Why should I buy an iphone to my teenager?
My cheap Android smartphone was slowly dying, after not even 2yr of use, so I just bought a new one for 109 eur.
The cheap Android of my 14yo daughter is also dying. She's trying to convince me this time around I should buy her an iPhone instead. The lowest priced iPhone we found was 290 eur (used, refurbished), no idea a new one.
What adult reason is there, if any, to buy the higher priced product?
Comments
-
The auto spell must be better for starters. 😂
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.2 -
If you play games, or do a lot of video and other multi-tasking, or indeed, anything else processor heavy like any media editing
0 -
Good android phones do everything an iPhone does.
Ones that cost 109 euros, I'm less certain!
- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono1 -
Agree.
But does the 109eur Android NOT do things that you want or need? I don't think so.
Or put it a different way: does one really value so much the things that 800eur iPhone does but the 109eur Android does not, to justify the price differential?
Beside, the question is not for me, cheap grumpy old man, but rather for my teenager.
0 -
I have a work iPhone and a personal Samsung android phone. I prefer the Android system, possibly just because I've been using it longer.
Can't say that I have ever notice the difference in processor speed or whatever, but then I would never do media editing on my phone and I don't play games other than backgammon and the like.
0 -
The answer is when she's buying it.
I have both - one for work is an iphone and my own is an ageing Samsung s20. To be honest the locked in philosophy of the iphone annoys me, but that aside I can't differentiate in performance. They all have a camera, internet and access to the same apps.
It is just a brand she wants, basically, and the purchase pressure is the same as wanting a shit t-shirt with a crocodile on it, vs a shit t-shirt without.
1 -
If it were a 'logical' choice, then I'd be going for the line that you'll get a lot more for your money with Android (I can't fault my £140 Huawei's), but it the iPhone desire doesn't work just on logic, otherwise Apple wouldn't have a cash reserve of $200bn.
0 -
It will run all the same apps, bar the odd one that needs a really up to date version of the OS, which an older phone might not support.
It's processer speed and battery life I'd be sceptical of in something that cheap. You say yourself your old one is dying at less than 2 years old, and I bet you've spent a lot of those 2 years slightly annoyed by how sluggish it's getting.
- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono0 -
Well exactly.
0 -
I had exactly the same conversations with my 15 year old daughter and I ended up buying her a very capable £130 Xiaomi Redmi Note 13. She'd be much happier with a second hand iPhone SE which would end up a similar price. And to be fair to Apple, they support the phones for long enough that you would probably get just as much life out of each. However as the one paying the bill, I couldn't bare buying something that inferior just because of the badge. And she can get whatever she wants when she's earning money and can buy it herself.
1 -
The real question is what is the 15 year old doing on a smartphone that they can't do on a brick - do you want your teenager on social media?
0 -
As someone who has just bought my daughter a standard Nokia for emergency use, it is a lot less user friendly (although other models may vary), it doesn't have emojis (she is fine with that but when she gets a text from a smartphone there is just a blank square), no WhatsApp (which is how a lot of the kids communicate in groups), no spotify etc.
None of them are deal breakers and we are sticking with the Nokia for now but will probably install WhatsApp on her tablet so she can join group chats etc if she wants to, although she won't be carrying it with her during the day so will just be a quick check/ respond in the evenings.
0 -
If you can pick up a decent Android phone Samsung S22 S21 there everybit as good as good as iPhone just slightly less desirable. Had similar issue with both my sons a few years ago. Eldest saved up and got his own iPhone 6 which tbh lasted nearly 5yrs before the battery died and it was getting to slow for him. Youngest had samsung S8 as combined Xmas present and he put xmas money to it. The biggest reason most kids want iphones is simply brand name. Good luck on appeasing her.
Too many bikes according to Mrs O.0 -
A very strong and massively compelling reason to avoid an iPhone is the apple ecosystem. You'll be compelled to buy iPads and MacBooks until the end of time for compatibility.
Android tablets are more flexible and cross compatible with Windows machines, I'm told. Also a lot cheaper.
1 -
Are you some sort of boomer?
0 -
Indeed.
I remember when Apple was viewed as the plucky underdog, but now it's a behemoth that won't let anyone look under the bonnet, and monetises to the max every tie-in to that ecosystem. Both MS and Android seem to be happy to let people tinker with the systems to personalise the experience (though caveat emptor, obvs.)
0 -
Also agree with the above.
Too many bikes according to Mrs O.0 -
Lots of research about that says access to social media for children is really quite bad for them.
0 -
I don't think you are being realistic.
0 -
This is not true. Both ours have iPhones (hand-me-down and refurbished) and Android tablets for school work (and Minecraft). No real issues with the limited situations where compatibility is needed. My whole work IT system is Max based but I've only ever had Android phones (which are heavily used for work) - again, no issues.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Maybe. I've noticed parents of young children are basically already proposing they work collectively to not allow any of the children to have smartphones, to cut out the peer pressure.
I think the research is pretty conclusive it's really bad.
0 -
They aren't using them for work. I'm thinking of phone backups, sharing apps between devices, music libraries etc.
I'm not in IT, but for professional use they are also comparatively closed, I am told. One example would be I can't actually open .msg files on outlook on an iPhone if someone attaches an email to an email, without going to a different app. I'm sure if I was using the default Apple iPhone app and attaching Apple emails to Apple emails, it would be fine.
0 -
Remember Rick's offspring are either still in nappies, or not yet at school.
He's in for one hell of a shock in a few years!
2 -
Maybe. I know some parents of teenagers and they are only allowed smartphones in the house, no social media and only in the living room. Seems reasonably well enforced.
0 -
I think society would probably be better without alcohol. Some horses have bolted.
Best case scenario is that you have a close enough relationship with your kids that you can teach them about some of the risks.
3 -
There are some kids who aren't allowed to watch TV. It's not normal though.
I'd have thought like all things, it is a balance between what is neurologically healthy, Vs potential downsides of being excluded.
I wouldn't want to have to treat that particular tightrope these days, I must say.
Where do you stand on when to teach people how to cope with the online world?
I personally am almost exclusively a consumer rather than a participant. This forum is it for me. But I'm an endangered species and I don't think younger people can really escape it can they? So when is it appropriate to start to allow them to experience the true horrors of it?
0 -
Tbh i wouldn’t be surprised if there is more regulation around it by the time my children are old enough.
0 -
I would suggest not attaching emails to emails is a good start. Just forward the relevant message. All mail clients have differences so whichever one you use - Apple Mail, Outlook (ugh), Gmail, Airmail, etc. - you can't assume that the recipient has the same one and will be able to open an attached message.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
BTW, Apple user here - having everything apple is great assuming you are not using it for specific purposes that apple isn't set up for (most people are not). Everything works straight out of the box - all the apps work well and properly. The apple ecosystem is great.
Only non-apple stuff I have is work laptop and a steamdeck.
0 -
I'm sure they'll be just as effective as the regulations that prevent kids from drinking and smoking.
0
