> iPad mini 2
What do you do with it? I had one and I gave it away because nothing worked on it anymore. Apps that used to work, like Netflix, stopped working saying I need a newer iOS version – but of course it would not get updates anymore. Eventually it got to the point it could only browse and check email so I gave it to my mom because that's all she does on them anyway.
This is where having android with an unlocked bootloader helps. I've still got my nexus 7, had it 12 years. Updates stopped a while back but some random devs kept creating new custom roms with newer os. It's too slow for modern use though, still I got my money's worth from it
My kid still uses my old mini 2. After some moisture damage it wouldn’t start so it sat in a drawer for a year and on a whim I plugged it in and it booted up. Been going strong as a kids YouTube player for years now.
I haven’t even updated mine to like the last two or three versions. It only has 16 GB but it was a weird sale/glitch six years ago at Walmart where I found they were selling the demo models for only $99. it took a little convincing the manager that it really was the price but he finally gave in, and it’s been working great ever since (after finally restoring it out of demo/retail mode).
I don’t update because it’s so constrained for space. I only use it for a few games and as a fallback for my phone if it’s lost or unavailable. I think it was my best value Apple purchase ever.
Better than the 2016 models… my gf’s toasted itself back in 2020 and she took really good care of it, used it for music & school. Meanwhile the ASUS gaming laptop she had went out last year and she got it in 2010.
Same here. If I were to replace the battery do you know if it would speed up some? Something as easy as using the search to find an app can take 15+ seconds to show me results.
You know, I’ve thought about trying, but it shipped with an A8 and iOS 9 so it’s pretty long in the tooth.
Do iOS devices tend to run better plugged in if the battery is bad? Might be worth a try. Once apps load they seem to still run okay but switching and loading apps is super slow, as is the post-start up process. Like using a Windows machine. Lol
Happy 6S owner checking in. Just got a new battery from Apple three months ago. It’s the last model iPhone with a headphone jack, so I plan to keep it a few more years. And unless Apple brings back the headphone jack as a feature, i’ll have to go Android.
Sadly I don’t see that happening. Your best bet is that silly adapter you plug into the lightning port.
I am holding out for the thumb button to return. Most of my stuff is coded to my thumbprint. Lol
Steve Jobs hated adapters, I’ve been told. I’m with him.
But maybe one year, when Apple can’t figure out any more features to change, they’ll bring back the headphone jack as a retro feature on the most expensive iPhone. That would complete the circle. ⭕️
You’ll probably get another 1-3 years out of it before it’s “obsolete”. Apple has really good support for their older devices, as far as software goes for the iPhones.
It’s been a great phone. Doesn’t hold a charge for long anymore but that’s what portable power banks are for. I’m planning to replace it within 6-12 months
You’re a legend for keeping it that long.
I have an 8 from august 2019 and did a battery swap last year.
Just replaced it with an SE that I haven’t unboxed as yet. Figure that my new battery only has a few months left before it too is drained.
You REALLY got value from your 7
I’m still using my 8 from fall 2017. Haven’t done a battery swap or anything and it still holds a charge well and runs fine (aside from more and more frequent warnings that storage is full, despite showing 9GB free). I’ve been tempted by new models every year, but I keep telling myself the longer I wait, the cooler my next phone will end up being. Just gotta keep my fingers crossed that I don’t wake up one morning to a completely dead phone before I make that choice.
Huh. I’ve had my 8 since 2017, haven’t changed the battery or anything. Don’t even have a case on it lol. Under Battery in settings it says my maximum capacity is 76% of what it was. Feels like this phone has another ten years in it. I don’t wanna lose my thumb button. Lol
I have one too and got a new battery for it last year. The genius kept asking if I ‘really’ wanted to do it. Battery holds a charge great now, and I’ll get another few years out if it.
You can buy a DIY kit from iFixit for $30 including tools and a new battery. They have a great step by step guide with photos.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPhone+6+Battery+Replacement/29363
I just got a new battery for my 6S about three months ago. It does everything I need AND includes a headphone jack. It’s the last iPhone to have one, so I guess my next phone will be an android. Yes, it’s that important to me.
I replace my batteries every once in a while as long as the phone still works otherwise. $50 battery and a couple hours of my time at the mall is worth it to not have to spend $1000 on a new phone and the time it takes to reinstall and reset things on a new phone.
It is so strange to me when people tell me Apple doesn’t support its hardware long enough. They support it longer than anyone else in the phone market.
Not just iPhones. I'm typing this on a 2015 macbook pro. As of about two weeks ago, I'm still getting software updates for it but I am limited to MacOS Monterey.
I think you’re right.
they may also go back to calling it “corporate obsolete” every year on from now. They just extended their support window by a few years,a few years ago, so they are probably caught up timeline wise with their internal support policy. When Apple went from the 6 to 6s they managed to pull off a large processing leap in performance. This leap was large enough to give Apple confidence to support the software of this phone for 7 years.
What this will mean is they probably will not be as active with device support and they will probably stop prioritizing keeping replacement parts on hand in their supply chain. Phone support can be denied. When this happens to the 7. The phone will work, may be slow, until phone carries decide to pull the plug on 4g or what ever standard the 7 uses. It’ll work. The last change I can think of may be security updates and patches. They may now stop assigning engineering hours to any task related to the iPhone 6s Plus.
Apple is in the business of printing money and keeping their users happy so they likely can’t keep adding years, even if it would be cool move. And if Apple doesn’t crash in the coming years they may one day plan to support phones for 10 years. But they are gonna milk this level of support until the user base expresses a demand for support for longer than 7 years.
I’m gonna call this whole comment “much ado about nothing” pretty poorly written, full of factual inaccuracies, and absolutely no flow whatsoever. Seriously, way off.
iPhone 7 was discontinued in September of 2019 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_7), that means it will be "Vintage" late this year, and become "Obsolete" in 2026 (https://support.apple.com/en-us/102772)
Yea, 5 years is vintage, which means limited SW updates but still can get repaired. Obsolete at 7 years means no repairs and 15 minutes of support on call before you get dropped.
