How much longer will the iPhone 13 be responsive with only 4 GB of RAM? I see the new iPhones have 6 GB of RAM. I'm wondering if it's worthwhile replacing the battery in my iPhone 13, or just get a new iPhone with 6 GB RAM?
Gosh. Only 4 gig of RAM? That phone is obsolete! It was released, when? September 2021?
Two and a half years old???? Replace it now, it's ancient! The iPhone 15 Pro Max is
Titanium. That's a better metal! And it's really a bargain at $1599 with 1TB of storage, if you consider it rightly, for all the things it can do, and how amazingly quickly it can suck you into the vortex of all the modern media. Of course you'll want an unlimited 5G data plan to make the best use of all that capability.
Have you considered the Apple iPhone Upgrade Program that lets you keep making payments forever on a modern device? It's like leasing a car, so you always have the latest and greatest! It's really a bargain, only $75/mo for the Ultimate iPhone 15, which will, of course, be obsoleted by the iPhone 16 when it comes out, which, I assure you, will be
revolutionary in a way unlike any other phone has ever been revolutionary! It's supposed to be
thinner!
Blech. Okay, that's out. Sorry. Now to reality.
It's totally fine and will be for some very long time. Apple's chosen programming language for iOS is far better at handling memory than Java that's used on Android, which has the memory management of an angry toddler ("throw it all on the floor and someone will come around later and clean it up for you"). You need far less RAM on an iPhone to accomplish the same things, and 4GB is more than plenty for just about anything you'd want to do with it. And it's far, far in excess of what you need for what you
should be doing with it, which is "basically nothing."
You can reasonably expect 6-7 years of OS support out of Apple these days, though if anything, the window seems to be getting longer as the rate of hardware progression slows. Plus, a year or two of "security critical" updates for the one-behind OS version. So you should be generally good with an iPhone 13 until... oh, 2028? 2029? Maybe a bit longer. And that's more than enough time to adapt away from smartphones and back to something sane, like a VoLTE capable flip phone that will last until the next time the carriers obsolete huge waves of hardware to improve their spectrum efficiency slightly and be able to charge more for One More Number.
If the battery life is genuinely a problem, replace the battery.
https://www.ifixit.com/products/iphone-13-battery has a "Fix kit" for $40 with all the tools and seals you need. Or, if having a third party battery in your phone is a horror you cannot abide, Apple will do it for $90 or so. Then turn on optimized charging and stop destroying your battery, because with careful use, not overheating or chilling the phone, and using it gently, your battery should last far longer. I have a barely used iPhone 11 for work that reports 92% battery health, which is probably because it just sits on a charger endlessly. I literally never use it for anything but phone calls to my team.
My personal phone gets about a week and a half of battery life when always-on, though as I'm in the habit of turning it off frequently, I typically get around to charging it every two weeks or so.
I inherited an iPhone 10 (XsMax) that I use occasionally and it still works just fine.
I
still can't believe that someone thought calling it the iPhone Excess was an acceptable branding. It's not wrong. But usually Apple is a bit more subtle.
In any case, read up on the supply chains involved in producing new consumer electronics - phones, laptops, etc. And then read up on the "recycling" of them. It's vile, from cradle to grave, and finding ways to both rely less on these human-toxic devices and to make them last far longer is a good idea.
