and got $800 Trade in Value on Tmobile.

$1,100 -$800 = $300 paid cash.
That’s amazing!
 

kanga1622

macrumors regular
Sep 21, 2016
181
117
My son is rocking my old 7+. The battery dies faster than a newer one but it has been in daily use for 5 years now. He mainly uses it for texting and playing Pokémon.
 

now i see it

macrumors G4
Jan 2, 2002
10,701
22,465
The iPhone 8 is still super fast. I have one but I always use my 6 Plus because it has a bigger nicer screen.
 

3:16

macrumors regular
Mar 18, 2018
207
1,044
I’m using a Used iPhone 8 Plus which I bought for $200 last year. And just traded it in for a iPhone 12 Pro Max and got $800 Trade in Value on Tmobile.

$1,100 -$800 = $300 paid cash.
That’s a typo he actually paid $800 cash.
 

KOTN91

macrumors 6502a
Nov 23, 2017
678
550
iPhone 8 (and even more so the 8 plus) were a bit naff in 2017, let alone 2021

It would be worth it if you could find an iPhone 8 for less than £100 for use as a backup phone, isn’t and never was worth anything near the RRP. 8 plus isn’t even good enough for that and should just be discarded
 

colodane

macrumors 65816
Nov 11, 2012
1,022
462
Colorado
the iPhone 8 is a good phone. I replaced mine with a 12 mini a little over a year ago, but still have the 8 and use it daily on wi-fi for music, podcasts, etc. Not really any significant difference in the user experience between it and the 12 mini unless you are really into photography.
 
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CrazyForCashews

macrumors 65816
Apr 1, 2018
1,048
2,758
A while back I damaged the screen on my OG SE while working on my car (still looking for a proper quality OEM screen replacement at a reasonable cost, anyone know of any sources?).

Around that time Apple soon announced the iPhone 12 Mini which seemed like the perfect option but I was disappointed with it having no TouchID. Even though the OG iPhone SE only had the first gen of TouchID, it was still quite fast and accurate and I wanted something with TouchID.

Enter iPhone 8. Bought a basically pristine like new condition iPhone 8 in Product Red for dirt cheap and it's been a massive upgrade for me. The increase in screen size makes it a lot easier to type on (and read!!) compared to the OG SE and TouchID 2.0 is fantastic, especially in the masked world we live in now. The A11 is still a beast and the phone runs without a hitch even on iOS 14.

Oh yeah the Product Red iPhone 8 is a beauty. It's a true shade of red and none of that candy pinkish crap Apple calls now Product Red.
 
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1BadManVan

macrumors 68040
Dec 20, 2009
3,153
3,289
Bc Canada
The A11 Bionic chip is a pretty powerful soc, definitely helps keep the IPhone 8 a very usable phone in 2021. I gave my 8 plus to my mom as her first smartphone and she loves it. Made her finally give the iPad a try that she now issues every day lol.
 
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Velin

macrumors 68020
Jul 23, 2008
2,015
1,920
Hearst Castle
How is the iPhone 8 holding up in 2021? I got a good deal on an excellent condition one with replacements battery for my son. He will mostly be listening to music and watching YouTube.
It will be perfect. Do it.

I'm still using my iPhone 7, released in September 2016. It's running the latest iOS, runs flawlessly, runs every app, great voice and video, battery still is good enough for daily use (and I never used the optimized battery charging). Right now the iPhone 7 battery health setting says the battery's "maximum capacity" is 88%, pretty amazing for what will be a six year old phone that has been running continuously since purchase.

One tip: be sure to do a fresh/clean software install when iOS is updated. Wipe the iPhone 8 and do a fresh install. The one thing that will slow down older iPhones are incremental iOS "updates." The incremental updates suck and don't work nearly as well as a wipe and fresh install during major iOS releases.
 

mlody

macrumors 68000
Nov 11, 2012
1,597
1,225
Windy City
How is the iPhone 8 holding up in 2021? I got a good deal on an excellent condition one with replacements battery for my son. He will mostly be listening to music and watching YouTube.
Both my kids use iPhone 7 and X and they don't complain. Your son will be just fine with 8.
 
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minimo3

macrumors 6502a
Oct 18, 2010
814
980
My kid switched from an 11 to a backup 7 we had lying around since TouchID works much better in masked indoor classrooms. Interestingly there is minimal performance difference between the two models if all they’re using it for is email, messaging, gps directions, some social media. I can’t tell the milliseconds of difference either
 

ckuttner

macrumors regular
Apr 22, 2015
113
37
Portland, OR
Thanks to everyone for your posts. My iPhone 8 works fine for me, but since 15.1, I'm getting less battery life, and the Battery panel says "Service", 89%. I'm running NordVPN but it doesn't even show up on the usage chart, top one besides a morning Zoom class is Facebook at 10%. (That long period with screen on is my doing virtual visits with my patients, while plugged in to power.)
Batteries Plus will replace my battery for $79. Apple Store quote is $49. I think I'll go for the latter, even if I get only another 1-2 years before it's obsolete.
Comments?
IMG_BF6934224EDF-1.jpeg
 
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now i see it

macrumors G4
Jan 2, 2002
10,701
22,465
iPhone 8 is still a very good phone.
It works better now even on the latest versions of iOS than any model preceding it on their launch day.
 
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