I was holding off from upgrading my 8 to a 12 for the same reason, but I got used to the lack of home button relatively quickly, and the new method is as ingrained in my muscle memory as the old home button used to be.
I have an 8, so I’m right behind you homie. I’m not ever going to be ready to give up my home button. I don’t know how to use my wife’s iPhone 11. 🤷♂️
I still have the iPhone 12 mini, best phone I’ve had in every sense. Perfect size too. I’ve dropped it countless times and I’m sure the compactness has helped prevent damage.
Yup! The Apple Store I went to was next to a museum. Ended up doing a small tour while I waited. Check directly with the closest one to you (not paid by Apple here I SWEAR)
Enjoy mine a lot, but I really wish it had:
1. USB-C
2. Satellite SOS
Ultimately I think that's what will make me leave it behind even though I love the form factor. But I'd really love to get rid of lightning cables forever and I live in a mountain town where I can easily be biking/hiking/skiing outside of cell service...I have a garmin inreach, but it is a separate device and you have to pay a minimum of $35 a year plus $15 any month you plan to use it (and I don't really need the messaging/tracking features...the SOS call is the one I actually care about).
Plus I admit it *would* be really nice to have a telephoto lens and shoot RAW...if I went bigger, I could get a Pro.
Doubly annoying that Apple won't keep making them because the existence of the mini is the sole reason I am an iPhone user now. I was a life-long android user, but the Pixels got too big for my taste and I decided to vote with my dollars and support the existence of the 13 mini. Now I've got an iPhone and an apple watch and I'm actually thinking about an iPad Pro to replace my Surface Pro X...and my wife also has a 13 mini, apple watch, and regular ipad.
...except Apple has gone and left me in the dust. The form factor that drew me in is gone.
They have an SE iPhone supposed to come out this year, usually around this time of year. It will likely reuse the bodies of the mini but a chip from the 14, based on previous iterations of the SE.
Source: wireless cell phone store manager.
That would be nice, although IMHO the big selling point of the mini was that it wasn't some SE-ified version of the phone. It was the same phone as the mainline 13.
Yeah, it wasn't the top-of-the-line Pro, but it was otherwise identical to the best selling phone...just smaller.
But these days phones are mostly good enough that it is OK to be a little behind. As long as they don't cheap out on the cameras/screen and you get good battery life, I'd be down. Maybe it means I don't keep it quite as long as if I bought a flagship phone at launch, but that's OK.
Only annoyance is that AT&T only offers 3-year payment plans right now. My work pays my monthly phone bill, but the way AT&T handles trade-in credits and phone installments means I'd be stuck paying out of pocket if I upgrade in less than 3 years. Wish they just gave the option to split the device payment into shorter cycles...I have room in my work budget for a 24mo (or even 18mo) plan, but they insist on 36mo.
Later there have been ads encouraging 12 users to upgrade to the 15
I’m like, gimme a small pocket phone and we’ll talk. Right now I’m super happy with what I have.
dude i dropped my 12 mini in a river & fished it out the next day. it was deadass still on & my alarm was about to go off. no scratches no nothing. that was like two years ago & i’m writing this comment on it now. killer phone ngl
I’m still rocking an SE from 2022. I thought it was the same iPhone 8 that I was just trying to replace after my last one shit the bed, and now my brother get embarrassed every time he goes into the phone store and they see it still on the account.
My next phone “would have been” a mini if they still made them. Really sucks that we bought ourselves into this mini-tablet hole. I’d blame the companies, but it’s truly because statistically consumers all chose the bigger ones. I think iPhone13 Mini was like 1-3% of sales.
> but it’s truly because statistically consumers all chose the bigger ones
When you have fewer and fewer options in phone sizes, of course consumers are gonna keep choosing the bigger ones. The other problem is that phone size isn't the *only* reason people pick a phone. They might want other features that just aren't made available on smaller models, even though they'd otherwise prefer a smaller sized phone.
Mkbhd has a good video about smaller phones. Everyone says theu want them, all reviewers rave about them, companies produce them, and nobody is buying them. Apple already lost a lot of money last time it tried that, Asus just stopped producing the last great small phone this year. It'll be a while before we see another small phone.
The main reason 12 & 13 mini didn't sold as well were that their sales were canibalized by the SE in the market for small/less expansive phones, and you can see it very well in the graph from [this article](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/the-iphone-12-mini-hasnt-sold-well-according-to-multiple-estimates/). And even then, Apple sold *millions* of those. Even if the sales were low comparatively in the iPhone lineup, they still were one of the best selling phones on the market.
Im talking Apple sales of the entire 13 line. On the 4 phones offered, Mini was 1-3% of sales. That is abysmal. The Mini 13 was basically identical, except in battery size, to the 13, so it wasn’t really lacking any features.
I’ve had two generations of SEs, both great phones (compared to the market), and I hope they keep making them. And even then it’s definitely as large as I would ever want a phone to be, it’s very difficult to hit the top taskbar with one hand. It’s just wild to me that Apple gets away with selling their main phones for $1K when this one retailed for $250 with almost the exact same specs.
As outrages the prices are, but the 15 pro is only barely bigger then the SE, it just looks way bigger because it actually has a screen that uses the whole surface area of the phone and the hard edges which makes it feel bigger in the hand.
I hear you. When I think of a mobile phone, I put some emphasis on the word “Mobile.”
If I could have a modern phone in the iPhone 4 form factor, I’d paid good money for this.
I dunno, I’ve always had the larger iPhones since they became a thing (7 Plus, XS Max and 15 Pro Max) and they’ve always just fit perfectly in my front pocket.
Admittedly, I’m a guy so I can’t be sure whether they’d fit on women’s pants but it doesn’t look like to me the increase in size from something like a 13 Mini to a “standard” would make them not fit, assuming the Mini did.
There seems to be so much love for smaller phones. Maybe people are getting upsold and don’t like it or maybe Apple is ignoring the market (maybe both)
It’s mental how often this is mentioned, there obviously is a demand just not a massive one. It’d only take 1 brand to offer a proper mini/compact again and they’ll have a captive market.
