News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by shiftpgdn on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @02:58PM (#37486059)
Android is notorious for aging out phones much faster than Apple. You could use 8+ year old phones with the latest security updates up until very recently.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by londons_explore on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:34PM (#37486735)
Ancient android might not get security updates, but is actually still very usable. The vast majority of apps will still at least run and talk to their servers on a 10 year old phone.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by FredPret on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:41PM (#37486850)
How is it usable if it is insecure? People bank on these things.
[dead]
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by constantly on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:11PM (#37487468)
It’s not that you’re completely and totally wrong that makes me mad, it’s that you state everything with such an authoritative tone that people won’t doubt it and will get into a bad situation based on what you’re saying.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by londons_explore on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:33PM (#37487811)
> Once you notify your bank or credit union about an unauthorized transaction (that is, a charge or withdrawal you didn’t make or allow), it generally has ten business days to investigate the issue. The bank or credit union must correct an error within one business day after determining that an error has occurred.

[1] https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-get-my-mon....

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by Dylan16807 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @08:09PM (#37490443)
> completely and totally wrong

Citation needed.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by taway32r41 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:55PM (#37487147)
The U.S. Senate begs to differ.

Consumers defrauded on Zelle are left high and dry by the banks that created it [pdf] (senate.gov)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37438934

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by SamReidHughes on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:08PM (#37487409)
Transactions where you got scammed aren't the same thing as unauthorized transactions.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by taway32r41 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:25PM (#37487694)
"Banks are not repaying customers who contest “unauthorized” Zelle payments – potentially violating federal law and CFPB rules."

I suppose you and Senator Warren have different definitions for unauthorized.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by SamReidHughes on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @05:53PM (#37489041)
So, actually, 47% of them by dollar amount, according to the report you quoted. Selectively quoted. Why do you behave this way?

Here's a question for you to think about: Why do they reverse some claims but not others?

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by taway32r41 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @10:12PM (#37491359)
> Why do they reverse some claims but not others?

I guess that is the question. I'll be interested in the bank's reply.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by Dylan16807 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @08:07PM (#37490429)
Why is the word "unauthorized" in scare quotes?

And a lot of the complaint is about "cases where customers reported being fraudulently induced into making payments", which would agree with the ancestor comment.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by taway32r41 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @10:08PM (#37491343)
Honestly I don't know. I copied and pasted the text and punctuation from the original document and it put them there. I also didn't do the research. The office of Senator Warren did. You can quibble with them. :)
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by Dylan16807 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @10:29PM (#37491484)
> You can quibble with them. :)

The scare quotes imply that they are the ones saying the case isn't very strong, so I'm not quibbling with them, I'm trying to interpret them.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by frumper on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:49PM (#37487024)
I've had multiple family members wait months to sort things out like that. Visa fraud experience is usually immediate, checking/savings accounts not so much.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by mikeweiss on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:56PM (#37487165)
Yeah.. good luck with that !
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by tssk on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:54PM (#37487123)
Motorola G6 Plus (and many other Android phones) is supported by LineageOS which is up-to-date version with security updates.

https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/evert/

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by badrequest on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:38PM (#37487896)
So to have an old phone that is still secure you have to know how to flash an OS onto a phone?
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by 867-5309 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @05:05PM (#37488337)
did you install the security systems for your house or car?
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by hiq on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @05:22PM (#37488601)
This is misleading, as the firmwares (binary blobs) most likely do not get updates.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by Arbortheus on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @06:02PM (#37489161)
I used to run LineageOS and some banking apps would not work as I had to unlock my bootloader.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by tssk on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @12:14AM (#37492105)
This is truly ironical that some apps refuse to work on system that is much secure.

I use LineageOS and it is true that I have to use Magisk to have banking app working. And I understand that this is not for everyone.

I just wanted to mention that there is a way to use older phone and have security updates longer than vendor provides it. And even longer than Apple.

I get the argument about binary blob updates. Security is never 100%. And it also shows another reason why binary blobs make things worse.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by jsight on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:04PM (#37487327)
He's using Firefox with updates. I guess they still provide browser updates for his version. TBH, that mitigates most of the real vulnerabilities.

It may even receive system web browser updates, as those tend to go on for much longer than OS updates with Android.

