What would you suggest as a replacement for my two year old iPhone SE? I like the size and have never had a phone with Face ID, only a button; I wear photochromatic glasses all the time and it would be a real pain to have to keep taking them off (as per passport control).
By way of background, I use my phone as a phone (shock, horror), for messaging (iMessage, WhstsApp), various fora (Discourse, Discord), weather, some news apps (BBC, Economist, newspapers), calendar (Fantastical), contacts (CardHop), podcasts (Overcast) and, now I’m retired, very little else.
I’m not a great photographer, so a brilliant camera is not at all important; neither is music. Right now I have 38Gb spare on a 128Gb phone.
I’m thinking of changing the phone mostly because its battery is down to 82% and has been for the past few months. AppleCare expires tomorrow so I’m cynically expecting the battery to fail further within the next month!
Thanks in advance for suggestions, the cheaper the better.
In terms of size you are not going to find anything similar unless you opt for the 13 mini (which is officially not available from Apple anymore) but the regular 13 is still available new and is still a great phone (with the camera being the only major difference between the 13 and 15 so if you don’t care about that much you are going to be happy with the 13 which still takes great photos). After 2 years my 13 is still on 94% battery health so I’ve kept it as a secondary phone.
If you’re otherwise happy with the phone you can probably re-up AppleCare for another year. Then the battery failure is covered. Ask Apple if they can enroll you in AppleCare monthly billing. I’ve never switched from the 2-year plan to monthly, but Apple is usually happy to find a way to keep taking your money.
Either that or just budget to replace your battery. I don’t think it’s that expensive out of warranty.
Then you can wait until the next-gen SE hits and see if that works well for you.
It looks like you can get your battery replaced for $69 US. As I recall it took about 90 minutes, back in 2018, to get the battery replaced on my iPhone 6s (with an appointment).
Two good points. I didn’t know I could get AppleCare past two years, and I didn’t know there was a new SE coming either. Thanks, I’ll check if extending AppleCare is cheaper than a new battery as the same problem exists with my wife’s SE (of similar age) too.
Well, I don’t KNOW there’s a new SE coming - but I figure there has to be at some point. A new battery will get you another couple years at a minimum.
I know that if you do AppleCare month-to-month it just keeps on going forever until you cancel it. So it’s definitely possible to have it beyond two years. The only question is if you can switch it from the “I bought 2 years all at once” to “monthly.”
I’d recommend waiting rather than buying a 13 (which likely has the same guts as your current phone). A new SE will hopefully come within the lifetime of a replacement battery if you wish to go that route. That way you can upgrade to a refurbed 15, or a new SE. Either way you’re likely to be able to get your next iPhone with USB-C which is likely a big boost in convenience.
The answer to this question is “Yes… yes you can.”
I have just renewed AppleCare+ on my MBA, iPhone 12 PM and Apple Watch in the last 3 months. Month to month payments can be set up via the Apple Support app or by calling AppleCare.
I think AppleCare+ coverage will continue until your device reaches “Vintage” status. I can’t see Apple allowing coverage to continue until “Obsolete” status.
For those wondering what Vintage and Obsolete status means…
Vintage = 5 years from last manufacture date
Obsolete = 7 years from last manufacture date
(I use to tell customers that not even Steve Jobs could get an Obsolete device repaired thru Apple)
I think that’s good advice. One thing that gets overlooked when people consider buying older generations of iPhones is how long they’re going to get the latest versions of iOS and security updates.
It may seem like a great deal (“it’s cheaper, fast enough for me, and does everything I need”) but if you consistently buy older generation iPhones—even when they’re still being sold by Apple—you’re going to have to replace them more often.
Buy the latest generation iPhone, and it’s likely to last you at least five years. Buy the previous generation, and that drops to four, and the one before that, three.
Buying two-generation-old iPhones every three years or one-generation-old iPhones every four years isn’t necessarily going to be cheaper—and could even be more expensive in the long run—than buying the latest iPhone every five years.