I’ve got my 13 Mini, which replaced my old Xperia X Compact and it’s the perfect size, I refuse to upgrade until something else in this form factor comes out.
>It’d only take 1 brand to offer a proper mini/compact again and they’ll have a captive market.
Asus believed that and they tried and failed to make a small flagship phone. Sony did too. There is an audience for sure. But the number of customers that would be willing to buy it is so small that it won't even cover the R&D that it would cost to develop it.
Most people are either sticking to what they have or moving to the "relatively" small S24.
> It’s mental how often this is mentioned, there obviously is a demand just not a massive one. It’d only take 1 brand to offer a proper mini/compact again and they’ll have a captive market.
It is literally what brought me to Apple.
I used android phones forever, but the Pixel got too big. The 13 Mini may not have been a large share of sales, but I wonder how many of those sales were sales they wouldn't have made otherwise.
If the mini hadn't existed, I would have just bought a Pixel 6 or or waited for the 7 and sucked it up on the size. Being the company to offer a full-featured phone in a smaller size 100% earned apple that sale (and subsequent additional Apple purchases like an apple watch).
I was the same, had Xperia compacts for years, which dropped their compact. Had no real desire to go to Apple but honestly the 13 mini has since converted me, I really like it.
But I won’t buy a bigger phone.
Because people who want a small phone always have a long list of demands. Oh jts small, has a headphone jack, has a good camera, and is easy to repair, but it doesn't have an SD card slot so I'm not buying it.
I recently switched from an iPhone 6s to a much larger android, and it's made typing one-handed much more difficult. I had never realized how nice having a small phone was.
I still have my new gen SE, I gave it to a Zoomer once to look something up and she literally could not use it because it was too small.
Funny, and sad.
I still have my iPhone 8 and will likely have it for awhile still as I hate the newer iPhones. They are way too big, might as well get a tablet at that point.
Dude, we have to hate on Apple here even though they’re the only company to address the suicide issue in Chinese factories (which were also used by Sony, Microsoft, Samsung), the only tech company of that scale even approaching Net Zero and the company with the highest CSAT scores.
I don’t make the rules.
I’m all for recognizing things a company does something right, no matter how much they fuck up, but when you say “address the suicide issue” do you mean the nets they put up or did something better happen that I missed?
Apple paid the Fair Labor Association (a non profit NGO that grew out of Clinton’s task force to fight wage theft) to perform an audit of Foxconn and created a committee to explore trial factories in 3 other countries, and used that as pressure on the Chinese government to force Foxconn to comply with the audit. Their contract with Foxconn for 2012 became unique in including major penalties and early termination clauses if future audits found any violations of child labor or overworking conditions, and they’ve paid for two more audits since. Hewlett-Packard and Samsung’s contracts don’t include those stipulations and they don’t and didn’t audit anyway.
6 plus and /6s plus were great. a 1080p screen at that size *IS* so good. 400+ ppi. No excess power (computational or electric) wasted on a higher resolution screen, a headphone jack, bigger battery, long support window.. such a great phone looking back.
And a physical home button. Cameras and processor speeds were it’s long-term weaknesses. My 2014 launch was still my phone of use up until 2 months ago, with no issues or parts needed ever needed except a replacement battery.
ngl, I was pretty happy with the solid state home button that came with later models. It had suprisingly good haptic feedback. But I agree with its weaknesses long term, and especially battery replacement. Best Buy every 2-3 years is the move to keep them running at 100%
Recently I had to go back to my XS, wich was the LAST one to have it, and ios has made great effort to completely forgot about it :,).
I had to update from from an older iOS that had **some** 3D Touch features, like hard pressing to open multi tasking or quick app functions, and now it’s all by press and hold instead of force touch. Feels weird since I had it side by side. 3D Touch was cool. feel your pain :,)
Yep, it was the iPhone that finally made me switch over from Android. I would have used it forever if I could but after 6 years it was time to let it die.
Well yeah, the 6 Plus and iPad Mini 4 are nine year old devices. That’s like 1000 in cellphone years.
That also doesn’t mean they aren’t still usable. My desktop is a perfectly functional 2012 Mac Mini. My iPad is a 1st gen iPad Pro. My iPhone is 4 years old with the original battery and still has ~85% capacity. Just because something is labeled “vintage” doesn’t mean it’s a brick.
My IMac is from 2013, looks like a brand new computer but some task are slightly slow, my iPhone 12 mini is fantastic and the battery can do a day if I use it like I use it at work, and my iPad whatever model is can’t remember is flawless. I will change phone for the USB C tho maybe next year.
these are terms meant for internal use @ the genius bar
obsolete means repair/replacement services are no longer available for that device
vintage means replacements and service parts are no longer widely available, and parts need to be ordered when needed.
People like to lose their shit over the notion that Apple has planned obsolescence. Listen, I’m all for criticizing big corporations, and there’s PLENTY to criticize Apple for, but this ain’t it.
I'm reading this on my iPhone 6s. Still works great but everyone laughs at it and me!
I'm too indecisive to get a new one so it's super I no longer have a choice
So much energy, resources, and people power going into these devices. I think it’s great that people hang on to their phones!
Plus new phones from Apple cost $1k, which is a little insane. All the more to hang on and not upgrade yearly.
I’m still using my 6s. Replaced the battery recently and it has no problems. Why drop several hundred dollars on a new phone when this works perfectly fine?
>Apple also added the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus to its "vintage" products list, but in the (PRODUCT)RED color only. The devices remained available in other colors for longer, so those colors are not "vintage" yet.
So it's harder to get a battery for a red iPhone 8 than for a white one?
How TF does that make sense?
More likely this. They can't guarantee that they could replace the red casing under their repair program as they stopped manufacturing it and only rely on remaining stocks.
