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Comment by oblio | Hacker News Reader

The thing is, that CPU bit is not really relevant for the average consumer, anymore. Flagship phone CPUs have been good enough for web browsing and casual app use for about 2 years.

Not that I'm against extra horse power, we'll find a use for it. But we're in "desktop land", almost, for smartphone CPUs. They're good enough.

The real smartphone battles now are in camera quality, gaming oomph and battery usage.

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CPU bit might be relevant for those who care about Privacy. Apple markets the fact that all processing (some ML/AI stuff) is done on device and not on the cloud, hence requiring good processing power. But as you mentioned the battle is skewed towards Camera and Battery usage.

> Flagship phone CPUs have been good enough for web browsing and casual app use for about 2 years.

I think it's been longer. I'm on a non-flagship from last year, watching YouTube in PiP mode while writing this comment. Way more than necessary power for causing use.

Depends of course on your use case. I've been using my flagship phone for 7 years now. It has fulfilled all my needs without any problems, with one hand tied behind its back even.

Probably also a case of modest needs, but still.

CPU is far more relevant if you want to keep your phone for 4+ years. The 2 year upgrade cycle on a smartphone is a major expense for many people.

Smartphone tech has matured. A smartphone CPU from 2011 would have been a drag in 2015, a CPU from 2018 will probably still be adequate in 2022.

That's less true for low end phones. People design software and websites for the average to slightly below average phone.

When you buy the highend they become average in a few years which is completely useable. However, low end phones quickly fall behind the curve and only keep dropping.

Now, that’s not to say the phone will physically last longer. Just that having headroom becomes more noticeable over time.

Still pretty much true. Sub 150$ Xiaomi phones from 2016 are still going strong (Redmi 3). And there are plenty of sub 150$ offerings with something like Snapdragon 636/710 and 4GB of RAM which will be more than enough for years to come unless you are into some hardcore smartphone gaming (oxymoron).

I've got an iPhone from 2014 and it holds up for me in 2019. I replaced the battery last year and it was like a new phone.

Not sure how my 4 year old Galaxy S6 still chugs along as fast as the day I got it. I'll purchase a new battery before getting a new phone (still on the original, which still makes it through the day on a charge). I'm pretty sure I could easily get another 4 years out of this. CPU and RAM are not an issue. I don't need or want AR or gimmicks that don't actually add value or productivity. Just a tool. My email and texts all still work fine as well as all of the business apps I need, websites I visit, etc. You don't need to upgrade every 2 years, or probably even every 4 years. People are more than welcome to spend the money if they wish, though. They've been trained well into thinking they do.

That was a high end phone when you bought it. Samsung still sells the S6 and the people buying it today have less headroom to keep it 8 years.

In many countries people keep their phones until they die, loose them or get stolen. There isn't a 2 year upgrade cycle.

During last 4 years probably RAM increase is more relevant than CPU: 1GB -> 2GB -> 3GB and now some have 6GB.

It’s directly tied to battery power, and battery life is still a big concern. But largely I agree.

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