Time for a new phone.

[The Question]

So I've had an iPhone SE through Boost Mobile since... 2015 or so, I believe. It's finally nearing the end of its life cycle. The battery no longer holds a charge on its own, making it necessary to carry the thing plugged into a Mophie... JuiceBox, or whatever, I forget the name of the external battery. That was annoying but relatively tolerable.

Then I moved to rural Iowa, where Boost Mobile's data coverage is fucking close to nil. Less tolerable.

And now the display is misreading touch input. Intolerable.

So, sad to say, time to get a new phone. What am I replacing the iPhone SE with?

Wait for iiiiiiiit!

An iPhone SE.

But, one of the new ones that just launched this year. Double the storage, way better SoC. I just like the form factor, plus it's the least expensive model on the lineup, which is coincidental but a nice side benefit. First and foremost for me is the form factor; I like a phone I can operate one handed instead of feeling like I'm cozying up to a dinner plate every time I take a call.

Gonna get one through Straight Talk, which is IIRC riding on AT&T's airwaves, so data coverage is very good even here; not that it matters, I doubt anyone around here has Apple Pay, although at least they do have NFC at the point of sale. Just not Apple Pay. Backwards cousinfuckers.

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

With this year's iOS upgrades, the cutoff point for support seems to be iPhone 6 and SE. But as with anything Apple, even if they still support software updates, the older your device is, the more the new software will bloat and choke your device.

My iPhone 7 is still working fine, but I love any excuse to get a new toy, so I may buy an SE this year. I like the smaller size and simpler, less Orwellian features. Plus it still has a home button. I don't talk to my phone, I use my phone to talk to people. Anything beyond talk and texting and Venmo, I use my iPad. Siri sits in a closet with duct tape on her mouth.

 

[jack]

Never been much of an apple person. I use a samsung A50 and it's got the best camera I've ever had with a phone and runs all my apps for my Versa and earbuds just fine. It updates regularly and cost me all of 150.

 

[The Question]

the older your device is, the more the new software will bloat and choke your device.

As 100% as that is, it's 100% true of any device with an OS, from a smartwatch to a desktop computer. Each new OS is written to take best advantage of the latest hardware, which means that eventually, the hardware you've got just isn't gonna bring enough game to run successive new OSes.

Good example of that is this piece of shit relic sitting on my desk:

AMD E1-1200 APU dual-core SoC with Radeon HD 7310 graphics, 4GB of DDR3L memory (when I got it; upgraded it to 16GB) 500GB 5400RPM HDD. When it came out, it supported Windows 7 in an okay-ish fashion, I'm guessing. Now I've got Windows 10 on it and although it's not a total disaster, it's close enough that mid-tier 1970s actors would probably give it a nostalgic smile as they remember their bread-and-butter work from their heyday. (That's a reference to the "disaster porn" genre of the 1970s in case that's more of a 'deep cut' than I think it is.)

 

[Chuckles51]

I have an 8 plus and I’ve thought about getting the new se because I’m tired of having a big and heavy phone. And I can’t use anything with face I.d. because it kills my eyes!!

 

[The Question]

Yeah, I guess the 2020 iPhone SE has the form factor of the 8. At least so I'm guessing, because searching Amazon for a case to put on it, I see a lot listed as compatible with "iPhone SE 2020/iPhone 8/etc".

 

[jack]

My son has an SE and he loves it.

 

[The Question]

Research Claiming Android Collects 20x More User Data Than iOS 'Off By An Order of Magnitude,' Says Google

Google and Apple both collect data from their users on their respective mobile operating systems, even when users are simply browsing the settings...

www.macrumors.com

Think about that. Google is implicitly admitting -- while spinning that admission as a defense -- that Android "only" collects twice as much user data as iOS. (That is, of course, giving Google credit for telling the truth about how "little" user data they collect. I don't give them that credit.)

 

[I Love Cunt]

Are you still mulling over getting a zune?