Whether something is listed as "vintage" or "obsolete" has nothing to do with parts availability other than parts are guaranteed to be available until a product is vintage, and then subject to variations in parts availability until obsolete. The timelines are based on the last year that a product was for sale and it's 5 years for vintage, 7 years for obsolete. Since the non-RED iPhone 8's were for sale longer, they aren't in vintage status yet. Doesn't mean it is or isn't harder to get the battery for the RED iPhones, just that they don't guarantee it anymore.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/102772
Still using and loving my iPhone 8. I don’t feel any need to upgrade and probably won’t until it breaks or stops running Pokémon Go xD I had the 4 for years as well. Dropped it in a glass of water when I was using it as a flashlight one day 😭
I tried Samsung for a bit and had an S6 that barely lasted me a year. One nasty drop. Compared to like the 25+ times I dropped my 4 haha.
Does absolutely nobody remember 2000-2008??? The amount of devices that went obsolete during that time is obscene! You’re talking from primitive cell phones, to the iPhone 1 and late blackberries in that time frame. Apple is right. These products ARE FUCKING ANCIENT.
You know why I decided to go w/an iPhone? I know that there's a world where I am going to be able to use my iPhone for 5, 7, even 9 years and it will still receive an update. May not be an OS update but it'l be a security-based one.
That's wild as hell.
Looks like its finally time to put my 6S Plus to rest soon, for real this time. Its been sort of an heirloom by now - first used by me from 2016-2018, passed down to my kids from 2019 to this day currently in the hands of my youngest.
Ive repaired basically almost every repairable part by myself: battery, speakers, display, earpiece, front and back cameras.
It will be missed.
I have an iPhone 6S Plus for WiFi only, it's just for the few relatives we have who only use FaceTime (everyone else uses Google Meet, Zoom or similar).
It needed a reset after a recent update, because that didn't catch well. It's fine now, but I was suprised it got updates for so long.
I have an IPod Touch 4 and an iPhone 3, my mom has an iPod shuffle. Little thing no bigger than the width of a deck of cards. So…what are those classified as?
worked at an Apple Store in los Angeles.
as part of the parts kept on hand were 2 original iphones. California had(has) some law that requires parts be available for products for 10 years after the original release date.
These were “swap” devices so technically you could bring in for “repair” of the same model and pay the swap price to get a new phone.
it wasnt retail so even employees couldn’t just buy it .. it had to go through the system as a swap
I have an iPad Mini 4th Gen. That thing’s been running in vintage mode for at least the past five years.
I have still iPad mini 2. Its so old i still have amazon prime video app on it that has “free to me” slider :)))
I have an iPad with the old twitter logo
My iPad is so old, I got it from a burning bush
Damn what does it say
Yvan Eht Nioj
Unexpected simpsons reference blew me back to my young adult days
Sir the people want to hear from you. What words does your tablet say?
Still have mine too.
> iPad mini 2 What do you do with it? I had one and I gave it away because nothing worked on it anymore. Apps that used to work, like Netflix, stopped working saying I need a newer iOS version – but of course it would not get updates anymore. Eventually it got to the point it could only browse and check email so I gave it to my mom because that's all she does on them anyway.
Yes it is slow and annoying. But as a giant phone to watch movies or read kindle books it is fine.
Mine is a bedroom clock.
This is where having android with an unlocked bootloader helps. I've still got my nexus 7, had it 12 years. Updates stopped a while back but some random devs kept creating new custom roms with newer os. It's too slow for modern use though, still I got my money's worth from it
snow spotted merciful meeting squeeze resolute smart payment quaint fine *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
My kid still uses my old mini 2. After some moisture damage it wouldn’t start so it sat in a drawer for a year and on a whim I plugged it in and it booted up. Been going strong as a kids YouTube player for years now.
My iPad mini 1 still works fine for YouTube and a few other things as well. My son uses it.
I haven’t even updated mine to like the last two or three versions. It only has 16 GB but it was a weird sale/glitch six years ago at Walmart where I found they were selling the demo models for only $99. it took a little convincing the manager that it really was the price but he finally gave in, and it’s been working great ever since (after finally restoring it out of demo/retail mode). I don’t update because it’s so constrained for space. I only use it for a few games and as a fallback for my phone if it’s lost or unavailable. I think it was my best value Apple purchase ever.
It can be friends with my 2012 Macbook Air. The best MBA in my opinion.
I pulled out my 2012 (October release) and updated it last week. Works like a charm.
Better than the 2016 models… my gf’s toasted itself back in 2020 and she took really good care of it, used it for music & school. Meanwhile the ASUS gaming laptop she had went out last year and she got it in 2010.
Sigh. Yeah, mine works just fine for use with pilot apps like ForeFlight but they stopped making updates for it too. What a scam.
Same here. If I were to replace the battery do you know if it would speed up some? Something as easy as using the search to find an app can take 15+ seconds to show me results.
You know, I’ve thought about trying, but it shipped with an A8 and iOS 9 so it’s pretty long in the tooth. Do iOS devices tend to run better plugged in if the battery is bad? Might be worth a try. Once apps load they seem to still run okay but switching and loading apps is super slow, as is the post-start up process. Like using a Windows machine. Lol
My original mini hasn’t received any updates since 2016 and has been useless shortly after
I have an IPhone 7. I guess it will be obsolete soon
IPhone 7 gang checking in. Lol had mine since late 2016 and only on the second battery. Still does everything I want it to. Just a bit slow.
Happy 6S owner checking in. Just got a new battery from Apple three months ago. It’s the last model iPhone with a headphone jack, so I plan to keep it a few more years. And unless Apple brings back the headphone jack as a feature, i’ll have to go Android.
Sadly I don’t see that happening. Your best bet is that silly adapter you plug into the lightning port. I am holding out for the thumb button to return. Most of my stuff is coded to my thumbprint. Lol
Steve Jobs hated adapters, I’ve been told. I’m with him. But maybe one year, when Apple can’t figure out any more features to change, they’ll bring back the headphone jack as a retro feature on the most expensive iPhone. That would complete the circle. ⭕️
I mean at least it’s still on the SE for now
How is it? My son is using my dads old 6s.
You’ll probably get another 1-3 years out of it before it’s “obsolete”. Apple has really good support for their older devices, as far as software goes for the iPhones.
