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The Irish Sun
02-08-2025
- The Irish Sun
Trick to get iPhone for £100s less that everyone misses – and it works on Amazon gadgets too
IT'S surprisingly easy to slash hundreds of pounds off your gadgets – you just need to shop in the right places. If you're hoping to snap up some new Apple gear (or Amazon) then there's a trick worth knowing. 3 You can bag savings on top iPhone Pro models or cheaper gadgets too Credit: Apple Loads of top gadget makers have official refurbished stores with "like new" products sold at massive discounts. Apple has a dedicated virtual Certified Refurbished store where you can buy an retail price. It's easy to dismiss refurbished gadgets as being low quality used gear – but that's not the case if you're getting a proper refurbished item. And the savings can be enormous if you're willing to buy a product that isn't "brand new". Read more on iPhone HOW DOES APPLE'S REFURBISHED SCHEME WORK? Every company will have different rules for how they restore gadgets. On the Apple Store, the refurbished gear is cleaned, inspected, and tested by the company. So it should feel pretty new and work as normal. It'll also come with proper Apple replacement parts if anything was broken and needed fixing. So if the screen was busted , it won't have been swapped out for Most read in Phones & Gadgets You'll get it newly packaged and shipping is free. And Apple also gives you the standard one-year warranty that you'd get if you were buying a brand new product. iPhone 16e review – I've secretly tested Apple's cheapest mobile and I love the new button but that's not the best bit You're also able to bag AppleCare with it, which is normally possible with used gadgets. If you're buying an iPhone, you'll get the usual accessories and cables – but also a brand new battery. That's important because phone batteries degrade over time with use, so they end up holding less charge. A degraded battery can So with the battery swapped out, it should have 3 Apple discounts loads of gadgets on its Certified Refurbished store, including iPad and Mac Credit: Apple / The Sun You can also spend Apple Trade In credit on the Certified Refurbished store too, if you're keen to hand in your old mobile. HOW MUCH CAN YOU SAVE? The savings depends on the gadget that you're looking to buy. For iPhone, Apple is currently flogging the following models: iPhone 14 iPhone 14 Plus iPhone 14 Pro iPhone 14 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max The biggest saving right now is £310 off certain iPhone 14 Pro Max models . If you're snapping up a pricer gadget like a Mac computer, the savings get even bigger. There's a Mac Studio on the Certified Refurbished store right now with a £1,050 discount. BACK-TO-SCHOOL OFFER If you want another deal, there's a great back-to-school offer at Apple... It's an Education discount, which means you have to qualify to bag the offer. But it gets you a free pair of Apple AirPods 4 worth £129 if you buy the right iPad or Mac. The offer is running right through to October 21 and works on: iPad Air iPad Pro MacBook Air MacBook Pro iMac It's available to higher education students, parents buying gadgets for them, or teachers and teaching staff at any level. Students as young as 16 can bag the deal as long as they're enrolled (or accepted to enroll) as a tertiary education institution. That includes colleges, sixth forms, and university. You just need to verify your status through UNiDAYS to qualify when you're trying to buy the gear through the Apple Education Store. This store also discounts products too, so you can get even more savings. Picture Credit: Apple But if you're buying a much cheaper gadget, the savings will be lower. NOT JUST APPLE Amazon also has its own special store for refurbished gadgets. It's called Amazon Renewed, and lets you get gadgets at discounts. "Products sold on Amazon Renewed have been inspected and tested to be fully functional by an Amazon qualified and performance managed supplier," Amazon explains. 3 Amazon has its own Renewed store for flogging refurbished devices Credit: Amazon / The Sun For the best quality, you'll want items stamped with the "Premium Condition" badge – or "Excellent" if you're willing to put up with slightly worse battery life. At "Good" or "Acceptable" conditions, you'll start to notice visible damage – but the price should be lower. You can find the Amazon Renewed store
Scottish Sun
02-08-2025
- Scottish Sun
Trick to get iPhone for £100s less that everyone misses – and it works on Amazon gadgets too
