Time was many people, myself included, replaced their smartphone every two years and even upgrading annually wasn’t uncommon. Early new models of iPhones added significant features that greatly benefited ever customer — eponymous 3G networking, massive performance increases, and Retina displays, to name a few. As with other kinds of computers, the need to upgrade lessened as the platform matured. Right now I am using an iPhone 11 Pro, which I purchased in 2019. It’s the first iPhone I have used for four years¹.

How good is this four year old iPhone 11 Pro?

This iPhone 11 Pro replaced my then three year old iPhone 7². Since there was no possible way the “Space Gray” model was ever going to look as cool as the Jet Black one it was replacing, I decided to get the silver and white model. Some tech bros frown upon white, but I always liked Apple’s white products and wanting everything in dark colors smells of toxic masculinity in the same way that wanting everything in camo does. Also this white iPhone looks amazing with the rainbow logo.

In addition to looking good, everything about the iPhone 11 Pro feels premium. The steel frame is substantive and the frosted glass back is velvety smooth. These premium materials aren’t without trade-offs. This iPhone is a bar of soap, especially when compared to the much lighter and much grippier Jet Black iPhone 7 it replaced³. Being a bar of soap means that I have dropped this phone a handful of times over the years, which is particularly scary given I don’t use a case. Neither its screen or back has ever shattered, which I attribute to both luck and the engineering involved. The biggest sign of wear is that its screen is littered with scratches that have developed over the years, the most noticeable of which happened within the first few months of usage. I don’t know if “softer glass” is a thing, but if so, this phone has it.

With some exception and outside of rare mishaps, I would describe my smartphone usage as being on the lighter side of typical. According to Screen Time, I mostly use this iPhone to listen to podcasts, surf the web, post on social media, take pictures, read email, play workout videos, and watch YouTube. After almost four years of this, I can report that I still have plenty of battery most nights after about 15 hours of being off the charger. Battery Health reports it has 89% capacity. I have noticed certain apps, Overcast and Knotwords specifically, lag upon opening. I don’t think that is related to any battery throttling as other apps seem to run just fine.

This is also my first iPhone X style model, in that it has a notched edge-to-edge OLED screen, new gestures, FaceID, and a camera system with multiple lenses. As expected, the display has amazing blacks and is great for watching videos. The new gesture based navigation came naturally to me. That said, I was blissfully unaware of OLED black smearing until using this phone. As for FaceID, I bought this phone 6 months before the start of the pandemic and while there were definitely times where I missed TouchID, I think FaceID is a huge improvement. As annoying as dealing with a mask was, that was always going to be a temporary inconvenience whereas the limitations of TouchID were everlasting. I don’t often wear a mask now in 2023, but I still do the dishes.

The camera system has held up surprisingly well. The biggest feature that tempted me in the last few years has been macro mode, introduced with the iPhone 13 Pro, but this iPhone 11 Pro supports macro photography with the help of the excellent app Halide. Halide’s macro feature isn’t some parlor trick either, and I have gotten a some very good shots with it. I have also used nightmode to great affect when capturing pictures of our adorable sleeping kiddo. Portrait mode has remained hit or miss, but regular and live mode photos come out looking reasonably good. The same is true with the videos I take. While I am genuinely excited at the prospect of taking noticeably better looking pictures and video, I don’t lament the ones I am taking today.

The camera improvements along with all of the other features I’ve forgone out of frugality these past years, like macro mode, the dynamic island, and not to mention 5G networking, is why I am upgrading to this year’s iPhone Pro 15. I am also looking to the rumored improvements coming with this year’s models, like USB-C and a presumably lighter titanium frame. That said, I don’t need a new iPhone anymore than I realistically need Thunderbolt on a phone. I am moving on from this four year old phone because I want to, not because I have to. The excellent screen, all day battery life, more than satisfactory performance and still decent cameras make for a perfectly good iPhone, even in 2023.

So how good is this four year old iPhone 11 Pro? Easily good enough to be a five year old iPhone 11 Pro.