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iPhone 6 owners: will you transition to the new iPhone in September?
- Thread starter mhaniff
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If the next iPhone does not tick my wants and needs boxes I'll be taking a year out from iPhones and possibly using a Samsung Galaxy s7 edge.
I'm probably going to go from a 6 to a SE. I really do miss the 4 inch form factor and even though I'll be a year behind hardware wise, I think it'll be worth it.
Apple's upgrade program is brilliant. Another component in the companies excellent marketing program. It's these elements that keep iPhones selling even though they're old, slow, and huge... given the screen to body ratio.
If not for the Steve Jobs Master Marketing Plan the Cupertino Company would be much smaller. Able to sell marginally upgraded phones with ease, Apples carefully maintained image pays off handsomely. Their believers will tolerate the shortcomings, overlook the astronomical pricing and keep buying. A testimony to Apples Ad Agencies.
Well, sold my 6s Plus 128GB today. My body is ready for the iPhone 7 Plus! Lord Jobs has shown me the light!
Personally the only worrying factor for me currently is the 1GB ram that's on my iphone 6. And although the difference between the 6 and the 6S was minor whatever the 7 (or whatever it might be called) will definitely bring in notable differences in aspects that matter in day to day use such as the camera, speed and quality of touch ID and development in 3D touch, battery life.
While I do get the point of those who say they won't be upgrading due to the same design, I'd prefer the performance and other aspects more than just looks of the phone. If that too changes I'll take it as a bonus. But other than that if what apple brings suffices my wants, then I'll get it.
P.S. : Never judge a book by its cover they say.
While I do get the point of those who say they won't be upgrading due to the same design, I'd prefer the performance and other aspects more than just looks of the phone. If that too changes I'll take it as a bonus. But other than that if what apple brings suffices my wants, then I'll get it.
P.S. : Never judge a book by its cover they say.
Totally agree and I have an Apple case on it anyway, so you only see the screen and a bit of the bottom.
sorry, couldn't help. 
Your carrier never offered you a phone for $399. They baked the remainder of the price into your monthly phone bill. You always paid $800, just window dressing to fool you into thinking you weren't.
Agreed. I did the math for my scenario. With the old plans, I was paying $6960 ($240*24=$5760 service, $300*4=$1200 device upfront cost) over the course of a 2-year contract. With the new plans plus Next, I'm paying $6840 over the same period ($160*24=$3840 service, $750*4=$3000 device).
That said, I kinda get what the previous poster is trying to say. Due to the separation of service and device cost versus the old subsidy model, there's greater financial incentive with the new plans not to upgrade. Before, you were paying the $450 subsidy regardless of whether you upgrade or not and regardless of which phone you get. Now, you'd be saving the full device cost if you don't upgrade.
You were always saving the device cost by not upgrading. Originally the carrier's kept charging the higher service rate even after the phone was paid off. Pure 100% profit. Later they dropped the higher service rate once phone was off contract, I.e. Paid for.
Now you use the monthly pay plan, no interest, and new phone each year. Trade in old phone if it's in good shape. It's all a shell game. Net cost to consumers remains the same. Now AT&T is again pushing the envelope by offering more cost effective data plans. But the catch is the monthy phone charge per line goes up $5 each phone. Effectively negating the reduced data cost. Additionally any discounts don't apply to the per line phone charge.
End result my phone bill goes up. I can opt for 1 extra GB data 15 to 16 for net increase of $8 per month. Or go from 15GB to 25GB for extra $23 a month. The fair thing would have been to decrease data cost without increasing the per line fee. Per line fee is b.s. anyway.
The other thing that really steams me is I pay every month for 15GB data. If I use 10GB 5 rolls over to next month. But if I don't use it that next month I loose it. It only gets rolled (saved for one month) I paid for that data, it should belong to me to use as long as I am with that carrier.
Like buy gasoline for your car and the station siphons it off if you don't use it all within a certain time period. Cheat cheat cheat the consumer.
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Again with this hogwash. That is completely untrue. Apple insisted that the carriers give a hefty subsidy to consumers so that the phone was dramatically discounted and they could compete with flip phones and Android phones back in 2010. As the years went by the carriers screamed at their short profit margins and Apple relaxed their discounting requirement. Now that the market is completely mature, Apple and the carriers are charging full price.
I have compared my current bill ($399 phone 2-year agreement) to what my bill would be under AT&T Next ($800 phone over 2 year period) and I wind up paying $400 more.
