I occasionally joke on this blog about Tim Cook being irate at me for not upgrading my iPhone 12. I bought it in January 2021, so it’s now just over four years old and, with Apple’s yearly releases, it’s officially four generations behind the newest, sexiest iPhone 16.
What am I missing by not upgrading?
- Better battery life
- Faster processor
- Better cameras
- An action button. For action!
- An overengineered camera button. For accidentally taking photos you didn’t mean to.
- Some different colours
- Apple Intelligence (it took a lot of self-control to avoid putting sarcasm quotes around the word “intelligence”)
Excluding the dubious features of Apple Intelligence, the only thing I’d really notice and appreciate in a new phone is the improved camera, and even then, without moving to the pro model with the telephoto lens, the camera in the iPhone 12 is still perfectly cromulent.
The battery health of my phone is 83%, which is edging closer to where Apple suggests getting a new phone battery. But it’s still plenty for me, given how light my phone usage is. I don’t do social media on my phone, I take few calls, snap a few photos and do some texting. I don’t play games or run processor-heavy apps.
And then there’s the whole question of whether I’d stick with Apple or jump over to Android. Sadly, those are really the only options, unless you want to go full dumb phone and party like it’s 2006. Which I sometimes do.
Part of me, the part that still gets that techno lust urge, wants to get a new phone, but really, I can’t justify it in any meaningful way. So I’m sticking with my iPhone 12 for now.
Sorry, Tim.
P.S. Tim, you suck. And not in the good way, in the kissing-the-ring-of-fascists way.
