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Author
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: Bill Kochman
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Publish
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: Feb. 27, 2025
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Update
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: May 16, 2025
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Parts
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: 01
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Synopsis:
Myth: You Need To Purchase A New iPhone Every Single Year, Older iPhones Are Not Useless Or Obsolete, Few Changes In Recent Models, The Apple Fanatics, Keep It If You're Happy, My Trusty Still Very Useful iPhone Xs Max, Longtime Usage Equates To Wise Investment, Annoying AI Tech In The Recent OS Updates, AI Versus Manual Proofreading, Android Phones And Widespread Split Back Issue, Dangers Of Cheap Androids, Androids: Buy Cheap But Buy Often, OS Updates, My Advice Is To Buy Whatever Meets Your Needs, Conclusion, Reading List
Apparently, there is a silly myth in circulation which erroneously claims that iPhone users must purchase a new iPhone for $1,000+ every year because their current iPhone becomes obsolete. I do not know who started this baseless rumor, but I would like to set the record straight. You can thank me later. 😛
To begin with, just because newer versions of an iPhone may have new features -- namely in the operating system -- and maybe a more powerful camera, or perhaps a slightly better battery, most certainly does NOT necessarily make an older iPhone useless or obsolete. Body-wise, iPhones have not really changed that much. They are basically the same shape as they have always been with variations in the body size and screen size, and the placement of the backside camera.
I would say that the three biggest physical changes -- aside from the aforementioned ones -- is that the "Home" button was removed quote a few years ago; the stereo audio port was also removed; and more recently, Apple was pressured into replacing the lightening port with a USB-C port in order to make iPhones more standardized.
But again, contrary to the silly myth that's been apparently going around in online circles, no one is forced to purchase a new iPhone every year if they really don't want to, and if they honestly do not feel the need to. Actually, people who do that are really the Apple fanatics who must always have the latest and the greatest. Perhaps they do it as a status symbol. Who knows. These are the people who are willing to stand in long lines in the dark for hours, long before any of the Apple stores have even opened. Some of those folks will even camp out overnight in order to guard their spot in line. Now THAT is really Apple fanaticism! Personally, I am not one of them, and I have never been one of them.
Quite simply, if a person is happy with the feature set of their current iPhone, and does not feel that they need the features which are being offered in the next generation of the iPhone, then they are free to remain with their current phone. No questions asked. To be clear, an older model does NOT become useless or obsolete, or suddenly stop working, just because a newer model iPhone has been released by Apple. As far as I know, Apple does not have some kind of secret remote button which causes all previous models to suddenly stop working. That would be silly, rather mean, greedy, and probably illegal.
For the record, in addition to having used and owned a long line of Macintosh computers since 1990, I currently use a 2018 iPhone Xs Max with 256 GB of storage, which I purchased in early 2019. Aside from having to charge it frequently due to the battery health now being down to 50%, my six-year-old iPhone Xs Max still meets my needs just fine. In fact, it is running the latest version of iOS, that being 18.5.0.
[UPDATE: I recently had the battery replaced by the local authorized Apple distributor, so that the battery health is now back up to 99%.]
However, this may possibly be the last OS update that it receives, because last year, Apple added the Xs Max to its "vintage" list. Apple considers a device vintage when it has been out of distribution for more than five years, but less than seven years. When a device passes the seven-year mark of being out of distribution, then it is added to Apple's "obsolete" list.
Aside from being my only communication device -- meaning I use it to make phone calls -- I still get a lot of value out of my Xs Max. Considering that I can still perform all of the following tasks on my six-year-old iPhone, I'd hardly call my phone useless or obsolete:
1. text messages
2. send & receive email
3. surf the web in Firefox
4. video chat
5. take photos
6. make videos
7. listen to music
8. conduct online research
9. visit 13 social networks
10. watch movies & TV shows
11. write new poetry
12. create new mp3 songs
13. check my bank account
14. track packages
15. read the daily news
16. track the weather
17. write new BBB articles
18. etc., etc.
If I recall correctly, at the time I purchased it as a brand new phone in early 2019, this iPhone cost $1,250.00. If we divide that amount by my current six years of usage, that means that I have spent an average of just under $210.00 per year for this phone, and that average will drop even further with each additional year of usage that I get out of it. My friends, I would say that is a pretty wise investment.
So to reiterate what I stated earlier, the idea that iPhone users have to spend $1,000+ every year because their current phone has become obsolete is just a silly myth. Perhaps the myth was invented by Apple's competitors, or by people who have never used an iPhone, and thus speak out of ignorance.
