My Apple iPhone 6s is ready for a dirt nap. Several times over the past few days the device has just up and died. When I restart it, a message says "This iPhone has experienced an unexpected shutdown because the battery was unable to deliver the necessary peak power."

I know about Apple's throttling phones to preserve battery life, and I know how to disable their means to do so. That's not my issue. The phone is five years old, and I expect its obsolescence. What ticks me off is that there is no Apple phone (yes, I plan to stick with Apple, since everything I have syncs) that meets my requirements for replacement.

Oh sure, wireless charging and fast charging are nice improvements. But honestly, I don't need a mini-tablet in my pocket. I grudgingly upgraded from the iPhone 5 to the 6, because I didn't like the larger footprint, and now my choices to stay the same size are the 7 or the 8 -- which are now older phones. The X family is both huge and expensive, but it's the current "state of the art." I also like being able to plug in earbuds, and have several pair (including a terrific pair of Bose noise-cancelling earbuds) and have no wish to add Bluetooth 'phones to my purchase ticket.

I can now not wait for Apple to see the error of its way and re-introduce a pocket-sized smartphone. It looks like I'm going to walk into the store with my wallet open and have them empty it for a device I truly do not like or want.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: parabellum,

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
SUBJECT LINE

Went to fix it and saw it had already been done. Thanks, and sorry.

Maybe just get the battery replaced?

My iPhone is one generation earlier than yours. I had the battery replaced a few months ago. Big improvement!

Much less costly than getting a newer phone.

I don’t think Apple (nor their investors) will be seeing any “error of their ways” anytime soon since the trend and the majority of buyers seem to prefer the larger phones/screens. Businesses and products that meet demand survive, those that don’t fall by the wayside.

If the product you demand didn’t survive, welcome to the minority.

You say you know how to disable throttling, have you thought of taking advantage of the replacement battery option? 5 years is a long time for any battery, they do wear out. It may resolve your immediate issue and let you get some more time out of your 6.

As to size, the Xr is marginally larger than the 6, not a “mini tablet” by any means. My X easily rides in my back pocket and I have no problem holding it even with my little baby-man hands.


As for your other concerns...

-Lightning connector only phones come with a lightning to 3.5mm adapter so you can still use wired headphones.

-USB-C phones don’t come with an adapter but Apple sells one for $10. You can get them for about $6 on Amazon

-“But I want to charge and listen to headphones at same time”. Ok, no problem splitters that allow that too.

Cost- are you a veteran by chance? Apple now gives a 10% discount on EVERYTHING from Apple.com
If your 6 is in good physical condition, they will give you $150 trade in on it (veteran or not).

With the trade ou can get a 64gb Xr for $524 with veteran pricing or $599 without. When the iPhone 6 was released, it was $649 for 16gb model unless you got it on a carrier subsidy.

One note on veteran pricing, it is only on “unlocked and sim free” non carrier preset phones. For some reason, if you “choose a carrier” you don’t get the discount. Not a big deal, put the sim from your old phone in an you are set, or if the 6 used a larger sim (I don’t remember which model went to the micro/nano sim or whatever they call it) get a new sim from your carrier, usually free.

quote:

Originally posted by fpuhan:
I can now not wait for Apple to see the error of its way and re-introduce a pocket-sized smartphone. It looks like I'm going to walk into the store with my wallet open and have them empty it for a device I truly do not like or want.

As long as you are going to pay Apple for a device you don't really want their way has no error.

Consider V-Tail's recommendation and replace the battery on your current phone. If you are happy with the phone then it is worth trying.

quote:

Originally posted by fpuhan:
My Apple iPhone 6s is ready for a dirt nap.

Doubtful.

quote:

Originally posted by fpuhan:
Several times over the past few days the device has just up and died. When I restart it, a message says "This iPhone has experienced an unexpected shutdown because the battery was unable to deliver the necessary peak power."

I know about Apple's throttling phones to preserve battery life, ...

An iPhone 6S battery replacement at one of their stores will cost you $49: iPhone Battery & Power Repair. And a couple hours or so of your time. (I dropped mine off, went and did something else, came back a couple hours later and it was done.)

quote:

Originally posted by fpuhan:
The phone is five years old, and I expect its obsolescence.

Define "obsolescence." My wife and I are still using our iPhone 6S' and we are still quite happy with them. The 6S is still getting current iOS updates and runs fine with them.

The only reason I'd upgrade is when T-Mobile finally has their 600MHz deployment fairly well along and a new phone supports that band. Otherwise I see little point.

And, like you: I like the size of the 6S. I could maybe go with an Xr, but I don't need to.

If you want to save a buck or two, and really feel the need for a newer iPhone, check Swappa for used, refurbed, new old stock, etc. iPhone 8's.

