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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

Birthday phones

26 replies

Bythecooker · 27/07/2022 08:48

Dd wants a new iPhone for birthday. I am shocked at the price. Do others spend this amount? I am deliberating on whether to pay for it or tell her she needs to save and pay half. I am in the lucky position that I can afford it but that is not the point. She will be 16.

OP posts:
Beamur · 27/07/2022 08:49

I've never bought a new iPhone. Very good prices to be had on second hand ones and you can't tell the difference.

Original poster
Bythecooker · 27/07/2022 08:52

I had thought about 2nd hand but what then would she be gaining over her existing one which is 2.5 years old? Sorry if being dense!

OP posts:
JustJeans · 27/07/2022 08:58

Our teens buy their own phones, we pay for the SIM only contract.
They both recently bought new iphones.
If they don't want to do this, they're very welcome to the selection of old but still working Androids that we have in the house.

sunshineandshowers40 · 27/07/2022 08:59

What phone does she have now and what does she want. I buy mine refurbished iphones but they do not have the latest as they are ££££. Also does she look after her current phone? My middle DC is pretty good with his so I probably spend more on his than the other DC as they are so careless with their phones.

ldontWanna · 27/07/2022 09:05

Why does she want a new one? By new does she mean the latest model or just a brand new in box one? Is her current phone still working well, plenty of storage,battery lasts etc.?

Original poster
Bythecooker · 27/07/2022 09:07

She does look after her stuff. She has an iphone7 at the moment. I'm not quite sure what she wants, this is why I thought I could give her some money towards it then she can either top up for cheapest new one or higher end refurb one.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bythecooker · 27/07/2022 09:12

These questions you are asking me are good as I am not sure and need to ask her. I have tried but not getting a straight answer! I think battery not lasting is the main issue. I suggested replacing the battery but she looked at me like I was very odd and just said I'll keep the old one then, just buy me a book!!! This is not showing her in a good light, she is a very nice girl and this is very out of character! Peer pressure maybe!

OP posts:
RJnomore1 · 27/07/2022 09:16

We always did, as like you we could afford it. If you can’t it’s a different question.

An iPhone 7 will stop updating pretty soon. Basically you get two decent years out an iPhone before the battery starts to slow abd and other 1 or 2 before apple stop supporting them and they become “legacy items”.

If she doesn’t ask for much and you can afford it as you say why would you not get her it? I’m all for tens having jobs, appreciating money and being grateful but I don’t see any moral superiority in buying cheaper versions of things just to prove a point 🤷🏻‍♀️

TeenDivided · 27/07/2022 09:16

We tended to have a budget for presents. A brand new iphone would be well outside , so it would be second hand or money towards. Would she be able to afford one after Christmas if you did money towards now and also then?

Buy her a charging pack?

ldontWanna · 27/07/2022 09:23

Bythecooker · 27/07/2022 09:12

These questions you are asking me are good as I am not sure and need to ask her. I have tried but not getting a straight answer! I think battery not lasting is the main issue. I suggested replacing the battery but she looked at me like I was very odd and just said I'll keep the old one then, just buy me a book!!! This is not showing her in a good light, she is a very nice girl and this is very out of character! Peer pressure maybe!

It's not necessarily not showing her in a good light If she's normally a good kid ,that doesn't ask for much . Ask her exactly what she wants and have a look at prices together for the amount of storage she wants/specifications. Then have a chat if it's worth it, what else she could do with that money etc. and offer some alternatives . Sometimes teens have no actual idea of how much things cost, and how much work it takes to make that amount of money. Rather than a straight yes or no, have a proper talk about it ,the whys,the value, and see if you can come up with a solution you're both happy with or at least have some understanding where she's coming from.

