Is anybody going to pick up a Cricket iPhone today?

[andyx3x]

I'm seriously considering it but I'm going to wait at least a week or so to see if there are any issues.

I'm with Verizon now but hate the high prices for monthly service. Most months I only use at most 100 talking minutes and rarely even use 100 MB's of data. Having to pay for things that I don't even use is really starting to tick me off.

So these prepaid options are very attractive. If enough people move over, I would think the major carriers would have to reduce their prices. We'll see what happens.

The problem is that most people in this day and age can only see the immediate cost of something and won't think long term about how much they would save going prepaid. That's why my initial feeling is that these prepaid carriers won't do well selling the iPhone at $500 and higher.

 

[RocketRed]

I am genuinely curious, what is the target demographic of Cricket?

Excuse me if I sound ignorant.. I do not mean to offend anyone. I have only been in USA for 4 years and I've been with Sprint and then AT&T.

 

[boomboom2]

The target demographic is people who want cell phone service, but scoff at the idea of paying around $100 a month.

 

[andyx3x]

I am genuinely curious, what is the target demographic of Cricket?

Excuse me if I sound ignorant.. I do not mean to offend anyone. I have only been in USA for 4 years and I've been with Sprint and then AT&T.

The target demographic is people who want cell phone service, but scoff at the idea of paying around $100 a month.

This is totally correct.

Sure, there are some people who go there who have bad credit and this is the only way they can get a phone, but there are also many people who go there because the prices are so low.

I personally believe that with the fees rising at all the major providers, prepaid is very quickly going to be the way to go. It also will help that they are starting to get the better and newer phones. As I said in my original post, hopefully this will cause the AT&T's, Verizon's and Sprint's of the world to lower their costs eventually.

 

[Lammercy]

Crickets coverage would be my only concern.

 

[aneftp]

The real question is:

Why would anyone pick up a full priced locked CDMA iPhone (yes I am aware that Cricket or even Virgin Mobile use the same exact iphone 4S that has dual/cdma/gsm chips). But it's still going to be locked down to the CDMA carrier.

You seriously limit your choice of carriers if you pick up a this phone. Sure, they may unlock the GSM portion but like Verizon and Sprint; they will not let you use the GSM portion on USA soil.

 

[chiefpavvy]

No. Cricket service is provided via Sprint, the worst network in the country. That alone would kill the deal for me. Add in full price (nearly) for a locked CDMA phone that is to be replaced in just a few months...I think not.

Been using Straight Talk ($42 per month) for about 5 months now and very happy with the (AT&T) service on a fully unlocked GSM iPhone 4S.

 

[ViperDesign]

No. Cricket service is provided via Sprint, the worst network in the country. That alone would kill the deal for me. Add in full price (nearly) for a locked CDMA phone that is to be replaced in just a few months...I think not.

Been using Straight Talk ($42 per month) for about 5 months now and very happy with the (AT&T) service on a fully unlocked GSM iPhone 4S.

Do you get the hspa+ (think it is called that) speeds on straight talk?

 

[andyx3x]

Do you get the hspa+ (think it is called that) speeds on straight talk?

No, you do not.

 

[sracer]

No. Cricket service is provided via Sprint, the worst network in the country. That alone would kill the deal for me. Add in full price (nearly) for a locked CDMA phone that is to be replaced in just a few months...I think not.

Been using Straight Talk ($42 per month) for about 5 months now and very happy with the (AT&T) service on a fully unlocked GSM iPhone 4S.

There are some valid reasons for selecting a Cricket or VirginMobile prepaid iPhone. Rather than repeat them here, I'll provide a link:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/15083976/

 

[aneftp]

There are some valid reasons for selecting a Cricket or VirginMobile prepaid iPhone. Rather than repeat them here, I'll provide a link:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/15083976/

How exactly do you save from straight talk? A real unlimited minutes plan with virgin mobile is $50 a month. Cricket unlimited voice is $55. Virgin mobile also throttles at 2.3GB CDMA slower speeds to began with.

