Iphone?????????????????

[Shonnayy]

I really do not like the phone i have right now and was thinking about getting the iphone. However, my two year plan is not up yet. Can i get the iphone now without having to pay an extra fee? Because i know that when getting a new phone phone AT&T you get money taken off the phone if you get a new two year contract. So I'm just asking if i get an iphone, will it still be $199?

 

[kerplop]

You'll have to sign a 2 year contract in order to get the reduced pricing. AT&T may work with you on it, but they may not. Only way to find out for sure is to call or go in and ask them!

 

[starwood]

We have verizon and if you are not due for a new phone you have to pay the full purchase price. DS has gone through 4 droids and is not due for a new phone until April. They said he can't get an Iphone until then. They are willing to give him another Droid of any model but said "Apple" won't let them upgrade to the iphone at the discount.

 

[jacksmomma]

AT&T is more flexible than Verizon (one reason we just switched). I would call and see what they say. Also, if you do not mind an older iPhone the 3GS are free right now!

 

[TexasErin]

I was on the phone with AT&T for about three hours talking to different people (including asking for supervisors) and they wouldn't budge. I'm VERY PERSISTANT and explained to them that my bill would be increasing so I would be giving them MORE MONEY and they still wouldn't do it.

They finally came up with me adding an extra line that we didn't need for another $10 per month (plus extra fees, of course) for me to be able to get one. I would never recommend thinking AT&T will work with me after all of the crap I went through to get my phone......and their call center is horrible. I was disconnected twice (no, I was not screaming or cussing to where I think they would have hung up on me), had to keep being switched to other departments and explain what I wanted over and over again. Even after I decided to add an extra line, no one single person could take care of adding a line and ordering me an iPhone- it was like talking to the Three Stooges- transferred to several different departments to get to tell them what I needed over and over again...it was very frustrating.

 

[WVMomof3]

You usually only have to wait a year and half to get a new 2 yr agreement price. I know I bought my phone in May, but I am now elegible for upgrade starting this month. There is a number you can call from your phone that will send you a text telling you when you are elegible. I just did it last night, but now cant remember the number. I found it on website though. Started with a * and ended with #, 3 digits in between. It is not showing up on my calls on my phone.

 

[Kitzka]

They are usually more willing to work with you in store. When new iPhones come out I'm usually able to get some sort of discount on a new phone but only in store. We did not upgrade this time.


Oh and we are with at&t.

Lara

 

[DISdreamin']

AT&T is more flexible than Verizon (one reason we just switched). I would call and see what they say. Also, if you do not mind an older iPhone the 3GS are free right now!

Don't do it! Definitely go with the 4 or 4S. Speaking as someone who had the 3G and went to the 4S, with a friend who went from 3GS to 4, the 4's are a LOT faster in general. In speaking to my friend, a techie, she compared her 4 running iOS5 to a new 4S running the same OS and she said there was minimal difference. If you can live without the little bells ans whistles that the 4S has, go with the 4 and save money, but I definitely would NOT backtrack to the 3GS, even though it is free. I'd pony up the $99 and do the 4.

 

[Anne34]

Don't do it! Definitely go with the 4 or 4S. Speaking as someone who had the 3G and went to the 4S, with a friend who went from 3GS to 4, the 4's are a LOT faster in general. In speaking to my friend, a techie, she compared her 4 running iOS5 to a new 4S running the same OS and she said there was minimal difference. If you can live without the little bells ans whistles that the 4S has, go with the 4 and save money, but I definitely would NOT backtrack to the 3GS, even though it is free. I'd pony up the $99 and do the 4.

I just upgraded my phone from a 3G to a 4s and I still had to pay the $18 upgrade fee (2 months shy of 2 yrs) and the $199. There are no discounts on the new 4s only the 4 & 3GS.

 

[DISdreamin']

I just upgraded my phone from a 3G to a 4s and I still had to pay the $18 upgrade fee (2 months shy of 2 yrs) and the $199. There are no discounts on the new 4s only the 4 & 3GS.

