Benefits and Reasons to Buy an iPhone?

[Carmudgeon]

I had to replace batteries on (2) iPhones recently and took them to the Apple store to have it done. 1) They use real Apple batteries, 2) have the proper tools, the cost was only $49. Sure I could take it to a kiosk in the mall or a cellphone repair shop but what kind of garbage battery will you get ?

That $49 also covers a 90 day warranty on the work. If something goes wrong, they'll likely just replace it with a white-box refurb unit, which will have a new case and new battery. For some users, it will be in better condition than the phone they brought in for repair.

I'm not certain whether that's something AASPs like Best Buy can do, but an indie shop or the mall kiosk most definitely cannot.

Unlike cars, most of which will never grace a dealer's shop ever again once out of warranty, there are many advantages to having Apple do the repair, under most circumstances.

 

[Hall]

I'm not certain whether that's something AASPs like Best Buy

I inquired with Apple about using one of their authorized places like Best Buy and they told me going to BB would be no different than going to an Apple store. They have to use genuine Apple parts, the warranty is the same, and so on.

 

[Hall]

When you think about it, do any of us really need top of the line hardware

It's not for you or I to decide what someone else wants, at least that's my opinion. I've never owned a top-of-the-line device myself. If someone tried to convince me I needed to upgrade to an iPhone 16 instead of the iPhone 14 I was considering and I'm coming from an iPhone 5 (all made up numbers), I'd laugh at them and tell them unless they'll pay for the difference between the 14 > 16, they need to drop it. Clearly the 14 is worlds better than the 5 and I can't "miss" features the 16 has if I've never had them in the first place.

 

[Anon9283]

OP appears to possibly an older gentleman and I see comments about rooting phones and customizing while his original post said he just got his first smart phone. Let’s be realistic an iPhone fits the bill.
I’ve had an iPhone since about 2010 starting with the 4S and 6 now an 8 plus. Going on 4 years with my 8 plus flawlessly. It just works. All day. Every day. Reliably. Easy to use.
both parents in their 60s have iPhones. I wouldn’t dare put an android in their hands

 

[Trav]

I used my wife's iPhone 6+ when she got a new phone. The big screen was great but the body was bigger than I'd like. I want it to fit in my pocket without feeling it there too much. This is the trade-off with smartphones and their (screen) size though. The screen is almost the main point of them and if it's so small, their usability goes down (IMO).

Apple has offered variations of the SE for quite a while, haven't they ? For a period of time, it was literally a hand-me-down device though, using "old" tech but they satisfied that market for people who wanted something smaller. Today's SE is supposed to be quite a good device. Not top of the line hardware, but still very modern.

That is the way I understand also, it has a later generation processor and decent hardware. the original SE was a bit small to use the keypad but the new one is just right.

 

[PandaBear]

I don't know what you mean by my phone being "5G-capable." Does being capable mean that it has 5G? When I use my phone it adds a line to the email that says:

Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device

That suggests to me that the phone is 4G.

In a nutshell. Wireless bandwidth is expensive when government auction it off to individual phone companies (think billions), and the same band can be used to transfer more data if they come up with new technologies, or if they build more towers and reduce the power (so each tower cover less space but they can reuse the same band multiple times). Will they use the amount of data for more customers? or will they let each user send more data (so each has faster connection)? do you even need that much speed when the server you are connecting to won't even keep up? That's the question nobody can answer unless you try it first.

For a mobile phone for casual user, the likely answer is no. LTE is typically fast enough unless you are in some very high density urban area with congestion. In rural area with few customers, the likely 5G use case is to compete with cable internet monopoly.

 

[PandaBear]

I inquired with Apple about using one of their authorized places like Best Buy and they told me going to BB would be no different than going to an Apple store. They have to use genuine Apple parts, the warranty is the same, and so on.

Not really. I went there for a warranty and BB is really more interested in selling me a new phone telling me I voided my warranty. I told them do not put down any paperwork and I'm leaving. Went to the Apple store for warranty work, it is done although I have to leave it there for a week and they send it back to me a week later.

 

[Cujet]

Technical capabilities aside, the iCloud does work to share pics and app data between iDevices. I find that very handy. Especially considering the ways I've destroyed my phones and iPads. We even mulched an iPhone Xs max while mowing the lawn with the John Deere tractor. It really is nice not to lose everything anymore.

 

[Andrew1972]

One pro to owning iPhone is that you can avoid being the person who ruins a group text because the videos and pictures are absolutely ruined because of non apple phones in the group text.

 

[Shel_B]

One pro to owning iPhone is that you can avoid being the person who ruins a group text because the videos and pictures are absolutely ruined because of non apple phones in the group text.

??? Don't understand your comment. Perhaps you can flesh it out a bit. Tks!

 

[Hall]

One pro to owning iPhone is that you can avoid being the person who ruins a group text because the videos and pictures are absolutely ruined because of non apple phones in the group text.

The rest of the globe avoids that issue by using a "universal" text app, such as WhatsApp.

 

[Andrew1972]

The rest of the globe avoids that issue by using a "universal" text app, such as WhatsApp.

Unfortunately in the USA iPhones dominate and hard to change it up.

 

[Hall]

Unfortunately in the USA iPhones dominate and hard to change it up.

WhatsApp works just fine on iPhones

 

[Andrew1972]

??? Don't understand your comment. Perhaps you can flesh it out a bit. Tks!

If your family or friends mostly use iPhone and you participate in group texts, non iPhones cause the extra function of the like or video to resort to function quality that would work on a flip phone. Videos are very poor resolution and occasionally pictures.

In short apple has some niceties in their messaging but only work between Apple devices.

 

[Shel_B]

If your family or friends mostly use iPhone and you participate in group texts, non iPhones cause the extra function of the like or video to resort to function quality that would work on a flip phone. Videos are very poor resolution and occasionally pictures.

In short apple has some niceties in their messaging but only work between Apple devices.

Thanks so much ... very helpful!

 

[dishdude]

One pro to owning iPhone is that you can avoid being the person who ruins a group text because the videos and pictures are absolutely ruined because of non apple phones in the group text.

If Apple cared so much about your security they'd make iMessage available on other platforms.

 

[555]

Buy what you like.

 

[PimTac]

If Apple cared so much about your security they'd make iMessage available on other platforms.

Just wait. iOS 15.

 

[dishdude]

Just wait. iOS 15.

How's that going to keep messages encrypted when communicating with devices on other platforms?

 

[Dennywires]

There is no benefits.. what works for someone else may not work for you. To me that's not a benefit. If someone is already an apple product user then that's a choice to simplify their needs.

I used both android and iphone had no problems with either, if ever I seen network related issues before device problems. I never owned a flagship android or promax iphone so coming from a 4s, 5 and se 1st gen on the iphone and typical LG and Samsung budget model lineup my opinion may or may not be the best. Currently using a LG k31 texts, calls and data for the basics does me just fine also camera quality is pretty sharp.