How to get one

[Macdude2010]

Hello All,

I have been trying to convince my parents to let me buy my first phone (iPhone 5) I am going to pay for the phone and for a 24 month contract ($800 cash) the day I would buy the phone. Now, I am only a teenager, but I buy all my own technology and really anything I want to buy, I pay for it. I have had my iPod Touch for 3 years and its really time I get a phone.

Here are the reasons I have come up with that I would need one:

1. My parents kept their old area code when we moved 4 years ago so most places I go to arn't willing to call long distance
2. Adding on to the 1st one, my parents are normally late to get me from school and other things and sometimes I need to know where they are
3. Sometimes I need to get in contact with other people while I am not near a phone.
4. I travel a lot.
5. They can see where I am when I hang out with friends
6. I bike a lot on roads to get to friends houses.
7. It's getting more and more often that I am needing a phone and I don't have one


Can you give me some more ideas why I would need one? Keep in mind this will not cost them anything because I am paying them for both the iPhone and the contract

Please only post if you have ideas, not to give negative feedback

 

[Mac'nCheese]

I can see these being reasons for getting a phone. (not sure about the long distance excuse, does anyone pay extra for that anymore) But maybe your parents don't want you buying such an expensive one. Do they know enough about it to justify the price? Having the internet in your hands is very valuable... hard to get lost with maps right there at your finger tips....stuff like that.

 

[annk]

You say you've been trying to convince them, so I'm assuming there's a dialogue going on. What reasons have they given you for not wanting you to have a phone?

 

[benhollberg]

Now, I am only a teenager, but I buy all my own technology and really anything I want to buy, I pay for it.

If you buy anything you want to buy then just go buy it. Your underage so you can just buy a phone then buy a prepaid plan.

 

[tomtom101]

Does no one in the states (assuming states) do pay as you go??

 

[Macdude2010]

It's not the fact it's an iPhone, it's the idea of the phone itself. The only reason they have given me is that I don't need one, which over the past year or so, hasn't been quite true (see above reasons) and, for each thing I buy, I have to go through a process of approval (from them) to buy it with my own money (i do see reason it that idea though)

My mom has an iPhone 4 and my dad has a palm treo 680, blackberry and I bought him a 2nd gen touch

 

[Nicolas4ever]

good reasons,really.How old are you ? and they don't want you to buy one ?
Actually your parents have to let you buy it.It's you own money.My parents let me buy everything i want with my own money(either way im buying things with my own money )

 

[QuarterSwede]

Honestly, you sound like a very level headed teenager. You understand why they don't want you to have one but you disagree with them and so far are respecting their opinion. Wish I had some advice for you but I just wanted to let you know that, from your posts at least, you sound like you're mature and responsible enough to have one.

 

[MustangJoe]

I don't recommend buying a smartphone as your first phone. Reason is because the monthly bills can become expensive. Especially if you go over your data and don't have unlimited. If you are paying the bill I recommend just getting a basic phone for text messages and phone calls and upgrading to the new iPod Touch 5th Gen. If you do want a smartphone then I recommend looking at an Android phone that isn't to expensive. I'm sure you'll find one if your on Verizon. I'm not sure what At&t has to offer but I'm sure they will have some too. Oh yeah I'll be upgrading to my first smartphone and it will be the next iPhone. Hope that helps.

 

[Ksizzle9]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_10 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E600 Safari/6533.18.5)

I do tend to agree with the above poster about your first Phone not being a smartphone. The iPhone is great, no denying that. But, the monthly bills that come alOng with these things can be quite the burden. For what I have paid monthly for my family plan, I could make a payment on another car. That said, there are 5 smartphones on my plan, all of which have unlimited data. But bottom line comes down to, if they "approve" you to buy one, and you have the money, do whatever makes you happy.

 

[Lee Adama]

I see your need for a phone, but you probably don't need an iPhone. A regular cell phone will solve most of the issues outlined in your original post. You can make calls, you can text. If you drop or damage the phone, it's easily replaced.