With a little care, it is likely to be fine.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by downWidOutaFite on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:05PM (#37487332)
These days "security" has been perverted so it is mostly not about protecting you from attackers, it's about preventing you from accessing your own data or running the apps that you want. You are the threat that they are securing against. Less "secure" means more freedom for you. Less "secure" can also mean more real security for you since you have to leave the mainstream which is what actual attackers target.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by squokko on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:39PM (#37486818)
Using a non-updated device on the Internet is not smart if you have any personal information on the phone.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by londons_explore on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:41PM (#37486863)
Plenty of people do it... And it doesn't actually backfire often - the worst that seems to happen is your phone will self-install unremovable adware if you visit the wrong website.

A complete reset solves it tho.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by la_oveja on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:44PM (#37486907)
system might not be updated, but apps are. its not the end of the world in a realistic setting
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by mikeweiss on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:53PM (#37487103)
I'd actually like to see a list of real world security incidents that occured on EOL android devices. Not out of date browsers. (Chrome can still be updated) but devices no longer getting OS security updates.. something tells me it's very very rarely if ever an actual issue in real life.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by taway32r41 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:45PM (#37488011)
I'm not going to do a lot of research here but one thing I remember reading about was an uptick in Android Ransomware.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2020/10/08/sop...

In the article it explains how Google and the ransomers are doing a cat and mouse thing. If your phone is not keeping up, that could definitely be an issue.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by The_Colonel on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:04PM (#37487321)
An anecdote, but I've never heard anybody from my social circles to have their phone hacked. I keep reading about all these holes, but somehow they don't seem to be widely exploited in the real world.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by baq on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:02PM (#37487270)
I have a nexus 5x which I wanted to repurpose for… anything at all. It can’t even update itself anymore. Play services update just locks up or whatever. Play store is broken and can’t install anything. The thing is useless as a smartphone.

My iPad 5 got an iOS update last month-ish? And a security patch last week. All of my kids run iPhone 8.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by londons_explore on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:05PM (#37487333)
you need to install the f-droid store. most google apps still work, but you can't use recent versions of them.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by semiquaver on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:29PM (#37487747)
Who is updating the trust store? With root certs from 10 years ago a lot of TLS connections will not work.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by mqus on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:40PM (#37487919)
Kitkat(Android 4.4) is 10 years old and I have experience with it. You can't update Signal since last year and you can't use it anymore since soon after that. Whatsapp didn't work anymore after May. And most(all?) of the phones bought 10 years ago didn't have kitkat yet.

Those two are the apps that survived the longest (Try getting any matrix client to work on it). Others broke sooner, most of them because the app developer has to enable TLS1.2 to be able to use it for HTTP APIs and many web servers disabled responding to older versions a while ago. Firefox (the one which allowed all extensions) still works. Great! But I can't message anyone anymore. On a phone.

TBH I put most of the blame here on app developers (supporting older stuff is not that hard) and some of it on the device manufacturers.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:07PM (#37486227)
Actually, Apple released a security update for iPhone 5s (2013) earlier this year.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by joecool1029 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:17PM (#37486404)
Just installed 15.7.9 on the original iPhone SE (2016). Came out yesterday?
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by saiya-jin on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:14PM (#37486352)
By far the biggest intrusion window these days is your browser. Latest firefox with ublock origin is simply the safest of them all, saving bandwidth, blocking youtube ads, saving battery, your eyes and so on.

Plus, currently plenty of androids have 5-6 years of guaranteed security updates. To be honest I wouldnt ever want to use much older phones even if patched up to date, too clunky, making bad photos (I have kids so this is top priority), not up to most network standards and so on

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:24PM (#37486542)
Which Android phones have 5-6 years of security updates?
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by bad_user on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:41PM (#37486857)
Samsung promised 3 years of updates in 2019, and then updated that pledge to 4 years, then 5 years for the flagships. What's exciting about Samsung's pledge is that it made this promise for mid-range models in the A series, which are fairly affordable.

My S21 Ultra is in its 3rd year and regularly updated. Should get 5 years of updates, and I intend to keep it until then.

Also, the writing is on the wall that the EU will force phone makers to years of updates, changeable batteries and availability of spare parts.

