I bought a Framework laptop for the same reason and I successfully managed to upgrade it, not repair it!
Is there a phone that allows me to upgrade over time and not only fix it?
Nowadays that's plainly not true anymore because chips hardly get faster year-to-year, but also my 2012 phone lasted 5 years before software support started to get mediocre for Android 4.4 (the hardware was still fast enough and the battery you could still replace in 20 seconds). I've only ever bought new phones for software support reasons (scheduled obsolescence) or because the GPS chip broke after they stopped supporting rooting and so I couldn't get it repaired (out of warranty) without forfeiting that.
What phones do you buy that you feel they're unusably slow after only 3 years?!
it's really crazy how wasteful we're being with electronics in general. my old work laptop became unusable with windows 10, just extremely sluggish for even simple tasks. putting linux on it, its working great again (in fact writing this comment on it right now.) I wish we could put more focus on performance in the more mainstream products, but at least there's FOSS for people like me. can't wait until i can put an alpine linux on my phone someday.
Indeed. from non-replaceable batteries, to weak headphone and charging port connections, to breaking cables, to mobile phone OSes. Most of consumer-oriented hardware manufacture seems to rely on obsolescent-by-design to get consumers to spend on the same type of device, in short cycles.
Probably similar to the big pharma that may appreciate the economic benefits of a chronic diseases.
Generally, a battery swap and a factory wipe would bring most people's phones back to an acceptable performance.
I am just hoping now that I cling to this FP3 until frame.work gets bold enough to expand into phones as well.
Either you don't get any updates and at one point you can't use any app because it's outdated.
Or you get all updates and at one point you can't use any apps, because your phone became unbearably slow.
I am typing this from a phone that I am already considering replacing for this very same reason although it does everything well and I looks brand new (rubber case, screen protection, etc.).
I understand phones are harder to upgrade because space is very limited but the e-waste we're generating (and the money impact) seems something that needs to be addressed.
I imagine if this is something that lots of people want, it will result in more alternatives, but also raised prices. So it might not save money, but it might well result in less waste.
My point is that with reasonable apps old phones work just fine. Just don't install crap apps or facebook or something like that, stick to well working apps. Use a phone as a phone, not as your universal computing interface and you should be OK for a long time.
Sounds limiting. Nowadays there are plenty of phones that can handle reasonable workloads at a reasonable price. Especially if you don't care about the camera.
I am aware more and more people only use smart phones and don't own a general computer any longer, but that is a really sad development. A smart phone will usually not encourage experimentation and getting into general computing. It is a dumbed down device.
Yes, one should be able to use a phone for computing, but generally that's not available out of the box and it takes effort to make it somewhat OK to use it for computing.
I used a motorola moto g (the one with 1 GB of RAM!) from 2015 until last year.
They want it this way because then they can sell more SoCs because users end up upgrading more often, and device manufacturers (besides Fairphone) don't complain because their interests are aligned.
On the Apple side you see devices getting support for much longer as Apple designs and maintains it's SoCs in-house, and at least to a degree value device longevity because that keeps second-hand prices relatively high, and that aligns somewhat with Apples interests.
Not quite 10 years, but we've seen feature updates for just under 7 years with the iPhone 6s (released 2015), and it's still receiving security updates and bug fixes.
Why is this not a problem with laptops?
Even at 5 years I only ever felt like I was upgrading because it was 'time', not out of a direct need.
I can only imagine a person getting 3 years out of a phone if they are buying junk.
I feel it's a temporary problem like PC's, where eventually they will plateau on performance and a 10YO potato will (eventually) be able to play 99% of "high end" games in some capacity, similar to how a Steam Deck can play most games (even most AAA) without special accomadations. But I imagine there will be at least 5-6 more years of moore's law before it falls off (like it did on PC around... 2015-6?)
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could also just be a low end phone. My Asus ROG 5 lasted 2.5 ish years before it literally died (sent it in for repairs to the motherboard based on online symptoms, for 3 weeks. paid $100 for shipping... died 2 months later) and instead of buying a brand new phone I just purchased the same model for half the price I bought it at launch. Still chews through pretty much every game despite being 3 years old.
Granted, GPUs are the usual bottlenecks for gaming yes.
Fairphone looks mighty tempting with a replaceable battery as the only annoyance I have with my current phone (Pixel 6) is the battery is starting to lose steam.
Slightly disappointed it hasn't happened yet.
I use it watch youtube videos, browse the web (probably not the fastest but fast enough), use Google Maps, take pictures, listen to music. Basic phone usage you know.
I suppose its somewhat of a privilege to use a modern phone only as a phone, but there's a certain smug peace of mind to be had - as well as security.
I'm also tempted to politely ask you to get off my lawn in the off-chance you are wondering about my demographic.
Turning off app updates would have the same impact if you're right about the increasing memory requirements.
Are you not able to use your bank's mobile or desktop website in your phone's browser? I don't think I've ever installed a banking app. I also use a credit union though, maybe they're less incentivized to force people onto their apps.
Customer support has requested that I use the mobile app, and that usually allows the transfer.
But I've been using devices with 4GB-6GB of memory for the past 8 years almost, and they don't feel that bad to use. My phone still has 6GB of memory and does all I want it to just fine.
When I think about my atari 1040ST and what it could do with a single core running at a few Mhz and a few hundred kilobytes of RAM, it makes me realise how wrong we've gone with smartphones.
(before someone mentions it, I know that my atari didn't have wifi, couldn't play full HD videos, etc, and that it was harder to develop software for it, but still, something's off IMHO)
I did upgrade a few weeks ago because the iPhone 15 cameras are amazing and I care a lot about that but I honestly had zero performance reasons to upgrade. I’ve never had an issue with a 5-6 year old phone and I always keep my old phone as a backup specifically for banking.
Somehow, I thought 4+2 GiB of ram would suffice.
Many phones are essentially abandoned by the manufacturer and don't receive any security updates not too long after release, which might just be an issue: https://source.android.com/docs/security/bulletin/2023-12-01
Not only that, but many apps won't run on the older versions of the OS either, due to the API level deprecation in Android: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answ...
In other words, you don't really get much of a choice, unless you are buying a flagship device and not everyone will be able to do that. The same goes for the comparatively expensive iPhone devices, the cost also being a factor there for many.
(Motorola Sapphire was my first, 1G, and I still have it somewhere. Powering it up would probably break several laws at this point. The SIM was an entire credit-card size also...)
To be fair my first smart phone was a Nokia Lumia 720, that thing did some damage to anything it hit.
Some people just seems to smash phones left and right and claim that they're just using them normally. I think it's just how some people interact with the world. Put an iPhone in a case and they aren't that brittle, I dropped mine plenty of times.
My only problem is replacing an iPhone battery is now $99.