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) IT'S surprisingly easy to slash hundreds of pounds off your gadgets – you just need to shop in the right places. If you're hoping to snap up some new Apple gear (or Amazon) then there's a trick worth knowing. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 You can bag savings on top iPhone Pro models or cheaper gadgets too Credit: Apple Loads of top gadget makers have official refurbished stores with "like new" products sold at massive discounts. Apple has a dedicated virtual Certified Refurbished store where you can buy an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and more for far below the usual retail price. It's easy to dismiss refurbished gadgets as being low quality used gear – but that's not the case if you're getting a proper refurbished item. And the savings can be enormous if you're willing to buy a product that isn't "brand new". HOW DOES APPLE'S REFURBISHED SCHEME WORK? Every company will have different rules for how they restore gadgets. On the Apple Store, the refurbished gear is cleaned, inspected, and tested by the company. So it should feel pretty new and work as normal. It'll also come with proper Apple replacement parts if anything was broken and needed fixing. So if the screen was busted, it won't have been swapped out for a dodgy third-party part. You'll get it newly packaged and shipping is free. And Apple also gives you the standard one-year warranty that you'd get if you were buying a brand new product. iPhone 16e review – I've secretly tested Apple's cheapest mobile and I love the new button but that's not the best bit You're also able to bag AppleCare with it, which is normally possible with used gadgets. If you're buying an iPhone, you'll get the usual accessories and cables – but also a brand new battery. That's important because phone batteries degrade over time with use, so they end up holding less charge. A degraded battery can also affect the performance of your mobile. So with the battery swapped out, it should have like-new battery life and performance. 3 Apple discounts loads of gadgets on its Certified Refurbished store, including iPad and Mac Credit: Apple / The Sun You can also spend Apple Trade In credit on the Certified Refurbished store too, if you're keen to hand in your old mobile. HOW MUCH CAN YOU SAVE? The savings depends on the gadget that you're looking to buy. For iPhone, Apple is currently flogging the following models: iPhone 14 iPhone 14 Plus iPhone 14 Pro iPhone 14 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max The biggest saving right now is £310 off certain iPhone 14 Pro Max models. If you're snapping up a pricer gadget like a Mac computer, the savings get even bigger. There's a Mac Studio on the Certified Refurbished store right now with a £1,050 discount. BACK-TO-SCHOOL OFFER If you want another deal, there's a great back-to-school offer at Apple... It's an Education discount, which means you have to qualify to bag the offer. But it gets you a free pair of Apple AirPods 4 worth £129 if you buy the right iPad or Mac. The offer is running right through to October 21 and works on: iPad Air iPad Pro MacBook Air MacBook Pro iMac It's available to higher education students, parents buying gadgets for them, or teachers and teaching staff at any level. Students as young as 16 can bag the deal as long as they're enrolled (or accepted to enroll) as a tertiary education institution. That includes colleges, sixth forms, and university. You just need to verify your status through UNiDAYS to qualify when you're trying to buy the gear through the Apple Education Store. This store also discounts products too, so you can get even more savings. Picture Credit: Apple But if you're buying a much cheaper gadget, the savings will be lower. NOT JUST APPLE Amazon also has its own special store for refurbished gadgets. It's called Amazon Renewed, and lets you get gadgets at discounts. "Products sold on Amazon Renewed have been inspected and tested to be fully functional by an Amazon qualified and performance managed supplier," Amazon explains. 3 Amazon has its own Renewed store for flogging refurbished devices Credit: Amazon / The Sun For the best quality, you'll want items stamped with the "Premium Condition" badge – or "Excellent" if you're willing to put up with slightly worse battery life. At "Good" or "Acceptable" conditions, you'll start to notice visible damage – but the price should be lower. You can find the Amazon Renewed store here.