It's also noteworthy that Google has the ability to update many system services via Google Play. The poor track record of updates from phone makers basically demanded it. In other words, an Android device that hasn't received any system updates in a year or two is still fairly usable.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by mongol on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:49PM (#37487034)
I have an A70..I was just looking for when it will lose its software updates. The last update I have is from Dec 22, but I can't find information when it will expire.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by bad_user on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:11PM (#37487454)
Indeed, last update is from Dec-22. A70 should have gotten 4 years of security updates.

https://doc.samsungmobile.com/sm-a705fn/sek/doc.html

Looking at this list of devices getting updates, it only lists A70s with "biannual" updates, so A70 may no longer be updated:

https://security.samsungmobile.com/workScope.smsb

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by mongol on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:22PM (#37487661)
Indeed, some useful links you found there. Thank you!
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by Descon on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:35PM (#37486748)
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:40PM (#37486840)
OS updated for only 3 years after release and security updates for 5? This is still really bad.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by jsight on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:07PM (#37487395)
It really isn't, given how much of Android will get updated during those security fixes only years. Many of the builtin apps will still receive feature updates, likely even beyond that window.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:12PM (#37487482)
Compared to iOS 17 running on 5 year old phones and the 10 year old iPhone 5s getting a security update earlier this year?
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by nani8ot on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:34PM (#37487831)
Iirc Apple iOS includes more features than Android in the core OS. Google Services still receive updates and only things like the UI and system settings stay the same. Most people I know don't care at all about updates.

But I agree, it's great how Apple supports devices for 6 years with major updates. It would also be possible for Android phones if SoC & phones manufacturer actually cared.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:38PM (#37487892)
Anytime a new version of iOS is released, usually within the first 6 months it is on 80%+ of the phones
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by jsight on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:45PM (#37488015)
I have an ancient ipad. It still gets major updates, but not necessarily all of the best features from those updates. Maybe that is a hardware limitation or maybe not.

I also have a Pixel 5. It received Magic Eraser, which used to be a key feature of newer Pixels, as part of a regular Photos app update.

I'm still getting major updates too, but, tbh, they aren't that critical. Chrome, GMail, Maps, YouTube, Calendar, Messaging, the app store itself (including UI) and the core web browser will keep getting updates well beyond the end of life.

There really isn't a direct comparison here, but I wouldn't switch in either direction due to updates.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @10:29PM (#37491480)
If I’m not mistaken, apps that use embedded web views don’t use the installed version of Chrome do they? If that’s the case, that’s a major security issue by itself.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by telotortium on Thursday September 14, 2023 @01:36AM (#37505368)
I believe the system webview is no longer part of the core Android OS, but instead is updated regularly based on a recent version of Chrome. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and...
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by thegeekpirate on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:34PM (#37486743)
The Google ones do since the... 6a iirc?
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by wredue on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:31PM (#37486685)
Probably all of them, but that’s only cause, unless things have changed, it takes 3 years to get said updates in the first place.

I remember before I switched to iPhone I would wait and wait and wait and wait for the latest android and updates and a whole new version of android would roll out before I would even get the previous version.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by FirmwareBurner on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:31PM (#37486686)
Samsung provides 5
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:32PM (#37486701)
So a Samsung phone from 2018 is still getting operating system updates or security updates?
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by bad_user on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:55PM (#37487151)
Their pledge has started in 2019, and the promise for 5 years of updates is fairly new. I remember they first promised 3 or 4 years of security updates.

For what is worth, I have a Galaxy Tab S6 from 2019 that is still getting security updates, although it wasn't updated to Android 13: https://doc.samsungmobile.com/SM-T865/ROM/doc.html

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:14PM (#37487509)
How are those operating system updates?

For reference, the latest version of iOS will run on 5 year old iPhones when it is released.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by bad_user on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:27PM (#37487717)
Apple has unparalleled support for older devices, I think we agree.

For operating system updates, Samsung pledged 4 years of updates for the flagships starting with S21.

The difference between Android versions isn't big. I also mentioned in another comment that on Android, to cope with phone makers not pushing for system updates, Google can update many system components via Google Play. And apps remain compatible. Being 2 versions behind the latest Android is OK.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by pmontra on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:45PM (#37486923)
My Samsung A40 from 2019 should have security updates until 2024. It's still getting them but not as often as in the first 3 years.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by technofiend on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:08PM (#37487398)
Directly from Google? Pixel 6 and up get five years of security updates, most likely in reaction to Apple's better support policies. Other manufacturers? You have to research it because it varies: https://www.androidauthority.com/phone-update-policies-16586...

