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AT&T to Quietly Offer Refurbished iPhone 3GS Models to GoPhone Customers

arkmannj said:
So,
My soon to be wife has her contract (with another carrier) coming up this month. and we were thinking of moving her to my plan (with ATT) but with the iPhone 5s/5c/6 so close to being released (at least in theory) we didn't want to get her a new phone on contract yet. Would it be worth it to pull out my old iPhone 3Gs and attach a GoPhone plan to it until the new phones are released?

thoughts?
Click to expand...

Just put her on your plan with the 3GS. No contract necessary.

Take the time to get her on the plan now, number ported and all that so you don't need to worry later. At the time of the new phone release you don't want to be messing with porting over if you don't have to...

My 2 cents,
Gary
 
I'm typing this post in bed......on my 3GS. I get the hand-me-down from my wife, and this has been my first smart phone. Other than being a bit slow over 3G, it is still quite useful. I rarely if ever find myself needing or wanting the capabilities in my wife's 4S (which I'll inherit when we get her the upcoming 5S). To those who deride it as old and/or passé, I say: bollocks!
 
SockRolid said:
That's OK as long as its version of iOS has iCloud connectivity.
Click to expand...

It probably doesn't and ATT won't care. User data concerns aren't their issue. They will just send folks to Apple to tell them they are screwed cause they weren't backing up.

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jmh600cbr said:
I'd be surprised if Apple accepts this in a US market. I say this because they are clearly moving towards a unified lightning cable. It unlikely they want to continue distributing 16 pin cables.
Click to expand...

As I recall in the US they are required to provide support, even at user cost, for all products for 5 years, more in some states. So it will be a while before they can ditch the 30 pin.

That said, they are gently nudging folks not to pay almost $200 for an out of warranty swap on things like the 3GS so most of the time it won't be a major issue. Folks will upgrade and be done with it. And if they really are making some kind of cheaper 5c option they could move folks even more out of that old tech.

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AppleMark said:
Really?

Selling on a 'refurb' phone that is not really supported by Apple or dev's? Who would want that, surely customers in that budget would be better looking at a reasonable android alternative?
Click to expand...

You might be surprised how many folks like the whole Apple system but don't feel the need for the latest tech all the time.

That's why I think Apple should make a less featured phone. It could be great for kids, grandparents, those of us with iPads. They could just include the phone, messaging, music, camera, 'organizer' apps. iCloud for syncing and backing up. By no App Store etc. It might be just 8GB since no one would be loading tons of games or video on it.
 
re: AT&T's iPhone 3GS connecting to iCloud.

charlituna said:
It probably doesn't and ATT won't care. User data concerns aren't their issue. They will just send folks to Apple to tell them they are screwed cause they weren't backing up.
Click to expand...

As long as it runs iOS 5 or later, any iPhone will be iCloud-enabled.
I meant "OK from Apple's perspective," not "OK from AT&T's perspective."
 
arkmannj said:
So,
My soon to be wife has her contract (with another carrier) coming up this month. and we were thinking of moving her to my plan (with ATT) but with the iPhone 5s/5c/6 so close to being released (at least in theory) we didn't want to get her a new phone on contract yet. Would it be worth it to pull out my old iPhone 3Gs and attach a GoPhone plan to it until the new phones are released?

thoughts?

Also, the prices of the GoPhone plans seem almost as good if not better than my 2 year contract rates am I missing something?
Click to expand...

You can put her on your plan now and use an older phone. That's what I'm planning to do (Switching from Sprint to AT&T). When the new iPhone launches I can use my upgrade then.

Plutonius said:
You are making the assumption that it will be sold in the US. It may be but the the reason Apple is making the 5C is for emerging markets.
Click to expand...

You are making the assumption that it is being made for emerging markets. I'm sure it may be sold there but I have a feeling it's to help unify all price points to the new screen size, retina display, and Lightening.

I also have a bit of a suspicion that these may be used to get older devices switched to newer ones at a very inexpensive price.
 
Plutonius said:
Nobody knows for sure what's in the 5C or 5S until they are announced (probably September) so how do you know how it will compare to the 3GS ?.
Click to expand...

the keynote is nothing but a confirmation event, we already know most of the things about the iphone 5s and 5c, the even will just confirm the leaks and rumors.
 
heutusops said:
in terms of material - YES!
but yeah it has a newer software - iOS7, and......that's all (no siri no fingerprint scanner and still going for $555)
Click to expand...

So it has the same processor, RAM, display, it uses the same cell technology (only 3G connectivity), etc as the iPhone 3GS ?

and here I thought it was similar to the iPhone 5 but with a plastic shell.
 
davidg4781 said:
Do you have the lottery numbers for Saturday too??
Click to expand...

yeah, it 09Y24O53U98W67I03L94L85N71E30V94E85R71W98I23N475698345098 :rolleyes:
you wanna play with me? really?:rolleyes:

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Plutonius said:
So it has the same processor, RAM, display, it uses the same cell technology (only 3G connectivity), etc as the iPhone 3GS ?

and here I thought it was similar to the iPhone 5 but with a plastic shell.
Click to expand...

5C vs the iphone 5
underclocked processor
same (if not less) RAM
probably not the retina
dont expect LTE on a mid-ranger

overall, it's a 3GS with a new name and a tweaked design.
 
Apple needs to have an iOS 7.1 release that covers their older devices and is more optimized for 256MB RAM.

Apple likes to talk about fragmentation being their biggest advantage over Android -- yet look at this. You can buy a device TODAY yet, that is already outdated and won't get the latest operating system.

There is no excuse. Get rid of the transparency and fancy motions... make it a simple, basic UI that looks the same and can run the latest apps.

Doesn't take too much to do. In the case of these devices it would be about the UI and the app toolkits, rather than all the bells, whistles and features.
 
heutusops said:
yeah, it 09Y24O53U98W67I03L94L85N71E30V94E85R71W98I23N475698345098 :rolleyes:
you wanna play with me? really?:rolleyes:

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5C vs the iphone 5
underclocked processor
same (if not less) RAM
probably not the retina
dont expect LTE on a mid-ranger

overall, it's a 3GS with a new name and a tweaked design.
Click to expand...

I just quoted this because of how wrong it was.
 
Anyone here ever find one? I contacted stores in my area and they had none nor had even heard of such offer.
 
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