The aging iPhone

Hi Daniel – typically many people upgrade their phone once a year, some every two years, Apple has had lack lustre innovation with their iPhone range over the past five years – and I’d say that the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro/Pro Max are the first that have had some minor but significant updates, a bigger battery on all their phones, but their Square Front facing camera, is now 18 megapixels and has Centrestage, which keeps you centre of shot. The iPhone 17 Pro/Pro Max now have all three camera sensors that are 48 Megapixel, which is a significant upgrade and 256GB RAM is now the standard across the range. Despite Apple’s outrageous price for the 512GB version, its probably worth considering spendign the extra money on that and an iPhone 17 Pro Max to get the best of everything, however, you could get away with a plain iPhone 17 if you don’t feel the extra cost of the Pro or Pro Max is worth it. The Glass across the range has been reinforced but I would still consider a screen protector and a case. The Aluminimum case of the Pro and Pro Max has, via reviews I’ve watched on YouTube show that the annodising on sharp edges is subject to scratching. However, aside from the faster CPU and better rear camera sensors there are minor upgrades to make the Pro and Pro Max a better choice. Though I doubt you have issues with cost, most Hardware Repayment Options via the Telcos usually have up to 36 months, and yes Telstra would be the most expensive plan option with their Essential plan, but I feel that the 17 Pro has had some decent upgrades as has the base 17, but if you are wanting the larger screen, I wouldn’t consider the Air based on the reduced battery life, and that means a Pro Max would be your main option for a 6.7″ screen, though the 6.3″ is worth it.

I woud also consider whether you get Upgrade and Protect from Telstra or Apple Care Plus from Apple (on a monthly) basis. I was recently in a situation with my iPhone 14 Pro where the NFC reader had never worked, and despite many calls to Applecare their dianostics said it was working, since my last plan I had both Upgrade and Protect and Apple Care Plus, an extravagance I know, should I have smashed the screen, Telstra would have replaced the phone with the latest model for a small fee, and Applecare would have replaced the phone as long as Applecare was still being paid and as my phone was 26 months old, it took that long because I live in a regional area, there are less places to get it assessed by an Apple Authorised Repair Centre. They wrote me a quote which I forwarded to Applecare, and they then sent me a phone, Advances Parts Exchange, to give me time to copy all my data across from my previous iPhone 14 Pro and then return the old one to Applecare at their cost. Since I got screwed over by an Applestore in 2010, before the Australian Consumer Law came into effect, I had to pay $179 to get a refurbished phone, so while Upgrade and Protect gives you the option through Telstra to not only cover accidential or complete loss at a cost with the current model, my local Apple Store is a franchise and in the 24 months I tried multiple times to get them to look at it, but they outright refused, as they are not interested in aftersales support. only selling new phones and despite having two stores in Bendigo, both are terrible, with high staff turn over, and 6-7 days of appointments before you can even get in to see a store.

Despite having made multiple complaints to Telsta and Apple, they continue to operate, much to everyone’s frustration in the greater Bendigo area, and Telsra don’t offer an Advance Parts Exchange option, and so leaving your phone with Telsta, often means, no loan phone and 7-14 days before you get a refurbished iPhone or you can pay the cost if the phone is seriously damaged to envoke the Upgrade and Protect, get a new phone if the store agrees, and pay the fees required, and if that is less than 12 months, the cost is extra, after 12 months, you can replace the phone with the latest model, for a lesser fee, and start a new contract with Telstra – the Upgrade and Protect, I believe is only offered to people who buy any smartphone on a Hardware Repayment Option, and at $15 a month, is a substantial amount to pay, however, it was my plan to upgrade my iPhone 14 Pro a month before the contract expired, but due to Telstra’s migration of their billing from their old Siebel accounts system to their Console (Salesforce.com) system, I was locked out of doing anything with Telstra for seven months as I had two accounts and they were not able to offer me the upgrade that I had been paying for. I had also been paying for Apple Care Plus sometimes written as Applecare+ at a cost of $17.99 per month – and because I chose the monthly option, I can continue paying that for as long as I like.

As you can imagine, Apple have increased their iPhone Applecare+ price slightly given the cost of newer hardware, but its underwritten by am Australian Insurance company, and all policy prices for all sorts of insurance have increased, while I believe Telstra continue to offer the Upgrade and Protect for $15 a month.