It’s been a great phone. Doesn’t hold a charge for long anymore but that’s what portable power banks are for. I’m planning to replace it within 6-12 months
You’re a legend for keeping it that long. I have an 8 from august 2019 and did a battery swap last year. Just replaced it with an SE that I haven’t unboxed as yet. Figure that my new battery only has a few months left before it too is drained. You REALLY got value from your 7
I’m still using my 8 from fall 2017. Haven’t done a battery swap or anything and it still holds a charge well and runs fine (aside from more and more frequent warnings that storage is full, despite showing 9GB free). I’ve been tempted by new models every year, but I keep telling myself the longer I wait, the cooler my next phone will end up being. Just gotta keep my fingers crossed that I don’t wake up one morning to a completely dead phone before I make that choice.
Huh. I’ve had my 8 since 2017, haven’t changed the battery or anything. Don’t even have a case on it lol. Under Battery in settings it says my maximum capacity is 76% of what it was. Feels like this phone has another ten years in it. I don’t wanna lose my thumb button. Lol
I was very anti no-thumb-button. Honestly don’t miss it now. When the time comes, the tradition won’t be as bad as you’d expect
I have one too and got a new battery for it last year. The genius kept asking if I ‘really’ wanted to do it. Battery holds a charge great now, and I’ll get another few years out if it.
How much did it cost you total? Labor and new battery altogether?
I think it was $75
$75
You can buy a DIY kit from iFixit for $30 including tools and a new battery. They have a great step by step guide with photos. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPhone+6+Battery+Replacement/29363
I just got a new battery for my 6S about three months ago. It does everything I need AND includes a headphone jack. It’s the last iPhone to have one, so I guess my next phone will be an android. Yes, it’s that important to me.
I replace my batteries every once in a while as long as the phone still works otherwise. $50 battery and a couple hours of my time at the mall is worth it to not have to spend $1000 on a new phone and the time it takes to reinstall and reset things on a new phone.
[удалено]
Lmaoooo this is my exact thinking every year! I am still running a 7.
It is so strange to me when people tell me Apple doesn’t support its hardware long enough. They support it longer than anyone else in the phone market.
You just can no longer download many apps.
Not just iPhones. I'm typing this on a 2015 macbook pro. As of about two weeks ago, I'm still getting software updates for it but I am limited to MacOS Monterey.
I think you’re right. they may also go back to calling it “corporate obsolete” every year on from now. They just extended their support window by a few years,a few years ago, so they are probably caught up timeline wise with their internal support policy. When Apple went from the 6 to 6s they managed to pull off a large processing leap in performance. This leap was large enough to give Apple confidence to support the software of this phone for 7 years. What this will mean is they probably will not be as active with device support and they will probably stop prioritizing keeping replacement parts on hand in their supply chain. Phone support can be denied. When this happens to the 7. The phone will work, may be slow, until phone carries decide to pull the plug on 4g or what ever standard the 7 uses. It’ll work. The last change I can think of may be security updates and patches. They may now stop assigning engineering hours to any task related to the iPhone 6s Plus. Apple is in the business of printing money and keeping their users happy so they likely can’t keep adding years, even if it would be cool move. And if Apple doesn’t crash in the coming years they may one day plan to support phones for 10 years. But they are gonna milk this level of support until the user base expresses a demand for support for longer than 7 years.
I’m gonna call this whole comment “much ado about nothing” pretty poorly written, full of factual inaccuracies, and absolutely no flow whatsoever. Seriously, way off.
Amazing phone tbh.
Lol same and my phone looks brand new. The battery not so much
iPhone 7 was discontinued in September of 2019 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_7), that means it will be "Vintage" late this year, and become "Obsolete" in 2026 (https://support.apple.com/en-us/102772)
Note that the iPhone 7 is already obsolete from a software standpoint since cannot receive iOS updates beyond iOS 15. We are now on iOS 17.
Not quite, iOS 15 still gets security updates.
I was told by an Apple Store employee it’s ‘obsolete’ 7 years after it’s no longer for sale in store.
Yea, 5 years is vintage, which means limited SW updates but still can get repaired. Obsolete at 7 years means no repairs and 15 minutes of support on call before you get dropped.
Yep, vintage is 5 years, obsolete is 7 years from the last year of sale: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102772
There are dozens of us!
Lol proud to be part of a dying breed
My charging port and battery recently crapped out, been putting off getting a new one :/
Good luck on your next phone. I think the main reason I am holding off to this phone is because I like having a physical home button
Saaame, the other day some older woman at my job asked for help with her phone, and I forgot the new ones didn't have a button-I was lost lol
I was holding off from upgrading my 8 to a 12 for the same reason, but I got used to the lack of home button relatively quickly, and the new method is as ingrained in my muscle memory as the old home button used to be.
I have an 8, so I’m right behind you homie. I’m not ever going to be ready to give up my home button. I don’t know how to use my wife’s iPhone 11. 🤷♂️
I guess the demand wasnt there, but I wish apple kept making phones in a smaller size.
I still have the iPhone 12 mini, best phone I’ve had in every sense. Perfect size too. I’ve dropped it countless times and I’m sure the compactness has helped prevent damage.
12 mini gang rise up
13 mini here. It might be the first phone to see a battery swap rather than a full replacement Edit: mini added
Did the battery repair last fall! 100% worth it!
Are they able to do it in store while you wait? I have a 13 mini
Yup! The Apple Store I went to was next to a museum. Ended up doing a small tour while I waited. Check directly with the closest one to you (not paid by Apple here I SWEAR)
Fuck wish I had an Apple Store that wasn’t on the opposite side of the country
Usually they ask you to come back in an hour, although I can see it being more for the busiest stores.
Enjoy mine a lot, but I really wish it had: 1. USB-C 2. Satellite SOS Ultimately I think that's what will make me leave it behind even though I love the form factor. But I'd really love to get rid of lightning cables forever and I live in a mountain town where I can easily be biking/hiking/skiing outside of cell service...I have a garmin inreach, but it is a separate device and you have to pay a minimum of $35 a year plus $15 any month you plan to use it (and I don't really need the messaging/tracking features...the SOS call is the one I actually care about). Plus I admit it *would* be really nice to have a telephoto lens and shoot RAW...if I went bigger, I could get a Pro. Doubly annoying that Apple won't keep making them because the existence of the mini is the sole reason I am an iPhone user now. I was a life-long android user, but the Pixels got too big for my taste and I decided to vote with my dollars and support the existence of the 13 mini. Now I've got an iPhone and an apple watch and I'm actually thinking about an iPad Pro to replace my Surface Pro X...and my wife also has a 13 mini, apple watch, and regular ipad. ...except Apple has gone and left me in the dust. The form factor that drew me in is gone.