The 'window dressing' here is that customers who don't have $399 to drop on a phone in one shot get to pay it off over the course of 2 years. Instead of charging a new iPhone to a credit card, they can leave the store with no money down. But what they are paying is not $399, it's $800.
Read this article carefully so you have a better understanding of how this industry works:
http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/08/technology/iphone_carrier_subsidy/
I have been giving the Note 7 a hard look. But am going to wait until after the September announcement to make a decision.
There's nothing Apple could include in the iPhone 7 to draw my interest.
My fresh new Galaxy Note 7 is everything I expected. Perfect? No. Excellent? Absolutely!
When I got my first phones under subsidy I paid the initial 300 and 400 dollars and had a $40 per month device charge per phone that never went away. This was on top of my plan. I had a phone for over two years and I most certainly paid this for a fact.
Then the phone carrier change it so after 2 years the monthly device charge dropped once contract for phone was over. One time they gave me earlier contract phone fee termination if I switched phone plans. So the per phone charge dropped before the two years were up.
Now they dropped the subsidy all together and are more up front about paying for the phone. Either full price up front or monthly plan. The monthly plan is incentive to keep getting new phone each year. Course they won't exchange if old phone has least bit of damage.
Latest is now if I want to get more data then new plans have built in increase from $15 per month per phone charge to $20 per phone. Even my wife's flip phone that she uses no data on. So net effect is increase in my overall phone bill.
Non of this is hogwash or untrue. I lived it, I paid it. And I don't appreciate being called a liar. The carriers change their plans, Data points, and add on charges to maximize their profits. Seldom do you get a reduction unless they see customers departing. And then it requires a special call to retentions department to get the unadvertised special deals.
And the data carry over for one month only is a big cheat. If you don't use it up next month you loose it. Even though you paid for it. Data rollover should stay there accumulating since I paid for 15GB each month wether I use it or not.
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If I look at what my iPhone 6 cost me up front ($399) and what the monthly service costs were ($XXX) and compare that to what an iPhone 7 would cost me up front ($0) and what the monthly services costs would be ($XXX) I wind up paying $100s more over the course of 2 years. It doesn't matter what it says its for on the bill. Add up every dime out of your pocket for the last two years vs. the next two years, it'll show I'm paying more for the next two years (all things being equal on the data/service side).
And on top of that I'll have the issue of what to do with the old phone when I get the new phone. For every iPhone I've owned to date (3GS, 4, 5, 6) I purchased on the first day of release so I'm among the first to sell them when the contract is up. And in every instance I have either gotten back exactly what I paid for them or made a slight profit on local Craigslist sales, basically I've had a free iPhone for 8 years. Always get the biggest capacity model, always on the first day, always in mint condition when I sell them.
For the iPhone 7 cycle, different story. Let's say I wind up getting a 7 well then I'd never get my $399 back for my 6 because those Craigslist types can just walk into an Apple store and walk out with a 7 for no money down. Sure, they'll pay more per month, but they don't have to scrimp together $399 to buy an older model from a Craigslist guy anymore, they get the brand new one for no money down. It's effectively going to end the resale market.
Add it all up, the iPhone 7 is a massive increase in cost for what looks like very little gain. Back to the thread title, it's why I won't transition to the new iPhone for the first time in a decade. If Apple wants to hurt me financially with the new-every-two model, that's fine, I can fight back by holding on to the older iPhone for another year or two, it functions very well thank you. Should also note that I have 4 iPhone's in the family, wife and three kids. It's gone from play money to real money now.
Always been real money for me. I added up all my costs and re-sale return. Having a phone for me has never been anything but a cost I live with. Scary how high it is when you add up all the years.
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I would disagree as for example if one was to move to a more modern plan where they got a device subsidiary they would be still getting a discount. Also if you could reduce the amount of data you use and use more wifi then you could move to a modern plan and save some money. I also used to be on the unlimited plan on Verizon but once I changed the last line on my account to a smart phone, it was better off to move to the new plan.
I have a 6+, 6S and a 6S+. I will likely skip the 7 this year and buy an Android phone. I'll see what happens with the upcoming Nexus phone before I decide on anything but it will likely be 2017 before I buy my next phone. I bought five phones since December so I was taking a long break in purchasing phones.
From your link ...
All smartphones weigh on carriers' margins, since wireless carriers pay a hefty subsidy up front to buy the phones from the handset manufacturers. They make up the difference over the life of a two-year contract.
What is happening now is separation of hardware and service, which is good for customers.