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Who's willing to buy the unsubsidized iPhone 5

Will you purchase the Iphone 5 unsubsidized

  • I'm willing to pay the full price

    Votes: 43 58.1%

  • I'll wait until I can get the subsidized price

    Votes: 29 39.2%

  • I want the iPhone 5 but I can't afford the full price

    Votes: 2 2.7%
  • Total voters
    74
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
Original poster
May 3, 2009
74,849
45,190
With iPhone 5 either coming out soon (summer or fall), who will be willing to buy the phone unsubsidized. Given that the A&T bumped up a lot of folks upgrade date and verizon now in the mix. There's a lot of people with iPhone 4 and are currently in mid or early cycle in the contract.

In my case, I'm going back to the iPhone as my company is shutting off email access to non-iPhone/blackberry devices because of security. I don't think I'll be able to wait out until the IP5 is available so I'll be getting the iPhone 4 shortly.

Given that the market value (though it will go down once the IP5 hits the streets) is in the 400 range, that would greatly offset the burden of spending 500 to 600 bucks
 
ucfgrad93 said:
I'll wait until I can get the subsidized price. I don't have to always have the latest and greatest.
Click to expand...

I say that then I buckle under the pressure :p

Seriously, I'm at a point where I don't need the latest and greatest. I have a C2D MBP and I'm very happy with it. Yeah it looks like apple is updating the line shortly and even using light peak, but for my needs the 13" MBP is more then enough computer.

As for the iPhone, I'm on the fence on whether I take the plunge for the iPhone4 now or wait. The problem as I noted is that my company will be locking down email and I need my phone to get emails. For instance, I had receive a MOM (Microsoft Operations Manager) email last night about a server issue. So its critical I keep connected to work.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Nope, can't see the point of paying $600 or even $300 every year for a phone when mine is perfectly functional.
 
maflynn said:
I say that then I buckle under the pressure :p
Click to expand...

Weakling!;)

Even if I could get subsidized pricing on the iPhone 5, I wouldn't get it. I don't see the need to buy one each year. My wife used an original iPhone until the iPhone 4 came out. And I used my Windows Mobile phone for 18 months before I got my iPhone 4. I fully intend to get 2 years out of it.
 
ucfgrad93 said:
Weakling!;)
Click to expand...
I fold like superman on laundry day :D

I was willing to do the same with my current situation, but work is intervening on me. The question I have, is wait it out until they cut off access and then scramble for a new phone or bite the bullet now. I hate to be one of those mindless drones waiting in line to pick up a new iPhone. Since I'm transferring to AT&T, I have to do this in person and I just don't have the intestinal fortitude to deal with the crushing line in the summer.
 
I don't see the iPhone 5 as being a huge upgrade and therefore I won't buy it. I'm stuck in a 3 year contract as well and can't buy another subsidized phone until early 2013 anyway.
 
maflynn said:
I fold like superman on laundry day :D

I was willing to do the same with my current situation, but work is intervening on me. The question I have, is wait it out until they cut off access and then scramble for a new phone or bite the bullet now. I hate to be one of those mindless drones waiting in line to pick up a new iPhone. Since I'm transferring to AT&T, I have to do this in person and I just don't have the intestinal fortitude to deal with the crushing line in the summer.
Click to expand...

When is work shutting you down? If it is soon, I'd get one now.
 
I'll buy the iPhone 5, but I usually wait until September to get a new one. By September, there are no lines to deal with, and they usually have had a couple of bug fix updates released by then.:D
 
I always buy my phones unsubsidized so I'm not locked into long contracts and have the freedom to change my phone when I want to. However, I'm very, very happy with the iPhone 4 and it would take something spectacular to get me to upgrade this time
 
Phil A. said:
I always buy my phones unsubsidized so I'm not locked into long contracts and have the freedom to change my phone when I want to. However, I'm very, very happy with the iPhone 4 and it would take something spectacular to get me to upgrade this time
Click to expand...

+1....The iPhone 4 is the best phone I've ever had. No point in switching right now.
 
I will wait till June to see what happens, if the "iP5" is just a "4(S)" then maybe.

as it stands my 3GS is doing it's job just fine, no need to spend 600-800$ to replace something that isn't broken.
 
