iPhone 7/Plus Due an upgrade but my conscious is fighting with me.

[aneftp]

I’m due an upgrade now on my iPhone 7. I can afford the XS / R but alarm bells are going off in my head and that little voice is telling me not to do it.

It’s about the damn cost, wasting that money on a phone, no phone is worth £1000+ but that’s just my opinion. Add to that I get the feeling Apple has turned to greed, it’s all about money and profits now.

So I have this battle going on in my head, did anyone else suffer this? I’m also on a great plan which I’ll lose if I upgrade, unlimited calls and sms, 6gb data for £21 pm

Yes the iPhone XS/max are very expensive. I fell guilty about paying $1250 USD plus taxes ($1350 USD) full price for the phone.

But Apple also knows their iPhones are a way of life for their customers. We use it every day. They also know many people who can’t afford it. But especially in USA. Many Americans finance everything. So Tim Cook says the iPhone is affordable. It’s $1/day! That’s how they reason it. $30/month x30 months installment.

Me personally. I can’t stand installments. I pay everything straight up. Carriers especially in USA are getting greedier as well. “No fianance fee”. Yet they keep increasing these upgrade fees. $30-45. And carriers add these ridiculous fees like admin fees also.

So it’s just not Apple. It’s the whole phone industry.

 

[John webstar44]

Yes the iPhone XS/max are very expensive. I fell guilty about paying $1250 USD plus taxes ($1350 USD) full price for the phone.

But Apple also knows their iPhones are a way of life for their customers. We use it every day. They also know many people who can’t afford it. But especially in USA. Many Americans finance everything. So Tim Cook says the iPhone is affordable. It’s $1/day! That’s how they reason it. $30/month x30 months installment.

Me personally. I can’t stand installments. I pay everything straight up. Carriers especially in USA are getting greedier as well. “No fianance fee”. Yet they keep increasing these upgrade fees. $30-45. And carriers add these ridiculous fees like admin fees also.

So it’s just not Apple. It’s the whole phone industry.

Same here in the UK carriers are getting greedier charging upto £90 a month for 24months contracts sim only contracts are the best value here at the moment.
To be honest depends how much you use your iPhone eachday.
I probably use mine around 8 hours eachday for music and movies/safari to me £1099 is a great value if I keep my iphone for 3 years or more.

I don't spend £5 eachday drinking coffee from costa or go on £70 nights out each weekend or go on a expensive holiday each year.

But I do know a work colleague spends upto £130 a month on coffee from costa.

 

[Mac2019]

Same here in the UK carriers are getting greedier charging upto £90 a month for 24months contracts sim only contracts are the best value here at the moment.
To be honest depends how much you use your iPhone eachday.
I probably use mine around 8 hours eachday for music and movies/safari to me £1099 is a great value if I keep my iphone for 3 years or more.

I don't spend £5 eachday drinking coffee from costa or go on £70 nights out each weekend or go on a expensive holiday each year.

But I do know a work colleague spends upto £130 a month on coffee from costa.

I think this is a bit of a myth. Well, it obviously depends on what data allowance you are after but in my calculations I ignore anything below 10gb because they're pointless. I was hoping that sim only would work out cheaper as it is more flexible in terms of changing the plan if something better comes up in 12 months but the best I could find for the xs is a 24 month offer through EE via USwitch (circa £450 up front + £33/month).

Can you point me in the direction of sim only deals that are better than 24 month plan and phone contracts, please? Really want the best possible price!

PS: I do laugh when I see contracts with 500mb or 1gb of data - why oh why would anyone do that?!

 

[Sarah Jones 799]

I think this is a bit of a myth. Well, it obviously depends on what data allowance you are after but in my calculations I ignore anythi
ng below 10gb because they're pointless. I was hoping that sim only would work out cheaper as it is more flexible in terms of changing the plan if something better comes up in 12 months but the best I could find for the xs is a 24 month offer through EE via USwitch (circa £450 up front + £33/month).

Can you point me in the direction of sim only deals that are better than 24 month plan and phone contracts, please? Really want the best possible price!

PS: I do laugh when I see contracts with 500mb or 1gb of data - why oh why would anyone do that?!