Scottish Sun
05-07-2025
- Scottish Sun
Costly mistakes EVERYONE makes when buying new phones, TVs & Amazon gadgets – why you're losing £1000s without realising
THE PRICE IS…WRONG Costly mistakes EVERYONE makes when buying new phones, TVs & Amazon gadgets – why you're losing £1000s without realising Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) WHETHER it's early Christmas shopping or just a treat, buying new phones, TVs, and gadgets off Amazon can end up being a costly nightmare. There are loads of simple mistakes that could be costing you thousands, from getting sucked in by flashy TV specs you don't need, ignoring a little-known iPhone menu that reveals if you're being scammed, and falling for a costly Amazon "price trick". 16 The iPhone 16 is the latest model – but you don't necessarily need it Credit: Apple 16 Refurbished schemes are an easy way to bag huge discounts on top tech – without the downsides of bagging a used phone from a mate or stranger Credit: Apple / The Sun Here are some of the biggest mistakes that you can make when you're snapping up new gadgets. PHONE SHOPPING MISTAKES Mistake 1 – Ignoring official 'refurbished' schemes It's easy to forget that buying phones isn't just a choice between a new mobile from the shop or a used one via eBay or Facebook Marketplace. There's a third (and easily missed) option: certified refurbished schemes. Many gadget makers and retailers have dedicated services where they restore used or unboxed phones so that they're basically as good as new, but with big discounts. Apple is a good example. Go to the website and look for the Certified Refurbished section here. There you'll find top iPhone models that have been fully tested, include a one-year warranty, a brand new box with all accessories and cables, and a fresh battery too. And they're all heavily discounted because they're "refurbished". Right now, you can get £310 savings on some iPhone 14 Pro Max models (but we've seen discounts as high as £460 before). Samsung has a similar scheme called Certified Re-Newed here. iPhone 16e review – I've secretly tested Apple's cheapest mobile and I love the new button but that's not the best bit And again, you'll get gadgets in a brand new box with a cable, SIM ejector, plus a year-long warranty. Then there are third-party marketplaces like Back Market that also refurbish mobiles. So don't pay full price for a phone without checking the refurbished version too. Just remember: you might struggle to find refurbished units for the absolute-newest phone models. Mistake 2 – Buying a used phone with fake parts When you're buying a used phone from a person directly, you'll often be nabbing it at a saving. 16 Apple has set up the iPhone to show when it's packing fake parts Credit: Apple But that person might have secretly repaired the mobile with fake parts – and not told you. Now you've got an iPhone that might break down, not work properly, and require expensive repairs. Not only that, but it'll affect the resale value of your mobile too. You'll want to get into Settings > General > About > Parts and Service History. This will show parts of your iPhone, and whether they're legit or not. "If a part is labelled Genuine Apple Part, the part has been replaced with a genuine Apple part using genuine Apple parts and processes," Apple explained. "If a part is labelled Unknown Part, this means that the installation is incomplete. "Or the part was replaced with a non-genuine part, was previously used or installed in another iPhone, or isn't functioning as expected." If you're not seeing the menu, it means your iPhone hasn't had any parts swapped. 16 If an iPhone has been repaired, you can see in Settings > General > About > Parts and Service History Credit: Apple You should check this page before you accept the smartphone from whoever you're buying it from. "Genuine Apple parts are designed to fit precisely within the device and provide optimal performance, safety, and reliability," Apple explained. "Repairs performed by Apple and Apple Authorised Service Providers are covered by Apple's warranty. "Repairs performed by untrained individuals or using non-genuine parts might affect the functionality, safety, security, and privacy of the device." Apple adds: "Using non-genuine batteries might also result in unexpected behaviour after installation, device software updates, or while charging. "Using non-genuine batteries might also lead to safety issues." Mistake 3 – Not looking at the phone's 'software' version All phones run on an operating system, with settings, menus, and design. 16 Google's latest phone software is called Android 16 – but not all mobiles can run it Credit: Google Apple's iPhone runs on iOS and most other mobiles run on Google's Android. These operating systems are updated fairly regularly – usually receiving a major upgrade once a year. These updates are important for two reasons. The first is that they deliver new features, keeping your old mobile feeling fresh with the latest tricks. And the second is that software updates are how tech giants deliver security fixes to your phone. These fixes will close dangerous security loopholes that hackers can use to break into your device, accounts, and potentially even your finances. If your phone is too old to receive these updates, it's seriously exposed to cybercrime – not to mention missing out on new features too. So before you buy a used phone, make absolutely sure that it can still receive software updates. 