Friday evening, I bought an iPhone 15. I considered the 16e but I felt that it was an experiment I didn't want to try.
The 60 Hz OLED display and the Apple modem seem okay, but for someone else to try.
Obviously, the iPhone 15 has been out for about 1.5 years and that's good. There won't be any surprises. Whichever device I bought, the inane gestures are part of the package. I've become so accustomed to using the Home button (since the iPhone 4S) that I will have some trouble switching.
Given that the iPhone 15 was only about US$1.50 more per month for 24 months than the iPhone 16e, it wasn't a difficult choice. It still has a newer SoC than the 2022 iPhone SE/iPhone 13 but it's only one generation newer. They only had black and pink phones and I chose a black 256 GB model. Immediately, they wanted US$99.99 upfront, plus $36 activation fee plus tax.
AppleCare+ will be quite a bit more expensive. I'm expecting it to be around $10 higher but it would also be higher for the 16e.
I ordered a Spigen Liquid Air case that I'd been watching for a few months. It's supposedly 50% off at US$14.99. I've used one on another phone and it was agreeable without being too heavy or bulky. It's not as strong as the Ballistic cases I used to buy, but I'm not sure they're in business any longer. I could throw the phone in those. I ordered through Amazon, but there aren't many ways to do this now, and without a car, I just can't go to multiple stores looking for a case.
I'm not sure about the phone-to-phone transfer but restoring the phone from my Mac at USB 2.0 speeds takes too long. I tried to do that for someone who got an iPhone 15 when iOS 17 was new and not stable and it did not work. I'll make a backup and try the WiFi transfer. I'm not completely sold on iOS 18, but I suspect I won't be able to replace it with iOS 17. I'm not ready to update my Mac to Sequoia, but that may happen, as well.
Wish me luck!