You are correct, but the 3GS is free, the 4 is $99, and the 4S is $199 (for the 16GB version). That is why I mentioned ponying up the $99 for the 4. You and I both know how SWEET the 4S is after plodding along with the 3G.

But my techie friend swears her 4 is on-par with the 4S speed-wise once she upgraded to iOS5. Also, the battery life on the 4S has some people grumbling (if you do a lot of things w/GPS enabled or whatever, I think it chomps hard on battery life). I don't know if the 4 would be better or worse with the same settings, but I've read some complaints about the 4S. Personally, I haven't seen it being an issue.

 

[JMJ3553]

I was on the phone with AT&T for about three hours talking to different people (including asking for supervisors) and they wouldn't budge. I'm VERY PERSISTANT and explained to them that my bill would be increasing so I would be giving them MORE MONEY and they still wouldn't do it.

They finally came up with me adding an extra line that we didn't need for another $10 per month (plus extra fees, of course) for me to be able to get one. I would never recommend thinking AT&T will work with me after all of the crap I went through to get my phone......and their call center is horrible. I was disconnected twice (no, I was not screaming or cussing to where I think they would have hung up on me), had to keep being switched to other departments and explain what I wanted over and over again. Even after I decided to add an extra line, no one single person could take care of adding a line and ordering me an iPhone- it was like talking to the Three Stooges- transferred to several different departments to get to tell them what I needed over and over again...it was very frustrating.

I just did this today , but I did it in the store and it was a breeze. I wasn't due for an upgrade until January. My phone was really bad and my husband's coworker gave him the add a line advice! I picked up the Iphone4 8gb for $99. I love it so far!

 

[Gr8dan2]

Did anyone besides me see the Fox news (might have been CNN) report just Friday on the 2 year total 'typical' cost on owning a single iphone?
ALMOST $4000 OVER 2 YEARS WOW! My husband was wanting one, saw that and said forget it-- that's Florida resident annual passes for 4 of us for two years...or one iphone for two years.... ummmmm no contest.

 

[DISdreamin']

Did anyone besides me see the Fox news (might have been CNN) report just Friday on the 2 year total 'typical' cost on owning a single iphone?
ALMOST $4000 OVER 2 YEARS WOW! My husband was wanting one, saw that and said forget it-- that's Florida resident annual passes for 4 of us for two years...or one iphone for two years.... ummmmm no contest.

I'd love to know how they figure that. My iPhone costs me $21 a month more than a regular phone, so we're talking about $500 for two years. Was there any indication where they got that number? (off to search the CNN site)

 

[delmar411]

Did anyone besides me see the Fox news (might have been CNN) report just Friday on the 2 year total 'typical' cost on owning a single iphone?
ALMOST $4000 OVER 2 YEARS WOW! My husband was wanting one, saw that and said forget it-- that's Florida resident annual passes for 4 of us for two years...or one iphone for two years.... ummmmm no contest.

There is something wrong with their numbers. An Iphone doesn't cost anything more than a regular smartphone in the first place. But if our plan with 3 smartphones including an iphone is $230/mth then that's $5520 over 24mths for 3 phones. If you add in the $199 cost for the Iphone that's $2039 for just the iphone. But my smartphone cost more than $199 so my phone cost more than the iphone for 24mths.

 

[Gr8dan2]

I'm looking for a link too, we saw it on t.v. maybe 2 days ago. They weren't saying it was $4k MORE than other smart phones, they just laid out the costs over a 2 year contract that were 'typical', it was based on a Verizon plan for 2 year contract. It also *did* include a monthly insurance cost for repair/replacement. I'm assuming they used top tier plans, which apparently most people who get the iphone end up with (whether they start there or upgrade due to overages on lower plans).

