Other Which iPhone You Bought That You had Buyer's Remorse?

[now i see it]

My buyer’s remorse:
iPhone 6 Plus (should have got a 6S Plus
iPhone 7 (should have got a 6S Plus)
iPhone 8 (should have got a 6S Plus)
iPhone 8 Plus (should have got a 6S Plus)
iPhone 11 (should have got a 6S Plus)

 

[Surfsalot]

14 pro, finally flogged it off yesterday, lucky got it cheap and made $200AUD after 8 months.

 

[knirirr]

SE 2022 - poor battery life, small screen, and single lens camera for more money than those features merit. There didn't appear to be any advantages to having iOS 17 and I thought WatchOS 10 was horrible when I mistakenly upgraded. I went back to my 8 Plus, which has been very good indeed, and bought a NOS watch on Ebay that still had WatchOS 9 installed.

 

[LeafsFanNL]

I went from 3GS to 5 to 6S to 7+ to 11 to 13 mini to 15 Pro. I'd say the 6S. Should have bought the 6S+. I would have skipped the 7+

 

[StageMomma]

I bought the 14 Pro Max after the 13 Pro Max and hated the purple color. I also wished I'd just stepped down in size to the 14 Pro....but what I regretted most was the lack of a SIM slot in the 14 Pro Max. I travel overseas and it made getting local service more expensive and difficult. I plan to sell the 14 Pro Max and get a second hand 13 Pro instead. Smaller size and SIM card slot.
It might seem silly, but I really hate being without a SIM slot...I guess I'll have to adjust to that eventually though.

 

[schnitzel-pretzel]

14 Pro and 15 Pro, both because of extremely unpalatable and aggressive photo processing that I cannot disable without losing Live Photos, both got returned, although one was due to a defect in the back glass.

Considering at this point writing my own app to deal with this, but will never ever again trust Apple to create reasonable photo processing pipelines.

 

[Ac1d 8urn]

but what I regretted most was the lack of a SIM slot in the 14 Pro Max.

I really hate this too. I don't travel, but sometimes I switch back to my 8+ to give my eyes a breal from OLED and that's been a PITA since Apple switched to esim. My carrier used to let you change sims online, but now they've disabled that and won't let you reuse sim cards anymore either. Now you have to go to the store and pay $20 for a new sim, or chat in and hope you get someone nice enough to mail you one and waive the fee. I really hate esim.

 

[Hicksmat1976]

never regretted or had remorse.

I would say that generally the new features/enhancements have become more subtle from one release to the next over time because the design/functionality of the iPhone has plateaued. in fact very much like the iPod, eventually something else will replace it.

my first iPhone was the 3GS which compared to the rest of the market at the time was like a caveman seeing fire for the first time. I would say aside from increase in size, better screen, better cameras, better processor, generally the iPhone hasn't changed that much, it's at its peak with technology that is available right now. I used to buy an iPhone every year, but financial factors, married with the less dramatic upgrades/enhancements each year means now it's every 2-3 years for me. I must say, coming from a 12 Pro to a 15 Pro Max, I am not as wowed as maybe I thought I would be. That's not to say I am not happy with my 15 Pro Max, I am, but then it was bought me as a present, maybe if it was my own money I would have to think about whether its that much of an upgrade to justify the spend.

 

[ipaqrat]

3G regret was a lesson not to chase new models for their own sake. Its form factor irritated me every day I had it. I still have it. It still bugs me. It's a reminder that I could have stuck happily with the 2007 "Launch Edition", until I got my 4S. Then I got a 5S, then a 6S, handing the 2-year olds to wife (in the carefree days before binding to iCloud and the hardware security module). I stopped at the X; there weren't any improvements to my use cases until on-device machine learning/AI features came along. I had to get wife an SE (2020), about which she doesn't care enough to have regrets (She holds in the utmost contempt anything that demands attention that she'd otherwise direct to horses, including me, except on paydays.)

I anticipated regret at the 11, 12, 13, 14 and, in fact, everything forever. There was certainly something regrettable at each level, including the 15. I'm holding out as long as I can squeeze blood from my iTurnip X. I need to upgrade my own and wife's laptops first. More regret. More contempt. More jealous horses.

 

[Ac1d 8urn]

There was certainly something regrettable at each level, including the 15.