I currently have a sim free iPhone X 64gb cost me last year £999 3uk all u can eat sim only cost £13 each month works out @ £312 24 sim plan + £999 for the phone two years ownership = £1311
(£1311÷ 24 months =works out about £54.62)
(Cheaper than IUP)

iPhone XS max 64gb cost me £1099
£12 EE sim 40gb data unlimited minutes/text total cost for two years £1387 with sim.
(£1387÷24 months =works out about £57.79)
(Cheaper than IUP)

Much better than paying £80 or £90 each
month for some serious data allowances.



I never sign upto any carrier 24 months contract for £90 or even join any sim deals with 4gb limit useless.

 

[Alanscottdallas0]

I only purchase phones sim free heck no why signing my life away to 24 months greedy carriers with greedy data allowances.

 

[Jimmy James]

Price and value are subjective. 30 years ago people were buying 386 computers for $3,000 that could do a fraction of what a “phone” could do at multiples of the cost. We get accustomed to a pricing model.

 

[EugW]

PS: I do laugh when I see contracts with 500mb or 1gb of data - why oh why would anyone do that?!

Some people just don't need lots of data. If you have WiFi at home and at work, and don't spend hours on the bus every day, 1-2 GB can be plenty. For example, my mom-in-law needs less than 1 GB.

 

[Kulfon]

I think this forum is a bad place to ask People have no issue upgrading every year and twice per year...just because something is new and shining.
I have had 2 iphones only. My first one was 5s...I used it for two year and gave it to my mom as there was no easy way for her to communicate with us. I purchaed 6s later on and I am using it till now. Your iPhone 7 is seriously good for everything and Xs will not change anything. I think you will make a wise decision saving the money and using them differently. Our culture is all about consumption and things....people work their butts off just to own more and more things. No need. Use it for vacations or something like that

I’m due an upgrade now on my iPhone 7. I can afford the XS / R but alarm bells are going off in my head and that little voice is telling me not to do it.

It’s about the damn cost, wasting that money on a phone, no phone is worth £1000+ but that’s just my opinion. Add to that I get the feeling Apple has turned to greed, it’s all about money and profits now.

So I have this battle going on in my head, did anyone else suffer this? I’m also on a great plan which I’ll lose if I upgrade, unlimited calls and sms, 6gb data for £21 pm

 

[Mac2019]

I currently have a sim free iPhone X 64gb cost me last year £999 3uk all u can eat sim only cost £13 each month works out @ £312 24 sim plan + £999 for the phone two years ownership = £1311
(£1311÷ 24 months =works out about £54.62)
(Cheaper than IUP)

iPhone XS max 64gb cost me £1099
£12 EE sim 40gb data unlimited minutes/text total cost for two years £1387 with sim.
(£1387÷24 months =works out about £57.79)
(Cheaper than IUP)

Much better than paying £80 or £90 each
month for some serious data allowances.



I never sign upto any carrier 24 months contract for £90 or even join any sim deals with 4gb limit useless.

Where did you get that? On 3's website the cheapest I can see is 0.5gb for £9, 1gb for £10 and 4gb for £11. 30gb is £17.

Even if the one you mentioned (£13/month) is available somewhere it is still more than the 30gb offering from EE (ok it is 30 rather than 40 but I don't need that much and can't find a 40gb to compare to) - £13/month + 24 = £312 + £999 xs = £1311 v the 24 month offering with EE which works out at £1,281 total less £40 cashback through 'affordable mobiles' (assuming that is genuine).

So, still unsure where in the UK it is cheaper to get phone + sim only deal.

 

[Solomani]

I'm considering buying the iPhone Xs this year…. since waiting until next year means the almost-certain US-Chinese retaliatory tariffs may very well increase the retail cost of any 2019 smartphone to an absurd amount…. like Apple asking you to pay $1600 for an entry level 2019 iPhone. Tim Cook pretty much hinted of this very possibility.