Despite what people might say, unless you were to get an iPhone 17 on sale and Telstra just finished a sale at the end of October where the phone was discounted for six months, both plans have merrit and and in my case, because of the difficulty getting access to the local Telstra Stores, Applecare+ gives you the option to contact the Australian Applecare service from 09:00 until 21:00 seven days a week, and should you need assistance, I have used Skype, now rolled into Microsoft Teams to call international Apple Care numbers around the world 24/7 – it can sometimes be difficult to find the best number to call, but Singapore is best if its just after 21:00, then the UK, then finally after 01:00, calling the USA support number, all will help you, whereas Telstra’s Mobile Assurance (support) line is 08:00 to 19:00 and outside that, you really don’t have much option to get assistance.

The best thing about having Apple Care Plus is that you can make as many calls to them about just about anything to do with your phone, both hardware and software and their system, registers your serial number and just sends you a push notification to allow Apple to read those details, unlike in the past where you had to put the IMEI into the Applecare IVR, Apple have improved the initial contact system and you can see your coverage in iOS at any time.

Having both seems like spending an extra $32 a month just for support, but I have to say, that I’ve used the Apple Care Plus much more than I have with Telstra, but should you smash a screen or back of the phone and the iPhone 18 has come out, for a fee around $250 you can have, the brand new model, whereas Apple will only replace your phone with whatever model you have.

I appreciate this is a long reply, but I wanted to explain that dealing with support for Apple products in Bendigo, which exceeds 200,000 plus another 100,000 in the surrounding areas, the closest store is Maribyrnong at the Highpoint Shopping Centre, which someone who has used V/Line and then a tram to and from the shopping centre, plus the Genius Bar appointment, was nearly a 5 1/2 hour return trip, but the cost, compared to paying for Petrol was considerably cheaper.

While we do have an Apple Authorised Repair Centre here, my experiences with them have been less than positive over the years, and I’ve made multiple complaints, as I was once asked to leave the store because Apple Care told me to go into the AARC to do a hardware check, and at their response at the time is, we have nothing to do with Apple, and therefore have no obligation to help you, if you wish us to look at your iPad Pro (2018 model) at the time, then you come to us as a customer of ours, and if there are any costs involved, you will need to pay us for our time.

I ended up having to make multiple complaints about the AARC in Bendigo to Apple, but back in March, they were more helpful, and saved me a 5 1/2 hour trip to Highpoint Shopping Centre and they confirmed with me what I had been trying to tell Apple for two years, Apple then organised a replacement refurbished iPhone 14 Pro 256GB and sent it to me directly, and gave me a week to return the old one, using a credit card as security to make sure I sent the old one back.

The replacement device which I had tried for months to get an appropriate appointment with Telstra, was disgusting, each time, being told 6-10 days wait to get into see one of two stores here, owned by the same franchisee.

So while I probably will again get an iPhone 17 Pro from Telstra on a Hardware Repayment Option, and pay the $15 per month extra fee, I will also pay the Apple Care Plus fee which has increased slightly on this model, only because the plan was originally to return my iPhone 14 Pro to Telstra after 22 months and get an iPhone 16 Pro 256GB, Telstra made that impossible for me due to their billing migration.

In the next instance, I will attempt to do the same if the iPhone 18 Pro or 19 Pro are worthwhile upgrades and utilise that cost, and yes, when you add up paying all that money, an extra $32-$34 month for insurance, support and coverage, I would suggest that while the Telstra Upgrade and Protect gives you a new phone for the cost of around $150-$200 – after 12 months, the higher price does drop a bit, but I urge you to check out both, with Apple Care Plus being of much better value than Telstra – especially for regional customers who don’t live near an Apple Store and especially those who don’t have a Apple Authorised Repair Centre in their regional city.

As someone who has had an iPhone since the 3GS, I have had to replace every phone in less than two years, generally for battery problems – Apple know that the battery will not last a typical two year upgrade cycle, and while their official position is to wait until the battery drops to under 80%, I can tell you from personal and anecdotal experience heavy users of the phone rarely get the 1800 full charge cycles out of their iPhone, and Telstra Upgrade and Protect are less likely to replace the phone.

Telstra is a much better option for people who want to upgrade their phone every year or every two years. or a extremely accident prone.

