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Want to buy new iPhone, unsure about how to do it

murdercitydevil

murdercitydevil

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 23, 2010
1,561
0
california
This is my first time ever even considering an iPhone, and would like some advice. First, I was wondering about the status of iPhone "scams"; that is, I know in the past, for the 3Gs for instance, people could essentially scam AT&T to get the phone without a contract and still pay less than a factory unlocked model (something along the lines of using a friend's AT&T account to upgrade to the new one, return the old one, cancel service, blah blah, it was pretty complicated). Did AT&T/Apple take any steps to prevent people from getting away with this?

Second, I'm not sure what the best way for me to obtain a new iPhone would be. I have 2 options -

1. My family is currently on T-Mobile, and my dad (yeah, I know) pays my phone bill. I pay for data/unlimited texts, but the rest is taken care of. So my first option is to either buy the phone from AT&T with contract, cancel contract, pay early termination fee, and then unlock it to work on T-Mo OR buy a factory unlocked phone, depending on which is cheaper. Is there any downside to this in terms of phone features? I heard that not all iPhone stuff works on networks outside of AT&T, and the 3G speeds may be lower, is this true?

2. Switch to AT&T and pay my own phone bill. The main problem with this is that their rates are crazy high for an individual plan, plus I would be a brand new customer with no discounts or deals or anything. Additionally it would be more complicated in terms of the family being on different networks. Still not sure about this one.

Any advice on what to do? I'd prefer a jailbroken/unlocked iPhone, and am willing to pay probably up to 500 bucks for a factory unlocked one. Sorry if this is a noob question, redundant thread, etc. This is my first foray into the world of iPhone. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
 
murdercitydevil said:
Way to increase your post count with absolutely nothing worthwhile. You obviously didn't read the thread.
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Right, so waiting for the new model to come out, making the current one cheaper doesn't help you at all?

Factory unlocked phones are expensive. In Australia they are about $1000 (or USD$900) from the Apple Online Store. There might be another way as you suggest, but as you said, it gets complicated.
 
You won't find a factory unlocked phone for 500

you can buy a usd phone that's been software unlocked for less. I'd buy one of those off cl. This way don't have to mess with any contracts. Just swap sims and go.
 
murdercitydevil said:
Way to increase your post count with absolutely nothing worthwhile. You obviously didn't read the thread.
Click to expand...

Really? Ok -

If you want to scam a company, learn how to do it yourself. You're cool enough to try and commit fraud but not take any steps to educate yourself about the steps? Doesn't seem like that contributes anything.

Pay your own cell bill? What a novel idea! iPhone plans aren't out of range with the rest of AT&T's smartphone offerings, if you can't afford it, maybe you should look at something else.
 
I'm in the same boat. Family has T-Mobile and I want to branch out and get the iphone, but AT&T plans are too expensive. Buying one unlocked/jailbroken now for 500-600 is not an option especially when I will be on the Tmobile network without 3G.

I'm just going to wait and see what the prices will be after the newest iphone comes. Maybe they will offer the 3GS for $99 with contract like they offer the 3G now and then i can pay early termination fee. Whatever you do, I would definitely wait to make a decision after the new iphone comes next month...
 
I'd probably wait until June when the new iphone comes out and purchase a used unlocked 3GS off craigslist.. I'm sure there will be plenty to choose from.
 
sammich said:
How did the OP pay for the gear in his sig, none of those things are low end.
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The OP said their parents currently paid the bill, yet implied they could do it themselves. Considering I have friends whose parents have purchased condos for them, I wouldn't see 2 computers as that large of an expenditure, also considering if the OP HAD purchased them, I'd be surprised that you could buy 2 computers that would equal at least 30 months of cell bills yet couldn't afford to pay for the phone and monthly bill for it by yourself.
 
Interstella5555 said:
The OP said their parents currently paid the bill, yet implied they could do it themselves. Considering I have friends whose parents have purchased condos for them, I wouldn't see 2 computers as that large of an expenditure, also considering if the OP HAD purchased them, I'd be surprised that you could buy 2 computers that would equal at least 30 months of cell bills yet couldn't afford to pay for the phone and monthly bill for it by yourself.
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LOL, I can see you already have some kind of personal vendetta against me, so let me break it down for you. I bought the computers in my sig myself, and I don't rely on my parents for any financial help. BUT, my dad basically insists on paying my cell phone bill because he says it's better for me to take that money and instead put it aside for savings, which I do. Besides, the amount he pays is very very small because of our family plan (plus we've been t-mo customers forever, so I'm sure the rates are lower than they would be for a new customer).

As for paying my own cell bill, I'm more than willing to do that if it's the best option. At this point, from what other people have said, it might be wiser to buy the phone unlocked and swap SIMS rather than getting a 2 year contract from AT&T. I'm not debating the two options on the basis of solely money, I'm trying to figure out which option is the most convenient overall.

EDIT: to clarify, I'm only interested in getting a 4G iphone. I don't want a 3Gs, even if it's super cheap (my current Android phone is just as good IMO, no need to upgrade to 3Gs)
 
I say go with AT&T and the new phone next month.

It'll be worth it and to paid for an unlocked phone and you can't use all the features is pretty pointless.

I've been with AT&T since 2007, because of the iPhone but I'm content with my service and I can't wait for the 4G!

And if you work for the city and/or attend school you qualify for a discount on your bill.
 
dude, wait til next month to buy one, seriously u'll kick yourself if u buy one in the meantime
 
Wait until the new iPhone comes out and then go to your nearest Apple store, the process is much more seamless there
 
McBeats said:
dude, wait til next month to buy one, seriously u'll kick yourself if u buy one in the meantime
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cobie454 said:
Wait until the new iPhone comes out and then go to your nearest Apple store, the process is much more seamless there
Click to expand...

I believe we've been over this. You haven't really contributed, have you? Although cobie454 does raise something for a reference.

murdercitydevil said:
to clarify, I'm only interested in getting a 4G iphone. I don't want a 3Gs, even if it's super cheap (my current Android phone is just as good IMO, no need to upgrade to 3Gs)
Click to expand...
 
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