Anyone successfully navigated the iPhone upgrade trap and paying less per month on phone?

[unconditional83]

Caveat - I know not everyone is fortunate enough to have this first world problem. My iPhone X contract with 3 comes to an end soon and I want to get out of the cycle of upgrading and spending a fortune each month, which I've done since about 2005!

Yes I know I could buy a Nokia 3210, but aside from that option, how do people keep their iPhone bill down?

I guess I can purchase the handset and do SIM only? But then I don't know if that's worth it as the iPhone handsets seem to mysteriously "die" or slow down once they are a couple of years old, or they make the software obsolete.

I know it's all a capitalist trap but I do kind of still want an iPhone for work and life, so can I have my cake and eat it?

I'd love to hear some tips about how others manage it. Just want to keep monthly outgoings a bit lower really.

I use a work discount I'm entitled to with my network - I have a 15 for less than I was paying previously for a 14. I do tend to upgrade regularly although trying to break that habit. I couldn't get the discount when I took out the contract on my 14, and was starting to experience battery longevity issues, so did o2 switch up and got a good deal.

Anyone with o2, see if your employer is eligible for o2 Open - 25% off your airtime plan when you take out a new contract.

Buy a refurbished phone on music magpie, giff gaff sim only deal, replace the phone every 5y or so.

I'm still using my iPhone 8 but the battery is crap now and charging connector dodgy so I def need to upgrade in coming months. wanted a 13 mini but discontinued through apple 🙄

Trade in through Apple. Use their Barclays partner finance. It's cheaper than the handset loan you get through a phone provider. Get a cheap sim only deal

Not an iPhone user but somebody who used to upgrade the latest and best model every 2 years - I'm about 6 years in with this handset (my last one from my 3 contract), and on a pay monthly GiffGaff sim for £10 a month.

Just upgraded to an iPhone 15 plus. £37 a month with Sky (was £39 but we have a family plan and you can use rollover piggy bank data to get money off contracts).

Quite happy with that price. It’s not like I don’t use it to do everything admin related and for entertainment too.

I was paying £30 a month for an iPhone 12 with a pair of AirPod Pros.

Loving the bigger screen and it’s much faster processing too.

DH is still using my old 8, with a new battery installed for £35 by a local shop. Admittedly he doesnt use it for much - rarely on the internet, but it's still working fine for everything else. He is SIM only for about £9 a month.

I just keep my phone and number and use my vodaphone app to upgrade to sim only deal.

I'm on my 4th year with this iPhone. Paid £20 for new battery at cheap phone shop a few months ago.

Apple do pay monthly 0% interest on iPhones - usually the last couple of models.

I do that and then have a sim only contract which I resign up to regularly to renew perks (still stay with same provider)

I usually upgrade about every 3 years. I upgraded my oldest daughters after 4.

If you go for an older model they can be very cheap. 1.5 years ago in got my youngest an 11 unlimited data for £18 a month.

My iPhone is 6 years old this week and is still going strong! I paid it off after 2 years so for the last 4 years have been on a sim deal for £7.99 a month. I won’t replace it until it dies a death.

My 4 year old iPhone 11 was 82% maximum capacity when I gave it to adult DS, I mentioned it was quite low but he seems pleased with it - probably because it was free😀

I don't use my iPhone very much as always use my iPad at home, never my phone unless making a call so I am a light user. My iPad battery is well used though but I have a long lead next to the sofa for that so it doesn't matter.

My iPhone 11 is five years old. I bought it second hand from CEX two years ago. My battery maximum capacity is 86%.

I spend a lot of time on my phone. Been bed in laid out by long term illness, so use it for a lot of media etc for far too many hours. Prior to illness, was also using a lot on long commute and just general iPhone stuff.

I had my X for just over 4 years and then the charging got a bit dodgy in that it needed to be put down and left alone to charge, not used during charging.

It still worked well enough otherwise.

As it happened my work bought it off me for about £100 as a low-use on-call phone, and I bought a reconditioned 2 year old iPhone 12, so my outlay overall was only a couple of hundred and I hope that the 12 will last me another couple of years.

@GoldonGreen I happen to have my old X next to me right now (my work bought it from me, but I'm the one on call today so I have it!).

I bought it in October or November 2019. It's never had a new battery. Battery health is at 80%.

I charged it to 100% last night, took it off charge when I went to bed about 11pm and now 12 hours later after not being touched it's at 97%.

As mentioned in my previous post the only issue with it is that it has to be put down and left alone to charge properly.

@GoldonGreen

I buy a new battery when it starts to get glitchy.

Change to a sim only contract. Then for the next few months save money every month to upgrade your phone. Eventually you'll be able to have sim only contract and have savings to buy the phone outright. Plus if you do this often enough eventually your "old" phone will have a trade in value.

You can probably get the battery replaced if it's failing. Something to investigate.

This is what I do. I save money whenever I can. I'll soon have enough for a new phone. I'll wait till September and buy the pro version of the highest number BUT not the new version that's just been released. I'll have a SIM only contract and I'll hand my phone onto my DD.