On the other hand, the iPhone is a great phone and I'm sure you'll be persistent enough to convince your parents otherwise.

But based on your needs, a regular cell phone would do it for you.

 

[Reddmanz]

Is your mum eligable for an upgrade on her iP4 contract anytime soon? If so you could see if she is willing to upgrade to the iP5 and give you the 4. Then coild you not pick up a Pay as you go (Sorry Im in the UK and not sure how you do it in the US) SIM card? Then you havent got to worry about large monthly costs. Im suggesting this because this is pretty much what i did years ago to get my first phone and the iP4 is still a brilliant phone.

 

[Macdude2010]

Thank you everyone for your advice, this is the first time my thread isn't hit with negative comments in the first hour.

I am 13, but I know how to manage my money, my parents are on an AT&T family plan so it would be $10 a month for phone service and $15 a month for data (I can use a free texting app for text) so $25 a month, not really any different then a voice+text plan I would pay them for 24 months at a time ($600 every 2 years so, I pay them every upgrade) and also pay for the phone, which after I sell my iPod Touch mint condition for $170, the iPhone would only cost $30. I have gave this a good amount of thought.

I have my reasons and the only one they give me is that they don't think I need one (even though i would pay and there have been quite a few times I have needed one, most recent was last Wednesday). It's mostly my mom who is saying this so far, I think my dad is neutral about this for now. I will plan to buy the phone on October 24th or 25th if it is out by then and they give me permission. I have been through this before with other stuff so I hope the end result will be the same.

Also, all of my friends at school have phones their parents pay for (this isn't a reason to get one though) but my point is, about 65% of them don't need one and just have one to talk to other friends.

Now, the reason I want a iPhone is, 1. I need to test my iOS apps on the newer devices, 2. I don't want to carry both my iPod Touch and my phone at the same time, 3. I am an apple customer that loves how well their products work

My mom got her phone on launch day 2010 so she can't get one until next year, also, her iPhone 4 us out of warranty and her home button is acting up, so I would rather purchase my own phone

 

[Nicolas4ever]

Thank you everyone for your advice, this is the first time my thread isn't hit with negative comments in the first hour.

I am 13, but I know how to manage my money, my parents are on an AT&T family plan so it would be $10 a month for phone service and $15 a month for data (I can use a free texting app for text) so $25 a month, I would pay them for 24 months at a time ($600 every 2 years so, I pay them every upgrade) and also pay for the phone, which after I sell my iPod Touch mint condition for $170, the iPhone would only cost $30. I have gave this a good amount of thought.

I have my reasons and the only one they give me is that they don't think I need one (even though i would pay and there have been quite a few times I have needed one, most recent was last Wednesday). It's mostly my mom who is saying this so far, I think my dad is neutral about this for now. I will plan to buy the phone on October 24th or 25th if it is out by then and they give me permission. I have been though this before with other stuff so I hope the end result will be the same.

Also, all of my friends at school have phones their parents pay for (this isn't a reason to get one though) but my point is, about 65% of them don't need one and just have one to talk to other friends.

Now, the reason I want a iPhone is, 1. I need to test my iOS apps on the newer devices, 2. I don't want to carry both my iPod Touch and my phone at the same time, 3. I am an exclusive apple customer

My mom got her phone on launch day 2010 so she can't get one until next year, also, her iPhone 4 us out of warranty and her home button is acting up, so I would rather purchase my own phone

i won't be rude but i don't think that a 13 years old kid must have an iPhone.But I still hope your parents let you buy it.Other kids of your age have a cheap phone.Why don't you manage to have an iPod touch(the 5g ) and a normal phone ? Anyway choose what is the best for you

 

[Macdude2010]

i won't be rude but i don't think that a 13 years old kid must have an iPhone.But I still hope your parents to let you buy it.Other kids of your age have a cheap phone.Why don't you want to have an iPod touch and an iPhone ? Anyway choose what is the best for you

Actually, most of my friends either have a blackberry, android or iPhone. Plus, my bill is only $25 a month, so it isn't any different then buying a dumb phone with voice and text, and it also will work as an iPod, so I only carry one thing, the actual phone won't cost me any more then upgrading my touch to the 5th gen, so it's only a contract thats the difference (which I pay)

 

[wordoflife]

I think you should try to find some more reasons as to why you need an iPhone. No offense, but some of your reasons are not very solid such as "so I don't have to carry around two devices". I personally wouldn't be surprised if they said no.