For me that $15 was supposed to get me an iPhone 16, but the moment my 24 month HRO contract expired, so did Telstra’s obligtion to help me – but traditionally Apple used to only offer a 2 year contract as well, it is only in the past three years that they have now changed the option t paying by the month, which because of the cost of the OLED screens and higher chance of an expensive repair, you can keep that contract going and still pay Apple’s reduced fee, they give you two accidentially damaged screens at significantly lower repair cost, than if you had no coverage. I am not familiar off the top of my head with Telstra’s Upgrade and Protect, but a note is that you MUST purchase Upgrade and Protect when you buy the phone, it cannot be set up later.

Apple give you 30 days to do it via the options on the iPhone or to call Apple Care to set it up, after that, you have to go into an Apple Store, and you have an additional 30 days, but it must be in Apple Store, before they will grant the Apple Care Plus – I know for people who live 500KM from an Apple Store, if they are not aware of this, they would be extremely unhappy, so I would suggest that Apple Care be set up through the new iPhone option in iOS or by calling Apple Care.

Again, I apologise for the long email, but I can also tell you that being able to continue to pay for support on my M1 Ipad Pro 11″ and my iPhone 14 Pro each month, knowing if anything major were to happen to either, then Apple would repair or replace for significanly less.

Yes, there are many thousands out there that say we are covered by Australian Consumer Law, but that is ony in the second year of ownership of the Apple device and its at Apple’s discretion, they are unlikely to replace a smashed screen for a reduced cost in the second year of ownership.

Just from the battery degredation issue, I can tell you, that the iPhone 8, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro all required battery replacements after around 18 months, and Apple was happy to do this using the Advanced Parts Exchange for me, because I live in Bendigo. Generally the people who are giving support don’t know where you are compared to an Apple Store, they might ask for a post code, but if you say, its two hours from where you live, and not convenient to get there, and have a credit card to put a hold fee of around $800 on an Advance Parts Exchage, that also gives you the option to do it in a week, and not walk out of an Apple Store, with a blank phone which will take many hours and use lots of cellular data, or for you to spend several hours in the Apple Store to use their WiFi to restore your phone, you can do it at home at your leisure, but that also depends on your internet speeds.

I am lucky enough to have FTTP, and have had since 2020, and recently got the speed increase so now I have 750Mbits down and 50Mbits up at the same price, and that is the same for most customers on HFC.

NBN are rolling out fibre replacements as fast as they can, and Bendigo was wired up nearly two years ago, yet while I read online of hundreds of people per week moving to FTTP, and I don’t blame them, you know of the history of the ALP Govt in 2013 wasting 80 billion dollars and more than 75,000KM of additional copper to give 48% of the country VDSL2, a technology which was already 15 years old when it was installed, and in 2018, NBN handed over maintenance of the network and fixing of copper faults to Telstra.

These are still being handled by contractors mostly, as there are very few on the ground Telstra technicians left, and NBN pay by the job, not by the time, so the quality of service can vary greatly.

But that is a story for another time. I hope this message wasn’t too long and helped you make a decision about upgrading your iPhone 13 – I would suggest that you play with iOS 26 first as initial reports are not positive, and already there have been two dot upgrades, and iOS 26.1 not far away.

Best regards, Darren Brown

If your lightning isn’t charging properly, stick a (wooden) toothpick in the port and pick out all the fluff, dust, and other crud that accumulates in there from your pocket. Wooden toothpicks are ideal because they won’t short anything and the wood will break/snap before your phone will so it’s nearly impossible to screw up. Sadly this trick doesn’t work for USB-C (the hole is too small for most toothpicks)

your 10k mah wont charge your phone completely 3 times as 1. heat is lost in the transfer of power 2. your phone is in use while charging and is such draining the battery at a slower pace but still taking charge from the bank.

Battery stamina and small screen are important to me in smartphones for pocketability. The two don’t go together unfortunately in the smartphone space so I’ve reluctantly moved to the largest screen for the best battery experience (i.e. Ultra model of Samsung) after also using the Samsung Flip 3. Samsung offers up to 7 years of OS and security updates for flagship devices released in 2024 and later and they have the best UI in the Android space (just my personal opinion). They offer heavily discounted pricing on pre-orders. After doing some checking of the second hand market I got myself a certified refubished Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra just a few months after the model launched for $900 less than RRP and the phone was as good as new.