Advice on getting first iPhone

[dapork]

I'm a long-time Mac user. I have a MBP and I use it mainly for Logic Pro. I'm thinking of getting an iPhone just because I need a cell phone and I assume there must be some benefits to having an iPhone when you have a Mac.

I found a used, unlocked iPhone 7 with 32GB for $450, an iPhone 6 64GB for $333, and I'm sure there are other options out there on Amazon. I don't know what the advantages of the 7 are, but double the GB and a lower price make me lean towards the 6.

The phone I'm coming from is really bottom of the line so anything I get will be a big upgrade.

Can anyone tell me whether I should invest in a newer iPhone, invest in extra GB, and what will be the benefits to having one in the first place?

 

[eyoungren]

I'm a long-time Mac user. I have a MBP and I use it mainly for Logic Pro. I'm thinking of getting an iPhone just because I need a cell phone and I assume there must be some benefits to having an iPhone when you have a Mac.

I found a used, unlocked iPhone 7 with 32GB for $450, an iPhone 6 64GB for $333, and I'm sure there are other options out there on Amazon. I don't know what the advantages of the 7 are, but double the GB and a lower price make me lean towards the 6.

The phone I'm coming from is really bottom of the line so anything I get will be a big upgrade.

Can anyone tell me whether I should invest in a newer iPhone, invest in extra GB, and what will be the benefits to having one in the first place?

The 6 is a good phone, but I wouldn't go for it at this point. Just to cite one difference, the 7 has 3 2GB of ram, the 6 has 1GB.

If cost is a factor, split it down the middle and got for a 6s which will have 2GB of ram and is still fairly recent.

As to benefits of having a Mac and an iPhone, well there's being able to use iMessage between devices, handoff, syncing, etc.

But I wouldn't know. I do own a 6s+ but as far as Macs go, I'm stuck solidly in the PowerPC era of 2003-2006. Nothing I have will ever sync with my iPhone.

 

[Ca_lvn]

Don't even consider anything less than the 7 preferably the +

 

[44267547]

I'm a long-time Mac user. I have a MBP and I use it mainly for Logic Pro. I'm thinking of getting an iPhone just because I need a cell phone and I assume there must be some benefits to having an iPhone when you have a Mac.

I found a used, unlocked iPhone 7 with 32GB for $450, an iPhone 6 64GB for $333, and I'm sure there are other options out there on Amazon. I don't know what the advantages of the 7 are, but double the GB and a lower price make me lean towards the 6.

The phone I'm coming from is really bottom of the line so anything I get will be a big upgrade.

Can anyone tell me whether I should invest in a newer iPhone, invest in extra GB, and what will be the benefits to having one in the first place?

I think also it's important to consider a newer iPhone will likely support updates longer and conform to the latest OS. I would not invest in the iPhone 6. I have the iPhone 7 and couldn't be more content.

 

[Stevessvt]

The 6 is a good phone, but I wouldn't go for it at this point. Just to cite one difference, the 7 has 3GB of ram, the 6 has 1GB.

If cost is a factor, split it down the middle and got for a 6s which will have 2GB of ram and is still fairly recent.

As to benefits of having a Mac and an iPhone, well there's being able to use iMessage between devices, handoff, syncing, etc.

But I wouldn't know. I do own a 6s+ but as far as Macs go, I'm stuck solidly in the PowerPC era of 2003-2006. Nothing I have will ever sync with my iPhone.

The 7 has 2 gb ram, the 7+ has 3.

 

[eyoungren]

The 7 has 2 gb ram, the 7+ has 3.

Thank you!

Since the 6+ I get the plus models so I made an assumption. Appreciate the correction!

 

[bufffilm]

At least get a phone with 2gb of RAM...ie. at least a 6s (or better) or a SE (if you are on a budget).

Good time to shop for a smartphone.

 

[dapork]

I was looking at this one because it has 128GB: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YD54FA4/ref=psdc_2407749011_t1_B00YD54DV0?th=1

But like I said, there's a guy in the area selling an iPhone 7 with 32GB for $450. My current phone has only 3GB of space and even after adding a 16GB SD it keeps running out of space because only half the apps can't be transferred to the SD.

