Do we actually need new phones every year or we just got gaslit by marketing?

Question

Been scrolling through keynote highlights last night and realized I've upgraded every 18 months since 2016... but why tho? My XS literally died 3 days after warranty ended and new one costs same as my monthly rent. Started thinking if these incremental "upgrades" even matter for regular usage. Camera slightly better? Cool, still using it for food pics and memes. Battery? Degrades anyway. Processor? Already overkill for everything except maybe hardcore gaming. Am I missing something or we just collectively fallen for the annual upgrade cycle?

katrin_23 · Answer

Сomparing phone benchmarks from last 4 generations and gains literally dropping below 8% per cycle now. Вiminishing returns hitting harder than my caffeine crash

Kr12345z · Answer

calculated total $ spent on upgrades since 2010 and could've funded a decent down payment on house instead. this isn't tech enthusiasm, it's stockholm syndrome

ssdsd · Answer

product dev at major brand (not saying which) here - internal docs literally categorize features as "essential" vs "marketing triggers." guess which gets prioritized?

4852 · Answer

My Nokia brick from 2005 entered chat: *signature look of superiority*

moz7 · Answer

therapist literally told me my phone anxiety was linked to upgrade cycle marketing. made me do digital detox and now couldn't care less about new releases

faster · Answer

Imagine defending billion-dollar corporations when Stanford consumer study showed 92% of "innovations" don't improve user experience. New blue is 0.002% bluer than last year's blue

Gudrun · Answer

wearing clothes from 2018, eating at the same diners for years, but somehow convinced my 24-month-old pocket computer desperate for replacement

gsmart2 · Answer

unpopular but whatever - these incremental upgrades compound. went from xs &rarr; 14 recently and difference is night/day

676 · Answer

eastern philosophy taught me impermanence but western marketing taught me outdated tech equals social death

Raul2929 · Answer

Europeans out here keeping phones 3-5 years while americans upgrading faster than changing socks

sttin · Answer

"upgrading" phones with same chargers that last 2 months is peak capitalism

patrik101090 · Answer

Corporate sustainable messaging vs actively fighting right-to-repair legislation is cognitive dissonance masterclass

pblcb · Answer

buying flagship every 3-4 years instead of midrange yearly actually cheaper long-term. amortize that tech emotional damage

primus · Answer

Doctor made me use old phone for week when treating my tech addiction. Withdrawal symptoms scarier than any horror movie