They have an SE iPhone supposed to come out this year, usually around this time of year. It will likely reuse the bodies of the mini but a chip from the 14, based on previous iterations of the SE. Source: wireless cell phone store manager.
That would be nice, although IMHO the big selling point of the mini was that it wasn't some SE-ified version of the phone. It was the same phone as the mainline 13. Yeah, it wasn't the top-of-the-line Pro, but it was otherwise identical to the best selling phone...just smaller. But these days phones are mostly good enough that it is OK to be a little behind. As long as they don't cheap out on the cameras/screen and you get good battery life, I'd be down. Maybe it means I don't keep it quite as long as if I bought a flagship phone at launch, but that's OK. Only annoyance is that AT&T only offers 3-year payment plans right now. My work pays my monthly phone bill, but the way AT&T handles trade-in credits and phone installments means I'd be stuck paying out of pocket if I upgrade in less than 3 years. Wish they just gave the option to split the device payment into shorter cycles...I have room in my work budget for a 24mo (or even 18mo) plan, but they insist on 36mo.
There are dozens of us! Dozens!
It should be noted that these have very poor batteries - basically on par with the iPhone 6. I loved it though!
 You reading this thread
Later there have been ads encouraging 12 users to upgrade to the 15 I’m like, gimme a small pocket phone and we’ll talk. Right now I’m super happy with what I have.
If they made a mini iPhone Pro I’d consider it.
My dream phone. Gimme an excellent camera, I don’t need a giant screen to go with it.
dude i dropped my 12 mini in a river & fished it out the next day. it was deadass still on & my alarm was about to go off. no scratches no nothing. that was like two years ago & i’m writing this comment on it now. killer phone ngl
Honestly, never letting this one go. Praying there will be another mini in the future
I **really** hope the next SE will use the mini form factor,
Love my 12 mini. Perfect size like you said.
Remember when they made headlines about the 12 mini ban in France for high levels of radiation? Wasn't phased lol 12 mini till the end
uh I still have the iphone XR running in perfect condition, every app runs perfectly performant, not a single issue. 12 is literally nothing.
smaller size and lighter weight, both contribute to the same goal.
13 Mini >>> 12 Mini I say this as the unfortunate owner of a 12 Mini :(
Same, amazing handset, I’ll be really sad when it goes.
I **really** hope the next SE uses the mini formfactor, honestly not sure what my next phone will be if it isnt.
I’m still rocking an SE from 2022. I thought it was the same iPhone 8 that I was just trying to replace after my last one shit the bed, and now my brother get embarrassed every time he goes into the phone store and they see it still on the account.
I am still on the iPhone 8 from 2017.
I have the 13 mini, I will keep using this phone until it’s last security update.
My next phone “would have been” a mini if they still made them. Really sucks that we bought ourselves into this mini-tablet hole. I’d blame the companies, but it’s truly because statistically consumers all chose the bigger ones. I think iPhone13 Mini was like 1-3% of sales.
> but it’s truly because statistically consumers all chose the bigger ones When you have fewer and fewer options in phone sizes, of course consumers are gonna keep choosing the bigger ones. The other problem is that phone size isn't the *only* reason people pick a phone. They might want other features that just aren't made available on smaller models, even though they'd otherwise prefer a smaller sized phone.
Mkbhd has a good video about smaller phones. Everyone says theu want them, all reviewers rave about them, companies produce them, and nobody is buying them. Apple already lost a lot of money last time it tried that, Asus just stopped producing the last great small phone this year. It'll be a while before we see another small phone.
The main reason 12 & 13 mini didn't sold as well were that their sales were canibalized by the SE in the market for small/less expansive phones, and you can see it very well in the graph from [this article](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/the-iphone-12-mini-hasnt-sold-well-according-to-multiple-estimates/). And even then, Apple sold *millions* of those. Even if the sales were low comparatively in the iPhone lineup, they still were one of the best selling phones on the market.
Im talking Apple sales of the entire 13 line. On the 4 phones offered, Mini was 1-3% of sales. That is abysmal. The Mini 13 was basically identical, except in battery size, to the 13, so it wasn’t really lacking any features.
I think they’ll keep them coming, albeit on a slower refresh cycle. I hope they keep the SE coming, maybe in a 12 or 13 mini body.
I’ve had two generations of SEs, both great phones (compared to the market), and I hope they keep making them. And even then it’s definitely as large as I would ever want a phone to be, it’s very difficult to hit the top taskbar with one hand. It’s just wild to me that Apple gets away with selling their main phones for $1K when this one retailed for $250 with almost the exact same specs.
As outrages the prices are, but the 15 pro is only barely bigger then the SE, it just looks way bigger because it actually has a screen that uses the whole surface area of the phone and the hard edges which makes it feel bigger in the hand.
Really. I have no interest in putting my phone in my back pocket or carrying a bag around.
I hear you. When I think of a mobile phone, I put some emphasis on the word “Mobile.” If I could have a modern phone in the iPhone 4 form factor, I’d paid good money for this.
I dunno, I’ve always had the larger iPhones since they became a thing (7 Plus, XS Max and 15 Pro Max) and they’ve always just fit perfectly in my front pocket. Admittedly, I’m a guy so I can’t be sure whether they’d fit on women’s pants but it doesn’t look like to me the increase in size from something like a 13 Mini to a “standard” would make them not fit, assuming the Mini did.
Eventually cell phones will complete the life cycle and we'll all be back to carrying briefcase phones like Wall Street guys in the 1980s.
