Nobody can decide if YOU need a new phone.

Does your 6s do everything you need it to? Would a new phone with new features improve your day to day? Is your 6s inhibiting you from doing certain things? Personally, newer phones are way better and more fluid, so the answer is clear to me.

I still use Iphone 6. I don’t wanna spend that much money on a new Iphone. I’ve replaced the battery and it lasts for around 4 hours of screen on time. Yes, it’s slow. But I use it only for texting, listening to podcasts and social media browsing. For everything else I have my Ipad 8

You can’t keep using the 6s. We all know this, including you. And, you’re right, it IS pretty sad to think that you’re losing your first device. But from a security standpoint, you can’t keep it much longer. You just can’t.

I think you either want the SE or the 13 mini. (The 13 mini is almost identical to the 12 but has the better battery life.)

A value of something is worth what you are willing to pay for it. If your 6s is good enough for your daily use then no need to upgrade. What I would do though, is check out the new phones at the store and compare.

If it still works, then you can use it as a music device or as a secondary backup phone in case your new one dies or is missing.

Or you can still keep using it and replace the battery and the speakers. Don't worry about the iOS versions. You just need to be more careful when going online.

My iPhone 7 is still going strong and I don't intend on replacing it. 86% battery health.

What would stop me from using a 6s is the fact that it’s no longer getting security updates. Sure, you’re unlikely to be hit with the nasty stuff unless you’re a person of importance/annoyance to power. But once the cat is out of the bag, typical hackers can start looking into how to do the same. You don’t have to throw your 6s away but I think your overall experience would be better. Even a new battery won’t fix the fact that Apple isn’t going to be sending out (very many) bug and security fixes to your device. At the very least, you could use your 6s at home as a music player or photo album or whatever.

If you use your phone a lot, probably it’s worth the upgrade. I didn’t want to get upgraded from my lovely XR but felt it was way too slow, it was getting hot and apps as well as safari kept reloading each time I opened them. Got a 14, at first was super underwhelmed but as days went by I grew really happy as it’s nice not to waste your time on constant reloading, worrying about the heat or the battery and everything really, with an improved camera as icing on the cake

This is bullshit because

a) From the past, we know the iPhone 5s and 6, dropped with iOS 13 in 2019, got security updates with the latest one from August this year. While that’s no guarantee that the same will happen to the iPhone 6s and 7, it‘s very likely and they already started releasing updates to those devices after iOS 16 released with iOS 15.7 and 15.7.1. Meanwhile, you portrayed it as if all iPhone 6s and 7 would just have become paperweights the moment iOS 16 was released. Two days ago I saw a person using an iPhone 4. I wonder how she even managed to survive until now if it‘s as bad as you describe.

b) Your repetition of „you can‘t“ doesn’t make your statement any more true (3 times in 4 sentences).

c) Just because an OS is out of security updates doesn’t mean it‘s an security hole that will immediately and definitely be used by any bystander. And what would you tell the billions of Android users whose devices are not on the latest security patch? Would you tell them to immediately throw away their device and get a relatively new Google Pixel or the latest Samsung Galaxy S series because only those get the newest security bulletins right away?

Did you try to clean the speakers with a toothbrush?

I use mine as a Spotify/Reddit device in the shower.

There’s no security updates anymore, though.

If someone came up to me and asked if they should update their iPhone 6s, I’d say ‘yes’. And I’d tell them repeatedly that it’s because they are at the very end of support from Apple. I’d praise them for doing a good job of keeping hold of something for a long time and getting all the value out of it. But ultimately, no matter how much they love it, it’s needs to be replaced.

This goes for Android devices as well. While I’m not as up to date on how fragmented their updates are now, if they aren’t getting support for much longer, it’s time to go.

EDIT: That the original poster ALREADY bought the mini 12 further illustrates my point. They know it’s time.