I am finally going to buy an iPhone--Which one?

[harllee]

Well, I have held on to my flip phone for all these years but the thing is falling apart and Verizon tells me they are no longer going to support it so I need to get a new phone. I need an Apple phone that I can use on Verizon (Verizon is the only cell service available at my mountain cabin). I have an iPad and a MacBook and DH has an iPhone 8 so I need to get an iPhone of some sort. I don't want to spend a fortune on it--I use my iPad for calls and texts so I just need the iPhone when traveling. On the Verizon website I can get a 2020 SE for $400 or a refurbished iPhone 8 for $250. I can't tell there is much difference in them. I would not want anything any bigger. Any advice?

 

[braumeister]

Try these:

Compare iPhone models

Compare Every iPhone Model Ever Made

 

[steelyman]

I like my iPhone 8 a lot but would have preferred to wait until the SE was released. I didn’t wait because I destroyed my 5S botching my attempt at battery replacement.

[ADDED] One of the things I really liked about the upgrade from 5S to 8 was wireless charging. Whatever you decide, think about getting a charger too. I use a Samsung charging pad that works well (and looks cool).

Here’s my charger. It doesn’t show the mellow blue glow the charger displays when working:

https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/m...s-charging-pad-black-sapphire-ep-pg920ibugus/

[ADDED #2] Another plus is NFC support: contactless payment while we are hunkering down!

 

[latexman]

iPhone 8 here. Very happy.

 

[foxfirev5]

Say it isn't so! It's only a matter of time before old geezer Consumers Cellular will discontinue my flip phone. At this point I have my phone, DW's smart phone and DM's flip phone on my plan for about $60/ month. I might add I reverted back to the flip phone when I turned in my company iphone at retirement. Didn't miss it a bit.

 

[mn54]

i have read reviews of the 2020 SE that the 2 drawbacks are the camera is not as good and the battery life is not as long. if these 2 are not big concerns of yours then it may be a good choice.

 

[eytonxav]

Last year I moved from an SE to an 11 and have been delighted with it.

 

[audreyh1]

I like my iPhone 8 a lot but would have preferred to wait until the SE was released. I didn’t wait because I destroyed my 5S botching my attempt at battery replacement.

[ADDED] One of the things I really liked about the upgrade from 5S to 8 was wireless charging. Whatever you decide, think about getting a charger too. I use a Samsung charging pad that works well (and looks cool).

Here’s my charger. It doesn’t show the mellow blue glow the charger displays when working:

https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/m...s-charging-pad-black-sapphire-ep-pg920ibugus/

I also didn’t wait for the new iPhoneSE and got an iPhone 8, upgrading from the old smaller SE. the price seemed good. I desperately needed more memory and my leather case was falling apart, LOL. Maybe much battery wasn’t as good either.

I’ve been quite happy with the iPhone 8. I probably would have been happy with the new SE if I’d been willing to wait a few more months.

 

[MissMolly]

I went from a 5S to an iPhone X (10) last year. I love it. Got a good price on Swappa. Battery health is still 98% after having it about 14 months.

 

[MichaelB]

In addition to other good advice in this thread, I would suggest you go to a retailer just to get a feel for phone size. There are pretty big differences among the product line and knowing what size you are most comfortable with will help narrow the choices.

 

[CardsFan]

In addition to other good advice in this thread, I would suggest you go to a retailer just to get a feel for phone size. There are pretty big differences among the product line and knowing what size you are most comfortable with will help narrow the choices.

Good suggestion. I am looking to upgrade my iPhone 6, But do NOT want a bigger phone. The SE looks looks like the same size, so I will go to a seller and check them out. My biggest problem now is data storage. I only have 16GB

Next one will have 64, or 128.

Side note: does anyone pay for additional Apple storage, or are there other ways back-up w/o paying?

 

[Ronstar]

I like my iPhone X (10). 64 GB - lots of room for photos and apps.

Don't know whether SE or 8 would be better for OP. I don't know anything about those 2.

But the newest phone should be supported longer.

