After thinking about it on and off for years, I decided that the most cost-efficient way for me to have a good-enough camera and a performant-enough phone would be to buy a 2-year old Pro every 2 years. I never bought the Pro before. I’m on a 5-year-old iPhone 12 mini now, and I am more than ready for an upgrade. Unfortunately for me, brand-new iPhones are either too expensive for the amount of joy I would derive from them (all models except the 16e) or unacceptably feature-limited (the 16e, which has no MagSafe, only one camera lens, etc.).

I estimate that I can buy a 2-year-old iPhone Pro for about 50% of its original selling price and sell it, two years after that, for about 20% of its original sale price.

I just ordered myself a refurbished iPhone 15 Pro, and will trade in my 5-year-old iPhone 12 mini once I get it. A good-enough case for it cost only 8 dollars. I was even able to spread the payments interest free for a year with my credit card. I am cautiously optimistic that this will all turn out well.