Anonymous wrote
I have to question the idea that any phone will be relevant even 2 years down the road (especially an Apple). I would also question the idea that the battery will still have any life left in it at that point. For most phones (some iphone batteries were 6month ttr) replacing batteries is not a user job.
Do find a phone that allows wireless charging as the micro usb socket in most cell phones is the weakest point of the whole phone.
While for many people Apple has been the "gold standard" for the past number of years, I would suggest this will start to change (has already started to change) Apple has not really had any significant new things added for about 2 years now and the competition is keeping up and passing in this regard. Apple, for historical reasons, still has the best audio infrastructure. The Android can get the same lower latency if they bypass the audio API at the application level and go down a layer on good hardware.
Certainly using a phone for navigation rather than a purpose built chart plotter seems to be the best way to go for both price and staying up to date. There are a number of changes in the area of navigation (even besides GPS3) where the hardware will be cheaper and sooner in a phone than a marine chart plotter.
For those who care about freedom, it is easier to get an unlocked Android and if you care even more than that, most Androids can have the whole OS changed to a fully open stack with no tracking... not something that can be done with an iphone.
I have nothing to say about the apple vs android debate but it has been well known in the oil industry that an iPhone with a bit of ducktape over the center button is for all intensive purposes waterproof. The speakers and charging port on my 6s are waterproof (probably not for submersion).
As far as replacing the batteries on an iphone go this is no problem, new screen, new battery. Easy to do easy to learn with the proper screwdriver and the appropriate how to article for the job.
If I cannot fix it myself I do not own it.
If you are having corrosion problems I would recommend regularly 'greasing' all your marine electrical oulets (12v, 5vUSB, 5vmicroUSB, etc) with conductive silicon grease maybe it will work on your phone port too.