Do most 11 year olds really have iPhone 14s?

[MaxwellCat]

My son is starting secondary school in September. I was looking at getting him an iPhone but unsure of which one. I want something that is acceptable to not be made fun of (sorry but being realistic here) but not the latest as he is only 11. I asked on a Facebook group and a lot people were saying their 11 year olds had iPhone 14s and “all their friends do” the others were ranging from iPhone 11 and above which is still around £300 so would be on top of all his uniform and shoes etc. I wasn’t expecting to spend that much. Do most 11 year olds really have iPhone 14s? What phone does your 11/12 year old have for starting secondary school (only these ages please)

Of course not. Idiotic to get one that expensive. Mine have iphone 11 (y9) and iphone xr (y7)

My kids started with an iPhone 6 in case they lost it. Once they proved they could look after it and not rack up a huge bill I gave them a better phone. DS 15 now has an 11 and DD 12 has an XS.

My DD11 has my OHs old Huawei P30 Pro - it's an excellent phone and she only has it because he upgraded.

She won't ever get a brand new phone until she can pay for it herself!

Mine has an iphone 11. Most of his friends have 11/12s I reckon as they are no more expensive than most other phones really these days on contract and are usually covered by insurance. We pass ours down the line as we get upgrades (well I don't as I prefer Android phones, but DH does).

Ds13 and dd11 both have refurbished SE 2020s. Ds doents even want iPhone 14 because it doesn't have anything new or cool.

Get them a refurbished IPhone from

Music Magpie buy one within your budget. I opted for good condition and it was like new not a mark on it. My dc have the XR model but I bought it ages while ago.

My greedy 21yo just negotiated that we help her buy an iphone 13.
Her nearly-same age brothers are taking mick of how posh she thinks herself to be so particular.

Have you heard about yr7s deliberately dropping their phones to break them & try to get an upgrade. It's a 'thing' apparently.

Same here they just get our old phones! They'll break them until they have to start paying for them at 17/18 🤣

According to my son, (yr7) yes everyone has an iPhone 14. I can't believe it's actually true..he started secondary with my very old and cheap Moto phone, then on his birthday he used his birthday money with a bit of help from us to upgrade to a Samsung galaxy A14 which was less than £250, still plenty expensive enough. He is happy with it and as far as I know doesn't get any grief from other kids.

At that age, my children had an iPhone that was 2 years old. They were not at all bothered with the latest phone, they still aren’t now they’re older.

We’ve just bought our 14 year old an iPhone 13 mini, we offered her the latest model but she wanted a smaller phone. She doesn’t have a clue what phones her friends have, none of them care.

We always buy refurbished phones for models that are 2 or 3 years old (so typically spending £250-£300). We then get SIM only packages (currently ASDA, which uses Vodafone).

I seem to remember that DD(16) has an iPhone 11 at the moment (which she needs to either keep for a couple of years or replace herself, having drowned the previous one by refusing to wear a coat to school last winter). She is at private school, but parent cast offs or secondhand seems to be the norm. A lot of kids have Samsungs.

It's worth looking at cashback sites like Quidco to see if you can get some money back.

No way just get a Refurb 12 or something for £150 and a giff gaff SIM card for Christ sake

I have a 13 and a 16 year old. The 13 year old has a very basic Samsung that I got off ebay and is on an £8/month sim only contact. 16 yo has a refurbished iphone can't remember what number, it might be 11 on a £10/month contract. DS wants a better phone and I'll get him one for Xmas, it won't be an iPhone (he doesn't want an iphone anyway) and it won't be new. I have a 4 year old mid-range Samsung and DHs phone is even older.
Some of their friends have fancy new phones but not everyone.

No, mine got a refurbished iPhone X and then recently upgraded to a refurbished iPhone 12 which is still pretty extravagant in my view!

Sorry but Nike Airforce 1s and Jordans are pretty standard among that age group. My daughter's school has black Air Force 1s as school shoes (obviously not compulsory but everyone has them).

My daughter got an iPhone 13 for her 12th birthday. She has still has it now as it's in contract until next year

12 for £150? Where is that? I’ve been looking and they are £300+

They are the best part of £100? I'm not sure I've ever spent that on a pair of shoes for anything!

Some - yes
most - no

Has he ever had an iPhone? I would not get a new one since they are fragile compared to an Android. If you have one of your old phones then that would be perfect. Some kids regularly lose or smash their phones so I would watch him to see how he takes care of a phone first.

No. Refurbs, older models and cast offs here too. There will always be a few with posh phones but the vast majority won't.

Our 11 year old does indeed have an iPhone 14, she's in year 7 and got it for Christmas. The reason for this? I did all the Christmas shopping for the entire family, except for a phone for Dd which DH said he'd sort it. He too thought everyone had them at that age, but honestly they don't. She's in a smallish secondary and she's the only one.

Fortunately she's sensible and guards it with her life, but it's a lot of responsibility, and it'll have to last her a very long time. Needless to say I'm doing Christmas shopping from now on!

You can get 2nd hand on ebay

Ds started yr8 with an old iPhone 7 and then the battery just died. We didn't have another old phone to give him

We got him a new iPhone 13 on a contract which with insurance works out £50 a month.

So far he's looked after it. When the contract is up he will go SIM only.

Yes, I also got my daughter's iPhone 13 on a contract and it works out similar with an unlimited data plan. I'm sure it's even cheaper now that iPhone 13 isn't the latest model. It's even cheaper if you get the iPhone 13 mini.

My dc (12, 14) have dh and my's old phones. So one of them will have an iPhone 14 in a couple of years!