The Big Question: How Often Do You Upgrade?

If you haven’t been paying attention, there’s two major conferences on tomorrow morning. From 3:00 AM, Apple will unveil everything to do with the new iPhone. From 5:00 AM, Sony will be officially revealing PlayStation Neo — or whatever the new name is — and probably the PS4 slim.

Question is: are you ready to upgrade your phone or console just yet?

I mentioned the iPhone because it’s been mentioned by analysts and in other quarters that the smartphone market is precisely what has warmed consumers up to faster upgrade cycles. It’s partially influenced by the nature of phone plans — most plans only run for two years, at least in Australia — but in general, nobody keeps a smartphone for more than three years.

Most are done by two; a lot of people switch out every 18 months. And if you add up all the costs, they cost a hell of a lot more than a console does.

But when I purchase a console, I’m expecting to get at least 5 or 6 years utility out of it. The last couple of years have made me question if you would even get that long out of the first generation of VR headsets, let alone a current generation console.

So am I ready to upgrade? My phone, probably yes. Its performance has dwindled substantially, although I use it far more frequently for work, pleasure and everything in between than I do a console.

Microsoft’s manoeuvring with the Xbox has also encouraged me to focus more on PC than anything; if I’m going to get all the first-party titles there, and I’ve already got the PC Remote Play app for the PS4, why not just play on the PC?

So I’m not ready to upgrade my console just yet; I don’t feel like I’ve got my money’s worth. That said, I’m still keen to see what’s announced, particularly when it comes to what the Neo can do with PSVR.

What about yourselves? How often do you upgrade, and are you primed to upgrade your phone or console right now?


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