In fact, I recently discovered a cool advantage of owning an older iPhone. Well, at least I consider it an advantage. You see, being as my phone is currently running iOS 18.5.0, one thing which the latest updates are unable to install due to my phone's age, is all of the AI crap. Quite frankly, I find AI absolutely annoying, bossy, aggressive and intrusive! It seems to have a mind of its own! I do NOT need all of the predictive nonsense which Apple has been adding in recent updates!
Of course, everyone is different. But for me personally, I would much rather proofread my content myself and correct it as needed, instead of having AI constantly jumping ahead of me and telling me what I intend to write. Honestly speaking, I waste more time correcting its errors, and removing words and phrases that it has inserted, which turns my sentences into nonsensical gibberish! I REALLY find it annoying!
So again, despite now being six years old, my iPhone Xs Max continues to be useful and serves me quite well. Hopefully, I will continue to get a few more years of good use out of it before it bites the dust, even if I can no longer update the OS itself. We shall see. But you can't say that I don't get my money's worth out of stuff that I buy! 😛
On the other hand -- yes, I just had to add this next section -- in recent years I found the need to purchase a few low-end Android phones. This decision resulted from the fact that I have a number of online friends who are Android users, and who regularly participate in my BBB Bible online Christian ministry. Being elderly similar to myself, some of these folks do not have a lot of experience with all of this modern technology. Even some of the simplest tasks which more advanced users find very easy to do, these elderly folks can find quite challenging and confusing to accomplish.
As a result, even though I'm a longtime Apple products user, I decided to purchase a low-end Android phone -- and later, yet another one -- so that I could learn the ropes of the Android operating system, and thus help out these Christian friends of mine.
Well, to my great surprise, after barely two years of usage -- and not even regular usage at that -- the back half of my Android phone began to split apart from the front half. Man I had no idea what was going on! I didn't know if the phone had simply overheated or what. Upon conducting some online research, to my dismay, I discovered that this is in fact a well-known problem with low-end Android phones. The problem results from the lithium-ion battery expanding over time, and forcing the back side of the phone to split from the front side. From what I have read, this is a very dangerous situation, because the battery can eventually explode, or the phone can even catch fire! Wow!
Well, while my Android never caught fire or exploded, the battery did continue to expand, until the back side of the phone was very much separated from the front side. And so, as a result, I was eventually forced to dispose of that phone. I have another slightly-newer Android phone sitting in my desk drawer which I occasionally use. Being as it too is a low-end model, I imagine that sooner or later, it will suffer the same demise as my first Android phone.
On a final note regarding this subject, I have a neighbor who is an Android phone user. One day while we were chatting a bit during a local power outage -- we were both charging our phones with his car battery -- he informed me that rather than purchase a high-end Android phone which can cost "mucho dinero", he prefers instead to purchase low-end models, and then to simply replace it every two years when the battery expansion issue occurs. Well how about THAT!
So, maybe we iPhone users pay a hefty price for our phones, but they are both solid and reliable, and they last a very long time. Oh, and let me close with one final point. While Android phones only allow you to update the operating system for two version numbers, I have been updating my iPhone Xs Max for the past six years. But as I said earlier, by next year, that may change when my phone is reclassified as being "obsolete". We shall see.
In conclusion, the bottom line for me personally has always been this: Whether we are talking about a desktop computer, a laptop, a tablet or a cell phone, my personal advice is that after considering your options, you simply get whatever you like, and whatever meets your particular needs and fits within your personal budget, regardless of whether it is macOS, iOS, Windows, Android or any other operating system. But at the same time, please remember one thing: You always get what you pay for. I hope the previous information has been helpful to some of my readers.
With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you've found it informative and enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!
For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the BBB Bible web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.
Admiral Richard E. Byrd and the Hollow Earth Theory
AI, Deepfakes and Humanoid Robots
Albert Einstein and God
Alien Intervention, Raelians, Pyramids and Nazca Geoglyphs
Alien Life, Extrasolar Planets and Universal Atonement
Apophis: Will It Hit the Earth?
Comet Elenin, Hercolubus, Nibiru, and Planet X
Is Science Better Than the Bible?
Keeping Things in the Proper Perspective: ET, Where Are You?
Organ Transplants and Blood Transfusions
Other Planets and the Flat Earth Theory
Our Expanding Universe: Einstein, Hubble, Dark Energy and God
Robot Wars and Skynet: Is Sci-Fi Becoming Our Reality?
Science and Technology: The Forbidden Knowledge?
The Case for or Against Flat Earth Adherents
The Dinosaur Dilemma and Modern Science
The Internet: Our Final Frontier; Your Last Chance?
Veganism, Carnivores, UV Rays and Aging