Big tech marketing machines want us to believe that our tools are obsolete the moment a newer version arrives.

I recently felt the itch to upgrade my iPhone 15 Pro. I bought it in January 2024 for $879 after trade-in. The performance is still perfect, though the battery life has drifted.

Before deciding, I checked the raw data:
  • Battery Cycle Count: 687
  • Battery Health: 86%
This sparked a simple mental model for utility: Price Per Cycle.

If I assign a value of $1 to every full charge (a dollar for a day of utility), the math is clear. $879 cost minus 687 cycles equals 192 cycles remaining.

I am not done with this phone. I have 192 charges to go before I break even.

This isn't about being cheap. It is the discipline of extracting every ounce of value from the things we own.

Before buying the next thing, truly consume the current thing.