Take Apple’s advice: Don’t rush to buy a new iPhone
The
best iPhone is the one you already paid for—running the latest software.
Like most Apple events, last Wednesday’s big
iPhone and Apple Watch reveal was a master class in manufacturing desire. For
nearly two hours, Apple executives spoke of larger and more vibrant screens,
faster processors, and better cameras, all in service of making your current
iPhone or Apple Watch seem like stale bread.
So it was a bit jarring when Lisa Jackson,
Apple’s vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives, took the
stage and subtly suggested that you might not need a new iPhone after all.
During her five-minute presentation on Apple’s sustainability efforts, Jackson
claimed that iPhones are built to last, thereby reducing the environmental
impact of making new ones.
“Because they last longer, you can keep using
them,” Jackson said. “And keeping using them is the best thing for the planet.”
Protecting the environment isn’t the only
reason to hold off on buying a new iPhone. With last year’s iPhone X, Apple
increased the base price for a top-of-the-line phone to $999, up $230 from the
iPhone 7 Plus in 2016. This year, Apple is pushing prices even higher with the
$1,099 iPhone Xs Max, a larger sibling to the new $999 iPhone Xs.
Even Apple’s new budget-priced model, the $749 iPhone Xr, is $50 pricier than
last year’s second-tier iPhone 8. Waiting longer between upgrades is one way to
offset those increasing costs.
Besides, Jackson has a point: Old iPhones are
better than ever, so replacing them isn’t so urgent.
ALL IN THE OS
Rejuvenating old phones was one of the main
goals of iOS 12, which will be available for download on September 17. Apple
claims that the upgrade can help launch apps up to twice as fast under heavy
loads, load the camera up to 70% faster from lock screen, and speed up keyboard
display times by up to 50%. And for the first time, this iOS upgrade covers
five previous generations of iPhones, stretching back to the iPhone 5S.
Older phones weren’t always as much of a
focus for Apple and its iOS upgrades. With the original iPhone and iPhone 3G,
Apple only offered two upgrades apiece, followed by three upgrades apiece for
the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. And even if an old phone was eligible for a new
iOS version, installing it was a gamble. The iPhone 4 struggled to
handle iOS 7’s new animations, and
the iPhone 4S neither looked right nor
performed well under iOS 8. Effectively, users had to
decide between stability and new features like Facetime or Notification Center.
Over time, though, Apple has both increased
the number of upgrades each phone can get and improved the performance of those
upgrades on aging hardware. Ars Technica, which has reviewed older
iPhones on new iOS versions for years, was satisfied with both iOS 10 on the iPhone 5S and iOS 11 on the iPhone 5S, despite reporting some mild slowdown
in both cases. (However, some people who installed iOS 11 did report
severe problems, especially with the version available on
day one.)
As for iOS 12, this week I installed the beta
on an iPhone 6 Plus and started carrying it around in lieu of my usual Google
Pixel 2 XL. While the iPhone occasionally needs an extra second or two to load
an app or pop up the keyboard, using this four-year-old phone has been
acceptable in the same way that using a four-year-old laptop might be. The
display is bright and crisp even by today’s standards, and the camera–though
not a fancy dual-lens system–loads in an instant and takes pretty good pictures
in any lighting condition. I quickly recalled that even in 2014, I was
confident enough in the iPhone 6 Plus camera to start leaving my DSLR at home.
The experience has helped me realize that the habit of replacing a two-year-old
phone these days is driven more by gadget lust than an actual need.
LONG LIVE THE IPHONE
Although Apple has steadily extended the
lifespan of older iPhones on its own, the company has also been responding to
external pressure.
Apple acknowledged that it slows down older phones as their batteries
degrade. While the company explained that it does this to prevent unexpected
shutdowns, the admission fueled longstanding conspiracy theories of planned
obsolescence for older phones. The fact that Apple charged $79 to replace out-of-warranty
batteries didn’t help Apple’s case; a wave of lawsuits
followed.
To temper the backlash, Apple launched a
$29 battery
replacement program for the iPhone SE, iPhone 6, and later
models through the end of 2018. (After this year, the replacement price for the
iPhone SE through iPhone 8 will rise to $49, which is still $30 less than it
used to be, while iPhone X battery prices will increase to $69.) Apple also
started letting users disable the
performance throttling that kicks in as
battery capacity shrinks.
Apple can still do a lot more to prolong the
life of older iPhones (and simultaneously help the environment). While the
company says that its phones are built to last, it still encourages annual
replacement through its iPhone Upgrade Program, which lets customers pay for their
phone and AppleCare+ in monthly installments and trade up to a new model every
12 months. If Apple really wanted to live up to its eco-friendly marketing, the
company could offer biennial or even triennial replacements in exchange for a
lower monthly fee.
As Motherboard’s Jason
Koebler pointed out this
week, Apple also discourages repair and reuse
when iPhones are out of the company’s control. Instead of letting the
independent recyclers it works with salvage old iPhones and Macs for
refurbishment or harvest them for components, Apple reportedly requires these
recyclers to shred the old
products into scrap. Meanwhile, Apple has lobbied against “Right to Repair” laws, which would require the company to supply
independent repair shops with tools, parts, and manuals for fixing old iPhones.
Perhaps as Apple focuses more its services
business, keeping up the hardware replacement cycle
will become less of a priority, and those anti-reuse and repair policies will
begin to soften. For now, if you’ve got an older iPhone, try installing iOS 12,
back up and delete all the old photos that are hogging your device storage, and
maybe even perform a factory reset to give yourself a fresh start. Most
importantly, give yourself some time to put Apple’s relentless marketing out of
mind. You might find that the phone you have isn’t so stale after all.
BY JARED NEWMAN
https://www.fastcompany.com/90237242/take-apples-advice-dont-rush-to-buy-a-new-iphone?utm_source=postup&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Fast%20Company%20Daily&position=1&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=09152018
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