iPhone 11 iPhone Longevity-Useability Question

[kc27]

I am in the market for an iPhone. I cannot afford new. I was thinking of purchasing a used 128 GB iPhone 11 and keeping it for two to three years. I know several people who only buy new and upgrade their phones every two years. They feel the phone's performance starts slipping because the old hardware struggles to run the updated operating systems and apps.

What about iPhones in general? Is the performance drop-off that great after two years? Just wondering if years two to five will be that bad. I am not a power user. The phone will be used for video conferencing, streaming music, watching videos, email, photo/video-taking, social apps/texting, navigation.

 

[rui no onna]

Performance, no. Personally, I find battery decline is the biggest issue buying used.

 

[now i see it]

I’ve never bought a brand new iPhone. They were all used except two were Apple refurbished (like new). None of the last 6 has malfunctioned and I still have them all. They all work fine. The older they are, the slower they are.
One thing about slowness is our perception of it. I had been using an old iPhone 6 Plus for 5 years and yes that phone was always a bit pokey but I was used to it’s leisurely way of doing everything. I recently got a much much faster iPhone 8 Plus and have been using it exclusively.
When I now go back to use the 6 plus for a few things - I can’t tolerate how slow it is. It’s just brutal to use (compared to my 8). The phone hasn’t gotten any slower - just my perception of speed has changed.

I think that may be true with a lot of habitual upgraders. The phone after a while just SEEMS slower, but in all likelihood it’s exactly the same speed it always was.

But it’s without a doubt true - that upgrading the operating system over and over again will eventually slow down the device as the newer OSes become more & more demanding.

 

[javisan]

Agree, performance degradation will not likely be an issue, it would be battery degradation. But as an example, Apple charges only $69 for an iPhone 11 battery replacement.

My advice would be to not always upgrade to the latest OS. I have an iPhone 11 Pro and did not upgrade to iOS 15 as absolutely nothing in it enticed me to upgrade. Apple will still release security updates to iOS 14.

 

[now i see it]

My advice would be to not always upgrade to the latest OS

I took that method to the extreme with my last iPhone. I didn’t upgrade the OS in six years. It stayed on the same operating system it shipped with (iOS 9).
There’s only so far you can stay behind on iOS. You can’t stay 5 versions behind that’s for sure. I did it and it’s brutal. Nothing works anymore. Web pages mostly won’t load anymore, no new apps are available for it. No apps can be updated - it’s like dying a slow rotting death.
So either update the OS and slow down the phone a bit or buy a new phone with the latest OS on it — but don’t stay 2 versions or more behind on the operating system unless you like the feeling of the grim reaper creeping up behind you.

 

[eyoungren]

I am in the market for an iPhone. I cannot afford new. I was thinking of purchasing a used 128 GB iPhone 11 and keeping it for two to three years. I know several people who only buy new and upgrade their phones every two years. They feel the phone's performance starts slipping because the old hardware struggles to run the updated operating systems and apps.

What about iPhones in general? Is the performance drop-off that great after two years? Just wondering if years two to five will be that bad. I am not a power user. The phone will be used for video conferencing, streaming music, watching videos, email, photo/video-taking, social apps/texting, navigation.

We upgraded our phones in February 2021 - ten months ago.

Both brand new iPhone 11 Pro Maxs.

My iPhone 6s+, bought in October 2015 is still serving as my secondary phone. iOS 14.

My Pixel 3a XL, bought in May of 2019, is not serving as my backup phone (although it's fine).

I own several much older iPhones as well that are all still being used.

If any of this tells you anything.

 

[eyoungren]

I took that method to the extreme with my last iPhone. I didn’t upgrade the OS in six years. It stayed on the same operating system it shipped with (iOS 9).
There’s only so far you can stay behind on iOS. You can’t stay 5 versions behind that’s for sure. I did it and it’s brutal. Nothing works anymore. Web pages mostly won’t load anymore, no new apps are available for it. No apps can be updated - it’s like dying a slow rotting death.
So either update the OS and slow down the phone a bit or buy a new phone with the latest OS on it — but don’t stay 2 versions or more behind on the operating system unless you like the feeling of the grim reaper creeping up behind you.

