Are you planning to upgrade to the iPhone 15

[TheForce]

HOWEVER, electronics repairs require better eyesight, steady hands, and patience than I possess.

True! I had to resort to glasses as I got older and as the connectors got smaller, I have a pair of magnifying glasses, like surgeons wear. The steady hand is another challenge using those "third hands" with clips help guide stuff in place as I can focus on soldering. Not easy as I get older. Good vision is important.

 

[navychop]

ALL STOP. BACK ONE THIRD.

Went to Apple Store today to replace the battery in my XS Max. About $95, tax, title, graft and corruption fees included. FOUR PLUS HOURS!. Left and came back- and STILL waited more. Side note: not sure battery life ever shows below 79%- but it sure behaves badly, more and more, after first hitting 79%. Hmmmm. I hope they didn’t dl or otherwise lift data from my phone. Am changing critical PWs just in case.

Anyway, the deciding factor in my ordering a new iPhone was my MiL in a home is getting K4Community Plus ( BIG Yuck!). It requires an app that won’t run on her old iPhone 6. iOS too old. So I ordered the 15, with all the bells and whistles, for a price uncomfortably close to $2,000. Not including new case. She would get my “old” XS Max, which is supported in this K4 app. And I would get the latest and greatest, which will do a gazillion things I must admit I would never use. But a few niceties.

NOW it turns out that:

After researching this “K4” business, - it’s a dog. Put out by a company smaller than any I have worked at. Something in the range of $10M annual revenue. Reviews are BAD. NOT something for the elderly - although that is their target market. These folks don’t want to, and really can’t, learn such new things. Cell phones are a challenge for many. My MiL WILL NOT learn to text. Email is her limit. Not alone there.

Operation is “simple.” For people comfortable with computers, tablets, drop down menus, searching, learning that “Library” doesn’t mean that room with books, etc. EASY. BUT NOT FOR 91 yo folks, or most residents there (avg age appears to be mid to late 70s).

The “required” app has a laptop equivalent, which she MIGHT find easier.

This newfangled system also uses an echo dot, locked into the local facility only. No usual echo commands. It can be used, amongst other things, to call Security, but not to call outside, like to YOUR CHILDREN. Very limited.

She desperately does not want to give up her current iPhone, with its button. Really. Not that she uses one gazillionth of its features. Learning new things is not on her agenda.

She’s about to turn 92…..

She volunteered to run a little shop there. I expect them to ask her to provide data on that shop, and keep updating it, to feed this app.

The app is not yet a necessity. YET. They have a website, TV scroll, and the ability to call people for reservations or information. All of which appear to be migrating to this app, and will no doubt be shut down to force people to use the app, or the echo (wanna hear how long the echo takes to read the next meal’s menu?).

I anticipate a revolt against this new system, and bad press warning the elderly to not move there.

I also see this as poorly thought out, with NO asking residents what they thought. This WILL BE a source of stress for folks already close to death. BAD IDEA.

SOOOOO- I am inclined to cancel my iPhone order and wait 2-3 years for Apple to hopefully come up with a watch that can detect my BP without a cuff.


Venting is over.

What do you folks think?

 

[Ilya]

She desperately does not want to give up her current iPhone, with its button.

Check out iPhone SE!

My mom just broke her iPhone 6 which she really liked. I got her iPhone SE (3d gen). It looks almost identical to iPhone 6 and has the same button, but has the CPU from iPhone 13, decent camera, 5G and wireless charging. Runs latest iOS.

AT&T currently has a promotion (that our Unlimited plan did qualify for). Around $100 total over 3 years. Not bad!

 

[Ilya]

And you can trade in your XS Max for around $170 or more towards your new iPhone 15

 

[navychop]

I know about the $170. Subtract the ~$95 I paid for the new battery, and - not so much. Plus, expires when? Still, a consideration. Can I apply it later? Or cancel and reorder?

I am disinclined to do business with the Death Star, ever again. And we are discussing costs. And the SE has a much smaller screen for 91/92 yo eyes. It’s actually a 6 plus with the larger screen. We are T- Mo.

But I appreciate the feedback.

 

[Ilya]

And the SE has a much smaller screen for 91/92 yo eyes. It’s actually a 6 plus with the larger screen.

Zoom mode + large text works well for my mom but she does prefer smaller lighter phones.

 

[Ilya]

if SE is too small for her, buy a refurbished 8 Plus. Problem solved.

 

[navychop]

Change is EVIL. She wants to keep the current phone. The app, - well, she prefers to do without.

She just wants to ride it out without anymore damned new stuff to have to deal with.

She was greatly relieved when we told her there was no need to replace her phone. IF she ever MUST use “the app” she can use an equivalent on her laptop.


The main driver for me to upgrade is now gone. I will review matters again today and decide. But I’m tilting toward cancelling the 15. I must consider- maybe I should put that money toward TSLA. Or a cruise. Or a different vacation. Or…..

