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My Plan To Get A New iPhone Every Year...Worth It?

J

jonter19

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 17, 2011
66
6
Hey all,

Been a lurker for a while and posted a few times (love the forums) but I have a quick question for you guys and gals.

I'm a huge Apple fan. I have a MBP and an iPad. I've wanted an iPhone since they first came out but was loyal to Verizon since my entire family uses them and their service is much better in my area. I was ecstatic when the Verizon iPhone finally hit shelves this year, but my contract doesn't end until August 2011 and I'm not going to shelve out $600 for an off contract phone.

I know the iPhone 5 is rumored to come out end of September, but I honestly don't think I can wait any longer after my contract runs up. I'm fed up with my crappy Droid and it's slow and painful software. Plus, I'm pretty stoked for iOS5 and iCloud.

Here's what I'm thinking about doing....

My contract runs up Aug. 2011 and my wife's ends March 2012. This means that one of us will have an expired contract each year.

I'm thinking about going ahead and buying a used iPhone 4 from Craigslist or eBay (can probably spend anywhere from $300 to $400 out of pocket plus some PayPal credit I have). When the iPhone 5 comes out, I upgrade and give my wife the 4. When the 6 comes out next year, I use my wife's contract to get the 6, give her the 5, and sell the 4 to make up the difference. I would do this every year as the new phone came out.

Does this seem like a workable plan? Or is it a waste of money to go ahead and buy the 4 so I don't have to keep waiting around for an iPhone 5?

Thanks! :)
 
If it was me, I'd wait for the iPhone 5. As far as the rest of the plan, that's up to you. I'm no good at giving marriage advice.
 
It's not even worth it......... just wait for the 5 in September. It's basically the same thing as the 4, but it'd be a little faster, and have a better camera......Screen size isn't gonna change anytime soon, the selling point of the iPhone 4 is the retina display. Larger screen = worse quality. Higher resolution = different app layouts. It won't happen right now.

Just wait, you'll be glad you did. The iPhone 4 is still an awesome phone :)
 
Last edited:
The 4 is still gonna be like $500 online. Maybe $400 if you're lucky.

But I buy the iPhones outright for $600 each year. If you want it that bad, just shell it out. It's just money.
 
While I agree it sounds more than a little unfair to me, his wife may not care about ever having the latest and greatest.

But if she does, I foresee the OP will have hell to pay at some point. :D

My husband and I have always alternated on who gets the new laptop every year or two. But we both picked up new iPhone 4's and original iPads last year; I swore I didn't need an iPad until he brought his home, and he swore he wasn't upgrading his original iPhone after buying the iPad...until he saw mine. LOL It really just depends on what you agree on together as a couple, not what a bunch of random people on the internet have to say about it.

Personally, we're both loving our ip4 models and neither of us are bothering with the 4s/5, or whatever they end up calling it. My upgrade is in March, but I'll wait for the 4G/LTE/whatever capable version. The phone rumored for this fall doesn't sound like a big enough upgrade to make a move that locks me into another 18 month-2 year contract worthwhile to me.
 
Some of you guys need to calm down a little bit, some people believe it or not don't care about having the latest tech as long as they have nice tech. My Fiancee is that way, she doesn't care about having the latest iPhone as long as she has a good working iPhone. She is more then happy to let me use her upgrade. So don't go jumping on this guy and calling him a ****** husband until you know his situation.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/534.32 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

Just do what I do every year, sell your iphOne for 400-500 and then just buy the new one full price, do the same when you can up your contract and then buy the new one for 199, pocket the othe 300 :)
 
jonter19 said:
Does this seem like a workable plan? Or is it a waste of money to go ahead and buy the 4 so I don't have to keep waiting around for an iPhone 5?
Click to expand...

The plan works, because it's logical. I find it completely unnecessary, as you'd also have to sell the iPhone your wife had, your wife never gets the new ones even though its her contract, and so and so...
 
wow you guys must have some uptight wives. Mine would be more than happy, and insist for me to get the newest iphone over her because she knows how much I want it. She gets plenty of new stuff all the time, an iPhone not being at the top of her list. Chill out guys.
 
jonter19 said:
Hey all,

Been a lurker for a while and posted a few times (love the forums) but I have a quick question for you guys and gals.

I'm a huge Apple fan. I have a MBP and an iPad. I've wanted an iPhone since they first came out but was loyal to Verizon since my entire family uses them and their service is much better in my area. I was ecstatic when the Verizon iPhone finally hit shelves this year, but my contract doesn't end until August 2011 and I'm not going to shelve out $600 for an off contract phone.

I know the iPhone 5 is rumored to come out end of September, but I honestly don't think I can wait any longer after my contract runs up. I'm fed up with my crappy Droid and it's slow and painful software. Plus, I'm pretty stoked for iOS5 and iCloud.

Here's what I'm thinking about doing....

My contract runs up Aug. 2011 and my wife's ends March 2012. This means that one of us will have an expired contract each year.

I'm thinking about going ahead and buying a used iPhone 4 from Craigslist or eBay (can probably spend anywhere from $300 to $400 out of pocket plus some PayPal credit I have). When the iPhone 5 comes out, I upgrade and give my wife the 4. When the 6 comes out next year, I use my wife's contract to get the 6, give her the 5, and sell the 4 to make up the difference. I would do this every year as the new phone came out.

Does this seem like a workable plan? Or is it a waste of money to go ahead and buy the 4 so I don't have to keep waiting around for an iPhone 5?

Thanks! :)
Click to expand...

Hey if your wife is okay with it I say go for it. Otherwise, you might be kinda screwing her over. And the iPhone 4 is a great phone you would like it I bet.
 
My .02 cents, this really depends on your wife.

Is it just a phone to her? Does she care all that much about technology? Does she just want something that is handy but doesn't care about the latest?

Cause honestly, if she were like me, I'd be annoyed I always got the hand me down phone (I'd be like, use your own upgrade to get a new phone, I want mine for the new phone that's out when my upgrade is up).

So, I think you are the best person to answer that question. Is your wife a big techie (cause believe it or not people, female geeks exist ;) <- is one) or loves gadgets or is it just a tool to her?
 
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