Once upon a time I was among the first in line to upgrade each year when the new iPhone was released. That’s back when each new release was a giant leap forward in the state of the art. Now that the market segment for smart phones is well and truly mature, advances are, at best, iterative. I honestly couldn’t tell you the last surprising or novel capability Apple added. The iPhone as a platform is polished, unsurprising, and in the finest traditions of Apple, “just works” for 99.999% of anything I need a cell phone to do. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I’m not using anything but the smallest percentage of the device’s native capability. Sitting here the back half of my 40s, I’m grudgingly learning to accept that most “new and improved” technology isn’t targeted directly at me anymore.

In any case, over the years I have fallen off the “as soon as possible replacement” cycle. Now I’m about a month behind in bringing the latest and greatest tech home with me. Some of that is driven by the terms of the iPhone replacement program – essentially a lease agreement by Apple has adopted me as a guaranteed monthly revenue stream in exchange for sending me their newest kit every 12 months. It’s a good deal for them from a business perspective and it continues to scratch my itch for wanting new electronic toys on a regular basis.

I’m sure I’m leaving money on the table. In the old days I was able to sell my old phones not quite at cost, but still recouping a large percentage of what I spent originally. Apple, of course, has made it easy. When I’m due for an upgrade, they send me an email, I click on a few buttons, and two boxes arrive on my porch – one empty, to send in my old phone and the other chock full of new iPhone.

In any case, I’ve signed up for another year of throwing a monthly iPhone subscription fee at Apple and I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of my fresh new Pro Max 16.