 

[davebarnes]

We are one month away from the [multiple] iPhone 12 announcement. Rumor says: smaller sized version.
I would wait.

That said, my experience is:
* went from 5S to SE because the SE supported Apple Pay. LOved the small size of the SE.
* went from the SE to the 11 Pro because the SE 2 was not announced and we were off to Europe and I wanted a better camera phone. Was initially grumpy about the larger size of the 11 as I really like the original SE. Now happy with the 11 Pro.

 

[boog]

Last week I upgraded from an iPhone 6s Plus 64 GB to the new SE 128 GB. I was tired of the bulk of the Plus as well as the battery life was declining. I am so far delighted with the SE. I also switched from a Verizon post paid plan to Visible - Verizon’s relatively new pre paid service. It uses Verizon’s network, but is LTE only. It worked great traveling between central Florida and rural southwest Georgia. Was even able to stream Netflix via the iPhone hotspot at inlaw’s home out in the sticks. But that’s a bit off-topic I realize.

 

[Toocold]

Wouldn't you want to wait to see if 5G is worth it? At a min, anything not 5G will be cheaper.

 

[mpeirce]

i have read reviews of the 2020 SE that the 2 drawbacks are the camera is not as good and the battery life is not as long.

I've been using an SE since I broke my X earlier this year. I intend to upgrade to a new model when they come out later this year. Still, I'm very happy with the SE. It's very fast, the screen is nice, etc. I do agree the camera isn't as good as the latest, greatest iPhones, but it still takes nice pretty darn good pictures. And the battery seems fine too, though I don't push on that much.

If you've been using a flip-phone then I expect value is important for you, so definitely consider the SE model.

 

[cbo111]

DW and I both have iPhone 7's and find them perfectly suitable for our needs; texting, web surfing, emails, and talking. I look at the features of the newer iPhones and don't really see anything to entice me to change phones. And you can buy a new 7 from Consumer Cellular for $200, with no contract.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Last year I moved from an SE to an 11 and have been delighted with it.

When discussing the iPhone SE, one needs to differentiate the original SE (which has the same form factor as the iPhone 5), and the new (2020) iPhone SE (which has the same form factor as the iPhone 7/8).

When Walmart was running the special $200 (64GB)/ $250 (128GB) special on the iPhone SE 2020 earlier this year (for those who have either Verizon or AT&T post paid plans), it was an absolute steal. I bought two of them. This phone has the latest A13 Bionic chip, which beats the top of the line Samsung S20 Ultra: https://www.androidauthority.com/iphone-se-vs-most-powerful-android-galaxy-s20-ultra-1120575/. Given this article was discussing it at a $400 price point and it was available for over a month at $200 from Walmart, thus my statement about it being an absolute steal. You can think of the iPhone SE 2020 as a iPhone 8, just with a faster processor. (I had a iPhone 7 prior to it, and the iPhone SE 2020 is considerably faster.)

Fast forward to today, no special pricing on it, and Apple is due to announce the iPhone 12's soon. Note they didn't do that today, they had previously stated that the new phone(s) would be slightly delayed. CNET is suggesting mid-October: https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-event-iphone-12-announcement-date-we-we-have-a-pretty-good-guess/, and that sounds about right.

Given were we are in the calendar, I would suggest waiting (if possible) to that occurs, as you may see more aggressive pricing / discounts on some of the other models.

p.s. I am an Apple stockholder (my largest holding), so I would love everyone to go out an buy the iPhone 11 Pro Max While you are at it, buy the new Apple series 6 watch, the Airpods pro (just ordered some on a $200 deal at Staples), and don't forget to sign up for the new music/Apple TV+/gaming/exercise services bundle!

 

[harllee]

I like my iPhone 8 a lot but would have preferred to wait until the SE was released. I didn’t wait because I destroyed my 5S botching my attempt at battery replacement.

[ADDED] One of the things I really liked about the upgrade from 5S to 8 was wireless charging. Whatever you decide, think about getting a charger too. I use a Samsung charging pad that works well (and looks cool).