 

[jeyf]

in the US, maybe elsewhere too, your provider will be up grading to a 5G network
seems 5G will open the home market to mobile only providers so they are booming to quickly get this online in my hood.

keep your NONE 5G phone till the there is a proper 5g capable iPhone.
the old NONE 5G phones will have lower than expected resale value.

otherwise turn an iPhone over and they are all the same

 

[Sarah Jones 799]

Where did you get that? On 3's website the cheapest I can see is 0.5gb for £9, 1gb for £10 and 4gb for £11. 30gb is £17

To be honest my sim is a old plan from 2015
Paying £25 at first got it reduced to £13.hehe

I done the same with EE haggle on customer relations a second sim only deal for £12 40gb data.


Tip here signup for quidco three sim upgrade contracts £70 cashback click on quidco link takes you website (three - shop - exclusive customer offers - sim) deal for £16 a month after whole year cost you £132 after cashback with 30gb data. Works out about £12 a month .
After your year up go on three chat they should be able to reduce your monthly cost to £10 or less that how I done it.

 

[akash.nu]

Wow, that is quite surprising, $849 for a 64gb 5! Although whilst it is the same storage it is not quite comparing apples with apples (yes, I know 64 v 64 is exactly the same but hear me out!) because at the time of the 5, 64gb was top end so really the price should be compared with the top end xs which is £1,349; 64gb back then got you a lot more than 64gb does now so in effect you should really compare the bottom end of both, ie. iphone 5 $649 v iphone xs $999 which does show a massive increase in the price of the entry level phone of the latest model.

That’s actually skewing the numbers for the sake of argument. When it comes to hardware spec, you look at spec to spec not what was available then vs what’s available now.

 

[Mac2019]

That’s actually skewing the numbers for the sake of argument. When it comes to hardware spec, you look at spec to spec not what was available then vs what’s available now.

In that case we can never compare iphones year on year because the specs are always different. So we can never really get a true price comparison because it is never apples with apples.
[doublepost=1538147223][/doublepost]

To be honest my sim is a old plan from 2015
Paying £25 at first got it reduced to £13.hehe

I done the same with EE haggle on customer relations a second sim only deal for £12 40gb data.


Tip here signup for quidco three sim upgrade contracts £70 cashback click on quidco link takes you website (three - shop - exclusive customer offers - sim) deal for £16 a month after whole year cost you £132 after cashback with 30gb data. Works out about £12 a month .
After your year up go on three chat they should be able to reduce your monthly cost to £10 or less that how I done it.

Good plan. Just checked and it is £60 for the 30gb deal (usually £17/month) so if I went for that and then after a year haggled enough to get it down to around £10 it would bring me back close to the EE figure. Not far off but pretty close, and not tied in for 2 years.

How do you find 3? Been with Voda for over 10 years so unsure how good others are!

 

[Sarah Jones 799]

In that case we can never compare iphones year on year because the specs are always different. So we can never really get a true price comparison because it is never apples with apples.
[doublepost=1538147223][/doublepost]
Good plan. Just checked and it is £60 for the 30gb deal (usually £17/month) so if I went for that and then after a year haggled enough to get it down to around £10 it would bring me back close to the EE figure. Not far off but pretty close, and not tied in for 2 years.

How do you find 3? Been with Voda for over 10 years so unsure how good others are!

To be honest I haggle three while in contract I did complain a lot about signal/speed almost everything you name it. Lol

Speeds fast outside cities inside cities almost useless.
Depends where you live too.

Pickup a cheap payandgo three sim from your local supermarket test the speeds out before signing up for a long 12 months contract.

 

[Brandonjr36]

I’m due an upgrade now on my iPhone 7. I can afford the XS / R but alarm bells are going off in my head and that little voice is telling me not to do it.

It’s about the damn cost, wasting that money on a phone, no phone is worth £1000+ but that’s just my opinion. Add to that I get the feeling Apple has turned to greed, it’s all about money and profits now.

So I have this battle going on in my head, did anyone else suffer this? I’m also on a great plan which I’ll lose if I upgrade, unlimited calls and sms, 6gb data for £21 pm

Keep the 7 for another year.

 

[FFR]

Yes, sure, that explains it.

My issue is that I think that the 5 is the wrong phone to compare it with and something like the 6 is a better comparison.

Why?