I must have missed this, but do you currently have a phone? *edit* yeah .. you do

 

[Nicolas4ever]

Actually, most of my friends either have a blackberry, android or iPhone. Plus, my bill is only $25 a month, so it isn't any different then buying a dumb phone with voice and text, and it also will work as an iPod, so I only carry one thing

Ok then.Talk to your parents and wish you the best

 

[Givmeabrek]

Thank you everyone for your advice, this is the first time my thread isn't hit with negative comments in the first hour.
I am 13, but I know how to manage my money.....

Normally I would tend to think a 13 year old doesn't need an iPhone, but with such a well thought out and well written response you have me convinced.

Let your father read this thread. That should help you in your cause. Good luck.

 

[Macdude2010]

I think you should try to find some more reasons as to why you need an iPhone. No offense, but some of your reasons are not very solid such as "so I don't have to carry around two devices". I personally wouldn't be surprised if they said no.

I must have missed this, but do you currently have a phone? *edit* yeah .. you do

The 2 devices thing isn't a reason, it's a point, my reasons are in the main post, and I do not own a phone yet, if I did, I wouldn't have made this thread

 

[Reddmanz]

Now, I don't want to sound rude and you don't have to answer but where is this money coming from to pay for it in big $600 chunks? I only ask because when I remember buying a G3 iMac when I was about 13 for £60 and thinking it was a huge amount of money!

 

[Macdude2010]

Now, I don't want to sound rude and you don't have to answer but where is this money coming from to pay for it in big $600 chunks? I only ask because when I remember buying a G3 iMac when I was about 13 for £60 and thinking it was a huge amount of money!

I have been saving up for a phone for a while, took about 2 years, I also am having my bar mitzvah in a few weeks, but most of that money i have decided to save for collage (want to go to Waterloo or Stanford)

 

[tomtom101]

I see why people are saying you don't need a iphone, but probably 90% of people don't need one - I know that I most certainly dont, and any of my friends that have them don't need them! And if the iPhone had of been around when I was 13, i most certainly would have saved every penny just to get one!...

The only thing i can think of is going for Pay as you go instead of pay monthly, so all responsibility will be on you, rather than your parents having to pay a bill! I know I Can afford the bill, i just prefare Pay as you go (sorry, dont know if thats on offer in the states, ireland here!) because I can directly manage how much I spend a month!

 

[labman]

I will say you don't sound like the average teenager that comes here on Macrumors. As a Parent I would I'd recommend you right down a really good list of reasons for you to have it. As well as some of the negatives your parents have probably already told you. try to come up with some counters. Such as the cost maybe there are extra chores you can do to cover the extra details. list as many ways as you can that would benefit them. discuss now hoping you will be ready for the new iPhone 5 or they might discount the I4

 

[mouse.]

i won't be rude but i don't think that a 13 years old kid must have an iPhone.But I still hope your parents let you buy it.Other kids of your age have a cheap phone.Why don't you manage to have an iPod touch(the 5g ) and a normal phone ? Anyway choose what is the best for you

No, a 13 year old kid probably doesn't need to have an iPhone, but who needs one really? If it's his money and he earned it then I don't see why he shouldn't have a choice in what he buys with his money. Why don't you talk to your parents, if they don't want your money spent on a phone, ask them what they would like to see you spend it on?

And at 13, you shouldn't really be having to spend money on something you necessarily need (food and shelter!)... that's your parents job right now.

 

[Nicolas4ever]

im actually 15 and i have an iPhone.I earned the money and bought it unlocked without any contract.I don't need it but i want it.Im with him if he wants it just buy it