Here’s my charger. It doesn’t show the mellow blue glow the charger displays when working:

https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/m...s-charging-pad-black-sapphire-ep-pg920ibugus/

[ADDED #2] Another plus is NFC support: contactless payment while we are hunkering down!

DH has a wireless charge for his iPhone 8, so I guess I can use his

 

[harllee]

i have read reviews of the 2020 SE that the 2 drawbacks are the camera is not as good and the battery life is not as long. if these 2 are not big concerns of yours then it may be a good choice.

I don't care about the camera but the battery life might be a thing to me. Did the reviews say the battery life on the 8 was better than the SE?

 

[harllee]

In addition to other good advice in this thread, I would suggest you go to a retailer just to get a feel for phone size. There are pretty big differences among the product line and knowing what size you are most comfortable with will help narrow the choices.

My DH has the 8 so I know the size from that. The measurements of the SE are the same. Coming from a flip phone they both seem too large for me but I guess they are the smallest Apple makes now.

 

[harllee]

We are one month away from the [multiple] iPhone 12 announcement. Rumor says: smaller sized version.
I would wait.

That said, my experience is:
* went from 5S to SE because the SE supported Apple Pay. LOved the small size of the SE.
* went from the SE to the 11 Pro because the SE 2 was not announced and we were off to Europe and I wanted a better camera phone. Was initially grumpy about the larger size of the 11 as I really like the original SE. Now happy with the 11 Pro.

Thanks for the advice. Maybe I can wait for a month to see if the price on the SE comes down (I will not be getting a 12 because I don't want to pay $1000 for a phone). I might not be able to wait because my flip phone is falling apart.

 

[harllee]

Wouldn't you want to wait to see if 5G is worth it? At a min, anything not 5G will be cheaper.

When will 5G phones be coming out? I cannot wait very long as my old flip phone is pretty much dead.

 

[harllee]

When discussing the iPhone SE, one needs to differentiate the original SE (which has the same form factor as the iPhone 5), and the new (2020) iPhone SE (which has the same form factor as the iPhone 7/8).

When Walmart was running the special $200 (64GB)/ $250 (128GB) special on the iPhone SE 2020 earlier this year (for those who have either Verizon or AT&T post paid plans), it was an absolute steal. I bought two of them. This phone has the latest A13 Bionic chip, which beats the top of the line Samsung S20 Ultra: https://www.androidauthority.com/iphone-se-vs-most-powerful-android-galaxy-s20-ultra-1120575/. Given this article was discussing it at a $400 price point and it was available for over a month at $200 from Walmart, thus my statement about it being an absolute steal. You can think of the iPhone SE 2020 as a iPhone 8, just with a faster processor. (I had a iPhone 7 prior to it, and the iPhone SE 2020 is considerably faster.)

Fast forward to today, no special pricing on it, and Apple is due to announce the iPhone 12's soon. Note they didn't do that today, they had previously stated that the new phone(s) would be slightly delayed. CNET is suggesting mid-October: https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-event-iphone-12-announcement-date-we-we-have-a-pretty-good-guess/, and that sounds about right.

Given were we are in the calendar, I would suggest waiting (if possible) to that occurs, as you may see more aggressive pricing / discounts on some of the other models.

p.s. I am an Apple stockholder (my largest holding), so I would love everyone to go out an buy the iPhone 11 Pro Max While you are at it, buy the new Apple series 6 watch, the Airpods pro (just ordered some on a $200 deal at Staples), and don't forget to sign up for the new music/Apple TV+/gaming/exercise services bundle!

Wish I had known about the $200 SE deal from Walmart, if you see any other SE deals please let me know! I might can wait until mid Oct but my old phone is about to die. Sorry I won't be helping your Apple stock value much (I just want the most basic phone) but I did buy a MacBook last year so there's that.

 

[Dash man]

They may be announcing the iPhone 12 in a month or two, and it may be available before the holidays if you can get one. I have an iPhone X and will keep it for now since I’m happy with it. When 5G is more developed I’ll jump in.