Should You Opt for a Pre-owned or Brand New iPhone?

With a big advantage over ompetitors in terms of longevity, consistency and quality, used iPhones are highly sought after.

Buying a used iPhone will help users save a significant amount of money. The problem is, users may feel hesitant in shopping due to the appeal of new products, including more modern cameras, beautiful designs or faster mobile chips. Therefore, we will need to find out between the two options, which is the smartest?




Used iPhone advantage





Affordability is one of the biggest factors driving demand for used iPhones. With how expensive phones have become over the years, many people often want to look for iPhones from a year or two ago at a significantly cheaper price. iPhones are also known for minor updates in recent years, so many people are eyeing older models since they won't lose too many features.




Even when it comes to performance and longevity, older iPhones are not too disadvantageous because Apple's surprisingly good performance in recent times means that even an older iPhone will be supported for many years. year. For example, the iPhone X released in 2017 received its last iOS update in 2022, but 5 years of software support is still a lot. Therefore, buying an old iPhone model will save money, especially used models.








Of course, using a used phone has obvious concerns. First, users will most likely need to replace the battery, which will add to the overall cost. Even if users are lucky enough to buy an older iPhone in good condition at a super cheap price, they will lose access to the warranty, software updates, and modern features on the latest iPhone at time of purchase. But rest assured, camera quality and performance are two important factors that seem to hold up.




Advanced but expensive





Apple likes to offer exclusive features with new iPhone models, and if you're particularly interested in the latest features, you won't have much trouble choosing which iPhone to buy. Certain elements, like better displays, larger batteries, and improved lens systems, are exclusive to more expensive models, users can easily save a significant amount of money by choosing regular iPhone model while still enjoying most of the new features.




But the high price also has its advantages, especially the extended software support period that Apple offers. Combine that with modern cameras and improved battery performance, and investing in the latest iPhone has its own benefits. Furthermore, as the age of artificial intelligence and augmented reality approaches, any extra performance users get from newer iPhones will pay off in the long run.




However, the pitfall of buying the latest iPhone is that newer technology loses value faster than buying an older iPhone.





Overall, iPhones rarely deliver significant hardware leaps year-over-year, with most new features being part of new versions of iOS, though they occasionally come to older models as well. . Weighing requirements carefully will help users make the smartest choice, especially when considering cost.




In 2024, some iPhones will no longer receive official support due to not being on the iOS 18 compatibility list, so users may have to stay away from them.





The arrival of iOS 17 has caused some iPhone models to stop updating in 2023, including iPhone 8, 8 Plus and even iPhone X. As you know, iPhones are often devices that are updated for many years and are Supported by many different iOS versions. But everything comes to a stop when next year, Apple will launch iOS 18, and this could eliminate more iPhone models.




It is likely that 3 iPhone models will be abandoned by iOS 18.




It is also important to note that the current list of iOS 18 compatible iPhones is not official but is based on predictions from previous years. In case you are planning to buy an old iPhone for long-term use for more than a year and still be supported by Apple, users should stay away from iPhone models that may not be compatible with iOS 18, including iPhone XR. , iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.




That's quite normal because Apple usually stops updating one generation of iPhone each year. Of course, except for some special cases like iOS 15 is already supported on iPhone models running iOS 14, and this is not beyond the capabilities of iOS 18.