• The amount of iPhone 5 units shipped per year is going to be vastly lower than the iPhone units per year, in the last few years.
• I'd say that the 6 Plus is a better model to compare it with as you have (roughly) the same sort of components as the 7R - minus of course the FaceID component (but you could argue that this is the successor to Touch ID which of course was present in the 6 but is replaced by FaceID in the 7R)
• As I argued in my last post, usually the more units that you are shipping, economy of scale kicks in and thus you can pass the cost (EDIT: savings) back to the consumer...
• ...Yet Apple doesn't seem to be doing this

Basically I would contend that this year's pricing is more about Apple buffering/increasing their share price and increasing their profit margin as they anticipate a levelling off growth of the smartphone market, than anything else.

Sure iPhone 6 but that doesn’t make any difference 64gb was $749 and 6 plus was $849.


https://www.ibtimes.com/apple-offer...s-report-says-iphone-6s-mini-unlikely-1774348


Again am I not understanding something?

 

[FFR]

Ah but then that isn’t an exact like for like comparison is it? You’re comparing the base model X to the highest tier 5 - while the capacity is the same, 64 GB on the X is more like 16GB on the 5 once you take 4K60 video, Live Photo’s and larger app sizes into account. Mental contortion shouldn’t be necessary to justify something, if you want it, get it and just accept the value proposition has tanked but it’s your money and you’re treating yourself... or don’t get it because you realise actually the phone you have is just fine and you’ve got better things to spend £1,000 on.

Your confusing pricing tier and storage tier.

I covered that in post 32.

 

[FFR]

I get that but the discussion was around the xs, not the xr. Hence the comparison between xs and 5. Regardless, I think we can all agree that they are massively overpriced but this is irrelevant as enough people will pay. I moan about the price but I imagine I will cave in at some point.

Sure.
Just correcting information related to pricing tier vs storage tiers.

I used to buy vertu handsets, so over priced and expensive is relative a term.

 

[Macshroomer]

I loved the big screen size of the 7+ but toting that thing around while working was just too much.

So had I a regular sized phone like a 7 or an 8 I would have skipped this update too because I am over the whole tech thing, don’t live for this stuff like others do and just like blowing through a grand every two years in getting a new phone.

I can’t believe I paid $1,350 for an iphone, this will have to be it for few years. Good thing the size is right this time.

 

[Gudi]

I’m sorry but you are incorrect. It is a direct apple to apple comparison. Because if you look at it objectively you get so much more today with the iPhone Xs 64gb than you did with the iPhone 5 64gb in 2012 all for $150 dollars more.

No it’s not a direct comparison, because it’s not 2012 anymore. Time matters! If you’re living under a bridge, you’re not better off than the cavemen who didn’t even had bridges.

 

[dj1891]

For me anyway I have a limit on what I deem to be reasonable. Buying a phone outright £500. On contract I’ll go to £700. Any more is madness to me.

As someone else said I’m not locked in to apple ecosystem either. I have a windows laptop which I use as my main internet device, I have an iPad 2017 but I use that mostly for kindle and quick browsing. Most of the programs I use are also non apple such as gmail, Spotify, google maps and calendar etc so I’m thinking next stop for me will be Android.

When we’re talking about UK contract prices any notice 36 month contracts now creeping in? O2 Virgin etc. That can f*ck right off.

 

[bluecoast]

Sure iPhone 6 but that doesn’t make any difference 64gb was $749 and 6 plus was $849.


https://www.ibtimes.com/apple-offer...s-report-says-iphone-6s-mini-unlikely-1774348


Again am I not understanding something?

Fair enough, I’m making the point that 64GB of storage should not be the same price in 2018 as 2014.

 

[Raist3001]

I agree, none of these phones are worth excess of 1000 dollars. Unfortunately we buy them at this price which allows apple to continue to increase the price. There is no dongle in the box as apple is driving profit at this point by again making an extra sale. There is no quick charge brick because apple is driving profit again and making the extra sale. This is the new apple under Tim Cook. Nothing wrong with driving profits, just to clear

 

[FFR]

No it’s not a direct comparison, because it’s not 2012 anymore. Time matters! If you’re living under a bridge, you’re not better off than the cavemen who didn’t even had bridges.

Your not making much sense talking about bridges and cavemen. Every year there are new iPhones, the op is stating iPhones are getting more expensive but they are not. Pound for pound they are not.

Confusing storage tiers with pricing tiers isn’t a fair comparison.