 

[Ilya]

She just wants to ride it out without anymore damned new stuff to have to deal with.

I know what you mean. But if you get iPhone 8 Plus as I suggested, and do the transfer of settings from her old iPhone 6 it will look and feel exactly like her old iPhone 6. The same buttons even all icons will be in the same place. The main difference will be iOS 16 instead of iOS 12 and that's what she needs in order to run that new app. Just FYI, your call.

 

[TheForce]

So Ilya, Did you get your new iphone 15 Pro Max in Black? How did the upgrade process go?

I'm still waiting with a delivery date of Oct 9th but the tracker says Order preparing for shipment now.

 

[Ilya]

So Ilya, Did you get your new iphone 15 Pro Max in Black? How did the upgrade process go?

No, I blew it! I ordered it to an AT&T store at the OBX, but it didn't arrive by 10 AM on Friday as I was promised and we had to depart that day (a day earlier than initially planned because of the approaching Ophelia storm). The store did receive it on Friday but after we were long gone from the OBX. So they are shipping it back to the warehouse and it may take 2-3 weeks(!), I am told, for the return to be processed. Only after that I will be able to reorder it. And of course it is already sold out at AT&T, so I am not sure when I will be able to get it now. Probably by Christmas. Oh well...

 

[TheForce]

No, I blew it! I ordered it to an AT&T store at the OBX, but it didn't arrive by 10 AM on Friday as I was promised and we had to depart that day (a day earlier than initially planned because of the approaching Ophelia storm). The store did receive it on Friday but after we were long gone from the OBX. So they are shipping it back to the warehouse and it may take 2-3 weeks, I am told, for the return to be processed. Only after that I will be able to reorder it. And of course it is already sold out at AT&T, so I am not sure when I will be able to get it now. Probably by Christmas. Oh well...

Since you won't get that one, maybe you should consider reorder a natural Titanium as opposed to the colors because several YT reports show those colors easily scratched and bright metal showing through. You can always put a black case on it as an alternative.

 

[Ilya]

I'll buy whichever color is available at the time. I will be using a case, so it doesn't really matter.

 

[navychop]

When I ordered mine, all colors in both 512 & 1T had the exact same delivery window.

 

[Ilya]

It depends on the provider and the time you placed the order.
AT&T had a better deal ($1,000 off with a trade-in), so I ordered through them.

 

[cpalmer2k]

I picked up my 15 Pro Max at the UPS Store this morning. I most likely won't mess with switching over until the weekend though. Verizon wouldn't accept my phone on trade in, so I started checking Amazon and eBay for phones that were on their list. I was able to pick up an excellent Android 5G phone on Amazon for $84 that they accepted for the full $830 credit. Still a very nice deal in the end.

 

[harshness]

SOOOOO- I am inclined to cancel my iPhone order and wait 2-3 years for Apple to hopefully come up with a watch that can detect my BP without a cuff.

You have set yourself up with a criterion that isn't likely to happen in the next ten years, much less 2-3. All current BP measuring schemes require some manner of cuff (sphygmomanometer). Convention further dictates that the measurement be taken at your heart's elevation (during a Pledge of Allegiance?).

BP is unlikely to be the killer app that you're looking for short of using an invasive monitoring device that measures the pressure using a manometer (pressure gauge) that is vampired into a brachial artery. The development of tools like these is perhaps less of a fantasy given the success of stick-on glucose monitors.

Your upgrade should probably be based on more practical needs (i.e. the phone being too expensive/difficult to repair or a must-have new RF band). Many of the practical needs turn out to be more of a software thing than requiring some specialized hardware.

 

[navychop]

Speaking of USB-C:

What new features does this actually bring to the party?

I can hook up SWMBO’s iPad to it and one will charge the other.

I can, presumably, hook up external storage- but why would I want to do that?

Other things to do with the iPhone 15 series USB-C port?

 

[navychop]

You have set yourself up with a criterion that isn't likely to happen in the next ten years, much less 2-3. All current BP measuring schemes require some manner of cuff (sphygmomanometer). Convention further dictates that the measurement be taken at your heart's elevation (during a Pledge of Allegiance?).

BP is unlikely to be the killer app that you're looking for short of using an invasive monitoring device that measures the pressure using a manometer (pressure gauge) that is vampired into a brachial artery. The development of tools like these is perhaps less of a fantasy given the success of stick-on glucose monitors.

Your upgrade should probably be based on more practical needs (i.e. the phone being too expensive/difficult to repair or a must-have new RF band). Many of the practical needs turn out to be more of a software thing than requiring some specialized hardware.

Thank you, Sir- may I have another?


More thinking needed. I’ll put off the decision until next week. If she hasn’t killed me over this by then.

 

[klang]

IMO the primary advantage is a common cable between devices. There is a data transfer speed advantage for the Pro devices with a Thunderbolt cable but most of us have no need for that.