Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to unveil the next generation of iPhone on Tuesday — a device that will surely be proclaimed the company’s greatest achievement (again).

Last year, Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of marketing, hailed the iPhone 5S as “the most forward-thinking phone we’ve ever created.” Sound familiar? He said as much about the iPhone 5: “Never before have we built a product with this extraordinary level of fit and finish.” Before that, the iPhone 4S was called “the most amazing iPhone yet.” Before that, the iPhone 4 was, in the words of Steve Jobs, “the most beautiful thing we have ever made.” Before that, he lauded the iPhone 3G for feeling “even better in your hand.”

Also read: This woman is already camped out in front of an Apple store

But rather than partake in the annual upgrade rite, some Apple AAPL, -2.80% devotees remain loyal to their original 2007 iPhones, the one Jobs called “the phone that has changed phones forever.”

Though her first iPhone is seven years old and in many respects an antique next to the newer models, Sarah Jacobs, marketing associate at PhotoShelter.com, says she loves it, and continues to use it. “I’m always pleasantly surprised that it’s still capable of working at all,” she says.

iPhone 6? iWatch? What to expect from Apple on Tuesday

Even those who don’t use the first-generation iPhone to make calls on a cellular network say they use it to make calls over Wi-Fi, using apps like Viber and Skype. Others use it as an iPod Touch. Kevin Rieffel, an attorney who lives near Philadelphia, says he uses his 2007 iPhone in the car to listen to music he downloaded from his CD collection. “It’s pristine. Why get a new iPod Touch if you have an old iPhone lying around?” he says. “It looks every bit as cool as it did on day one. The iPhone was really a successor to the iPod. The rounded edges are much cooler, even though you can’t stand it on its side.”

See also: How to get the new iPhone for free

There are signs that the iPhone upgrade cycle may be picking up pace. Nearly half of consumers who plan to upgrade their iPhone will do so during this upgrade cycle, according to a June 2014 survey of 4,000 consumers by RBC Capital Markets, and more than one-quarter of those would be willing to spend $100 more for a larger 5.5-inch screen. (Analysts predict that the new iPhone 6 will come in two screen sizes — 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches in width versus 4 inches currently to compete with the larger Androids.) One-third of consumers (33%) said their biggest motivation for buying a new iPhone would be battery life, followed by a larger screen size (23%), faster processor or hardware (18%) and better quality camera (12%).

This suggests a turnaround from this time last year when 65% of all Americans (59% of current smartphone-owning Americans) say they would “definitely not” or “probably not” purchase the new iPhone 5S, according to a survey of over 1,000 adults conducted in September 2013 by BiTE interactive, a mobile app agency, and YouGov Omnibus, the company’s overnight polling division.

Seven years is a long time in smartphone technology. The first generation iPhone has a shorter battery life than its successors, doesn’t have as powerful a camera — 2 megapixels versus 5 megapixels on the iPhone 5 — isn’t hotwired for the faster 4G wireless networks, doesn’t play many new apps and, of course, doesn’t have Siri — the voice activated search engine. “3G is what really unlocked the power of the iPhone,” says Brant deBow, executive vice president of technology for BiTE interactive. Apple offers free support for gadgets qualifying for out-of-warranty service and will still replace the original for $149.

Also see: A supersize iPhone is a big risk for Apple

However, some apps also only work on the oldest iPhone, which itself is enough reason for some consumers to refuse to part with it. DeBow says Glyder — his favorite video game — still works on his original iPhone; it’s no longer available through Apple, according to a spokesman for Glu Games, which made the game. “I found myself reaching for that old game on the original iPhone as it was such a really awesome game,” deBow says. “It works remarkably well for being a six-plus-year-old device.” He, like Rieffel, also downloads audiobooks to the iPhone 1 for his family to share and use.

Read also: BlackBerry finally outshines Apple

That’s not to say that Apple fans aren’t drooling over the iPhone 6. In the two weeks leading up to the iPhone 6 launch, trade-in volume for the iPhone 5 surged 671% compared with 30 days earlier, and rose 483% for the iPhone 5S and 5C, according to resale site NextWorth. And those offers relate to the most recent iPhone models rather than the almost forgotten original. But iPhone 1 owners say there’s more to their gadget than price and technical prowess. “At this point in time, I don’t know whether anyone else would find the worth that I find in it,” says Rieffel. “It’s also a nice piece of history.”