Ideally Google would mandate a minimum number of years for both feature and security updates that macthes theirs of three and five, respectively.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by rz2k on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:32PM (#37486700)
While Firefox on iPhones does not allow extensions like uBlock Origin, Orion browser will allow you to install both Firefox and Chrome extensions, including uBlock Origin.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by the_gipsy on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:57PM (#37487193)
That's Impossible.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by WD-42 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:08PM (#37487405)
I tried Orion. It’s super unstable. I don’t know what tricks they are trying to play, but they clearly aren’t working.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by geoah on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:36PM (#37487866)
On IOS 17 orion starts and nothing works. Been like this for some time.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by camhart on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:01PM (#37486110)
I don't know a single person using an 8+ year old phone. I'd guess 99% of the population makes a phone last 2-4 years.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by woodruffw on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:06PM (#37486219)
Not sure about 8 years, but I know at least 3 people who use iPhone 8s still and have no intention of stopping, so that's 6 years. I know at least one person who had an iPhone 5 until it broke earlier this year.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by szundi on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:41PM (#37486853)
Father as business development manager manages with iphone 7
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by kaba0 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:15PM (#37486369)
I guess this will only lengthen as we go forward, as the initial jumps between successive phones were large, and they are much more incremental nowadays. An iphone XS is good for 5 more years easily.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by bombcar on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:20PM (#37486470)
I only stopped using the 8+ because it got destroyed, and "upgrading" to a newer used one was almost the same price. Otherwise I'd still be rocking that touch button.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by llimllib on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:17PM (#37486412)
I try to use mine for 5 years each, I jumped from the 8 to the 14 earlier this year
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by fnordpiglet on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:14PM (#37486360)
Wow, I don’t think that’s true at all. Most people can’t afford a new phone that frequently. I know amongst my techno elite friends your estimate holds, but for almost everyone else I know they rarely upgrade and it’s more about when it physically falls apart than any desire to participate in an upgrade cycle.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:28PM (#37486635)
In the US, all of the major carriers offer 0% interest payment plans. Even the MVNOs offer low end iPhones “for free” with a contract.

We don’t have to limit it to people you know

People upgrade their phones about once every 2.5 years

https://www.refurb.me/blog/how-long-does-a-smartphone-last-r...

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by hotnfresh on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:38PM (#37486797)
My carrier offers them 0% interest, rolled into your phone plan payment.

But, go figure, the sticker price is like 10-15% higher than on the Apple site.

They just hid the interest in the price.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:42PM (#37486876)
That isn’t true for T-mobile. But even so, you can always just buy from Apple with a 0% interest payment plan
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by hotnfresh on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:23PM (#37487673)
iPhone 14 128GB on t-mobile’s site: $829 (zero-interest roll-into-your-phone-bill financing available)

Same, on Apple’s site: $699

IDK, maybe apple price-dropped today and T-Mobile hasn’t caught up, but that’s similar to what I’ve seen in the past when I’ve looked at buying through them.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by fnordpiglet on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:59PM (#37487216)
0% interest isn’t $0/m. When you live paycheck to paycheck, as most Americans do, that’s a very important detail. Most people don’t have disposable income.

But even that do they don’t value phone upgrades. When I see their ancient phones I sometimes remark they can get a phone with monthly terms and they just shrug and say the sad device with cracked screens and ancient cameras and crap display resolution and brightness is good enough for them. It baffles me, but most people just use their phone for texting, occasionally a map, and a crappy camera. Only in my tech friend circle do people keep up.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:11PM (#37487461)
Most Americans aren’t living paycheck to paycheck where $20/month is going to mean they starve.

You can easily look up the average time between phone upgrades is between 2-3 years.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by fnordpiglet on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @09:40PM (#37491149)
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/31/share-of-americans-living-pa...

64% are living paycheck to paycheck, now whether they opt to get a new smartphone or not is not clear.