16 Apple is rolling out iOS 26 to iPhones later this year, but millions of older devices will miss out Credit: Apple A quick Google search will reveal the latest iOS or Android software version, and whether your mobile can get it. For instance, only the following iPhones can get the iOS 26 update coming out in September: iPhone 16e iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhone 14 Plus iPhone 14 Pro iPhone 14 Pro Max iPhone 13 iPhone 13 mini iPhone 13 Pro iPhone 13 Pro Max iPhone 12 iPhone 12 mini iPhone 12 Pro iPhone 12 Pro Max iPhone 11 iPhone 11 Pro iPhone 11 Pro Max iPhone SE (3rd gen) iPhone SE (2nd gen) So if you buy an older iPhone than that, you're leaving yourself exposed. DON'T RISK AN ANCIENT MOBILE Here's some phone advice from The Sun's tech editor Sean Keach... Buying a phone from last year or the year before is a savvy move to save money. But if you're snapping up a mobile that's five years old, you might be in serious danger. Make absolutely sure that it is still getting updates – and isn't cut off, or about to be. If you're left with a gadget that can't get security updates, you're an open goal for cybercriminals. They can waltz right in through unpatched security holes that are well-known in hacker communities. Free security updates are one of your best defences against hackers. So don't leave it to chance and don't leave the front door to your digital life unlocked. Picture Credit: Sean Keach It's better to buy a newer model that will still get updates for several years, to avoid having to upgrade (and paying hundreds to do so). Sure, it might be tempted to get a very old phone on the cheap – but going too far back is simply not worth the risk. TV SHOPPING MISTAKES TVs can vary wildly in price – so if you bungle your purchase, the cost of the mistake can be huge. It's not like picking the wrong pastry at Greggs, you could be throwing away hundreds of pounds. Mistake 1 – 8K? Not OK First off, watch out for telly jargon – and 8K is at the top of the list. It sounds better than 4K, right? But splashing out on 8K TV is one of the easiest ways to end up spending way more than you need to. These terms relate to the resolution of your TV's screen – that's the number of pixels. Pixels are the tiny dots that light up with colour to make up the picture that you see. If you have more of those tiny dots, your telly can show more detail. 16 Netflix has plenty of 4K telly – but you won't find any 8K movies in its library Credit: Netflix So a 720p HD TV would have a resolution of 1,280 pixels horizontally and 720 pixels vertically. That totals to 921,600 pixels across the entire screen. Here's how common resolutions compare: 720p HD (1,280 x 720 pixels) – 921,600 pixels total 1080p Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) – 2,073,600 pixels total 4K Ultra HD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) – 8,294,400 pixels total 8K Super HD (7,680 x 4,320 pixels) – 33,177,600 pixels total More pixels mean more potential detail on your TV screen – but that's not always particularly useful. For a start, your eyes will struggle to tell the difference between 4K and 8K. You'd need to have an absolutely enormous TV, bigger than would fit in most living rooms, to see a noticeable change. Or you'd need to be sitting so close to your telly that you're basically on top of it. But that's not even the biggest problem. 16 A 4K TV is a nice happy medium when it comes to quality and pricing – very few people need an 8K telly today Credit: Samsung To enjoy a 4K picture on a 4K TV, you also need a piece of 4K content – and the same is true for 8K. There's almost no 8K content out there. In fact, loads of telly still isn't even shown in 4K, never mind 8K. It's trickier to capture and produce 8K content, and streaming it would put a much bigger strain on home internet. So no one really bothers. And even though your 8K telly will promise to "upscale" lower quality footage, this is just computer trickery – and not comparable to the real thing. So I wouldn't bother with 8K just yet. At the same time, I'd recommend picking a 4K telly over a cheaper Full HD TV. You can get 4K TVs for very cheap now, and most streaming apps (like Netflix and Amazon Video) serve up 4K content. And if you buy a Full HD telly, you'll probably want to upgrade far sooner than if you get a more future-proofed 4K – so it's worth the slightly higher upfront cost. Mistake 2 – Plug-in power Just because your TV is slow does not mean you need a new one. You'll find that loads of cheap televisions run awfully slow, taking an age to navigate through menus. You click your remote and it feels like that signal is travelling through mud. That's because one of the easiest ways to cut costs on a cheap telly is by fitting it with a budget computer processor. 