What would you say is the best value second hand iPhone right now?

Doubt


Apple actively want people upgrading so iOS support gets dropped with their APIs after a few years
 
Doubt


Apple actively want people upgrading so iOS support gets dropped with their APIs after a few years

iPhone 8 and X won't be getting iOS 17, those were released in 2017, so 6 years. My father in law still happily uses an iPhone 8. Apple offers a first party reasonably priced battery replacement if needed, to extend the life of a phone.
 
Utter nonsense.
It absolutely isn't though, check out most modern apps on the app store they'll require an iOS version. Granted the devices usually support a number of iOS versions for a couple of years.

But they've been known to do dodgy crap in the past, remember when they messed with the battery drain through an iOS update on older devices?
 
It absolutely isn't though, check out most modern apps on the app store they'll require an iOS version. Granted the devices usually support a number of iOS versions for a couple of years.

But they've been known to do dodgy crap in the past, remember when they messed with the battery drain through an iOS update on older devices?
Soon to be released iOS 17 will install on the iPhone XS, released in September 2018. That's 5 years ago.

Even iOS 15 and 16 will continue to get bug fixes and security updates for for another two years. Which will install on phones released in 2015.

Battery health will obviously be a concern but they can be replaced easily enough and certainly don't stop working after 2 years.
 
Indeed they don't stop working but it'll benefit from an upgrade. The upgrade path is 2 years. It won't just stop working but the support starts to be not as good, if developers are making a new app they'll use apis that are newer.

Swiftui get better each year, e.g. the navigation controller in iOS 16 has been rebuilt, anything before that would have had to have been made custom.
 
Apple literally have the best OS support in the business, they rarely drop devices. That’s one area you can’t fault Apple with.

As for the battery thing, would you prefer your phone slowed down a little or just powered off at 30% which is what was happening before the ‘update’
 
I have been using my second hand 12 pro for around 2 years now, bought it with battery health of 98% and now 88%

Currently looking at secound hand iPhone 30 pro max or 14 pro max, for me battery health of 95% and above is ok if the price is right etc.

I could have just get apple to change the battery for around £90 but I think camera is better from 13 onwards which I fancy.
 
The upgrade path is 2 years. It won't just stop working but the support starts to be not as good, if developers are making a new app they'll use apis that are newer.
Show me some evidence. I've already explained how a phone released in 2018 can run the yet to be released iOS 17.
 
Show me some evidence. I've already explained how a phone released in 2018 can run the yet to be released iOS 17.
But they literally admitted they were doing it

abc7ny.com/amp/apple-iphone-class-action-battery-lawsuit-throttling/13653651/

The above is the first link if you Google the battery issue they introduced but it's pretty easy to find

There was a huge lawsuit that said they were actively targeting older models to get people to update their phones.
 
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But they literally admitted they were doing it

abc7ny.com/amp/apple-iphone-class-action-battery-lawsuit-throttling/13653651/

The above is the first link if you Google the battery issue they introduced but it's pretty easy to find

There was a huge lawsuit that said they were actively targeting older models to get people to update their phones.
This was resolved in software 3 years ago now or so? It had nothing to do with models, only battery health.

Do you have anything recent specifically around your claims?
 
Thanks guys, you're right that from that list the 13 Pro was by far the best value, but unfortunately the phone was a dud - it was listed with a photo showing True Tone, but when I checked it in person it wasn't an option which sent alarm bells ringing, and the screen was terrible! So dull compared to the third party screen on my X. Luckily I decided to check because I so almost bought it, and annoyingly the people in the shop (very good ratings, by far the best in the county pretty much) were trying to tell me things like "oh, it's just that this phone has better sensors to adjust the brightness" - nope, dull as **** at full brightness and whites looked grey (I checked white point, but I guess in hindsight it could've had low light mode on)

Anyway sorry for the rant, I ended up picking up a 256GB 14 Pro Max for less than the 128GB Pro I was looking at initially - condition is so-so (doesn't bother me too much) but buying from a reputable source and 96% battery health
 
I would say 12 Pro Max, after that the improvements are incremental. The camera is also very good, again, the improvements after that are mostly gimmicks/post processing rather than notable hardware leaps (exception being the wide angle lens which in the 12 is awful). It also does a great job of 4K HDR video but doesn’t have that god awful cinematic mode which I even noticed France seem to be using to record some of the footage from the Rugby World Cup!
 
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Apple refurb is indistinguishable from new. Also allows you to add AppleCare+.

Usually but not always. I have had scratches on devices purchased from their refurb store.


That being said, I would definitely recommend it still, as it’s one of the cheapest ways of purchasing a device eligible for AppleCare+
 
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