What is clear is the statistics you linked and I could find were polls of either people buying a new phone, which would be structurally biased towards people who are buying phones make frequently and are not buying used phones, or they were surveys of people with some relationship with a mobile or tech related site or product. These don’t seem like very unbiased surveys - but they do seem like sources apple or a phone maker would care about. “Of the people we care about in our marketing, they buy every 2-3 years.” I know in my family my wife’s family inherits our old phones and would ever show up in such a poll, nor do people buying off eBay, or even used from Amazon, etc.

Maybe a single mom working three jobs to raise their five children really does feel compelled to have the newest iPhones and puts her kids needs behind a high resolution screen, but I somehow believe she’s just not counted in market surveys of phone buyers.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @10:26PM (#37491459)
Living paycheck to paycheck doesn’t mean there isn’t room in there budget to do anything else. They may spend $20 less per month on food to buy a phone. Do you really think that households who are making six figures “who are stretched thin” have no discretionary income to reallocate?

If given a choice between every single citation I could find on the internet and your anecdotes of what your family does, which one do you think is more reliable?

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by fnordpiglet on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @10:36PM (#37491541)
I already cited why I don’t believe the sources I could find as well as those you provided are reliable of a common experience as they’re clearly designed to be market research among those people who regularly upgrade smart phones. That’s a much more useful metric if you’re a smart phone company than a census style survey. They aren’t trying to make a social statement but optimize their release cadence. What people do who don’t upgrade regularly or buy their products new aren’t interesting to them, so they aren’t designing these surveys to capture people not already in their product cadence orbit. But, I suspect I can guess which you consider more reliable.

I’d not the median household income is 70k, which means half of all households make less than that. The median personal income is $40k.

Again, we aren’t getting remotely close to 99% of people are upgrading every 2-4 years.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @08:48AM (#37496052)
> I already cited why I don’t believe the sources I could find as well as those you provided are reliable of a common experience as they’re clearly designed to be market research among those people who regularly upgrade smart phones

On the entire internet every source cites 2-3 years but you choose not to believe it because it doesn’t support your worldview?

And in the US, even the MVNOs that are targeted toward lower income buyers subsidize phones where you get them for “free”.

But you’re telling me on the entire internet you can’t find one statistic that supports your claim?

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by throwaway54_56 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:05PM (#37486208)
The lifespan of those phones remains for the people that buy them used/refurbished. There is a strong secondary market for iPhones.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by ryandrake on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:32PM (#37486699)
My iPhone 7 will be 7 years old in a few days, so close. I haven't found the need for anything that has gone into new phones since then that would justify the cost.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by vehemenz on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @08:31PM (#37490615)
Hah, I just upgraded my iPhone 7 to the 13 Mini. It's definitely better, but I probably could have held on for another two years.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by avn2109 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:33PM (#37486718)
My daily driver phone is an iPhone 7+, which Wikipedia tells me is from 2016. It works great and people often compliment the pictures from its camera. That's not "8+ years old" but it's in the ballpark :)
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by croes on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:14PM (#37486353)
But why?

It seems the only progress is the camera and the CPU, but for what more CPU speed? The camera?

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by vel0city on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:49PM (#37487027)
Several of the phones I've upgraded from were due to the onboard storage wearing out. A couple were because of water damage, which is less of a concern these days.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by runamok on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:32PM (#37487797)
For me at least the battery seems to degrade significantly after 2+ years. I have a OnePlus 7t that is 3 years old and I use it heavily almost every day. I should consider wiping it to see if that improves battery life.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by skywhopper on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:15PM (#37486381)
Weird, I don’t know anyone that keeps their phone for less than five years.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:30PM (#37486672)
And I’m sure you don’t know “anyone that still watches TV” like the old Slashdot meme.

It’s really not that hard to find statistics. It’s 2.5 - 3 years

https://www.refurb.me/blog/how-long-does-a-smartphone-last-r...

https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-2-year-mobile-phone-upgrade-c...

