It’s 2026. And, Yes… An iPhone 13 Is Still Worth Buying

The iPhone 13 is not a new phone. But it is still a perfectly good phone. How do I know? Because I own one – and it works just fine. 

And refurbished? You can pick one up for crazy money these days (in a good way).

The camera isn’t as good as I’d like. The battery is now down to 85% in Battery Health. But it still runs great, gets iOS updates as soon as they drop, and for what I use it for: 

• Email
• Social media
• IM
• Web browsing
• Pictures, video
• Note taking

It works just as well as it ever did.

I have newer phones in my office, a couple of Xiaomi ones and a shiny, new OnePlus, but I haven’t switched over to these because my iPhone 13 is now part of my workflow (I use a Mac for work, and everything is hooked up nicely). 

I Bought It In 2023 & It’s Been Used HEAVILY Since Then…

Switching over to an Android phone, as nice as it’d be, would just create too many headaches, require too many updates and tweaks to the way I do things in my day to day. 

Had my iPhone 13 been causing me issues, either through slow performance, waning battery life, I’d swap it in a heartbeat (most likely for another iPhone).

But it hasn’t. It still runs great and I’ve been ragging it hard every day since I bought it back when it came out in 2023. 

Moral of the story? You don’t need a new phone every year – or maybe even every few years. Not anymore. I’m too old to be bothered by FOMO, especially with phones.

I’d rather spend my money elsewhere (guitars, clothes, Bitcoin, travel, my kids). 

Given The Choice, I’d Definitely Go With An iPhone 14 Over The iPhone 13

So, if you’re wondering if an iPhone 13 is still worth buying in 2026, my answer would be this: yes, 100%.

But if you want slightly more longevity with updates, maybe go with an iPhone 14. 

Have a look at all the current refurbished iPhones we recommend right now. All of them are great value and they’ll all get iOS support well into the 2030s.

We even have a tracker that details how long each of Apple’s top-selling refurbished iPhones will receive iOS updates for, so check that out if you need to know which is supported for the longest.

If you need the best possible camera performance, move up to a Pro or Pro Max model – again, the iPhone 14 series would be my recommendation for value for money.

But if you want things like Apple Intelligence and higher-end photo and video capture capabilities, I’d go with a refurbished iPhone 15 Pro Max.

I recently bought one of these to replace my iPhone 13 and it is an incredible phone, even by 2026 standards.

The Pro Max Difference (And Why It Matters To Some Users)

And if you go Pro, you get things like Dynamic Island which means it will look basically the same as an iPhone 16 series model.

Just don’t go thinking you need the latest model to have a good experience. That’s complete nonsense made up by Apple’s marketing department.

The hardware and tech is now so good in modern phones, you could literally run them for years on end and never have to change them.