What you said it totally true. But to say that Apple is not forcing is a white lie. It's true that they're not pointing guns at us, but they are smoothly pointing us in that direction. There's a psychological pressure to have the latest tech, otherwise not only your phone, but also you yourself, are outdated and uncool. No kind of manipulation was ever forceful. That's what makes it a manipulation. You think you're doing it, but another person/company slowly brought you to do it. A lot of people are intelligent and strong enough to resist this brainwash, but a lot of others are not.

Blaming Apple for the general human desire to demonstrate status to one another seems like a bit much, and IMO grants them a level of implied power over society that they haven’t earned.

I mean... is your theory that if Apple didn’t exist, people wouldn’t buy things to look cool?

> A lot of people are intelligent and strong enough to resist this brainwash, but a lot of others are not.

Speaking of signaling status... somehow comments like this are always posted by folks who sort themselves into the first category.

Maybe people buy things you don’t want to buy just because they like them, not because they’re too dumb to resist “brainwashing.”

I'm sorry if I came off as a virtue signaler. No I'm not blaming Apple, and of course people would buy cool things to look cool even without them. What I'm saying is that Apple is especially good at applying pressure in right spots: as you said, the human desire for status and fear of being left behind. Some still haven't recognized it and I've seen countless people make poor financial decisions because of their blindness to what is moving them to buy. Maybe I should have used "aware" instead of "intelligent", since intelligent people can fall for it too. Of course I'm generalizing and as you said, people also buy Apple just because they like it and can afford it, I did that too. But too many times I've seen people really torn and staying there thinking to themselves for half an hour if they should buy it or not, because they know they shouldn't. If you just like a thing, but you know that buying it will have very bad financial consequences for you for the next 10-20 months, it's not difficult to resist. So the fact that all these people were buying anyways, makes me come to the conclusion that there were more powerful internal forces moving them, then just "liking Apple".

> Speaking of signaling status... somehow comments like this are always posted by folks who sort themselves into the first category.

I mean, I can't think of a person who'd be aware enough of it and be willing to state this as a member of the second category?

Which makes it hard to distinguish between a real phenomenon, and a rationalization that people employ to frame their consumer choices as superior to others'.

Baffling the more vulnerable customers with bullshit to sell them expensive things is hardly a phenomenon isolated to Apple or even to the United States. That's a proud cornerstone of Capitalism.

One could argue a whole lot of highly valued startups are built on the premise of selling conveniences to people with far too much money and not enough sense.

Agreed.

US = Apple = Capitalism

>There's a psychological pressure to have the latest tech

You mean marketing? What company isn't doing that?

Yes, but not only. Please read my other responses.

The phones from 2012 would still be perfectly functional if the software didn't come with increasingly ridiculous performance requirements. What's the reason for the upgrade? Camera?

With the ability to easily swap batteries, and more efficiently written software, nobody would have to really update their phones. Which is why I guess most batteries are now integrated.

It's a terribly waste just for corporate profits and peoples vanity's sake.

You can have the batteries swapped out though. I had the battery on my 6S replaced twice. The first time I got it for free because of the degraded performance issue and even the second time was very well priced ($60??) and have the phone a new wind. However, now the power connector had become very loose and disconnects randomly when moved wrong. I probably could have that fixed as well for cheap, but want the new camera. On my recent vacation I took almost no photos because I wanted my wife to take all the good shots with her XR Max. I'm on the fence though because I use ApplePay a lot and cannot imagine using that with FaceId and I also am somewhat attached to the audio jack. I don't want to carry headphones for my phone and another set for my Switch when on a long trip.

Pro tip: 95% of the problems with the power connectors are due to dust trapped inside the charge hole. Yes, there is a lot of dust in there, even if you can't see it. No worries though. You can solve that problem in 2 minutes. Here's how: 1 take a clip, or something similar (thin and rigid) and use it to dig out the dust from the connector hole in your phone 2 be surprised at how much dust you actually find 3 keep digging out the dust 4 your phone is as new! Try charging it and you will see that it won't disconnect randomly anymore. Hope it helps :) p.s: We charge 10-15 euros for that in the store, and obviously don't tell how easily we got it fixed to the customer. I know, it's funny and infuriating.

I wouldn't recommend digging inside the power connector with a metal clip.

A spurt of canned air followed by digging with a toothpick wrapped in cotton and damped with ethyl alcohol does magic.

Apple says the canned air can damage the connector. I can confirm toothpick + cotton does the trick, though.

When I had problem with charging on my iPhone 6 I've went to Apple Store with that and "genius" at Apple Store literally told me to use SIM removal tool to dig it out and then he proceed to do it on my phone as I watched. Pins are only on one side so as long as you be careful and not bend them you will be fine.

Wow, thanks! I used a can of air, almost no dust at all came out, but it's fixed. So silly! Thank you very much! Now I'm likely gonna hold off for another year with upgrading from my 6S.

Huh I'm still on my first battery and it's decent but I have that same issue with the lightning connector so I'm also considering upgrading

Do you have AirPods ? or have you considered buying them ? I'm also on the fence about that Face ID stuff

I don't have air pots. I've been thinking about buying them since a long time, but I really don't have a good reason to other than that it's new and shiny. At least when traveling I'd still have to carry my current earphones for both my Switch and to connect to the airplane's entertainment system. I'd rather have fewer things I can lose or forget it simply have to find a place for. It's not a problem in everyday life, but I'm on airplanes a fair amount and the is never a good place for stuff like this.

> What's the reason for the upgrade? Camera?

I’m convinced that the camera quality degrades as the phone gets older/more used. What convinced me was my mom receiving a brand new 6S replacement from Apple and seeing the major camera improvement even though her broken 6S was in mint condition.

Can anyone provide some insight to this? It took years of speculation for us to learn our slower OS/battery concerns were real. I’m wondering if this is next.

Lens scratching over time?

This certainly happens on older iPhones. People also get grease on it and it’s hard to remove. The new(ish) sapphire front elements make scratches much better.

My 5s took enough spills that I think some small opening in the case let lots of dust/sand get under then lens. The OG battery was losing sectors left and right too. Probably fixable, but I went with a new phone anyway, 5.5 years on a phone was long enough...

Pretty sure it would have to be software if it happens at all. I don't believe the sensors in the camera degrade or wear out.

The 2016+ 15" Macbook Pro is at least one very clear exception. Mine has had keyboard (which includes logic board) replaced several times. Screen replaced 3 times. Brand new replacement unit once. Now getting intermittent black screens every 5 mins or so. I paid for an Apple but I got a lemon.

So, basically you replace your phone every two years. That's the rhythm that Apple and cell providers generally aim for (time for new housing design and length of contract). What other expensive item are you replacing as frequently?

I think it's unfair to place the blame entirely on consumers when Apple capitalizes on a culture which places value on having the latest gadgets and gizmos.