San Francisco, Jan 9, 2026, 01:46 PST
- Searches for “buy iPhone 4” have jumped 979% over the past year, according to Compare and Recycle data cited by TechRadar.
- Publishers and recyclers are warning the 2010 handset is long out of security support and should not be used for accounts or daily phone tasks.
- Some listings put working iPhone 4 units in the $30–$50 range, as buyers chase a grainy “digicam” look.
A 15-year-old iPhone is back in fashion, with the iPhone 4 resurfacing on TikTok as a lo-fi camera and driving a sharp jump in shopping interest, TechRadar reported on Thursday. Techradar
Why it matters now: the trend is pushing people toward a device that has not received software and security updates in years, at a time when phones sit at the center of banking, messaging and account logins.
It is also a small stress test for the used-device economy. A spike in demand can pull old handsets out of drawers and into resale channels, even if many of them are better suited to one job — taking pictures — than acting like a modern phone.
The appeal is simple. Fans want the iPhone 4’s 5-megapixel photos and older image processing, which can look gritty next to today’s heavily processed smartphone shots, and they are leaning into “#digicam” posting culture.
AppleInsider, which tracked the TikTok revival, urged users to treat the iPhone 4 as a camera only: avoid signing in with an Apple account, skip web browsing, and move photos off the device with a cable rather than cloud syncing. It also warned against inserting a main SIM card into a used handset, citing the risk of account takeovers such as SIM swapping — when criminals trick a carrier into moving your phone number to a new SIM. Appleinsider
Lee Elliott, chief product officer at Compare and Recycle, said the nostalgia comes with predictable trade-offs. “The iPhone 4 comes with digital security risks users may not expect,” he said, warning the phone’s software is too old to protect personal data like newer iPhones. Cultofmac
Forbes contributor Zak Doffman also flagged the revival and urged buyers to keep the device away from sensitive accounts, instead offloading photos manually to a computer rather than relying on cloud services. Forbes
The iPhone 4 is not the only retro gadget getting a second act — TechRadar pointed to devices such as Nintendo’s DSi being reused as a concert camera — but the iPhone’s familiarity makes it an easy prop for social feeds. Sellers and refurbishers benefit if the demand holds, even briefly.
But there are downsides that could blunt the trend fast. Many iPhone 4 units have aging batteries and limited network compatibility, and parts and service are scarce for products Apple deems “obsolete” — more than seven years after it last sold them — which can make repairs impractical. Apple
For now, the safest version of the trend is the least ambitious one: keep the handset offline, don’t tie it to your main accounts, and use it like a point-and-shoot that happens to have an Apple logo.