So you guys think it's a better idea to go for the 7 despite being 32GB? I've never been one to play around with document my daily life like people do these days. So maybe it wouldn't be that big a deal?

Does having an iPhone allow you more iCloud space? I don't see how buying a used one could. I mean my Apple ID is still the same.

 

[Mrbobb]

Don't know what the locked/unlock situation is at Greece, but buying used potentially runs you into the situation of getting a locked phone that can only be used for a particular carrier, and maybe a huge hassle to get it unlocked.

 

[dapork]

Don't know what the locked/unlock situation is at Greece, but buying used potentially runs you into the situation of getting a locked phone that can only be used for a particular carrier, and maybe a huge hassle to get it unlocked.

I'm in the US right now. If I get the used 7 I can look at it. I would just need to know what to ask. I won't be able to test my Greek SIM card cause it doesn't work here anyway, but I try my cousin's to see if it works.

 

[C DM]

I was looking at this one because it has 128GB: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YD54FA4/ref=psdc_2407749011_t1_B00YD54DV0?th=1

But like I said, there's a guy in the area selling an iPhone 7 with 32GB for $450. My current phone has only 3GB of space and even after adding a 16GB SD it keeps running out of space because only half the apps can't be transferred to the SD.

So you guys think it's a better idea to go for the 7 despite being 32GB? I've never been one to play around with document my daily life like people do these days. So maybe it wouldn't be that big a deal?

Does having an iPhone allow you more iCloud space? I don't see how buying a used one could. I mean my Apple ID is still the same.

Storage space depends on what you plan to have on your phone--it's different for everyone really.

 

[dapork]

I was leaning real close to getting the 128 GB iPhone 6 for $380. Then I read the reviews. Half are 5-star, the other half are 1-star. You have a bunch of people saying it arrived, locked, reported stolen, empty box etc etc. I looked at the reviews for other iPhones on Amazon and they were all the same. It seems like a 50-50 gamble, unless the reviews are fake. Anybody know what's up with that?

 

[C DM]

I was leaning real close to getting the 128 GB iPhone 6 for $380. Then I read the reviews. Half are 5-star, the other half are 1-star. You have a bunch of people saying it arrived, locked, reported stolen, empty box etc etc. I looked at the reviews for other iPhones on Amazon and they were all the same. It seems like a 50-50 gamble, unless the reviews are fake. Anybody know what's up with that?

There are always people with some bad experiences with any product basically. Not sure where you are getting the idea it's a 50/50 type of thing, it's basically something that happens on the level of maybe single digit percentage at most, if that. Basically just like pretty much any other product out there.

 

[dapork]

There are always people with some bad experiences with any product basically. Not sure where you are getting the idea it's a 50/50 type of thing, it's basically something that happens on the level of maybe single digit percentage at most, if that. Basically just like pretty much any other product out there.

I'm getting it from the reviews on amazon.com. Check out the link I posted; it's actually 28% 1-star reviews and if you read them it's a bunch of people with these fraud-like experiences. Every refurbished iPhone advert on Amazon is like this (high percentage of people reporting it as a scam). Pretty hard to ignore. It's odd though that this would happen to so many people, yet some report being perfectly happy with their order. This is why I'm wondering if some reviews are fake... either the really good ones or the really bad ones. How do such services even remain on Amazon with more than one reporting fraud?

 

[C DM]

I'm getting it from the reviews on amazon.com. Check out the link I posted; it's actually 28% 1-star reviews and if you read them it's a bunch of people with these fraud-like experiences. Every refurbished iPhone advert on Amazon is like this (high percentage of people reporting it as a scam). Pretty hard to ignore. It's odd though that this would happen to so many people, yet some report being perfectly happy with their order. This is why I'm wondering if some reviews are fake... either the really good ones or the really bad ones. How do such services even remain on Amazon with more than one reporting fraud?

Well, if we are talking about used phones sold by private parties or some sort of non-official third party resellers then sure the risk of something being off is higher as it often is with used items sold by private or non-official parties, and especially so when it comes to things like mobile phones that can often have contracts and/or financing associated with them.