16 An Apple TV 4K is a great plug-in option for your telly – and will instantly speed it up Credit: Apple If you're happy with the picture, then the far cheaper option is to buy a plug-in streamer. My personal pick is the Apple TV 4K, which costs £149 and goes into the back of your telly. It's lightning quick to navigate with, and has all the top apps you'd want (BBC iPlayer, Netflix, ITV Hub, Prime Video, Now TV and so on). But you could also bag yourself a 4K Amazon Fire Stick (£60) or a 4K Roku box (£39) and use that as your main TV interface instead. That way, you get to enjoy your TV's picture – but it's the streaming stick that's powering what you see. And it means you don't need to pay hundreds (or even thousands) for a brand new telly that runs faster. Mistake 3 – Getting the wrong kind of TV What you absolutely don't want to do is get the wrong telly for your needs. 16 Make sure you pick a telly with plenty of ports – or you might find it lacking down the line Credit: Samsung Then you'll get it, use it for a few months, and realise you've made a big mistake. There are a few common bungles to watch out for. The first is the number of HDMI ports – you need to make sure that you have enough. If you're connecting a Fire Stick, an Xbox, and a Sky TV box, that's three HDMI ports gone straight away. And if the TV only has three ports, what do you do if you bag yourself the new Nintendo Switch 2? Whoops. Two HDMI ports will be a real struggle, so try to get a telly that has at least four. Secondly, if you're planning to do some serious gaming on the telly, pay attention to the refresh rate. Video is just a series of still images shown very quickly – and the refresh rate tells you how many times a second your TV is updating those images. For gamers, a screen with 120Hz or 144Hz refresh rate gives you a smoother motion when you're playing games at a high frame rate. 16 Some TV brands offer 144Hz televisions that are better for gaming Credit: Samsung And that's important especially in fast-paced games. AMAZON SHOPPING MISTAKES Amazon is a treasure trove for gadget fans – it's packed with tech, often sold with heavy discounts. Mistake #1 – Falling for fake deals But one of the pitfalls for Amazon shoppers is finding a fake deal. This is when a price seems to be discounted, but the truth is that the "full price" isn't totally honest. Sometimes, sellers will only list a product at its full price for very short periods of time. This allows them to display a product as heavily discounted – even though that's the real price. Fortunately, there's a brilliant tool called CamelCamelCamel (here)that lets you plug in any Amazon product link to see its full price history. 16 You can easily check the price history for Amazon products by using CamelCamelCamel Credit: CamelCamelCamel / The Sun You'll be able to see a graph that charts its price movements, plus its highest, lowest, and average mark-ups. That way, you can tell if you're actually buying a great deal – or you're being massively ripped off. Mistake #2 – Not using price alerts The problem with buying products online is that it always feels like there's a sale on – until the moment you actually want to buy a product. 16 Make sure you're using your Amazon Wish List for discount alerts Credit: Amazon Then suddenly it's full price everywhere and you're paying hundreds more than you'd hoped to. The best way to tackle that with Amazon gadgets is to set up price alerts. This is perfect if you don't need something right away and want to get the best value for money. For a start, you can add items to your Amazon Wish List, and then switch on notifications in your Amazon account settings. That way, you'll be notified when prices drop for any of the items on your wish list. You can also go into the Amazon app, head into the Notifications > Recommendations settings and toggle it on. This will give you personalised deal alerts based on your shopping activity – like for items that you've recently searched. This is handy, as it'll capture gadgets that you forgot to add to your wish list but might still be interested in. 16 Try toggling on recommendation notifications for personalised deal alerts Credit: Amazon It could save you from massively overspending. Mistake #3 – Ignoring Amazon's hidden discounts There are a few easy-to-miss discount schemes on Amazon worth noting. Firstly, there's the Amazon Renewed store here. This is Amazon's Certified Refurbished store, where it professionally inspects, tests, and resells gadgets – with a one-year guarantee included. 16 Loads of discounted gadgets can be found in the Amazon Renewed store Credit: Amazon / The Sun You'll find significant discounts on products, including phones, headphones, and laptops. So it's worth checking on that store before you pay full price on regular Amazon. If you're a Prime member, you can also take advantage of the Buy More & Save store – you can find that here. This knocks 15% off your total bill if you buy at least four qualifying items. 16 If you're a Prime member, you can instantly cut your shopping bill Credit: Amazon / The Sun There's plenty in there, including food, clothes, and home essentials – but also some electronics too. So it's an easy way to trim your Amazon bills if you need the items on offer.
