Stretching Your Dollar: Is Upgrading to the iPhone 15 Necessary?

<div class="block">Apple just unveiled the iPhone 15, which slated for a wide release on September 22. Its the 15th model in as many years but is it necessary for consumers to purchase? Jackson Holbrook, UBreakiFix expert, joined &#39;Stretching Your Dollar&#39; to talk about the phone&#39;s latest specs and features and whether consumers should even consider upgrading their iPhones.</div>

Stretching Your Dollar

We wanted to pose to you today on stretching your dollar. Is, is it worth upgrading it to the newest iphone model? Do you really need to get this new phone or are you better off sticking with what you have and saving some money? So joining me now to break down that question is an expert at you. Break I Fix Jackson Holbrook, Jackson. Thank you much for joining today who might want to consider upgrading to this new iphone. Hi, it's great to be with you today. Um When considering purchasing the new iphone, um it's important to understand what your use case is with your personal device. We see at you break, I Fix people love their iphones, they love to hold onto their phones. We see models going back to the iphone eight all the time. And so it's really important to understand what it is that you use your phone for and what the value is there for the new model. So if you're using a phone that's older than five years old, that model may not support the newest software and security updates from Apple. Um And if you're the type of person who loves to take a lot of pictures and videos either professionally or on vacation. Some of those camera upgrades may really be worth it. Uh But if your phone is only a couple of years old and you don't do a whole lot on your device, oftentimes a simple battery replacement or even a charging charge port cleaning can resolve a lot of issues that you may have and give you a couple of extra years of life out of your phone. So it is an expensive purchase right now. We know as inflation across the board is still high for anyone who might be in this position who wants to get the new phone. Would you recommend a payment plan to help them stretch their dollar? So payment plans are a really great option for many customers out there. The things to look at when you're considering a payment plan uh would be if your phone is worth anything on a trade in, oftentimes carriers run various trade in promotions to give you $800 sometimes $1000 or more off of the new phone when you trade your device in. Uh usually the kind of catch to that is that you have to do an installment payment on the phone which can last two or three years in some cases. Um So it's definitely worth considering looking at those payment plans. I definitely recommend comparing the trade in options from your carrier from Apple and from other third parties as well like best buy. So looking at this iphone 15, I like to know that you can save money by trading in your old device. But for anyone who's trying to price compare and understand is that sticker price really worth the value, Jackson? I don't know if you dug into that at all, but do you think it is rightly priced? So, I mean, the first thing to consider is Apple, devices are premium devices. They're always gonna be priced at the higher end of the market. Uh The upside to that is they are built well, these phones regularly last 345 years when they're well maintained. Um You do want to make sure that you're taking care of your device by getting new batteries installed every couple of years using a good case and a screen protector. Um And if any issues arise that you take it in to get it looked at. Um, but these devices as expensive as they are, they can be expected to last up to five years when they're taken care of a pretty long life. I think I upgraded to the iphone 14 after four years, but it was kind of getting do for me because I did update the battery Jackson. So this is good to know what can consumers do. You mentioned update the battery to make their phones last longer screen protection. Yes, batteries, yes, we've gone over those factors and other items to help them stretch their dollar by stretching their phones life. Absolutely. So, the first thing that I'll bring up is if your phone has any kind of damage, you want to get that taken care of as soon as possible, any types of breaks in the phone can allow moisture and uh liquid to get inside the phone, which can cause all kinds of critical issues. Um, obviously making sure that you use adequate protection, something like uh a shock assistant case and a tempered glass screen protector is always highly recommended and then um bringing your phone in for regular cleaning. So we recommend bringing your device in to be cleaned every few months. Um That way we can get any debris out of the charging port, clean out your speaker and microphone grills to resolve any charging or audio issues that you may have. It also gives us the opportunity to run diagnostics on the device and make sure there's nothing else that needs to be looked at. Ok. So if the phone does break or it's not working, what feasible repairs could bring it back to life. So the most common repairs we see at ere I fix are screens, batteries and charging ports. Um Those start at about $80 depending on the type of phone that you're looking to have repaired. And when compared to the monthly installment payments that you need may, may be making toward this new device, um that can really save you a lot of money. Long term, especially if your phone is only two or three years old. Any other tips, Jackson to help our viewers get the most bang for their buck and the longest shelf life out of their phone. Yeah. So, uh, my last advice is just pay attention to your phone. It will tell you if the battery needs to be replaced if your screen is cracked and get that repaired. Um, if you notice any issues, you definitely want to take it in and get it looked at before it turns into something worse than that. Um, because oftentimes it could be a really inexpensive cleaning that fixes your phone. But if you wait a few months, that could turn into something much more serious. So.