iPhone SE: the return of small phones?

“9 to 5 Mac reports that it was unknown if the charging cord was from Apple or an aftermarket product, noting that some aftermarket charging cords have been connected to fires.”

If folk will try to buy cheap…

And the report also mentioned an E cigarette. I know you ‘have it in’ for Apple, DT, but let’s try to preserve a balance, shall we? A lot of laptops and ‘phones have caught fire in the past few years. And to help you out…

“Just this week, two incidents involving Samsung devices surfaced – in one case, a young woman in Switzerland suffered a bad burn on her thigh when the Galaxy S3 she had in her pocket caught fire without warning. In another case, a user in the United Arab Emirates woke up in the middle of the night startled by the smell of burnt plastic – his device, which was charging on the nightstand, was about to catch fire. Luckily, nothing was damaged besides the Galaxy S4 and the charger. In another case from a while ago, which went very popular on Reddit, a Galaxy S3 user suffered minor burns when his phone “exploded” and sent bits of molten plastic on his hand.”

But this topic is not about exploding ‘phones, is it?

Actually my primary concern is really air safety and it was incidental that I picked up on this. I am grateful you provided some land bound examples of the dangers. Readers may or may not know that the shipping of lithium batteries on passenger flights has been substantially banned,

On the other hand we have many many more hand-sets being onboard. One is also aware that alcohol burns well and is probably being dispensed to passengers.

I am rather off-topic but it must be a concern that Apple , who by many people’s accounts make the best phones, has suffered an inflight fire. There must be quite a few phones and other electronics aboard with lithium batteries and possibly inferior charging cables [ if that was the cause].

Would banning charging in the air be a suitable safety measure given it appears to be a problem area? I think safety first.

I believe Samsung, who by many people’s accounts make the best phones, has suffered a large number of ‘phone fires. Lithium batteries plus faulty leads are a dangerous combination.

However, BOT: I believe the size of the ‘phone is largely immaterial to its capacity for self-immolation :-))

As a matter of interest DT, where is this quotation extracted from? I thought initially it was Apple’s own blurb but I presume it is from an independent review.

The useful life of a product such as a smartphone is dependent on technological advances. If all you want to do is to make phone calls, an old Nokia will do fine. How long I keep my iPhone 5S will depend on it carries on doing what I need it to do. A friend of my age is pleased with his new (to him) iPhone 4, which his son gave him.

Yesterday I was using my 2002 iMac. Apart from the clock showing the wrong time because the internal battery requires replacement, the computer still works fine. I keep it because I occasionally need to use obsolete software. The build quality seems OK to me.

John – The article cited by DT will have been based on this report by Apple: https://www.apple.com/environment/pdf/Apple_Environmental_Responsibility_Report_2015.pdf

Much of this is commendable but Apple is still driving people to replace (not very) old products with new. 🙁

That’s a bit out of place in a Convo about smaller phones, John, and it can only be considered mobile if you buy a very long extension cable.

You can carry it around and plug it in to anyone else’s phone socket so you don’t need a long cable. Technology has changed, wavechange.

Obsolescence, rather than durability, seems to be one definition of life. My Nokia has lasted 9 years, is small, connects to the internet, bluetooth, makes calls (that used to be what a phone was for) and messages. But if I got a smart phone, as with a modern car, I’d become attached to (dependent upon) its extensive features. This is where you are taken in by the skill of the marketeers – they regularly change the features so you have to upgrade and part with a lot more money, leaving your very advanced (but slightly less so) phone behind. If people want to dispose of their money thus then no problem at all with that.

It depends if it is a plug-in phone or wired in to a junction box, Malcolm.

I keep an old Nokia in the car for emergency use because I’m not attached enough to my smartphone to always remember to take it with me when I go out. Like other simple Nokia phones it was useless for web access. Which model do you have?

Well, I have two – the 9 year old fits my old car’s hands-free cradle (and charges when i’m out and about). The later (spare) is a C1-01 but i have never used it on the web – simply not found the need. However my “children” use web access all the time and I can quite see how you’d get hooked.

The C1-01 was useless for website access. I have one that stopped working after little use and I could not be bothered to pursue my rights under the Sale of Goods Act. My C2-O1 has proved more reliable (but equally useless on the web) and a friend was grateful for the loan of it yesterday when her smartphone stopped working for no obvious reason.

One of the most important reasons for having a smartphone is to keep an eye on what is happening on Which? Convo when you are out and about. 🙂

When I am out and about I have no interest whatsoever in what is happening on the web, or what has dropped in my inbox, or in text messages, or phone calls. I usually manage to forget to take my phone with me and I rarely have a watch with me either. It’s an agreeable life.

Good John