The Irish Sun
05-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
Costly mistakes EVERYONE makes when buying new phones, TVs & Amazon gadgets – why you're losing £1000s without realising
WHETHER it's early Christmas shopping or just a treat, buying new phones, TVs, and gadgets off Amazon can end up being a costly nightmare. There are loads of simple mistakes that could be costing you thousands, from getting sucked in by flashy TV specs you don't need, ignoring a little-known iPhone menu that reveals if you're being scammed, and falling for a costly Amazon "price trick". 16 The iPhone 16 is the latest model – but you don't necessarily need it Credit: Apple 16 Refurbished schemes are an easy way to bag huge discounts on top tech – without the downsides of bagging a used phone from a mate or stranger Credit: Apple / The Sun Here are some of the biggest mistakes that you can make when you're snapping up new gadgets. PHONE SHOPPING MISTAKES Mistake 1 – Ignoring official 'refurbished' schemes It's easy to forget that buying phones isn't just a choice between a new mobile from the shop or a used one via eBay or Facebook Marketplace. There's a third (and easily missed) option: certified refurbished schemes. Many gadget makers and retailers have dedicated services where they restore used or unboxed phones so that they're basically as good as new, but with big discounts. Apple is a good example. Go to the website and look for the Certified Refurbished section There you'll find top models that have been fully tested, include a one-year warranty, a brand new box with all accessories and cables, and a fresh battery too. And they're all heavily discounted because they're "refurbished". Right now, you can get £310 savings on some iPhone 14 Pro Max models (but we've seen Samsung has a similar scheme called Certified Re-Newed iPhone 16e review – I've secretly tested Apple's cheapest mobile and I love the new button but that's not the best bit And again, you'll get gadgets in a brand new box with a cable, SIM ejector, plus a year-long warranty. Then there are third-party marketplaces like Back Market that also refurbish mobiles. So don't pay full price for a phone without checking the refurbished version too. Just remember: you might struggle to find refurbished units for the absolute-newest phone models. Mistake 2 – Buying a used phone with fake parts When you're buying a used phone from a person directly, you'll often be nabbing it at a saving. 16 Apple has set up the iPhone to show when it's packing fake parts Credit: Apple But that person might have secretly Now you've got an iPhone that might break down, not work properly, and require expensive repairs. Not only that, but it'll affect the resale value of your mobile too. You'll want to get into Settings > General > About > Parts and Service History . This will show parts of your iPhone, and whether they're legit or not. "If a part is labelled Genuine Apple Part, the part has been replaced with a genuine Apple part using genuine Apple parts and processes," Apple explained. "If a part is labelled Unknown Part, this means that the installation is incomplete. "Or the part was replaced with a non-genuine part, was previously used or installed in another iPhone, or isn't functioning as expected." If you're not seeing the menu, it means your iPhone hasn't had any parts swapped. 16 If an iPhone has been repaired, you can see in Settings > General > About > Parts and Service History Credit: Apple You should check this page before you accept the smartphone from whoever you're buying it from. "Genuine Apple parts are designed to fit precisely within the device and provide optimal performance, safety, and reliability," Apple explained. "Repairs performed by Apple and Apple Authorised Service Providers are covered by Apple's warranty. "Repairs performed by untrained individuals or using non-genuine parts might affect the functionality, safety, security, and privacy of the device." Apple adds: "Using non-genuine batteries might also result in unexpected behaviour after installation, device software updates, or while charging. "Using non-genuine batteries might also lead to safety issues." Mistake 3 – Not looking at the phone's 'software' version All phones run on an operating system, with settings, menus, and design. 16 Google's latest phone software is called Android 16 – but not all mobiles can run it Credit: Google Apple's iPhone runs on iOS and most other mobiles run on Google's Android. These operating systems are updated fairly regularly – usually receiving a major upgrade once a year. These updates are important for two reasons. The first is that they deliver new features , keeping your old mobile feeling fresh with the latest tricks. And the second is that software updates are how tech giants deliver security fixes to your phone. These fixes will close dangerous security loopholes that hackers can use to break into your device, accounts, and potentially even your finances. If your phone is too old to receive these updates, it's seriously exposed to cybercrime – not to mention missing out on new features too. So before you buy a used phone, make absolutely sure that it can still receive software updates. 