My 6s+ was on iOS 9.0.1 from the time that firmware released to late 2020 when I chose to update it. I could have stayed on my jailbreak, but I wanted to do something different with the phone and five years was a pretty good run for that jailbreak.

 

[glenthompson]

My wife and I usually get new but tend to keep them for 3-4 years before upgrading. I’m currently using an iPhone XR and don’t plan to upgrade until next cycle. My wife has a 10s Max and she doesn’t want to upgrade yet either. I’ve always kept up,to date on iOS releases and never had a performance issue. Her previous 6s+ did require a battery replacement.

 

[kc27]

Thanks for all the advice. I did not realize you could decline OS upgrades without losing security updates. Many of the iPhone 11s that I looked at are in the high 80s percent-wise of battery capacity. I know when you buy used and intend to keep the phone for a while, you will be buying a battery. The phone is for a family member who has stuck it out as long as they could with an iPhone 6s. The requirements of some apps are pushing the 6s to its limit. The battery was replaced six months ago by YouBreakIFix, and for most typical phone tasks the phone still works great. I was shocked to see a few people had sold 6s phones for up to $70 on eBay. I would have figured at its age, $25 tops.

 

[azhava]

I kept my XS for 3 years (updated along the way from iOS 12.0 to 15.0) and it was still working great. The battery needed replacing, but other than that the phone worked fine and felt plenty fast. I upgraded to the 13 Pro because I wanted to, definitely not because I needed to.

 

[kc27]

Update: I bought an iPhone 11 for $425 from a private seller on Swappa. The screen had a 1" and a 1/2" straight line scratches on it that were not visible in the photos and were described as swirl marks in the description. They are only visible when the screen is dark. I did not think it was a problem, but to the family member for whom the phone is for, it is. I guess the screen imperfections to them are the equivalent to me of rust and body damage on a car. Otherwise the phone is cosmetically and functionally perfect. I am going to tell the user to buy a new iPhone 11 from Apple for $550. If they trade in their iPhone 6s, the cost comes down to $520. The fact that they will be starting out with a new battery will probably compensate somewhat for the added cost of new vs used.

 

[1rottenapple]

We have an xs max and it’s 1 year older than the 11. Let me tell you performance wise it’s great. Same with my 2018 iPad Pro. These processors are great. I have friends with the x and they don’t upgrade saying the processor is too slow. When was the last time I heard an iPhone user even say that? They upgrade for the camera and the battery.

 

[1rottenapple]

I kept my XS for 3 years (updated along the way from iOS 12.0 to 15.0) and it was still working great. The battery needed replacing, but other than that the phone worked fine and felt plenty fast. I upgraded to the 13 Pro because I wanted to, definitely not because I needed to.

Right? Same here I upgraded from the xs max to 12 mini and the performance was great. Low light photography was the big jump for me as well as the 5.4 in screen.

 

[FlyingDutch]

I am in the market for an iPhone. I cannot afford new. I was thinking of purchasing a used 128 GB iPhone 11 and keeping it for two to three years. I know several people who only buy new and upgrade their phones every two years. They feel the phone's performance starts slipping because the old hardware struggles to run the updated operating systems and apps.

What about iPhones in general? Is the performance drop-off that great after two years? Just wondering if years two to five will be that bad. I am not a power user. The phone will be used for video conferencing, streaming music, watching videos, email, photo/video-taking, social apps/texting, navigation.

I upgraded to a 13 Pro from a 11 Pro a few days ago. Performance were absolutely amazing on the 11, and I really didn’t feel the urge to upgrade, for the first time in many years.
But when you buy a 2 years old smartphone, you have to take some things into consideration: performance are ok now, but you cannot say in 2 years (it depends on iOS evolution). Battery on a second handed phone is an issue.
My 11 Pro was still very good (97% health reported after 2 years), but in the near future, maybe 1 year or less, you will have to replace the battery, and it is not cheap. Maybe could be a better idea to search for a new iPhone 11