I have a google Nexus 6 phone now, it makes me miss Apple. Total POS. Do a search on camera glass breaks on it's own on Nexus 6 as a fine example. One guy had his sitting on his disk and he literally watched it crack without touching it. I fixed it myself by replacing the glass as they didn't want to help out.

The video is shaky and piss poor. It was top of the line when I bought it. I'm done spending $ on expensive phones from now on.

I was a die hard 4 size fan. I grudgingly accepted the 7 then realized it was fine. I held up and compared it to some apple X something phone and it was about the same size as my 7 but the new phone has a larger screen that is stretched basically out to the edges of the phone itself. At their prices I’m not going to be in the market any time soon even though it was a decent upgrade over my current screen.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Maybe just get the battery replaced?

My iPhone is one generation earlier than yours. I had the battery replaced a few months ago. Big improvement!

Much less costly than getting a newer phone.

Funny you should mention that. I was checking to see if Apple still replaced iPhone6 batteries and came across a a site that has a local shop that does it for $10 less than Apple! In fact, when I made an appointment to have it done, they offered me an additional 10% off.

I took my lunch hour and now my phone is happily charging to full. I'm supposed to run it down to about 20% before charging again, but it seems I may have extended the life of my phone for another year or two. Yippee!

Their business model is to cater to the millennials who just want larger and larger phones because they spend all got damn day on them. If you want a solid transportable size, best of luck. I want an iPhone 5 sized full edge to edge display. That would make my perfect phone. But the millennials would bitch that it's too small and wouldn't buy it. They are watching TV on them, movies, of course their social media apps bullshit, etc. Their disease is spreading to the vehicle world, home theater, everywhere. It's like the whole world of products is tipping in their favor every year or every generation. I got a Xr at the end of last year as I got it for about $150 when it was all said and done. I refused to pay an extra $300 for the Xs because I didn't want to spend the extra money for it and because it's OLED.

I was going to post link to battery or local shops, thats the way to go vs a new phone, we did the Apple 7S replacement before the end of the year. Great deal.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
I was going to post link to battery or local shops, thats the way to go vs a new phone, we did the Apple 7S replacement before the end of the year. Great deal.

My preference, I would rather pay a few more bucks at The Apple Store for battery replacement. If they mess it up, they will take care of it with no discussion.

If a local battery shop or phone repair shop does any damage, there's no telling whether or not they will step up to the plate and deal with the problem.

Definitely try a new battery first. My oldest is still using a 5S. I wanted a smaller Apple phone to just use in the car (obd2 coding stuff) and bought a new SE cheap recently.

in 2018 Apple was running a replace your battery for $29 deal after the throttling issue came to light. My wife and I got the replacement batteries for our 6s phones at that time. No problems since.

These are the same reasons I am not with Apple anymore for a phone.

I wasn't as hung up on the headphone jack as I was the fingerprint scanner. After a year with the X, I knew I was done with Apple phones. Now that I have my headphone jack back, I'm kinda smiling a ton.

Here is an interesting observation I have had over the last few weeks: I work in IT and we are in the process of moving 4 Access Control/Camera systems out and moving 1 single system in. I have been to 12 meetings in the last few weeks and have been paying attention to devices on the table. Most of these people make in excess of 6 figures a year, have suits that cost more than my entire closet and have the latest and greatest in Tech (Apple Watches, Mac's etc). Most of these people are still using an iPhone 6 and several have an SE. Main reason: Size and the headphone jack.

I'd get a new battery for sure. My son's 6S plus is just over two years old and I replaced the battery last weekend. Huge difference.

The XS is physically close to the same size as the 6, 7 and 8. It has a larger screen, but smaller bezels to make it essentially the same size as the 7. I recently upgraded from a 7 to the XS and it even fits my exact same phone mount in my car -- that was originally made to fit the 6. Hold them side by side in the store -- you'll be surprised.

I agree the "Max" versions are too big, but the XS is not too bad. The cost is another matter...

I’m still using an old second-hand 6+. It does fine. I don’t have it loaded down with apps and I don’t download their interminable series of idiotic updates that do shit I don’t give a rip about.

I don’t think your 6s is really “obsolete”.

quote:

Originally posted by rockchalk06:
These are the same reasons I am not with Apple anymore for a phone.

I wasn't as hung up on the headphone jack as I was the fingerprint scanner.

What's the hangup with the fingerprint scanner? If you don't like it, don't use it. You can use all the regular unlock mechanisms if you want. Or roll the dice and not lock your phone at all.

As for the headphone jack: The only time I've used one, recently, was on an overseas trip, with my iPad. I can count the number of times I've used the one on my iPhone 6S on one hand and have fingers left over.

Now that I have Air Pods, it may never get used again.