16 Apple is rolling out iOS 26 to iPhones later this year, but millions of older devices will miss out Credit: Apple A quick Google search will reveal the latest iOS or Android software version, and whether your mobile can get it. For instance, only the following iPhones can get the iOS 26 update coming out in September: iPhone 16e iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhone 14 Plus iPhone 14 Pro iPhone 14 Pro Max iPhone 13 iPhone 13 mini iPhone 13 Pro iPhone 13 Pro Max iPhone 12 iPhone 12 mini iPhone 12 Pro iPhone 12 Pro Max iPhone 11 iPhone 11 Pro iPhone 11 Pro Max iPhone SE (3rd gen) iPhone SE (2nd gen) So if you buy an older iPhone than that, you're leaving yourself exposed. DON'T RISK AN ANCIENT MOBILE Here's some phone advice from The Sun's tech editor Buying a phone from last year or the year before is a savvy move to save money. But if you're snapping up a mobile that's five years old, you might be in serious danger. Make absolutely sure that it is still getting updates – and isn't cut off, or about to be. If you're left with a gadget that can't get security updates, you're an open goal for cybercriminals. They can waltz right in through unpatched security holes that are well-known in hacker communities. Free security updates are one of your best defences against hackers. So don't leave it to chance and don't leave the front door to your digital life unlocked. Picture Credit: Sean Keach It's better to buy a newer model that will still get updates for several years, to avoid having to upgrade (and paying hundreds to do so). Sure, it might be tempted to get a very old phone on the cheap – but going too far back is simply not worth the risk. TV SHOPPING MISTAKES TVs can vary wildly in price – so if you bungle your purchase, the cost of the mistake can be huge. It's not like picking the wrong pastry at Greggs, you could be throwing away hundreds of pounds. Mistake 1 – 8K? Not OK First off, watch out for telly jargon – and 8K is at the top of the list. It sounds better than 4K, right? But splashing out on 8K TV is one of the easiest ways to end up spending way more than you need to. These terms relate to the resolution of your TV's screen – that's the number of pixels. Pixels are the tiny dots that light up with colour to make up the picture that you see. If you have more of those tiny dots, your telly can show more detail. 16 Netflix has plenty of 4K telly – but you won't find any 8K movies in its library Credit: Netflix So a 720p HD TV would have a resolution of 1,280 pixels horizontally and 720 pixels vertically. That totals to 921,600 pixels across the entire screen. Here's how common resolutions compare: 720p HD (1,280 x 720 pixels) – 921,600 pixels total 1080p Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) – 2,073,600 pixels total 4K Ultra HD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) – 8,294,400 pixels total 8K Super HD (7,680 x 4,320 pixels) – 33,177,600 pixels total More pixels mean more potential detail on your TV screen – but that's not always particularly useful. For a start, your eyes will struggle to tell the difference between 4K and 8K. You'd need to have an absolutely enormous TV, bigger than would fit in most living rooms, to see a noticeable change. Or you'd need to be sitting so close to your telly that you're basically on top of it. But that's not even the biggest problem. 16 A 4K TV is a nice happy medium when it comes to quality and pricing – very few people need an 8K telly today Credit: Samsung To enjoy a 4K picture on a 4K TV, you also need a piece of 4K content – and the same is true for 8K. There's almost no 8K content out there. In fact, loads of telly still isn't even shown in 4K, never mind 8K. It's trickier to capture and produce 8K content, and streaming it would put a much bigger strain on home internet. So no one really bothers. And even though your 8K telly will promise to "upscale" lower quality footage, this is just computer trickery – and not comparable to the real thing. So I wouldn't bother with 8K just yet. At the same time, I'd recommend picking a 4K telly over a cheaper Full HD TV. You can get 4K TVs for very cheap now, and most streaming apps (like Netflix and Amazon Video) serve up 4K content. And if you buy a Full HD telly, you'll probably want to upgrade far sooner than if you get a more future-proofed 4K – so it's worth the slightly higher upfront cost. Mistake 2 – Plug-in power Just because your TV is slow does not mean you need a new one. You'll find that loads of cheap televisions run awfully slow, taking an age to navigate through menus. You click your remote and it feels like that signal is travelling through mud. That's because one of the easiest ways to cut costs on a cheap telly is by fitting it with a budget computer processor. 16 An Apple TV 4K is a great plug-in option for your telly – and will instantly speed it up Credit: Apple If you're happy with the picture, then the far cheaper option is to buy a plug-in streamer. My personal pick is the Apple TV 4K, which costs £149 and goes into the back of your telly. It's lightning quick to navigate with, and has all the top apps you'd want (BBC iPlayer, Netflix, ITV Hub, Prime Video, Now TV and so on). But you could also bag yourself a 4K Amazon Fire Stick (£60) or a 4K Roku box (£39) and use that as your main TV interface instead. That way, you get to enjoy your TV's picture – but it's the streaming stick that's powering what you see. And it means you don't need to pay hundreds (or even thousands) for a brand new telly that runs faster. Mistake 3 – Getting the wrong kind of TV What you absolutely don't want to do is get the wrong telly for your needs. 