I don't find a link to that story, but here's a link from last Feb, and its showing about $3600-$3700+ over the 2 years then. It would be easy to hit $4,000 if you add in the insurance monthly at just $10/month you're just about there.

http://www.steamenginefinancialcoaching.com/2011/02/14/the-real-cost-of-ownership-iphone-4/

 

[DISdreamin']

I'm looking for a link too, we saw it on t.v. maybe 2 days ago. They weren't saying it was $4k MORE than other smart phones, they just laid out the costs over a 2 year contract that were 'typical', it was based on a Verizon plan for 2 year contract. It also *did* include a monthly insurance cost for repair/replacement. I'm assuming they used top tier plans, which apparently most people who get the iphone end up with (whether they start there or upgrade due to overages on lower plans).

I don't find a link to that story, but here's a link from last Feb, and its showing about $3600-$3700+ over the 2 years then. It would be easy to hit $4,000 if you add in the insurance monthly at just $10/month you're just about there.

http://www.steamenginefinancialcoaching.com/2011/02/14/the-real-cost-of-ownership-iphone-4/

I've had an iPhone for three years now and just bought my second one last week. In the time I've had the phone, our rates haven't changed and I've never paid any kind of overage for anything. I pay $145 a month for my phone and four additional non-data lines. Sum total for two years is 3480 but that is five phones. Maybe I'm atypical, but I can't see $4K for just one phone.

 

[tikilyn]

My Evo contract with sprint is up on 11/30 ! What I plan on doing is getting a second line (iphone) then a day or two later switch my old phone number to the iphone and then cancel my evo line! I'm only paying 69.00 a month for my evo with my husband work discount and other discounts that sprint give him! 450 anytime minutes, free mobile to any mobile, free nights and weekends, unlimited data and unlimited text. That also includes the 10.00 extra a month for the Evo. I guess that will also stay the same for the iphone?

 

[mickeymaker2003]

My Evo contract with sprint is up on 11/30 ! What I plan on doing is getting a second line (iphone) then a day or two later switch my old phone number to the iphone and then cancel my evo line! I'm only paying 69.00 a month for my evo with my husband work discount and other discounts that sprint give him! 450 anytime minutes, free mobile to any mobile, free nights and weekends, unlimited data and unlimited text. That also includes the 10.00 extra a month for the Evo. I guess that will also stay the same for the iphone?

They may add a $10 per iPhone per month "premium" to the bill beyond what they advertise for a price. We went with Verizon because I was ticked to find out that it would be $20 more than the price we were discussing for two phones. We had been discussing iPhones the whole time with the rep and the didn't tell us about the extra $10 monthly fee until we had been talking for quite some time. We left after that.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I'm looking for a link too, we saw it on t.v. maybe 2 days ago. They weren't saying it was $4k MORE than other smart phones, they just laid out the costs over a 2 year contract that were 'typical', it was based on a Verizon plan for 2 year contract. It also *did* include a monthly insurance cost for repair/replacement. I'm assuming they used top tier plans, which apparently most people who get the iphone end up with (whether they start there or upgrade due to overages on lower plans).

I don't find a link to that story, but here's a link from last Feb, and its showing about $3600-$3700+ over the 2 years then. It would be easy to hit $4,000 if you add in the insurance monthly at just $10/month you're just about there.

http://www.steamenginefinancialcoaching.com/2011/02/14/the-real-cost-of-ownership-iphone-4/

Thanks for that link. That really helped me understand those numbers. We don't pay anything close to that for our service for 2 iPhones. We do have a discount from my community college.

Also to put these numbers in perspective, before our iPhones, I had a Palm Treo and my DH had a basic phone. Our bill on T-moble was $15 a month less than than it is now with the iPhones on AT&T. If we didn't pay $20 per month for texting (something we didn't need with the old phones and may not need with iMessage in iOS5), our iPhone contract would actually be less per month than the prior contract. -- Suzanne

 

[aprilgail2]

If you do get an iphone I HIGHLY recommend getting an Otterbox case for it. This morning I was putting bags in my car and put my phone on the roof- I pulled out of the parking lot onto the Long Island Expressway service road and hear bump bump bump on the roof-in my rearview mirrow I see my phone bouncing down the service road. I pull over and see a car run over my iphone- lucky that was the only car in sight so I ran out and got the phone and went back to my car. The only thing wrong with my phone is that the case is all cracked up and I need a new one-not a scratch on the phone!