I'm upgrading from an iPhone 11 Pro Max (64GB), which I've owned for the last 3 years. Prior to this, I had the XS Max for 1 year and the iPhone 6s and 5 for the years prior. None have been brought as new. I'm now trying to decide between the 256GB variants of either:
- Used iPhone 14 Pro Max- c. £420 with a new battery (likely non-OEM), from a major refurb retailer.
- Used iPhone 15 Pro Max- c. £500 with ~80–85% battery health, from a private seller.
Buying a refurb 15PM from the above major retailer is out of my budget, so these are the two realistic options.
What I'm trying to figure out is:
- Whether a new (but possibly non-OEM) battery, alongside refurb warranty (for the 14PM) is a better long-term ownership experience than the newer 15PM with OEM battery but already with a degree of wear/cycling.
- How much weight should be put on battery health vs newer chipset/longevity/USB-C etc.
- Whether a 3rd party verification service, offered by the private seller, meaningfully reduces risk enough to make the 15 PM the better buy.
- In general, which would you personally choose for a phone you’d likely keep for 3-5+ years.
For context, I’m used to the PM-sized phones. My current 11PM battery health is 73%. I’m not overly sensitive to battery degradation; I did replace my earlier XS and current 11PM batteries myself previously. Ultimately, I do want this next phone to feel like a proper long-term upgrade.
I would really appreciate any thoughts from people who’ve been in a similar decision between refurb vs used/private seller, or between these two models specifically.