Apple iPhone XR

iPhone XR was released in 2018, and I got mine in 2019. It will still be supported by iOS 18, which is being released in 2024. 5-6 years of fully functioning hardware with official OS updates is much better than the Android phones I had before it.

I had android for years, and I got tired of the buggy experience after a year of usage, and dying when I needed the most. I switched to an iphone XR, and the phone worked perfectly for over 2 years, after which I gave it to another family member and I switched to a 13 pro. Are they expensive? For sure yes, if you go top of the line, but even an older one works perfectly fine for 99% of people needs, and they will save you time and headaches for several years. That's the selling point, they are easy to use, and last a long time (in tech world terms). "It just works" is not only marketing.

> everything Apple has been marketing spin for decades. After using Android since around 2010 getting a midrange iPhone around 18 or so months ago was almost a revelation for me, so no, it is clearly not all marketing spin. (Why? Even on a Note II or S7 Edge something as trivial as opening the camera would have me waiting. On my iPhone XR pressing the camera button brings up the camera more or less instantaneously. And there are also a number of small conveniences that are hard to really pinpoint like actually understanding when it is in my pocket and then not turn on and burn out my battery.)

"Slow phone with slow animations" is a crazy assessment, I switched from Galaxy S7 to iPhone XR in 2018 because the Galaxy was (like every other Android I had) slow to do everything, applications would crash randomly and my phone would just give up and reboot without warning. Not to mention all of the killer Android features that Google had gotten rid of up to that point (RIP notification ticker, I miss you so much). What's the point of being able to sideload and customize when none of it works on a day to day basis? And when Google/other Android phone manufacturers insist on their phones being more and more similar to iPhone/iOS, the reasons to stay on Android go away too.

At some stage, "improvements" become nothing more than marketing buzzwords. I'd argue one reason ICE are "stagnant" are because they're "good enough" and any potential improvements required expensive R&D and manufacturing changes, for results that purchasers won't change their buying decision for. Maybe Toyata could make an ICE for the Camry that was 5% more efficient, but few people who were about to buy someone else's equivalent car will choose a Camry instead based on such a marginal improvement. I think phones are a good current example of this. I have felt zero need to upgrade from my iPhone 13, because the "improvements" since it was new are of zero interest or value to me. I'm quite likely to do a battery replacement on this one instead of upgrading to a new iPhone any time soon. (And the only reason I bought the iPhone13 was to get the backside lidar, I was perfectly happy with the XR I used before that.)

iPhone 14 to 17 is still a solid step up. +10 hours battery. 120hz display. 48mp cameras vs 12, way better front camera... and USB-C. But if this is too minor a bump for you then just hold onto the 14? One of the great things about these recent phones is how long they last if looked after. I'm getting 17 after skipping 6 generations with my XR and it's been great this whole time. Only really upgrading now due to crappy battery life and no longer getting the latest OS versions, which I need to run. And with 6 generations skipped the step up seems major.

I replaced my old iPhone XR with a brand new 16 this year, not because anything was wrong with it (even the battery was OK), but I wanted to see what the changes brought. I was quite surprised that other than the much better battery, USB-C, and much better camera, and sometimes faster speed, the old one was holding up quite well. You can get an old iPhone XR for 100 EURish, in decent condition. I really have no idea what model year iPhone's others have.

I'm currently using an iPhone 13 from late 2021, so almost 4 years old. It's showing 79% Maximum Capacity in Battery Health, and I only occasionally use more then 75% of battery over a days use. I still have the iPhone XR I upgraded from, so a 7 year old 2018 phone, that still holds a whole day's charge too (but doesn't get much use, and doesn't have a SIM in it right now so I'd guess it's powered down the cellular radios?) I have an iPod Touch from a bit before Covid, so 6 years old from 2019-ish - it stopped getting daily use when Covid and WFH hit, so it's battery is old, but still in reasonable condition. (Pity newer iOS won't run on it...)