Straight talk also has a $30 limited plan. But we need to compare apple to apples. So most go with the straight talk $45/month plan unlimited minutes/text/2gb data.

 

[chiefpavvy]

No, you do not.

Yes, I do. Straight Talk allows HSPA+ where available, on both AT&T and T-Mobile.

 

[sracer]

How exactly do you save from straight talk? A real unlimited minutes plan with virgin mobile is $50 a month. Cricket unlimited voice is $55. Virgin mobile also throttles at 2.3GB CDMA slower speeds to began with.

Straight talk also has a $30 limited plan. But we need to compare apple to apples. So most go with the straight talk $45/month plan unlimited minutes/text/2gb data.

I was not able to find Straight talk's $30 limited plan on their website. It wasn't there when I initially signed up ST a few months ago either.

If a person uses 300 or less minutes of talk a month, then VirginMobile will be less expensive than StraightTalk... that's one apple that you didn't consider in your apples-to-apples comparison.

There are mixed reports of StraightTalk flat-out canceling a persons account for exceeding 2GB of data usage in a month. Account disabled, phone number disabled (with no possibility of porting that number to another carrier). I think that even you will agree that throttling data throughput is preferable to having your number disabled.

As I mentioned in other threads, I have Straight Talk on an iPhone 4. I absolutely love the service. But I also believe that CDMA-based prepaid options may be viable for people under certain circumstances.

This one-size-fits-all reductionism does a disservice to those who could benefit from a larger picture perspective.

 

[pyro008]

The real question is:

Why would anyone pick up a full priced locked CDMA iPhone (yes I am aware that Cricket or even Virgin Mobile use the same exact iphone 4S that has dual/cdma/gsm chips). But it's still going to be locked down to the CDMA carrier.

You seriously limit your choice of carriers if you pick up a this phone. Sure, they may unlock the GSM portion but like Verizon and Sprint; they will not let you use the GSM portion on USA soil.

What are you talking about? There is no other way to use an iPhone on a CDMA network other than buying one that is allowed on it.

No. Cricket service is provided via Sprint, the worst network in the country. That alone would kill the deal for me. Add in full price (nearly) for a locked CDMA phone that is to be replaced in just a few months...I think not.

Cool generalization. The Sprint network works fine in the areas I need it. And it won't be replaced in a few months. There may be a new model out, but you really think it will come to prepaid carriers?

 

[dannyo92]

I can't believe how expensive iPhones are in the US. $500 upfront and then $55 per month? In the UK we can get a 24 month contract with 2000 minutes, unlimited texts and truly unlimited Internet for $56 per month (at today's exchange rate) with no upfront cost after cashback. Another option is to just buy one sim free for $778 and then pay $16 for 250 minutes, unlimited texts and truly unlimited Internet (no contract).

 

[chiefpavvy]

It's a different system here. Folks are conditioned to "only" pay $99 or $199 for a device that really costs between $600 and $800. They aren't very good at math and believe they are getting a great deal. It's a gravy train and I don't see them changing any time soon. Prepaid is growing steadily but that is mostly due (IMHO) to the bad economy. Of course there are situations where postpaid is still a better deal - a large family plan with 5 phones, for example. But for most folks the prepaid option would be a tremendous savings...they just can't get over the "high" up-front cost of the device. (Never mind the $1800 - $2400 they'll be shelling out for the next 24 months!)

 

[habubauza]

Yes, I do. Straight Talk allows HSPA+ where available, on both AT&T and T-Mobile.

I'm also getting HSPA+ Speeds on Straight Talk. I'm in the Tampa Bay area.

 

[chiefpavvy]

Cool generalization. The Sprint network works fine in the areas I need it. And it won't be replaced in a few months. There may be a new model out, but you really think it will come to prepaid carriers?