16 Make sure you pick a telly with plenty of ports – or you might find it lacking down the line Credit: Samsung Then you'll get it, use it for a few months, and realise you've made a big mistake. There are a few common bungles to watch out for. The first is the number of HDMI ports – you need to make sure that you have enough. If you're connecting a Fire Stick, an Xbox, and a Sky TV box, that's three HDMI ports gone straight away. And if the TV only has three ports, what do you do if you bag yourself the new Two HDMI ports will be a real struggle, so try to get a telly that has at least four. Secondly, if you're planning to do some serious gaming on the telly, pay attention to the refresh rate. Video is just a series of still images shown very quickly – and the refresh rate tells you how many times a second your TV is updating those images. For gamers, a screen with 120Hz or 144Hz refresh rate gives you a smoother motion when you're playing games at a high frame rate. 16 Some TV brands offer 144Hz televisions that are better for gaming Credit: Samsung And that's important especially in fast-paced games. AMAZON SHOPPING MISTAKES Amazon is a treasure trove for gadget fans – it's packed with tech, often sold with heavy discounts. Mistake #1 – Falling for fake deals But one of the pitfalls for Amazon shoppers is finding a fake deal. This is when a price seems to be discounted, but the truth is that the "full price" isn't totally honest. Sometimes, sellers will only list a product at its full price for very short periods of time. This allows them to display a product as heavily discounted – even though that's the real price. Fortunately, there's a brilliant tool called CamelCamelCamel ( 16 You can easily check the price history for Amazon products by using CamelCamelCamel Credit: CamelCamelCamel / The Sun You'll be able to see a graph that charts its price movements, plus its highest, lowest, and average mark-ups. That way, you can tell if you're actually buying a great deal – or you're being massively ripped off. Mistake #2 – Not using price alerts The problem with buying products online is that it always feels like there's a sale on – until the moment you actually want to buy a product. 16 Make sure you're using your Amazon Wish List for discount alerts Credit: Amazon Then suddenly it's full price everywhere and you're paying hundreds more than you'd hoped to. The best way to tackle that with Amazon gadgets is to set up price alerts. This is perfect if you don't need something right away and want to get the best value for money . For a start, you can add items to your Amazon Wish List, and then switch on notifications in your Amazon account settings. That way, you'll be notified when prices drop for any of the items on your wish list. You can also go into the Amazon app, head into the Notifications > Recommendations settings and toggle it on. This will give you personalised deal alerts based on your shopping activity – like for items that you've recently searched. This is handy, as it'll capture gadgets that you forgot to add to your wish list but might still be interested in. 16 Try toggling on recommendation notifications for personalised deal alerts Credit: Amazon It could save you from massively overspending. Mistake #3 – Ignoring Amazon's hidden discounts There are a few easy-to-miss discount schemes on Amazon worth noting. Firstly, there's the Amazon Renewed store This is Amazon's Certified Refurbished store, where it professionally inspects, tests, and resells gadgets – with a one-year guarantee included. 16 Loads of discounted gadgets can be found in the Amazon Renewed store Credit: Amazon / The Sun You'll find significant discounts on products, including phones, headphones, and laptops. So it's worth checking on that store before you pay full price on regular Amazon. If you're a Prime member, you can also take advantage of the Buy More & Save store – you can find that This knocks 15% off your total bill if you buy at least four qualifying items. 16 If you're a Prime member, you can instantly cut your shopping bill Credit: Amazon / The Sun There's plenty in there, including food, clothes, and home essentials – but also some electronics too. So it's an easy way to trim your Amazon bills if you need the items on offer.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Yahoo
Harnett County man charged with rape, assault, other crimes
A western Harnett County man is facing multiple charges, including two felony counts each of statutory rape of a child under 15 and indecent liberties. Tommy Joey Tapia, 26, of the 500 block of Thomas Farm Road between Seminole and Mamers, was indicted April 21 in Harnett County Superior Court. He was initially arrested May 14, 2024 and held on a $100,000 secured bond. That was modified to an unsecured $100,000 bond on Aug. 28, 2024, and he posted it on Sept. 3, 2024. However, his bond was revoked on May 5 due to new charges following his arrest on April 10 for violating a protective order, assault on a female and domestic violence, all misdemeanors. He is now being held on secured bond of $200,000. Tapia allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl on and after Nov. 22, 2022, according to a court document. On Dec. 16, 2023, he allegedly hit her on the head with a firearm and then threw her cell phone out the window of a car when she was 15. On April 13, 2024, he allegedly punched her in the right eye and stole her iPhone 14 Pro Max valued at $1,200. For those incidents, he is facing felony larceny, felony possession of stolen goods, assault on a female and interfering with emergency communications, the latter two are misdemeanors. Tapia also faces multiple charges stemming from Jan. 14, 2024, including driving with a revoked license, expired tag, no inspection, no insurance, window tint violation, no seat belt and failure to stop at a red light. He failed to appear in court on Sept. 12 and Oct. 18, 2024. He was served with a civil suit for failure to pay child support on Feb. 27. On May 7, 2019, Tapia pleaded guilty to no driver's license and was fined $440, stemming from July 9, 2016. He failed to appear in court one time, and also was found responsible for failure to maintain lane control. He paid the fine. A charge of simple assault and communicating threats and stemming from 2015 and 2016 were dismissed. No reasons were given in eCourts.
