'Obsolete' iPhone is selling for thousands of dollars as searches increase 979%
Giving us the perfect example of why you should hold onto your old tech, and years after one forgotten model of iPhone seemed to shuffle off to that electronics graveyard in the sky, it's now apparently reselling for a pretty penny.
We're sure you've read enough articles about how old copies of Resident Evil can fetch hundreds, Marvel movie box sets going for thousands, and rare Prince CDs that are worth nearly $7,000, but what about iPhones?
It's true that the original iPhone from 2007 has been known to go for a jaw-dropping $190,000, and while not quite as exorbitant as that, even some of its younger siblings are starting to creep up in price.
It's hard to keep up with the number of iPhones that have been released over the years, but with various Pros, Pro Maxes, and now even iPhone Air models, that’s only set to grow. Even as hype surrounding the long-rumored foldable iPhone continues to peak, and we start saving for a bank-busting reinvention, you might want to check in your drawers to rummage out older devices that are worth more than you might think.
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The iPhone 4 already has something of a colorful past due to it being attributed to the biggest Apple leak of all time, but now, it's back in the news for a very different reason. Apple classifies something as 'obsolete' when it's stopped being sold for more than seven years, so considering the iPhone 4 vanished from shelves in 2013, it's long gone in terms of availability.
According to the New York Post, the iPhone 4 is making a bizarre comeback, with the outlet reporting that it's all the rage on social media.
Away from people trying to embrace the 2016 is back trend, some of you are winding back your clocks even further. There's been a boom of TikTok videos of happy iPhone 4 users taking blurry pictures and gushing about the simplistic quality of the tech relic.
Google Trends confirms searches for iPhone 4 have spiked by 979%, while over on eBay, you can currently nab one for $12,000. Even though these might not actually end up selling, there are plenty of other auctions where iPhone 4s are genuinely selling for princely sums.
This comes with its own warning, as tech experts advise against putting our lives in the hands of obsolete tech that doesn't have all the modern security of newer models. Even recently, Apple had to issue a warning telling users to upgrade to the new iOS 26.2 due to fears of a sophisticated hack.
Speaking to The Post, Compare and Recycle’s Lee Elliott said that you should consider your data compromised as soon as you turn on an iPhone 4. Telling us to avoid submitting personal data to an iPhone 4, Elliot reiterated: "The latest iOS version that the iPhone 4 can support is iOS 7.1.2 — a version released in 2014. That’s over a decade without updates or security fixes.
“Because of this, the iPhone 4 will not be able to protect any personal data in the way that more modern iPhones do, leaving users vulnerable to issues like data leaks, hacking, and other security breaches."
There's also the fact that obsolete iPhones are well out of warranty, so you won't be able to get the necessary parts you need. Then again, that doesn't seem to be stopping those who are obsessed with the blast from the past.