Prices for the new iPhone 16 that debuted in September start at $799, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199, but cost doesn’t seem to discourage smartphone consumers from upgrading them frequently.

More than 1 in 10 Americans (11.89%) get a new phone once a year, and another 4.2% do so every six months, according to a Slashgear poll. Most (55.4%) upgrade every two to three years, but even that seemed excessive to participants in two recent Climate Week panels in New York about extending the lifespan of electronic devices.

“A number of people I talk to upgrade their phone because they think that they need the new camera, and it’s like, let’s all be real: the camera on the iPhone 10 is absolutely fine,” Corinne Iozzio, editor in chief of climate-action publication one5c, said at a panel in New York on September 24, referring the iPhone released in 2017. “I guess your crummy Instagram photo is a little bit better now, but nobody noticed.”

One way to increase the lifespan of devices, and thus help stem the growing problem of electronic waste, Iozzio and others argue, is to enable consumers and independent repair shops to fix devices when they break.

Right-to-repair laws, like one that took effect in the state of New York in 2023, require electronics manufacturers to make original parts and instructions for their devices available to consumers and independent repair shops.

The laws have been championed by electronic device resellers, like Back Market, which participated in this year’s Climate Week.

Keep reading here.—AAN

Google is upgrading its visual search capability on Google Lens to make shopping easier ahead of the holidays.

Users will be able to discover visual matches of products with specific product information when using Google Lens for shopping, including its price across retailers, reviews, or where to buy the item. All they need to do is click a photo and go to Google Lens.

Lilian Rincon, VP of product for Google Shopping, told Retail Brew it's like the best of the product details page in Google Search is now in Google Lens.

Keep reading here.—VC

If there’s one thing Gap’s gonna do, it’s make people dance.

So far this year, the clothing brand has created two music video-esque campaign spots, much to the delight of the internet. For its spring campaign, “Linen Moves,” singer Tyla dances in what’s essentially a re-creation of the music video for Jungle’s hit single “Back On 74.” And last month, the brand recruited singer Troye Sivan to dance to “Funny Thing” by Thundercat for its fall “Get Loose” campaign.

“Linen Moves” was one of Gap’s “most successful campaigns to date” in terms of online engagement, Erika Everett, head of marketing at Gap, told Marketing Brew, and her team wanted to keep the momentum going.

“We needed to one-up ourselves, essentially,” she told us.

So far, it seems to be working.

Keep reading here on Marketing Brew.—KH