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iPhone 12 Coming from a 6sPlus

B

bobcpa

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 18, 2009
24
5
I knew this would be the year to upgrade to either the 12 or 12 Pro. I don't know why this is bothering me so much, but I thought I would reach out to the community to talk me down from the ledge. We are an AT&T family. My wife and I have a plan that is not longer offered....it is a shared data plan that gives us unlimited text and calls and 6 g of data per month.

In today's day and age, because we are working from home, we barely use the data as we are on our home broadband.

Our total monthly cost, including taxes and fees, is $98.

My wife hardly at all uses any data when we are away from home...just to check emails.

If I were to upgrade to the 12, in order to get 5g, I would have to upgrade my plan to the starter unlimited plan and I would downgrade my wife to the 4g plan. Including taxes and fees, total monthly cost will be 128. Yes, I would get 350 of credits amortized over 30 months so that takes care of some of the sting......I am just having a hard time with all of this. I don't expect something for nothing, but from 98 to 128 per month is an over 30% increase in monthly cost
 
In the long run, it will have to be what benefits you and your family the most. If you can hold off upgrading your plan until restrictions ease, great. If you just want it now, then you know what you have to do 😁. Is 5g prevalent in your area that you can make use of and if so, will it make a difference on a daily basis?
 
5g is listed as prevalent in my area. Whether it will make a difference on a daily basis.....who the heck knows? I guess that is something that will become apparent over time
 
As it seems that we aren't going back to normal anytime imminent, and your current device works just fine - why do anything? If I were you, I would wait out until whatever the new "normal" returns and then decide on lifestyle and device adjustments. 5G will still be there and maybe even get better. The 12 and 12Pro will still be there - and who knows maybe the 13 or a new SE or something interesting may also crop up by then.

So why spend any money until you get to a point where you have a use case to justify it? Sit tight until then...
 
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5G is still in its “solution waiting for problem” phase. I can’t think of a single instance where I’ve needed or wanted that kind of speed on tap for my smartphone (and neither could Apple on launch day, as the best case they could make for it involved sharing data from some kind of incredibly specialized medical diagnostics app...?!)

It’s something tech will grow into over the next 2 to 5 years with higher-res video calls and more advanced AR stuff, most likely—it’s easy to imagine their new nerd goggles requiring to be tethered to a phone, for instance. But for the time being it’s an extreme novelty with niche appeal, as much as Apple and Verizon would like us to think otherwise.
 
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Are you upgrading because your current phones have ran their course? Or are you mainly upgrading for 5G? If it’s the latter, given your usage as described above, I’d say you’re better off keeping your current devices. Even if 5G would prove to be prevalent in your area and as advertised, it sounds like you’d hardly benefit regardless.
 
I have a similar AT&T Plan, and had an iPhone 6.

If you keep your current plan, you'll have 5Ge which is just a faster version of LTE instead of true 5G. Then, you can always update your plan later on.
 
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Brerlappin….now this is the type of advice I was looking for. Your idea makes so much sense to me. I'll have to run the numbers, but I believe the downside to what you say is that I would not be eligible for the $350 of cell phone credits amortized over 30 months; therefore, I would pay full pop for the phone.....I guess that is not the end of the world per se...I believe that it the "gotcha" for not only AT&T but also Verizon...…I
 
That's true about the credits. In my case, it was actually cheaper to buy the phone outright, as the carrier "deals" required an unlimited plan and my 6 wasn't eligible for trade-in anyway.
 
Brerlappin.....so, you decided to purchase the 12......what were your reasons for purchasing the 12? Was your 6's battery capacity nearing below 80% (mine just went down a notch to 82%)? Were there other issues going on with the phone where you had to upgrade? I agree with the increased cost as a result of the unlimited plan. In my case, with the iphone 12 and carrier subsidy, the amount that I would be paying over 30 months in excess of merely purchasing the phone outright is $574
 
The main reason for my upgrade was the being stuck on iOS 12 and having 1GB RAM. I had taken advantage of Apple's $29 battery replacement program for the 6, and that really helped the phone last another year longer.

And, my wife's iPhone 6 only had 16GB and she had no room for anything.

You should be in better shape with the 6S, since it has 2GB RAM and can run iOS14.
 
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