Is it time to upgrade my iphone 7?
 

I just bought a 2022 Hyundai Tucson which has a pad to charge a phone. It won't connect with my phone to charge it, but it did connect to Blue Tooth. The salesman said I would need to either use a cord or buy a newer phone. Is that true. Is it time to buy a newer version phone to properly use the items on my car. I need some advise. Thanks so much!

Not true. You just need to buy a wireless adapter or wireless charging case for the IPhone 7.

If you don't want a cord, then upgrade.

I recently upgraded my iPhone SE to an iPhone 12. The iPhone 12 is amazing. 3 things struck me immediately. The iPhone 12 is incredibly faster. Everything is so smooth and responsive. Second, face recognition is instantaneous and vastly better than typing in a code or using a touch ID. And third, I love cordless charging and on the iPhone 12, it is combined with "Magsafe" to automatically snap/lock the phone onto the charger.

That means the phone has a magnet in its back and it will work with wireless charging stations with or without a magnet to hold the phone in place.

If you have an Apple watch I highly recommend Apple dual charger for the iPhone and Watch. It is SO nice to just set the phone on the charging pad and it snaps into place and charges, when I want to go, just slide it off the charging plate and go. No more cables to the plugin.

I am getting to HATE cables - LOL.

Also, I am trying out the Apple MagSafe wallet with the iPhone 12. It is a small very thin leather wallet that magnetically attaches to the back of the iPhone. Being so thin is both a good thing and an issue. It can only hold 3 cards. I put in my driver's license, Credit card, and Vet ID. It felt restrictive at first since I normally have a wallet full of "stuff". But, now after a couple of months, I find it really nice. And, it is so thin, I don't even notice it on the back of the iPhone. The wallet sits next to the charging base on my desk where the phone is when not in use, so I always know where it is...

Bottom line, I am very happy I upgraded. The iPhone SE and your iPhone 7 were/are good reliable phones but the iPhone 12 is awesome.

The ONLY caveat I would make is Apple is probably going to have another "event" in June or July. Rumors are that at that event they may be releasing an iPhone 13. So, personally, I would hold off until then to see if I wanted the iPhone 12 or the upcoming iPhone 13.

Seems to me that the cord would be less expensive than the new phone! lol I use the cord with my IPhone5s and 2021 Ford!

Apple is making sure my perfectly fine 6+ won’t be working perfectly fine very soon. Apparently an Apple phone’s useful life has nothing to do with how long the phone will last, but rather when Apple determines its time to force you to need a new phone. Pi$$es me off, I like to take very good care of our things and make them last as long as possible.

I would upgrade (I *did* upgrade just recently).

As noted above, the iphone12 is much faster (I had an iphone 8)

I'm not a fan of using face ID to unlock the phone but it works very nice to retrieve passwords and automatically login to sites.

Apple has a trade-in offer I just saw recently; my carrier had a better offer that I took advantage of.

It looks like the wireless charging adapter costs less than $20 so that would be an inexpensive option while waiting to see what the June announcement is.

Just my 2 cents. WWDC(World Wide Developers Conference) is in June. Usually at WWDC they announce the next operating system both for the Macs and iDevices. IPhone 7 is a great phone and you’ll probably get another year ( 2022) out of it. From my understanding the iPhone 6 will no longer be supported by Apple come later this year. That’s all hearsay and rumors. Traditionally Apple does not announce new hardware aka new iPhones until September when they have an “Apple Event.” Last year due to Covid they announced the iPhone 12 in October. As an Apple “fan boy” I usually upgrade about every 2 years, sometimes every year. I have a 2019 Chrysler Pacifica and although my iphone can be charged without a cable I cannot charge it in the Pacifica wirelessly. I don’t mind the cable for charging it’s not a major inconvenience but it is a bit of a pain. As someone else wrote it’s less expensive to buy a new cable than to upgrade the phone.

