In some cases, cell phones are a necessity, but they also are a luxury. Cell phones do emit green house gases. According to the Guardian, "using your mobile for an hour each day, the total adds up to more than 1 tonne CO2e per year – the equivalent of flying from London to New York, one way, in economy class" (https://www.theguardian.com/environment … bile-phone). Although our daily lives - social media, communication, changed the need of technology. Our lives are getting "simpler" while our Earth faces global warming. Cell phones have morphed into a necessity as they create a need in our lives. People do not consider the environmental effects of owning and using a  phone, as this information is not very common. If people do limit their usage of their phones, we can reduce our emission slightly.

From personal experience, I believe that new technology is not a necessity, but it is a need. We all don't need the new iPhone/tech, instead, we like the idea of having the ability to have a new one. I admit that I do not consider the environmental effects of owning a phone and using it, constantly.

I completely agree with you, especially regarding the "new models". From my personal experience, I think that newer models are not a necessity to have, but I would say that the farthest that you can stray away from a new model would maybe be 3-4 generations (example: having the iPhone 6 while the iPhone 10 just came out). I say this because many older phones will become laggy and hard to use, almost the extent where calling other people is difficult. So, in summary, like Vashegaarie said, I don't think that having the newest iPhone or any tech item is a necessity, but having one in general is a necessity.