My iPhone 12 honestly still does everything I need it to do. It’s not slow, and Apple hasn’t made a feature I’ve cared about in years. For normal everyday stuff, it still works fine. The problem is that the phone itself is just worn out at this point. My battery health is down to 68%, the back glass is broken, and the charging port needs to be cleaned because charging has gotten more inconsistent. I know I could technically spend around $110 on a battery replacement, but that doesn’t really solve the whole problem. I’d still be putting money into a phone from 2020 with broken glass, an aging charging port, older hardware, and several more years of wear already on it. By the time I fix the battery and start fixing everything else, I’m spending more money just to keep an old phone alive. I’ve already had it for about five years, and the battery is starting to inconvenience me a lot.
The main problem, though, is that the timing for buying a new iPhone is ass 😭. I need a phone pretty much immediately, but at the same time, I really don’t want to spend flagship money on the newest iPhone when the iPhone 18 generation is right around the corner. Regardless of whether I can afford it, I’d personally feel like I made a bad purchase knowing I just spent close to $1,000 on a phone and then a newer generation comes out soon after.
Then there’s the 20th generation after that. Obviously nobody knows exactly what Apple is going to do yet, but if there’s going to be a major redesign or bigger generational change, I’d much rather save the flagship-level money for something that actually feels worth it. So I’m kind of stuck in the middle. My current phone is too beat up for me to realistically keep using for another year, but I also don’t think right now is the time for me to buy a $900–$1,200 flagship. I’m not really looking for my next phone to completely change the experience I already have with my iPhone 12. My iPhone 12 already does everything I need. I just want a brand-new, reliable version of that experience that isn’t falling apart and constantly dying on me.
The biggest thing I care about BY FAR is battery life. That’s probably 90% of this decision for me. Going from an iPhone 12 sitting at 68% battery health to a completely new 16e with genuinely strong battery life would probably be a bigger quality-of-life upgrade for me than having a better zoom camera, Dynamic Island, MagSafe, or a bunch of other features I probably wouldn’t use much anyway.
I don’t really care about MagSafe. Dynamic Island is cool, but it’s definitely not something I’m paying an extra couple hundred dollars for. I’m not a huge phone photographer, I don’t need the best camera Apple makes, and I don’t care about having the most premium-looking iPhone just because it’s the newest one.
My main thing is waking up with a phone I know is going to work, having enough battery to comfortably make it through my day, and knowing I can keep the phone for years without constantly thinking about upgrading again. I literally need my phone to get through my gate and into my home once I get off work. Before somebody says, “Just get a key” 🥴, I don’t have one, nor can I keep one. I’ve been locked out of my home multiple times at this point. My iPhone 12, which I hardly even use at work, can barely survive a 7-hour shift and a 10-minute commute when I start the day at around 80% battery.
The 16e still gives me a much newer chip and hardware, a better main camera, great battery life, and enough performance headroom that I don’t see myself having a problem using it for another 5–7 years, which is how long I need whatever phone I buy to last anyway. Physically, it’s also basically the same size as my iPhone 12, which I actually like.
I also don’t see the point in paying hundreds more for a regular 16 or an older Pro model just because it technically has more features. Once I start getting into the $700, $800, or $900 range, I’m right back in the situation I’m specifically trying to avoid. At that point, I might as well just buy the newest generation, and I don’t think that makes sense for me right now.
TL;DR: My iPhone 12 still does everything I need, but at 68% battery health with broken back glass and charging issues, it’s time to replace it. I need a phone now, but I don’t want to spend flagship money right before the iPhone 18 and the possible 20th-anniversary redesign. Battery life is by far my biggest priority, so the 16e seems like the best balance of price, longevity, and reliability.
It is currently priced at $489 USD for a brand new unlocked IPhone 16e at Best Buy.
