I love iOS but have never bought a brand-new iPhone
I have never owned a brand new iPhone, I used to only buy secondhand iPhones which were older than the newest models at the time around 2-4 models. For example, when the current new iPhone was 8, I bought the 6, and when it was 12, I was using the iPhone 8.
I was very satisfied with how I approached the usage of the iPhone because even though I had loved iOS since using it from iPhone 4, I still saw the price of the newest model was always very expensive to me, especially when I was living in Vietnam, the salary we earned there vs the price to pay for a new iPhone, for me it did not make sense. You would be viewed as a “rich” person if you use the newest model of iPhone, and I did not like that “reputation” for me. 😀
And suddenly, it changed
So after using the iPhone 8 for years until the newest model of the iPhone 15 was launched, I decided to buy it brand new after my trauma of buying the 8 back then. I got a bad secondhand one that had a weird bad camera, I gotta go back to the store and try to change for a better one. From then on, I have had doubts about secondhand ones, and am afraid of having a again bad experience like that. I do not want to change my phone too frequently so with the salary earned in Finland, I decided to buy a brand new 15 because it was not too expensive compared to the salary I earned in Vietnam back then.
I started to become more anxious with the newest iPhone because of…
– The speed
So my cognitive load was used to the speed of my old iPhone. I have always been using old models, so things ran slower than the newest ones. I could not switch screens and see animation that fast until I used the 15.
At first, everything seems amazing. Everything is quick, and one of the reasons I stopped using the 8 was because it got very slow with the newly updated iOS and was not compatible with many apps when I refused to update the iOS. Therefore, I was very satisfied with the new one, the cute pink color, dynamic island, speed of screens switching within a blink, Face ID to unblock also within a blink, etc., Until I became anxious for many reasons. Starting from the speed my cognitive load has to try to adapt when I changed from a slow phone.
– The continuous easy switching & bigger screen to view stuff leads to continuous usage.
I have always been careful about my phone usage. I never liked phone using blindly but I started to be like that with the new iPhone. It was very quick to switch between screens and apps so I did not really have some seconds to get bored or think if I should drop it off and go do something else. I continuously switched and tapped. Especially when using the 8 model, I need to press buttons to go back to the home screen or switch, but with a new iPhone, just one quickly interacts with the finger, it is done within a blink. I did not think much about that until after 7-8 months, I really saw my phone usage habit change, my lifestyle changed, and I became anxious more frequently.
Moreover, the bigger screen definitely increased my time on online shopping because it was super easy to view stuff anytime even in the living room where I was watching TV, and unfocused with the urge to open online shopping apps to view material things…
Sorry my new iPhone, you have to go…
I started to have some reflections.
I have been busy focusing on my new life and a new career in Finland so I think I did not frequently pay attention to my well-being. Back in Vietnam, I was more balanced and conscious about what I was doing, that was why I have always been fighting back against internet addiction with things like phones and social media addictions. For that reason, I guess that my loosing of well-being during the past period with a new life, new living place, new job, and new friends, together with the new iPhone and unconscious usage, led to more anxiety for me.
Weeks recently when I have been more stable and started to have time to reflect about my well-being and lifestyle, I went back to re-read old stuff and re-view my old thoughts about why I did not like smartphones back then, and used to try to get rid of it. Then, I dug deeper into books, articles, and statistics about how the level of anxiety in humans has increased since the era of smartphones, etc.,
My scariness for smartphones was raised again.
After all, I decided to get rid of my new iPhone after 9 months of usage. I used to think that I would bring it to my Mom in Vietnam so she could have this new one replace her very old one but I changed my mind.
Nope, this is not as good as something I would give to Mom. Therefore, I backed up all data back to my lower-model small-screen iPhone, and I thought that I would sell it no matter how much money I lost when I could sell.
And yes, within one week, the iPhone 15 was gone. I will miss it as the first cute pink brand new iPhone I bought myself with the salary from the first job I got in Finland after so hard learning and working days, but nope it has to be gone.
After all, I feel indeed happier and lighter.
I read more books, back to be more present, and more conscious about my lifestyle and mental space.
I have a small screen so I am lazy to do online shopping on the phone. I have to use buttons to switch screens and apps so it is not so convenient for me to instantly switch and scroll forgetting things around.
Even my mental fight with smartphones will never end because it has been changing so many things in human life despite the benefits it has brought. However, getting rid of the worse stuff and back to using less bad stuff is still better for now. What is enough is enough, I don’t need so much to use that.
I am happy with my low-model iPhone, very small screen, and no Face ID, but this is more than enough for me in the era where people forget a lot of present things around to pay blind attention to the phones’ screens.
06.01.2025