Still rocking my iPhone XR with zero plans to change or upgrade phones. If I did or were forced to upgrade I would most likely go for something like this or an older 12 or 14 with a few features as possible.

I also prefer to up front whenever possible and never had a phone paid by contract. I buy an iPhone preferably used and use it until major OS updates are no longer available. I currently use an iPhone XR from 2018. I think that long term with iPhone it’s cheaper than doing the same with Android unless you go with really budget ones like 150 €, but that’s to bad of an experience for me. What I also really like with iPhone is that you can get really cheap displays and batteries which is not the case for Android phones in my experience.

Is Indonesia even a big enough market for Apple to need to worry about losing it? Looks like Asia Pacific in general is a very small portion of Apple's revenue. https://www.statista.com/statistics/382175/quarterly-revenue... On a side note, iPhone's seem to last quite a while. I still have a Xr and it runs the latest iOS quite well, so people might be good for a while if they stick with the 15.

This works great for me. I have only a few apps, like a piano tuner, don't use Safari on my phone, and its peaceful. The key to me is to stop looking at the phone as a computer and use it just for texting and calls. I bought a refurb, like-new, unlocked iPhone XR 64GB in 2020 for $500 on eBay to replace an Android phone, because Google's forced updates kept breaking basic phone features, like zooming a picture. I had updates and WiFi disabled, but somehow they managed to shove updates on me anyway. That and their constant nagging for more permissions for basic things like texting and speech-to-text.

Yeah I do a lot of walking and long trips. I had a mid range DSLR and it was horrible carrying it everywhere and juggling lenses and batteries. The iPhone works 90% of the cases perfectly and the last 10% of the cases, I am happy with the compromise. Edit: The thing that really killed the DSLR for me was lugging the whole kit up Scafell Pike in the pissing rain and cold in the UK. I got some good photos in the morning but carried a brick for the entire day after the battery dumped because of the cold. I had an iPhone XR back then and that kept me going all day fine. When I got back the whole damn camera despite being weather sealed had condensation in it.

> On Apple: good luck :) (or feel free to write a tip for others -that use apple- see. Lockdown Firewall. With that I can have a nice, midrange phone like my XR that blocks ads and opens the camera when I click the camera button - not 2,3 seconds later when the fun is gone. You are welcome, have a nice day. FWIW I was an Android user from HTC Hero until late last year. I cannot stand Mac, but on phones my midrange iPhone beats all the flagship Android phones I used over the years.

As someone who very recently went from an iPhone SE - which I treasured since it came out (and which I nursed through one battery replacement and two screen replacements) - to an iPhone XR (triggered by a another digitiser failure), I can honestly say that I’m loving the performance boost, the massive battery life, the better camera and the brighter screen. However it’s taking some time to adjust to the size (150.9mm x 75.7mm x 8.3mm, versus the SE’s 123.8mm x 58.6mm x 7.6mm). I used to be able to slip my SE comfortably into the front pocket of my pants or jeans, and it’s size coupled with its rigidity meant I never worried that sitting or bending would damage it or discomfort me. I could even put it in a shirt pocket, where it’s relatively light weight (113g vs the XR’s 196gm), wouldn’t cause undue sag in my shirt. For me it’s definitely been a trade off. Having gotten mostly used to it though, (meaning I now carry my phone in my hands much more than I ever did), I don’t think I would go back unless I could get significantly better specs than the original SE (performance, batter, brightness, camer) in the smaller form factor. EDIT: correction to first para.

Interesting to see so many people here prefer smaller phones over big ones. I was using iPhone 5, 5S, and SE for over 6 years. This Christmas I switched to XR and I couldn't be happier. I feel like there are so many productivity things I can do on my phone that were annoying before. I use notes, emails, and even Google Spreadsheets much more. I started using the Kindle app for reading and I actually like it. Sometimes, I even prefer it over Kindle (mostly because of what I can do with highlights right away). The only downside is that a pocket on my favorite jeans isn't big enough. So the phone often has to go inside my backpack.