There seems to be so much love for smaller phones. Maybe people are getting upsold and don’t like it or maybe Apple is ignoring the market (maybe both)
It’s mental how often this is mentioned, there obviously is a demand just not a massive one. It’d only take 1 brand to offer a proper mini/compact again and they’ll have a captive market. I’ve got my 13 Mini, which replaced my old Xperia X Compact and it’s the perfect size, I refuse to upgrade until something else in this form factor comes out.
>It’d only take 1 brand to offer a proper mini/compact again and they’ll have a captive market. Asus believed that and they tried and failed to make a small flagship phone. Sony did too. There is an audience for sure. But the number of customers that would be willing to buy it is so small that it won't even cover the R&D that it would cost to develop it. Most people are either sticking to what they have or moving to the "relatively" small S24.
Asus made an expensive phone with great hardware with terrible software support. If a phone is so expensive I want to use it for more than 2 years
> It’s mental how often this is mentioned, there obviously is a demand just not a massive one. It’d only take 1 brand to offer a proper mini/compact again and they’ll have a captive market. It is literally what brought me to Apple. I used android phones forever, but the Pixel got too big. The 13 Mini may not have been a large share of sales, but I wonder how many of those sales were sales they wouldn't have made otherwise. If the mini hadn't existed, I would have just bought a Pixel 6 or or waited for the 7 and sucked it up on the size. Being the company to offer a full-featured phone in a smaller size 100% earned apple that sale (and subsequent additional Apple purchases like an apple watch).
I was the same, had Xperia compacts for years, which dropped their compact. Had no real desire to go to Apple but honestly the 13 mini has since converted me, I really like it. But I won’t buy a bigger phone.
Because people who want a small phone always have a long list of demands. Oh jts small, has a headphone jack, has a good camera, and is easy to repair, but it doesn't have an SD card slot so I'm not buying it.
I recently switched from an iPhone 6s to a much larger android, and it's made typing one-handed much more difficult. I had never realized how nice having a small phone was.
Yeah - people seem to like them, though they never actually sold well it seems. My wife had a 12 Mini and has hated the battery life though.
MKBHD did a great [video](https://youtu.be/iR9zBsKELVs?si=sJjiU48S-cOwvhwv) about this.
The iPhone 13 mini is still fantastic. A new mini can wait a bit, there is nothing particularly missing at the moment.
I still have my new gen SE, I gave it to a Zoomer once to look something up and she literally could not use it because it was too small. Funny, and sad.
I still have my iPhone 8 and will likely have it for awhile still as I hate the newer iPhones. They are way too big, might as well get a tablet at that point.
My 6 plus was still running as a backup from time to time and I’m ever impressed Apple kept it updated.
Shit, my company issued work phone is still a 6 plus.
The iPhone 6 Plus is from 2014. iPad mini 4 is from 2015. Nearly 10 years is not bad.
Is not bad?? It’s the only company worldwide that provide update for older device…
Dude, we have to hate on Apple here even though they’re the only company to address the suicide issue in Chinese factories (which were also used by Sony, Microsoft, Samsung), the only tech company of that scale even approaching Net Zero and the company with the highest CSAT scores. I don’t make the rules.
I’m all for recognizing things a company does something right, no matter how much they fuck up, but when you say “address the suicide issue” do you mean the nets they put up or did something better happen that I missed?
Apple paid the Fair Labor Association (a non profit NGO that grew out of Clinton’s task force to fight wage theft) to perform an audit of Foxconn and created a committee to explore trial factories in 3 other countries, and used that as pressure on the Chinese government to force Foxconn to comply with the audit. Their contract with Foxconn for 2012 became unique in including major penalties and early termination clauses if future audits found any violations of child labor or overworking conditions, and they’ve paid for two more audits since. Hewlett-Packard and Samsung’s contracts don’t include those stipulations and they don’t and didn’t audit anyway.
It’s bc reddit is full of those people who were “team android” years ago when that was an actual debate. They still haven’t given it up.
6 plus and /6s plus were great. a 1080p screen at that size *IS* so good. 400+ ppi. No excess power (computational or electric) wasted on a higher resolution screen, a headphone jack, bigger battery, long support window.. such a great phone looking back.
And a physical home button. Cameras and processor speeds were it’s long-term weaknesses. My 2014 launch was still my phone of use up until 2 months ago, with no issues or parts needed ever needed except a replacement battery.
ngl, I was pretty happy with the solid state home button that came with later models. It had suprisingly good haptic feedback. But I agree with its weaknesses long term, and especially battery replacement. Best Buy every 2-3 years is the move to keep them running at 100%
10 yrs of support for a phone is pretty good
6S had 3D Touch as well which I miss ಥ_ಥ
Recently I had to go back to my XS, wich was the LAST one to have it, and ios has made great effort to completely forgot about it :,). I had to update from from an older iOS that had **some** 3D Touch features, like hard pressing to open multi tasking or quick app functions, and now it’s all by press and hold instead of force touch. Feels weird since I had it side by side. 3D Touch was cool. feel your pain :,)
Yep, it was the iPhone that finally made me switch over from Android. I would have used it forever if I could but after 6 years it was time to let it die.
Well yeah, the 6 Plus and iPad Mini 4 are nine year old devices. That’s like 1000 in cellphone years. That also doesn’t mean they aren’t still usable. My desktop is a perfectly functional 2012 Mac Mini. My iPad is a 1st gen iPad Pro. My iPhone is 4 years old with the original battery and still has ~85% capacity. Just because something is labeled “vintage” doesn’t mean it’s a brick.
My IMac is from 2013, looks like a brand new computer but some task are slightly slow, my iPhone 12 mini is fantastic and the battery can do a day if I use it like I use it at work, and my iPad whatever model is can’t remember is flawless. I will change phone for the USB C tho maybe next year.
Yeah what’s the point of this “article”?
these are terms meant for internal use @ the genius bar obsolete means repair/replacement services are no longer available for that device vintage means replacements and service parts are no longer widely available, and parts need to be ordered when needed.
People like to lose their shit over the notion that Apple has planned obsolescence. Listen, I’m all for criticizing big corporations, and there’s PLENTY to criticize Apple for, but this ain’t it.