Good for you, just realize that outside a large metro Sprint is dead in the water. Their coverage map looks like it was drawn in 1996 and never updated.

Of course it probably will not arrive on prepaid immediately but I'd be willing to bet it will arrive there sooner than the 4S has.

 

[chrislaw]

Soooo, I'm sure its been asked but I'm tired of looking through the long related threads...

Is it possible to get my verizon 4S flashed to work on Virgin or Cricket? and if so how do i go about that?

I have 3 people sharing 700 minutes, one of which is a smartphone with unlimited data. The other two are feature phones requiring no data. I pay about $130/mo. I can get 3 smartphones with 2gb each for similar pricing and live in a big enough market that coverage doesn't bother me. I hate losing unlimited data but I'm not going to pay the $700 outright for the iphone 5 if i stay with Verizon anyway in order to keep it. So I'm in the air about what I'm going to do.

 

[aneftp]

Soooo, I'm sure its been asked but I'm tired of looking through the long related threads...

Is it possible to get my verizon 4S flashed to work on Virgin or Cricket? and if so how do i go about that?

I have 3 people sharing 700 minutes, one of which is a smartphone with unlimited data. The other two are feature phones requiring no data. I pay about $130/mo. I can get 3 smartphones with 2gb each for similar pricing and live in a big enough market that coverage doesn't bother me. I hate losing unlimited data but I'm not going to pay the $700 outright for the iphone 5 if i stay with Verizon anyway in order to keep it. So I'm in the air about what I'm going to do.

Just remember Verizon iPhone will be LTE. With cricket and virgin mobile u will be on sprint slow CDMA network which is slower than Verizon CDMA networks

So if data speed doesn't matter to u. Go for it. Not sure about 4s. But I know the 4 can be flashed.

 

[andyx3x]

No, you do not.

Yes, I do. Straight Talk allows HSPA+ where available, on both AT&T and T-Mobile.

Yeah, I was wrong on that. I was thinking that he meant HSPA+ on Cricket.

I decided to go the other way and bought an AT&T iPhone 4S tonight off Craigslist to use on Straight Talk.

----------

Is it possible to get my verizon 4S flashed to work on Virgin or Cricket? and if so how do i go about that?

I asked Cricket about the 4S. They said no. I believe that it has to do with the 4S having a sim card.

 

[pyro008]

Good for you, just realize that outside a large metro Sprint is dead in the water. Their coverage map looks like it was drawn in 1996 and never updated.

Anyone looking to actually be helpful to people choosing a carrier would never say something like that. It depends on the area, so it seems like you just have some vendetta against Sprint.

 

[chrislaw]

Just remember Verizon iPhone will be LTE. With cricket and virgin mobile u will be on sprint slow CDMA network which is slower than Verizon CDMA networks

So if data speed doesn't matter to u. Go for it. Not sure about 4s. But I know the 4 can be flashed.

I've found the difference in the speed of Verizon and Sprint to be negligible in Columbus. So i dont worry too much about it. But you're right the LTE is something that has me on the fence.

I asked Cricket about the 4S. They said no. I believe that it has to do with the 4S having a sim card.

Bummer, I wonder about Virgin then. Thanks.

 

[applefanDrew]

Just remember Verizon iPhone will be LTE. With cricket and virgin mobile u will be on sprint slow CDMA network which is slower than Verizon CDMA networks

So if data speed doesn't matter to u. Go for it. Not sure about 4s. But I know the 4 can be flashed.

Yes LTE is the only reason I'm switching to Verizon. But I hate the extra $20 a month I will be paying.

 

[u6crash]

I'm not rushing out and buying one, but I'm a current Cricket user. I went to the website today to see if they were rolling them out, etc. However, every zip code I typed in said it was unavailable in my area, even for the center of Chicago and Aurora. I'm at my parents' house out in the sticks today and I get Cricket service here, but they won't sell me an iPhone even if I were planning to buy one.