iPhone 4 suddenly became a viral sensation and a highly sought-after smartphone thanks to TikTok, sparking real excitement among buyers. Users view the iPhone 4 as a stylish symbol of nostalgia, a phone with a unique steel casing and a small 3.5-inch screen, reminiscent of a simpler era. According to research by the smartphone recycling company Compare and Recycle, the number of Google searches for the phrase “buy iPhone 4” has increased by 979% over the past year. This surge is driven by tech users’ nostalgia, wanting to acquire the iPhone 4 and other older models of iPhones for use as digital cameras. The aesthetics of old cameras are now in trend: almost 350,000 videos on TikTok and around 700,000 posts on Instagram use the hashtag #digicam.
Users favoring iPhone 4 believe that although the phone’s 5-megapixel camera is technically inferior to the 48-megapixel camera of the latest iPhone 17, it is valued for its unique graininess and atmosphere in photos. The Compare and Recycle team warned: “iPhone 4 has digital security risks that users may not be aware of. This is due to the fact that the last version of iOS that iPhone 4 supports is iOS 7.1.2, a version released in 2014, which has not been updated or received security patches for over a decade.” This means all your data can be exposed, without any protection or privacy. Any credentials can be stolen. Specialists do not recommend logging in with your Apple ID, installing mail, banking, and other applications that store personal information.
This resurgence is part of a broader trend where retro technology is making a comeback, revered for their vintage aesthetic and or the ‘imperfect’ digital quality they offer. Retro tech, like the iPhone 4, has been gaining traction on social media platforms, as it caters to a demographic yearning for simplicity and nostalgia, a cultural wave fueled partly by the distinctive look and feel such older technologies provide.
