Which to upgrade to, iPhone 7 or 8?

Hardware
1

My wife’s iPhone 6 is crawling since I installed ios12. (The same happened to me). I’m trying to convince her to upgrade this weekend, she is very frugal and doesn’t want to spend $$$ on an iPhone XR. I’m trying to decide which would be the better way to go - an iPhone 7 / 7Plus or iPhone 8 /8Plus.

I’ve only had. 6 and an XR, nothing in between, so I’d rather hear from those who owned the 7&8’s.

Another more important concern with phones older than that X… will they be as sluggish as the iPhone 6, with iOS 12 AND LATER installed?

Thanks

2

8 is really just 7S, if Apple had continue the tradition of having a new model followed by a S model.

Normally an S model is an improvement of the components that were introduced to the prior model. For example, Apple introduced the two camera system in the 7. 7S or 8 in this case, will have a better, more efficient and reliable system.

It looks like your wife will stretch the longevity of an iPhone, so I’d say to go with the 8.

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I want to add this - iOS 12 was a release that vastly improved the performance of older phones. My wife’s iPhone 6S see a better response on iOS 12 vs iOS 11. My spare iPhone 5S, which I use it solely in the car, as a plugged in CarPlay device, does not feel unusable at all, it’s not fast, but it’s usable. So, your 7 and 8 will be totally fine.

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4

I would go with 8 Plus since that one will stay on the active update list longer since eventually models will fall off.

I enjoyed my 8 Plus when I had one.

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5

Since you seem to keep phones a long time, I think the iPhone 8 would be a lot more future-proof. While they may look the same, the processor upgrade on the 8 is pretty significant. In particular I can foresee Apple dropping iOS support for processors that don’t have the neural engine or not supporting certain features on those phones.

6

Everyone’s points here about longevity leaning toward a 8 makes sense. I’d just add that wireless charging has been game changing for me. That would be enough for me to chose the 8 over the 7.

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7

I love my 8. My first iPhone and what an introduction. Speed, power and hopefully longevity!

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8

I would go as new as you can depending on your budget.
Any phone older than 3 years will probably experience some “slowness” from an upgrade after iOS12. (at least with some features of any new OS)

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9

FYI in the US Apple is selling refurbished iPhone X models, with full, as-new warranties, for as little as $769. (They also have a refurbed iPhone 7 for $400 less!)

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10

Thanks-I’ve already checked the refurbs.
I bought my first MacBook Pro, refurbished. It was
a very good deal and lasted a long time.

11

FYI I jumped from the 6S Plus to the XMax, and couldn’t be happier (except for the cost). If I had to do it again I’d probably go for the XR.

With up to $150 Apple trade-in for your wife’s iPhone 6 you could get the XR for as little as $600. Personally, I’d jump at that option.

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12

I wanted to get her the XR too, but she doesn’t want to spend that much and doesn’t want the bigger sized phone. I got 150 for my 6 and hers is probably in the same condition.

13

My hubby and I each have 6S Plus. We found our phones sluggish and went to a store called Experimac and they tested our phones and was decided it was a battery problem. Both our phones had new batteries placed for $20 each and we have been fine.

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14

I’m sure the batteries on our 6’s needed replacing, but I thought I’d rather put that money into newer phones.

You could have gotten Apple to replace your batteries for $29, until the end of last year. I’ve read do many horror stories about 3rd party repair shops doing bad work.

15

My 7 Plus is fine and I see no reason to upgrade except for advanced camera features. No rush though - I will probably wait another cycle. But I’d agree with those who say get the 8 - it’s always going to be preferable to have a newer model for longevity.

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16

I misspoke, the price was $29; he honored Apples price for battery replacement

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Right - the more important point I was going for is having Apple do the replacement- if anything goes wrong - they will stand behind it.

18

We ended up getting an iPhone 8- my wife really doesn’t want the larger form factor of the Plus/XR. We got 10% off plus trade in for the iPhone 6(TBD), So she’s happy with the cost, and the fact that her phone is snappy again. Using Imazing, I was able to transfer all of her data and do the iOS update fairly quickly.

Thanks for your input, everyone.

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