Absolutely, but American's are all about convenience. We eat out at fast food, which is more expensive, we drive cars instead of riding bicycles, etc, etc etc. It's all about what you can afford, what you enjoy, and what bothers you.

Being a geek my desk is covered with chargers and cables. I long for the day I have no cables anywhere - LOL...

Well, a couple of things. Which phone has a useful life of more than 6 years? Your iPhone 6 will not stop working one day because Apple updates stop being compatible with it. It will simply continue to do the same fine job it does now. I have an iPad 1 which came out in 2010 - eleven years ago. After a $90 battery replacement, it still works fine and does everything it did in 2010. I also have a 2021 iPad Pro because it does things the iPad 1 won't or can't do. My choice, not Apples.

And of course, Apple is in business to make money. One way to make money is to entice people to constantly upgrade their phones, by offering new features Apple hopes they will want. Apple is very good at that.

That's called capitalism. There are a LOT of other phone companies and anyone can buy a phone from any of them. That too is called captialism

Very true, you are correct, Apple usually releases new phones closer to Christmas. There are some rumors that Apple "might" release a lot of new hardware at WWDC with some major OS changes. But, yes, that is all rumor.

The iPhone 7 is certainly a very nice phone and will last at least another year.

Thanks!
 

I have really enjoyed reading the discussion and suggestions provided. You have all helped me come to my decision. I will purchase a charging case and use it until the fall. Then i will purchase a new phone for myself and give my husband my phone since he has an iphone 6 and could care less if he gets my iphone 7! 😂

LOL! Role reversal. It's my wife that doesn't care what phone she has as long as it works. I usually get the new ones and hand down my "old" ones to her.

Yiu can keep your phone and don’t have to upgrade.
 

To tophcfa:
If your Apple 6+ phone is working fine, then there is nothing to stop you keeping your phone as long as you like. You just will not be able to upgrade to the latest iOS release.

Apple is always improving both the hardware and software in increasingly complex ways, so you will not be able to take advantage of the new functionality. But the phone should continue to work. Apple makes sure all new phones will be able to get iOS software upgrades for five or six years. After that you cannot upgrade, and you can either keep your phone at the latest release that you upgraded to, or get the latest phone, which will be much faster, better and with more capability than your old one.

Get an iphone 8. Thats the phone that started with a glass case which is compatible with a car wireless charger. You can get a refurbished one for less than $150

You won’t be able to use wireless charging on your iPhone model. I recall that IPhone X was the first model with that feature. So you would charge your current phone with a cable in your car as your salesman said. I believe all other features will work with your new car such as Bluetooth assuming you keep your phone’s operating system up to date. You will probably get at least another year or two out of your phone unless you must have wireless charging (it is nice but unnecessary).

iPhone 8
In the fall of 2017, Apple released the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, the first two iPhone models that offered wireless charging.

Just get a simple android phone. Thats all I ever use. I dont see a difference with that and an iphone which definitely gets unnecessary hype. The phone takes better, sharper pics than my ipad. And is compatible to everything

The iPhone 13 will be coming out this fall, so your 7 is quite a few years behind. Speed, camera, connectivity, etc have been greatly improved. You probably can get a 10 or 11 quite cheap.

Can you still update all the apps on your iPad1? Connect to internet? Get new apps? Most app developers have taken advantage of faster processors and the old apps eventually stop working if you try to upgrade.

Recently upgraded to iphone 12 from iphone 6 plus. It was still working fine, but sometimes treating yourself is a good thing. Also, I decided to go with the mini. Fits better in my pocket.

Yes salesperson in correct
 

I purchased a 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL, I use a IPhone 7 plus, mine also has a pad to charge. The phone but since my phone is older, it won’t work in it, I am using a cable to charge it when needed. Phone works too darn good, I am not replacing it

Go to your phone company

I bought an iPhone 12 and replaced it from a iPhone 7. I just did this because I thought I should get a newer phone since my iPhone 7 was so old but it was working fine. I wish I had my iPhone 7 back. The iPhone 12 it’s not as good as the seven in my opinion.

