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Wait for iPhone 5 or get new contract for iPhone 4s?

F

faeylin

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 29, 2012
1
0
Hi!

Posting first time here :)

Ok, my situation is, I have an iPhone 4s with Sprint, which I bought in the first week of release so it was supposedly unlocked for overseas and when I went to the sprint store to ask to get it to be used with an overseas sim card they said it will work and I should get the additional $5 plan for international calling if I want to use the sprint card overseas, too.

Ok, I go to Germany, try the sprint card, DOES NOT WORK. I was so pissed. I tried several times even asked the local provider of BASE but couldn't get it to work BUT I got a local BASE sim card to work in it. Great.
I called sprint and they only said the sprint card should work and couldn't help me. So I stopped paying and they cancelled the contract. (Btw does anyone know if I have to pay them the whole 2 years contract now? They had a deposit and I just stopped paying after 4 month into contract since the card didn't work. I could tell them I moved overseas, don't they then have to cancel the contract?)

Now after about 8 month I am coming back to the US and now need a new carrier for my iPhone 4s BUT I want to get the iPhone 5 when it comes out, so do you think I should get just a new contract for my iPhone 4s and then just get the iPhone 5, will that work?
Or can I only get the 5 with new 2-year contract?
Also I hate sprint now so I do want to go with At&T or verizon (which do you recommend?)

Should I rather get a prepaid phone until the iPhone 5 comes out and then trade-in my iPhone for the new one? Does At&T trade-in sprint iPhones? Sprint gave me $100 for my old iPhone 3g which was unlocked and used on T-mobile.

If I unlock the phone for At&T now will I still be able to trade it in for the same amount? Or better not unlock it now?

Thanks for serious answers :)
 
Wow...complex.

Sprint or any other company could care less if you moved overseas, got divorced or lost your house. You signed a two year contract. Over.

Now, maybe if they insured you that you could use it in Germany and could not, maybe that is an issue.

Getting a new I-5 with another carrier. Of course you can. It has ZERO to do with your Sprint deal. You can only get ANY new phone with ATT or V with a 1 year contract.
 
The iPhone 5 is coming out in just a matter of weeks so just get that one.

As for your contract, you have to honor it. You're going to screw up your credit rating if you just stop paying your bills, man.
 
Your 4s is worthless on any US carrier. Should've properly ended your contract with Sprint.

I'm guessing you now owe them money for the contract termination and they've reported you to creditors. That could affect you getting another phone with another carrier. You may have to pay a deposit.
 
You will probably have to pay a deposit, and Sprint will probably make you pay the remaining balance if you want to start another contract with them. Sucks, I know, because I am in your situation (though trying to fix it actively). I am going on Sprint with this iPhone 5 release, and got everything cleared away with them already to get ready to buy this iPhone (had to get a special approval number, and a tentative account number to bypass credit). This time, I am making sure it is a plan I can afford, and a plan where I don't run up the minutes to a bill where I can't afford it (unlimited minutes & data). - Even with my horrid credit rating, I still got approved with no deposit, I love Sprint for that :)!

Though a lot of people have seen a lot of good luck with sprint, you may only get away with a $250 deposit instead... Good luck to you though. I know what it is like to be in your shoes!


EDIT: I see that you do not want to go with AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon....which unless you have a regional carrier in your area that has the iPhone (e.g. C-Spire, Bluegrass Cellular, etc...), your only real options are prepaid carriers such as Virgin Mobile or Cricket. T-Mobile does not carry the iPhone (you can of course buy factory unlocked and take it to them).

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

The link above is a list of carriers that "Apple approved" to carry the iPhone. You have a decent number to choose from, however, not all of them may be in your area. Some price the phone higher than others, some are prepaid, some are post paid.
 
Last edited:
if I were you , I can not wait for the iphone 5, I will choose the cheaper iphone 4s or iphone 4.
 
honeygirl said:
if I were you , I can not wait for the iphone 5, I will choose the cheaper iphone 4s or iphone 4.
Click to expand...

If I were you, I would ignore above suggestion. Reply does not make sense. First he says, "If I were you". Than next he says " I can not wait" The words I can not wait, means him, but the first part of the sentence he is talking about you. Confusing. I would wait until the iPhone 5 is out, see what it improves upon, than make a decision as to the older phone or the newer one. Simple.
 
You will have to sell your iPhone 4S because it wont work on any other carrier. Sprint and Verizon iPhones are locked down. I say sell your iPhone now, get a cheap $20 prepaid phone and then get an unlocked iPhone 5 when they come out. You should be able to get $300-$400 for your current iPhone, so the new one unlocked would only cost you $200-$300 out of pocket. This way with the unlocked iPhone, you can go month to month on at&t or any other GSM carrier, then if you go back over seas you wont have to worry about any cancelation fees and you can just pick up a local sim card and use that while you're there.
 
Fernandez21 said:
You will have to sell your iPhone 4S because it wont work on any other carrier.
Click to expand...