Original poster
Bythecooker · 27/07/2022 09:25

This has all been really helpful. Thank you all

OP posts:
JustJeans · 27/07/2022 09:34

Possibly worth mentioning that when we 'drilled down' after requests for a new phone, it turned out to be data that was an issue. Massively upped the data and storage and the phone lasted another year or so.

mizzo · 27/07/2022 09:37

In high school mine had second hand phones.
When they left school we gave them money toward new phones which they added to with their own money and bought I think the one below whatever the latest was.
If there was a genuine need for them to have the newest model then we'd happily provide it but there wasn't. We didn't want to set the precedent that they need the latest thing, we can afford it but there'll likely come a point when they properly move out and start working full time that they can't.

alnawire · 27/07/2022 09:40

Bythecooker · 27/07/2022 08:52

I had thought about 2nd hand but what then would she be gaining over her existing one which is 2.5 years old? Sorry if being dense!

Did you buy it new? The iPhone 7 was released 5 years ago!

user1487194234 · 27/07/2022 09:42

ours all got 1 new IPhone when they started senior school
we upgrade our phones every 2 years and pass our old ones down
Now they are late teens they seem less bothered than when they were younger

alnawire · 27/07/2022 09:43

Also

Settings > battery > battery health will give you a % which is the maximum capacity of the battery.

Dilbertian · 27/07/2022 09:53

JustJeans · 27/07/2022 08:58

Our teens buy their own phones, we pay for the SIM only contract.
They both recently bought new iphones.
If they don't want to do this, they're very welcome to the selection of old but still working Androids that we have in the house.

This.
My parents and ILs are very generous with birthday money, plus our teens get part-time jobs when they are old enough. They save up and buy what they feel has value to them.

Beamur · 27/07/2022 09:55

You can trade your old one in too, which offsets the cost. Depending on where you buy from.

LindaEllen · 27/07/2022 10:01

RJnomore1 · 27/07/2022 09:16

We always did, as like you we could afford it. If you can’t it’s a different question.

An iPhone 7 will stop updating pretty soon. Basically you get two decent years out an iPhone before the battery starts to slow abd and other 1 or 2 before apple stop supporting them and they become “legacy items”.

If she doesn’t ask for much and you can afford it as you say why would you not get her it? I’m all for tens having jobs, appreciating money and being grateful but I don’t see any moral superiority in buying cheaper versions of things just to prove a point 🤷🏻‍♀️

Well that's bollocks. I had my last iPhone for 6 years and the only reason I got rid of it was because I won an iPhone 13. It was perfectly fine, and my dad is using it now.

ldontWanna · 27/07/2022 10:05

Well that's bollocks. I had my last iPhone for 6 years and the only reason I got rid of it was because I won an iPhone 13. It was perfectly fine, and my dad is using it now

Mine wasn't. By 3 o'clock battery was at 34% and that's with barely being used as I work in a school. I did pass it on to DD but it was pretty pointless as it would be nearly flat after less than 2 hours of use. It was getting slower and slower and kept crashing too. Maybe I used it wrong,maybe I didn't but that's irrelevant, it simply wasn't fit for use anymore.

aSofaNearYou · 27/07/2022 10:08

I wouldn't buy her the latest one but you can certainly get one newer then the 7 for a few hundred quid, especially refurbished.

RJnomore1 · 27/07/2022 10:14

LindaEllen · 27/07/2022 10:01

Well that's bollocks. I had my last iPhone for 6 years and the only reason I got rid of it was because I won an iPhone 13. It was perfectly fine, and my dad is using it now.

Show quote history

Well it’s most certainly not bollocks. Apple give an iPhone a 3 year life span. Batteries deteriorate after 2. It doesn’t mean the phone is unusable but you will not get optimal performance not be able to update some apps after about 5 years when the iOS updates are withdrawn. A very simple Google will confirm all of this.

ImperfectAlf · 27/07/2022 10:32

I recently got another one. My iPhone 7 was great until the battery went south. It maximum was 72% when I changed it. If that's the issue, it will only get worse. I chose refurbished, using musicMagpie ( no, I don't work for them 😁) . Much better.

OnceAnElephant · 27/07/2022 10:38

The iPhone 7 is pretty old !

If you can afford it, why not buy it for her - maybe as a joint Xmas / birthday gift - of can family also put money towards it ?

cheninblanc · 27/07/2022 20:37

I bought my dds the latest on their 16th birthdays as a birthday/Xmas present and sfter 2 years they are expected to take on full payment for the contract which my eldest has just done