Why Are So Many People Choosing Not to Upgrade Their Phones in 2025?

Since getting their first smartphone in 2011, many people have gotten into the habit of upgrading their phones at least every two years. Typically, they would treat Apple's annual September event as a preview of their next phone, but this year was different; many people decided to wait longer than usual to buy a new device.

 

1. Why Are So Many People Still Rejecting to Upgrade to iPhone 11 in 2025?

Why won't many people upgrade their phones in 2025?

The core reason people aren't interested in upgrading their phones this year is because their current phones are still working fine, and the phones coming out today aren't exciting them.

The iPhone 15 Pro 's 120Hz refresh rate is the most important feature for many people. Everything looks smoother, and you'll notice the difference immediately when using a 60Hz phone. If it didn't already exist, many people would be more willing to upgrade.

Everyone knows that the latest phone's big selling points revolve around AI. But these features aren't exciting. Many people were skeptical about AI at first, but after trying Apple Intelligence, it's safe to say that the company has done a great job of improving what was once a rudimentary technology.

 

But many people don't even turn on Apple Intelligence for a week. AI summaries have been widely ridiculed online (for good reason), and they don't care about any of the AI ​​nonsense like generating text or images. When you use your phone to communicate, you want to be able to read what other people are saying, and they want to be able to read what you're saying. Many people don't want AI summarizing what other people have written with AI; they care more about the people around them.

A new phone right now doesn't offer enough appeal.

Also, phone cameras keep getting better with each generation, but many people are happy with what they have. They're not photography enthusiasts enough to care about the difference. The Camera Control button looks cool, but you won't use it much (plus not everyone likes the Camera Control button).

 

For example, your current iPhone has 256GB of storage. Even after downloading 48GB of Spotify data, you still have over 50GB of free space. So you won't have to worry about upgrading to the 512GB model. Plus, waiting will increase your base storage capacity in the future.

Looking back, many people were lucky to buy the iPhone 15 Pro. The iPhone 15 series was the first to use USB-C, which was convenient because it saved you a lot of chargers. The Action button was also an improvement over the old volume slider, even if you didn't use it as much as you'd like.

Cost is also a factor.

Many people budget for a new phone when they hit the two-year mark. And while budgeting can help you plan your spending, it's still important to consider whether the expense is worth it.

With the last two devices, many people bought the Pro iPhone because of the better camera (they use it to capture memories, so they want those photos to look good) and the 120Hz refresh rate. The storage was also upgraded from the base storage so they wouldn't run out of space.

The $1,099 cost is about $46/month for two years, which is a fair price for a device you use every day. But when you already own a device that's almost as good as new, the cost is hard to justify.

Phones are getting more durable

You can comfortably use your old phone for much longer than you used to. This is partly due to gradual upgrades, but there are other factors at play as well.

Battery technology is one of them. Apple claims that the iPhone 14 and earlier retain 80% of their battery capacity after 500 charge cycles; that number increases to 1,000 charge cycles for the iPhone 15 and later. The same goes for the Pixel, with the Pixel 3 through 8 Pro rated for 800 charge cycles and the newer models rated for 1,000.

 

I got my current phone on launch day (September 22, 2023), and it currently has 95% battery capacity with 425 charge cycles. Many people aren't too concerned about managing their iPhone's battery health, but they still use the charge limit feature to keep their battery at 80% most of the time. With about 215 charge cycles per year, they can get another two years of use out of their phone before they have to worry about replacing the battery.

Apple has also improved the way it brings the latest versions of iOS to older devices. iOS 26 is back-to-back with the iPhone 11 (released in 2019). For the Pixel 8 and later, Google guarantees seven years of OS updates, up from the stricter limits of previous years.

After two years, your iPhone isn't old at all. It's not slow, and there aren't any annoying issues that would make you want to upgrade. Other than a drop in trade-in value, you have nothing to worry about.