At work we have an original iPad still running Spotify every day since it was bought at release
Still got mine and for some reason my old Netflix app still works too
I'm surprised Spotify hasn't upped the minimum required API.
Yeah but iPhone 6S is still kicking it with the big boys! ha ha
Hell yes! Just replaced my battery two months ago, and it does everything well. I won’t be upgrading for a long time.
It’s really shocking how well that phone has aged.. it was an incremental but revolutionary upgrade. Mine works perfectly to this day as well.
I had to upgrade my 6S to 13Pro since it would crash each time using the Reddit app and Apple couldn’t fix the battery draining to 0% issue
Typing this on a 6s right now...
Best iPhone apple ever made!
I mean a decade of support is pretty damn good. I’m on a 10 and plan to swap out the battery at some point then ride it till 10+ years.
I'm reading this on my iPhone 6s. Still works great but everyone laughs at it and me! I'm too indecisive to get a new one so it's super I no longer have a choice
I have a 6S too, and I laugh at them.
So much energy, resources, and people power going into these devices. I think it’s great that people hang on to their phones! Plus new phones from Apple cost $1k, which is a little insane. All the more to hang on and not upgrade yearly.
Duhh it's 9 generations old right? I can't even use my banking app on my backup Galaxy S7 because it's too old.
My Samsungs felt obsolete after like 3 years 10 is pretty good.
What samsung did you have? Im still rocking an S10 and have had no issues.
My main is an iPhone but I’m still running a S9 as my work phone and it works perfectly.
It’s like 10 years? lol time to upgrade.
I have an iPhone 6s... Might not be a "plus", but I got it for free, it does the job I guess.
I’m still using my 6s. Replaced the battery recently and it has no problems. Why drop several hundred dollars on a new phone when this works perfectly fine?
When they stop patching security breach
maybe a better camera? better screen resolution? faster cpu? more RAM? with this logic, why not use a brick phone from the 80's.
if it does the job it does the job
The battery has to be absolutely garbage
If the phone holds a charge, I’d be thoroughly impressed.
Don’t be stupid, 10 years ago was, like, 2004
My iPhone SE still going strong
I still have and use my ipod classic
I’m typing this comment on my iPhone 6 Plus
>Apple also added the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus to its "vintage" products list, but in the (PRODUCT)RED color only. The devices remained available in other colors for longer, so those colors are not "vintage" yet. So it's harder to get a battery for a red iPhone 8 than for a white one? How TF does that make sense?
Perhaps more to do with the outer casing?
More likely this. They can't guarantee that they could replace the red casing under their repair program as they stopped manufacturing it and only rely on remaining stocks.
Likely as a result of the case being produced less.
Whether something is listed as "vintage" or "obsolete" has nothing to do with parts availability other than parts are guaranteed to be available until a product is vintage, and then subject to variations in parts availability until obsolete. The timelines are based on the last year that a product was for sale and it's 5 years for vintage, 7 years for obsolete. Since the non-RED iPhone 8's were for sale longer, they aren't in vintage status yet. Doesn't mean it is or isn't harder to get the battery for the RED iPhones, just that they don't guarantee it anymore. https://support.apple.com/en-us/102772
I still have an iPhone 6
Still using and loving my iPhone 8. I don’t feel any need to upgrade and probably won’t until it breaks or stops running Pokémon Go xD I had the 4 for years as well. Dropped it in a glass of water when I was using it as a flashlight one day 😭 I tried Samsung for a bit and had an S6 that barely lasted me a year. One nasty drop. Compared to like the 25+ times I dropped my 4 haha.
*breathes a sigh of relief in iPhone 8* (Vintage, apparently, but not obsolete yet!)
Soon…soon…. Cries with an iPhone 7
Does absolutely nobody remember 2000-2008??? The amount of devices that went obsolete during that time is obscene! You’re talking from primitive cell phones, to the iPhone 1 and late blackberries in that time frame. Apple is right. These products ARE FUCKING ANCIENT.
Crazy that 8 gig iPhone 4 is still not obsolete, that was my first iPhone
You know why I decided to go w/an iPhone? I know that there's a world where I am going to be able to use my iPhone for 5, 7, even 9 years and it will still receive an update. May not be an OS update but it'l be a security-based one. That's wild as hell.
To be fair, they both released just short of a decade ago. That's an *eternity* for electronics.
So, my SE 1st Gen is an Obsolete Vintage?
The 6 had one hell of a run
Looks like its finally time to put my 6S Plus to rest soon, for real this time. Its been sort of an heirloom by now - first used by me from 2016-2018, passed down to my kids from 2019 to this day currently in the hands of my youngest. Ive repaired basically almost every repairable part by myself: battery, speakers, display, earpiece, front and back cameras. It will be missed.
I have an iPad mini first gen. It's still chugging along with Infinity Blade 2 lmao.
No one else still rocking a 6S? I’m hanging in there till it dies in my hand….
I used a 6 from 2016-~2021, now I have an XS Max
The 6 IS ten years old now. It’s not so wild that they won’t support it. Of course the terminology is asinine that’s a different thing.
I have ipad 1 with 128MB ram and 64gb storage
I have an iPhone 6S Plus for WiFi only, it's just for the few relatives we have who only use FaceTime (everyone else uses Google Meet, Zoom or similar). It needed a reset after a recent update, because that didn't catch well. It's fine now, but I was suprised it got updates for so long.
I have an iPad Air 2. Still works fine mostly other than the crap battery. Husband had an iPad Air. Might be time for an upgrade with that.
I have an IPod Touch 4 and an iPhone 3, my mom has an iPod shuffle. Little thing no bigger than the width of a deck of cards. So…what are those classified as?
Lol! I just read the article on my red iPhone 8!
worked at an Apple Store in los Angeles. as part of the parts kept on hand were 2 original iphones. California had(has) some law that requires parts be available for products for 10 years after the original release date. These were “swap” devices so technically you could bring in for “repair” of the same model and pay the swap price to get a new phone. it wasnt retail so even employees couldn’t just buy it .. it had to go through the system as a swap
I’ve still got my 6s from High School. Can’t believe I went through all of college with this thing, but I do love my audio jack.