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by minkzilla on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @11:10AM (#37497813)
You said "I'd guess 99% of the population makes a phone last 2-4 years." Which is obviously false if the average is 3 years. An interesting data point neither of these articles have is the standard deviation. One of the articles says 8% of people wait more than 5 years.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by scarface_74 on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @01:06PM (#37498990)
I never said any such thing about “99%”
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by minkzilla on Thursday September 14, 2023 @12:30PM (#37511117)
Ah sorry, I replied to the wrong comment.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by zie on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:52PM (#37487074)
I'm at 5yrs(iPhone XR), though I do plan on replacing my phone with a new iPhone 15 later this year or early next.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by TheAtomic on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:06PM (#37487351)
On a 6 year old iPhone 6 here. Solid, charges quick, no battery issues, good pics, you name it. I may upgrade to go all USB-C but may wait to see if the 15 has issues.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by thinkmassive on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:16PM (#37487558)
Anecdata: I have a friend who refuses to update from an original iPhone SE because he hates the larger form factors AND because it functions perfectly fine for his needs.

I know multiple people still using an iPhone X (2018), for whom cost is not an issue.

The main reason for the majority of the general population to upgrade is because the phone literally breaks (screen, stops charging, radio malfunctions, etc)

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by nerdbert on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:17PM (#37487562)
Mine is 6 years old, my wife and son are both using 8-year-old iphones. They still get security updates.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by rglullis on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:46PM (#37486955)
And? My android phones last on average 3 years, do everything I need and cost less than €200. The exception is the current Fairphone 3 I am using, which I paid 350€ and I am expecting to use for at least 5 years, possibly 7. How can one justify paying 3x the cost if not just to continue keeping myself tied into Apple?
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by eBombzor on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:59PM (#37487221)
The hardware on those 300 euro phones are awful. iPhones last longer in both software support and actual usability.

> How can one justify paying 3x the cost if not just to continue keeping myself tied into Apple?

It's not rocket science. The experience you get using an iPhone vs a cheap Android for 5 years is not even close to comparable, and while you do pay a ridiculous premium for an iPhone, there are obvious reasons why someone would want to.

And this is coming from a long time Pixel user.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by rglullis on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:33PM (#37487818)
The hardware is just fine. My old Nokia 6 from 2018 can still play Mario Kart just fine.

I hate to see that I am starting to sound like an activist, but I also hate to see how even the supposedly smarter-than-average people in tech lose all sense of perspective when they see shiny overpriced trinkets.

Why should we care if "the experience is not even close to comparable", if it is brought by a trillion dollar corporation who denies people even the most basic rights and fights as dirty as it can to keep its unfair advantages?

(And please notice that the above paragraph also applies to Google and Samsung, so please don't make it sound that I am arguing for team Android here)

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by nerdbert on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:14PM (#37487515)
My iphone is currently 6 years old, and still getting security updates from Apple. It works as well as it ever did (I spent €60-ish for a battery replacement a year or two ago), and I hope to get at least another year out of it yet.

It cost me about €600, and I also enjoy knowing that I've generated that much less e-waste compared to my prior Android life, where I had to discard phones every 2 or 3 years.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by rglullis on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:48PM (#37488063)
First, let me point to Fairphone which is also providing 7 years minimum of updates, but most importantly, it does not lock me into their OS and I can install anything I want (in the case, MurenaOS).

Second, I'd love to be proven wrong, but I can bet good money that if we look at a distribution of activated iphones per model, we will see that most users probably stay a lot less than 6-7 years.

Third, it's not about iPhone vs Android. It's the fact that we are discussing things like "getting security updates" when in fact we should be asking ourselves "why aren't we free to install whatever system we want on our own device?" I don't really care so much about the fact your phone cost 600 or 6000€, what bugs me to no end is that we are effectively paying trillion-dollar corporations to let them remove our freedoms.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by mattl on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:49PM (#37487037)
iPhone SE 2022 is $429 and will likely get updates for a similar amount of time as the OP mentioned.

Not every iPhone is over $800.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by rglullis on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:55PM (#37487130)
That's still more than the Fairphone, which has to deal with the overhead of sourcing materials and paying fair wages to everyone in the supply chain.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by mattl on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:10PM (#37487444)
https://www.techradar.com/reviews/fairphone-3-review#section...

$500 in 2019 is $597 now.