New phone or not
 

FYI, you are going to need a cable regardless of a wireless charging pad IF you want to connect Apple Car Play. We just purchased a new car, and I have a iPhone 12 and it charges just fine on the pad and attaches to the car via Bluetooth. That only lets you make and receive calls and other basic functions. If you want to use Apple Car Play to use things like google maps, Waze, and other apps you will have to plug the phone in for full functionality. I would think you would have a cord and if not you should always have a spare and they are very cheap.

Just buy the power cord when the iPhone will no longer update then purchase your new iPhone. Also your obsolete phone even after activation will still connect to the internet with wifi, take pictures, play stored music files. I have an iPhone3 that still is operational for mp3, video, pictures although much smaller screen works fine will not update

So annoying that a perfectly fine phone like my Iphone6 and MacBook Air laptop are set up to stop being able to upgrade. All the apps nowadays seem to need an iOS of 11 or higher. What a waste. But I get it, they need to make money.

This depends on the car. My 2019 Audi uses a WiFi connection to the phone so no cable is necessary for CarPlay. It is possible that 2022 vehicles from any manufacturer may have the WiFi capability as well.

It is true you’ll need at least I-Phone 8 or higher for wireless charging.

Just plug it in and you can use it as a gps when it’s plugged in as well.

You don’t need blue tooth if you’re plugged in your phone will allow you to use hands free calling and GPS through your cars touch screen as long as the car has apple car play which it should all cars have had it since 2015

Upgrade IPhone 7
 

Yes, it is time to upgrade! I upgraded from the IPhone 7+ to the 12 Pro. It's a night and day difference! You can also go from no charge to 50% in 10 or 15 minutes if you have the correct charger.

If you can afford the upgrade, I highly recommend doing it.

Just have surgeons Implant battery pack, that way you phone can be attached like umbilical cord :ohdear:

Same here in UK.
Proof of Covid Vaccination, which is needed here and Europe for a lot of travel these days, comes within an app, but both my wife and I have IPhone 6, which is not compatible to download it.
Absolutely nothing wrong with either of our 6's.
Truly pees one off!

I got the IPhone SE that came out in 2020. It is the same size as the iPhone 6 but doesn’t have all the bells and whistle‘s of the more expensive iPhones. It’s very fast and can be wirelessly recharged. A lot of phone carriers are giving these away free as part of their plans. I’m totally happy with it since I don’t need any of the more complex features.

Wow!
 

My head is spinning with all of your suggestions. I love this forum! Thanks for the feedback! Just to update you, I decided to buy one of those cool purple 12's. So I guess I will be spending the next couple of weeks learning everything about our new car and my new phone. Thanks so much!👍

I'm looking for a battery replace for my 4th generation I pod, who did yours?

I have an 8 and I am getting ready to trade because I am starting to have issues with it.

I have a 7, and wifie has an 11. I love my 7. It has that button sensor on the bottom you can push to go to the icon screen, push twice to see all the running apps. It also brings up the settings for my hearing aids. When I try to use the 11 which does not have that button I have to swipe this way and that and it drives me bats. I am not buyong another iPhone until they give me my button back. And my 7 is plenty fast enough for what I do.

The latest generation of the iPhone SE has a home button.

Well, mine was an iPad. but, if that is what you are asking, I had Apple do it. I do a lot of of repairs on phones and tablets myself (like replacing broken screens) but I was "lazy" and just sent it to them.

I have an "old" version iPhone SE that needs a new battery. I am considering doing it myself, The battery is cheap. And I don't need the phone, I will probably give it to a grandkid or just throw it in a drawer after I replace the battery - LOL.

I have not done an iPod battery yet, I can't imagine it to hard but I haven't had an iPod in a LONG time.

Not true the iPhone 7 does NOT work with the charging pad!