Summary

Every year new devices come out and every year companies try to get us to upgrade to their "latest and greatest" offerings. But do people do that and more importantly, do people need to do that? Realistically, no. No, your 1-year-old, even in some cases 2-year-old device does not need to be swapped out every year. So if that is the case, when should you upgrade? The general rule of thumb in my opinion is when your device stops functioning for you beyond repair or when the phone stops supporting the latest and greatest OS updates. This can become an issue because once the OS is not supported anymore, applications stop supporting those OSs and then your phone starts to become slightly useless. I think around year 3 is when you should be looking to upgrade, but some devices get OS upgrades for 4+ years, so your mileage does vary based on what device you have.

My Stance on Upgrading

What and When Do I Upgrade?

So if I’m sitting here telling you that you should not upgrade every year and instead wait a couple of years to get the latest and greatest, I surely do not fall for the shiny new device and upgrade every year right? Right?

Hello, pot. I'm kettle.

I upgrade some devices every generation. Right now my current path is upgrading my iPhone and my Pixel device every year when the new generation comes out. With that also comes that I upgrade both my Apple Watch and my Pixel Watch, as well as my AirPods Pro when their next generation comes out. Do I need to do this, no? But I also trade my devices back into Apple to get the most bang for the buck so it isn't like I'm constantly paying full price. Yes, I know what you are thinking. I'm not getting some deal. I'm just telling something to make myself feel better and you are correct! Realistically, I'm a tech fan and this is the thing that I'm into so that is why I do it, but you don't need to if you don't care about tech that much! (Sort of questioning why you are reading this blog post if you don't care about tech, but a view is a view!)

What Do I Not Upgrade?

So if I'm upgrading all these devices all the time is there anything I don't upgrade every single time? Yes, two things come to mind when I think about things I don't just trade in for the next version: Cars and Computers.

The first part of this is easy. I don't really like cars that much and they are expensive (I think some of them cost way too much for what they are, but I'll save that discussion for another day). Now for the 2nd part, the computers. I do upgrade them usually after a couple of years, but when I do, I usually get one that is pretty powerful so because of that, I tend to take a little longer before upgrading them. My upgrades for these machines usually happen when I am unable to upgrade the device any further with the software. Once that happens, I will upgrade the device when the next upgrade is available.

Any Cons to Upgrading

So if I upgrade my devices this commonly, it must be a great experience every year to get something new. Yes and no. I won't lie, I still get excited every single time I get a new device, but it wears VERY quickly once the device is in my hands. See the thing with these devices is that it only changes a bit every single time. Because of that, I'm barely getting an upgrade each time when moving from just the previous device. I most likely will experience a way better upgrade if I upgraded every couple of years instead of each one, but I know that I do not have that kind of self-control.

What happens to the older ones?

What happens to all the old devices? I trade them in. That is really how I'm able to stomach purchasing all the devices that I'm constantly getting. Let's be realistic, these things aren't cheap, but usually, the companies have pretty good trade-in offers that make it pretty worth it. Because of that, I end up trading in the old devices and upgrading to the new ones.

What about you guys? How often do you guys upgrade your devices and why? Feel free to reach out and let me know!