What’s a good iPhone for the elderly?

Hi -

In terms of how you use them, and ease of use, they are all pretty similar.

For elderly eyesight is often a problem, so one with a bigger screen is probably better than one with a smaller screen.

The main question - how good are they with technology. If good, they will find an iPhone fine after a bit of time to learn it. If not, it can still be OK if there is someone near by who can help them with it.

My Mother lives 7 hours drive from my Sister, and 3000 miles over the Atlantic from me. She is not good with tech. We are planning to get her a non smart cell phone with big physical buttons for when she is out of the house.

Horses for courses.

Says a man who has never spent (literally) one full hour on the phone talking his elderly mother through getting a movie to play on netflix on the TV.

I kid you not.

Do you watch the mandalorian?

How many what? I know I'm on the cutting edge.

Hi, my dad is 95 and not very tech savvy. My sister found him an iPhone 6. Not sure if it was the last of the new ones or a refurb. He doesn't use is a lot, but he picked up texting very quickly. The fact that he uses the emojis cracks me up, because he's a fairly serious guy. He's got a landline, so he doesn't use it for calling much, but he knows how. Don't know if he has learned to take photos on it or not. He does use glasses for reading but doesn't seem to have any trouble with that on it. I wouldn't get an older person anything smaller than that, and they probably don't want or need the newest mini 12, or whatever it's called.

Hope that helps.

Your flippant answer is probably not very helpful. Do you not have an elderly person in your life who has not only not grown up with computers and smart phones but also no longer has the cognitive abilities of someone 2 or 3 generations younger?

No, my answer is exactly on point. What makes you think I am not an elderly person who is tired of the ageism practiced by people like you and Tony? We don't know ANYTHING about the person the OP is referring to. Yes, I have had elderly people in my life who didn't like computers, like my mother, who was a master at using her Linux based satellite TV box but just didn't realize it was a computer. I have a neighbor who is averse to change and I help him with his technology. But I also know 20 year olds who don't know anything about technology and doesn't want to. It isn't just age. And their are many senior members here helping others who are older than I am.

And Tony, perhaps the problem is not your mother but you?

Ageists.

Exactly. My mother wrote down notes as I explained to her, very slowly and repeating things a lot, how to use their DVD player. I eventually gave them a boxed set of a TV series they liked, but they never watched it, because--you guessed it--they couldn't figure out how to set it up. The last time I was in my dad's apartment at his retirement community, the picture on the TV was not taking up the whole screen; it had a band of black or gray all the way around it. I told him he needed to talk to the staff at the retirement community to find out what needed to be done to make it right, and he said it was no big deal. A lot of elderly folks--who are used to doing without many things we take for granted--haven't the time, inclination, or ability to process what it takes to keep up with technical advances.

I'm guessing that the person asking the question would not have included that in the description had they not considered it pertinent. How many nonagenarians do you know who are on the cutting edge of technology?

A phone with a good screen size most definitely. A phone with simple design like models before the 10. Of course just the phone model isn't enough teach them will also be extremely important. Around iphone 6/7plus/8plus

hope this helps

Jennifer it depends on what their comfort level is with learning new things, their eyesight, their dexterity and most importantly what their needs are in a phone.

If they are only going to use it for calls and limited texting go with a flip phone and if necessary one with big keys.

If they already have an iPhone with Touch ID get the iPhone SE 2nd Generation, they won't have to learn new gestures. Downside is with all the hand washing older people have drier skin and use creams to make up for it which can lead to Touch ID not working. In that case.

Go with one of the new iPhone 12s. If they have severe vision issues go with one of the larger ones, if they have grip issues due to arthritis or other things the 12 mini is ideal.

There really is no phone, other than maybe the Jitterbug, made for the "elderly" everybody is different which is why I said what I did. Ignore the ageists and ask any followup questions you have regarding the person who needs an iPhone.

Same thing as a good phone for a 20 year old, it depends on the needs of the user.