I feel this way too. I keep buying them hoping to hit the same level of phone peace I had with the 8+ and SE, and every year I'm disappointed. New features are cool, but each new model has either changed or removed something I loved(Touch ID, 3D touch, form factor, nice non-flickering LCD) and replaced it with something that still got the job done but was clunkier, heavier, or just less convenient enough to be annoying on a daily basis. I realize this is an unpopular opinion that makes me look like a nostalgic old fart(tbh I probably am lol) but I just don't like the newer iPhones as much as the older ones, pre-face ID. The new ones objectively good phones, but that feeling of complete satisfaction with my phone just isn't there anymore.

I bought a 15 last month and I have till Jan 8th to decide to keep or return. It's an excellent phone, but the fact that I'm still going back and forth after a month makes me think I should probably just go back to my SE.

 

[Flash1420]

I would say the iPhone 15 Pro Max. I upgraded from the 12 Pro Max and honestly the 12 pro felt more premium and the camera bump is not as big as the 15 Pro. I just returned the 15 Pro and went back to the 12 Pro.

 

[ipaqrat]

I feel this way too. I keep buying them hoping to hit the same level of phone peace I had with the 8+ and SE, and every year I'm disappointed. New features are cool, but each new model has either changed or removed something I loved(Touch ID, 3D touch, form factor, nice non-flickering LCD) and replaced it with something that still got the job done but was clunkier, heavier, or just less convenient enough to be annoying on a daily basis. I realize this is an unpopular opinion that makes me look like a nostalgic old fart(tbh I probably am lol) but I just don't like the newer iPhones as much as the older ones, pre-face ID. The new ones objectively good phones, but that feeling of complete satisfaction with my phone just isn't there anymore.

I bought a 15 last month and I have till Jan 8th to decide to keep or return. It's an excellent phone, but the fact that I'm still going back and forth after a month makes me think I should probably just go back to my SE.

Yep. though there is the little issue of future proofing: The 2020 SE is on its last year of feature updates (to the extent it can run the code). The larger issue is security fixes and how long those will be published. Even security is mixed issue, through, with more features sometimes equating to more vulnerabilities. Hard to judge with Apple stonewalling the way they always have.

Having spent the money, I'd keep the 15 because I'm keenly interested in using the newer "OCR the World", Augmented reality, language translation and speech to text features; THESE things could actually aid me with real-life information management chores. I'd like better cameras (I would have bought the Pro) after all these years with the X, but I still prefer a Nikon z8 w/ 24-120mm. When the iPhone is THAT good, I'll shut up about it, but not one second sooner.

I remember being genuinely excited to get the first gen iPhone in 2007. Felt lucky, no lines on day 2 at the Apple Store. But now they're just tools, and make me feel like a tool when I buy a new one.

There is no doubt that I am a nostalgic old fart, though mine reaches back to Walkman and mix tapes. I never had Sony, like the cool kids, though. When's the last time y'all saw THIS on your desk? Though at peak irony, I make mix tapes from my iPhone.

 

[Ac1d 8urn]

Yep. though there is the little issue of future proofing: The 2020 SE is on its last year of feature updates (to the extent it can run the code). The larger issue is security fixes and how long those will be published. Even security is mixed issue, through, with more features sometimes equating to more vulnerabilities. Hard to judge with Apple stonewalling the way they always have.

Having spent the money, I'd keep the 15 because I'm keenly interested in using the newer "OCR the World", Augmented reality, language translation and speech to text features; THESE things could actually aid me with real-life information management chores. I'd like better cameras (I would have bought the Pro) after all these years with the X, but I still prefer a Nikon z8 w/ 24-120mm. When the iPhone is THAT good, I'll shut up about it, but not one second sooner.

I remember being genuinely excited to get the first gen iPhone in 2007. Felt lucky, no lines on day 2 at the Apple Store. But now they're just tools, and make me feel like a tool when I buy a new one.

There is no doubt that I am a nostalgic old fart, though mine reaches back to Walkman and mix tapes. I never had Sony, like the cool kids, though. When's the last time y'all saw THIS on your desk? Though at peak irony, I make mix tapes from my iPhone.
View attachment 2326763

Oh man, I miss Walkmans. You didn't miss much not having a Sony though, those were the ones that died on me the quickest 😅

 

[TVreporter]

8-plus - I never liked the camera coming from the 5S. But I still enjoy the fingerprint sensor so I'm still using it until it dies! Sorry Tim I'm not splurging!