This is bad advice. If what he said is true, that phone is currently blocked by Sprint and if he sells it to anyone that tries to activate it in the US, he's gonna have a pissed off buyer.
 
faeylin said:
Hi!

Posting first time here :)

Ok, my situation is, I have an iPhone 4s with Sprint, which I bought in the first week of release so it was supposedly unlocked for overseas and when I went to the sprint store to ask to get it to be used with an overseas sim card they said it will work and I should get the additional $5 plan for international calling if I want to use the sprint card overseas, too.

Ok, I go to Germany, try the sprint card, DOES NOT WORK. I was so pissed. I tried several times even asked the local provider of BASE but couldn't get it to work BUT I got a local BASE sim card to work in it. Great.
I called sprint and they only said the sprint card should work and couldn't help me. So I stopped paying and they cancelled the contract. (Btw does anyone know if I have to pay them the whole 2 years contract now? They had a deposit and I just stopped paying after 4 month into contract since the card didn't work. I could tell them I moved overseas, don't they then have to cancel the contract?)

Now after about 8 month I am coming back to the US and now need a new carrier for my iPhone 4s BUT I want to get the iPhone 5 when it comes out, so do you think I should get just a new contract for my iPhone 4s and then just get the iPhone 5, will that work?
Or can I only get the 5 with new 2-year contract?
Also I hate sprint now so I do want to go with At&T or verizon (which do you recommend?)

Should I rather get a prepaid phone until the iPhone 5 comes out and then trade-in my iPhone for the new one? Does At&T trade-in sprint iPhones? Sprint gave me $100 for my old iPhone 3g which was unlocked and used on T-mobile.

If I unlock the phone for At&T now will I still be able to trade it in for the same amount? Or better not unlock it now?

Thanks for serious answers :)
Click to expand...

I'd say to get the iPhone 5 on Verizon just because of their vast LTE coverage.
 
You could trade it in to Apple with their new promotion towards a new iP5 and get some cash towards it and sign up with another provider, but as already mentioned your credit may have taken a hit, at least with wireless carriers.

Here is a link to the story: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1431175/
 
Last edited:
Geckotek said:
This is bad advice. If what he said is true, that phone is currently blocked by Sprint and if he sells it to anyone that tries to activate it in the US, he's gonna have a pissed off buyer.
Click to expand...

Why would it be blocked on sprint? It wasn't stolen or anything. I've never heard of them blocking a phone because the original owner owed them money, they may not allow him to open a new line of service until he pays up, but the phone it self should be fine.
 
Fernandez21 said:
Why would it be blocked on sprint? It wasn't stolen or anything. I've never heard of them blocking a phone because the original owner owed them money, they may not allow him to open a new line of service until he pays up, but the phone it self should be fine.
Click to expand...

Sprint would likely block the ESN based on the contract not having been fulfilled, non-payment of services. They tie the ESN to to contract so they would block it just like Verizon does.
 
faeylin said:
Hi!

Posting first time here :)

Ok, my situation is, I have an iPhone 4s with Sprint, which I bought in the first week of release so it was supposedly unlocked for overseas and when I went to the sprint store to ask to get it to be used with an overseas sim card they said it will work and I should get the additional $5 plan for international calling if I want to use the sprint card overseas, too.

Ok, I go to Germany, try the sprint card, DOES NOT WORK. I was so pissed. I tried several times even asked the local provider of BASE but couldn't get it to work BUT I got a local BASE sim card to work in it. Great.
I called sprint and they only said the sprint card should work and couldn't help me. So I stopped paying and they cancelled the contract. (Btw does anyone know if I have to pay them the whole 2 years contract now? They had a deposit and I just stopped paying after 4 month into contract since the card didn't work. I could tell them I moved overseas, don't they then have to cancel the contract?)

Now after about 8 month I am coming back to the US and now need a new carrier for my iPhone 4s BUT I want to get the iPhone 5 when it comes out, so do you think I should get just a new contract for my iPhone 4s and then just get the iPhone 5, will that work?
Or can I only get the 5 with new 2-year contract?
Also I hate sprint now so I do want to go with At&T or verizon (which do you recommend?)

Should I rather get a prepaid phone until the iPhone 5 comes out and then trade-in my iPhone for the new one? Does At&T trade-in sprint iPhones? Sprint gave me $100 for my old iPhone 3g which was unlocked and used on T-mobile.

If I unlock the phone for At&T now will I still be able to trade it in for the same amount? Or better not unlock it now?

Thanks for serious answers :)
Click to expand...
Here's the deal...the better value would clearly be getting the 4s. The new iPhone, from all accounts, looks like it is going to be a very underwhelming upgrade.

It's pretty much going to be a slightly stretched 4s with LTE. If you don't care about LTE, then just get the 4s and save the money.
 
I would make your decision after we actual see the new iPhone on stage and get all the details. People may assume its going to be an underwhelming upgrade from a 4S, but no one knows jack until its actually announced.
 
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