450 Euro in 2019 is 533 Euro now.

That's enough to buy an iPhone 13 and skip the SE model entirely.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by rglullis on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:53PM (#37488144)
Is that what the majority of people are buying, or are you just pushing down some numbers while forgetting that it does not reflect the reality of the consumer market?
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by mattl on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @05:11PM (#37488435)
My last two iPhones have been the SE model and I know a number of friends who have one. The previous smaller iPhone SE (2016) was a lovely phone and still getting updates.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by rglullis on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @05:42PM (#37488883)
something-something-anecdata...

- Most people change phones every 2 to 3 years.

- iPhone SE/mini accounts for less than 25% of the units sold.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by mattl on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @07:34PM (#37490152)
You were telling us how your phone was cheaper than an iPhone. It doesn't appear to be the case.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by rglullis on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @08:04PM (#37490403)
What I was responding to was that it makes little sense to talk about "Androids aging out faster" as some kind of valid justification to pay the premium price of iPhones.

If you manage to make do with the cheaper version of iPhones, ok. But your case (and mine) are outliers, and even in that case Apple's products are not better from an ethical/environmental/fair trade point of view.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by mattl on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @08:15PM (#37490488)
Cheaper versions of iPhones are usually just previous top-tier phones with a bit more life added to them so I don’t see them as lower tier.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by rglullis on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @09:49PM (#37491213)
Are we stuck in a loop here? I'm not arguing about the price of any particular model. I'm arguing that (a) most people buying iPhones are not doing with "longevity" in mind, they are just buying the "most phone they can afford" and trade every 2-3 years and (b) even the ones that are buying iPhones based on "longevity" (i.e, TCO) are ignoring the fact that there are other alternatives with similar characteristics while being better from an ethical standpoint.

I don't know where I am losing you...

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by paulmd on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @11:11PM (#37491762)
you're generating twice the e-waste of the apple product here.

and you don't have to pay 3x the cost if you don't want, buy last year's model refurbished.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by rglullis on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @05:46AM (#37494510)
Not if you compare with the Fairphone. The Fairphone uses materials that are a lot easier to be recyclable and is supported for as long as Apple devices.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by orangepurple on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:53PM (#37487095)
This is why LineageOS is so critical
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by forty on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:54PM (#37487110)
It depends on the brand. Look at FairPhone if you care about durability, they are amazing. The recent FP5 might last 10 years. (happy owner of a FP3)
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by flanbiscuit on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:10PM (#37487431)
I've been with Android since my the very first G1. I'm not an iPhone hater, I think they are great phones, I'm just happy with Android (for now) and see little reason to switch yet. That being said, the one thing that could probably make me switch is this issue right here.

I have the Pixel 5a, it was released in August 2021 and Google only guarantees support for that model up to August 2024, that is for both full OS updates and just security patches. As of the Pixel 6 series and after, you get 3 years of full OS updates, and 5 years of security patches (that's 2 extra years after full OS updates stop).

To compare, the iPhone 13 series was released in September 2021 and will continue to get support up to 7 years after its release (Sept 2028).

So far my Pixel 5a has been the best (reliability-wise) phone I've ever hard and it sucks to know that after August 2024, I'll be vulnerable to future security vulnerabilities.

Samsung offer only slightly better support by increasing the full OS support to 4 years instead of Google's 3 for the Pixel. Same 5 year for security patch. That's not enough for me to go back to Samsung and deal with their OS bloated with apps I can't uninstall (it's been a while, maybe it's better?)

sources:

https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705?hl=en

https://www.androidpolice.com/samsung-four-year-update-list-...

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201624

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by galangalalgol on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @04:41PM (#37487939)
My 4a potentially just got its last update. If I don't any security updates going forward, not sure if I'll put a third party image on it or toss it. I'll probably try the first, and if it does work well, the second.
Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by nani8ot on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @05:02PM (#37488296)
GrapheneOS receives OS updates for another year. It's pretty simple to flash with a web-based installer.

If it feels too slow, try disabling "Secure app spawning". It's a security improvement over Google's Android by GrapheneOS but increases app startup time. Especially on slower devices like the 4a.

Re:iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus by rwalle on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @09:12PM (#37490925)
Looks like you are talking about two different things in one sentence. About security updates -- while it is true that Apple provides security updates much longer than Android phones and this is something I care a lot about, I need to point out that the vast majority of people (outside HN or similar "tech forums") don't upgrade phones due to lack of security features but lack of latest features, missing nice cameras, or if the battery has bad battery or damage.