During Apple's Worldwide Developer Conferences, exciting new hardware, software, and services are introduced. While we look forward to playing with the new toys, it is important to note that the keynote birthing new and exciting products can also mark the beginning of the end of life for some of our beloved products. This may be due to an app getting Sherlocked or a device no longer receiving major future software updates.
As usual, Apple provides a list of device compatibility for upcoming software updates on its website. Unfortunately, my iPhone X, which I have owned for a long time, will no longer receive major future software updates.
The buck stops at iOS 16 for the iPhone X!
Sentimentally, I started to feel a little sad that, in a few years, I may have to stop using the iPhone X daily as I anticipate the hardware may not cope well with future advanced software. I have been planning to retire the iPhone X, but I wanted to squeeze one or two more years of use from it.
I have been using my iPhone X as my work phone with no issues for over a year. Earlier today, as I sometimes do during my full weekends off work, I checked for any important missed calls to schedule return calls in the Reminders app for Monday morning. Today, however, the dread I have been having for a long while due to a few cracks on the front screen came to reality.
My iPhone X screen started flickering uncontrollably, jumping from screen to screen as if it were under remote attack. Despite doing a soft reset with the hope it is software related (surprisingly, the screen flickering happens far less now), it seems like an issue here to stayāa screen issue, the LCD in particular. I had to accept the reality that my iPhone X is coming to its āprematureā end of life.
The iPhone X is the only iPhone I have ever owned and never got rid of after upgrading to the newer model. It spent a good few years with me before handing it down to my eldest daughter, who used it for a couple of years, then handed it down to her sister, my middle child. And if memory serves me right, my son, the youngest, had a short stint with the iPhone X before finding its way back to me now that they all upgraded to newer models over the past year or so.
The iPhone X returned to me battered, as I fully expected (Kids, huh!). Along with the cracks on the front screen, the cracks on the back of the phone are worse, but nothing a case could not hide. It was perfectly useable. I was happy for it to replace the iPhone SE I used for a work phone.
Because my work phone is limited to making and receiving phone calls and text messages (No data allowance), the use is not heavy. The phone came into play when called upon, and it does so in environments which leave it open to the elements like dirt, dust and water, which is why I have been dreading the day this screen issue arises.
To prevent the issue, it would have been wise to use a screen protector for a longer lifespan when the phone returned to me with the cracks on the screen. I, however, never used a screen protector for more than a month on any of my previous iPhones, so I did not think about using one. And the cracks, well, they are more like hairline cracks, so it did not affect the use of the screen.
I have acknowledged that the problem is due to a hardware failure. However, I am glad it lasted for a considerable period, unlike the Green iPhone 11 Pro Max I gave to my eldest daughter, which encountered a similar screen issue a few years back and is now kept in a drawer.
The iPhone X is the first phone to cycle through my family in perfect working condition - functionality-wise, despite the cosmetic damages. It has earned its sentimental badge. It is time to let it retire, with heartfelt appreciation and respect.
I am now considering either an iPhone 12 or 13 mini for its replacement.