Phil A. said:
I always buy my phones unsubsidized so I'm not locked into long contracts and have the freedom to change my phone when I want to. However, I'm very, very happy with the iPhone 4 and it would take something spectacular to get me to upgrade this time
Click to expand...

Are you in the US? It doesn't make sense to do in the US because the carrier doesn't lower your monthly plan. If they did I think more people would buy unsubsidized phones.

@TS why don't you buy a used 3GS off Craigslist or eBay and use that until the iPhone 5 comes out? That way you can get the newer iPhone and get all the updates for the full three years unlike you would if you bought the iPhone 4 now.
 
lsvtecjohn3 said:
Are you in the US? It doesn't make sense to do in the US because the carrier doesn't lower your monthly plan. If they did I think more people would buy unsubsidized phones.
Click to expand...
Its funny you mention that because to be honest, I'm trying to find the justification for carriers (in the US I guess) to offer subsidized phones in the first place.

I mean, I'm paying X dollars a month, regardless if I buy a new phone. the only difference is that I'm locked into a 2 year contract. I'm not sure how a carrier can recoup the cost of the phone. I mean my payments are the same regardless of how I purchased my phone.
 
maflynn said:
Its funny you mention that because to be honest, I'm trying to find the justification for carriers (in the US I guess) to offer subsidized phones in the first place.

I mean, I'm paying X dollars a month, regardless if I buy a new phone. the only difference is that I'm locked into a 2 year contract. I'm not sure how a carrier can recoup the cost of the phone. I mean my payments are the same regardless of how I purchased my phone.
Click to expand...

because in the us/Canada "X" amount of dollars is greater then what the phone itself costs, this of course is based on the fact that you are locked into a data plan.

Think about it, there are people on these forums that pay 80$+ a month for their Iphone plan, already in one year they have payed more then what the phone retails for.

If you're paying 80$ flat that's 960$ in 12 months 1920$ in two. I think carriers definitely recoup from subsidizing the phone out and locking people into contracts.

**EDIT**

if the phone costs 800$ flat out taxes included then they would have to pay a minimum of 34$ for a phone company to break even in a 24 month period, I have yet to see a bill that low without the phone being unlocked. (feel free to correct me if I am wrong)
 
If it's a huge upgrade over the 4 then I will consider getting it.

I'm with Fido and I believe they contract stack in which case I'd be locked in for like 5 years so I'd rather buy full price (and it'll be unlocked since I'm in Canada).

The main thing I want to take advantage of is the 6GB data plan that carriers have been offering (and hopefully will again this summer) when the iphone comes out. If I need to sign a contract to take advantage of that promotion then I think I will.
 
I bought two unsubsidised 4s (a His and Hers), and have never regretted it for a moment, so if it's a good enough upgrade, I will, undoubtedly. Otherwise, I'll be quite happy to hang on for another year.
 
sviato said:
If it's a huge upgrade over the 4 then I will consider getting it.

I'm with Fido and I believe they contract stack in which case I'd be locked in for like 5 years so I'd rather buy full price (and it'll be unlocked since I'm in Canada).

The main thing I want to take advantage of is the 6GB data plan that carriers have been offering (and hopefully will again this summer) when the iphone comes out. If I need to sign a contract to take advantage of that promotion then I think I will.
Click to expand...

Zoinks! Five years?:eek: I go bonkers at month 18th of a 24 month contract. $600-800 is a significant chunk of money to me right now. When I can afford to wipe the backside with Benjamins I might throw down every year on the new igoodness, but for now I'm a contract slave for the subsidy.
 
I'm not due for an upgrade till December and I will wait till then for subsidized pricing if it's even worth the upgrade.
 
I skipped the 4 and still have a 3GS.

What is the unsubsidized price of the iPhone? I'm 10 months in on my 3GS contract and it'll still cost me $499 to upgrade. (I'm hoping that drops a bit by June when I'll get the next iPhone).
 
I plan on buying outright towards the end of the year when my iPhone 4 contract expires. I'd rather settle for cheaper monthly tariff and unsubsidized phone, than be tied into a 24 month contract.
 
I always buy the phone directly from the Apple store, so it's unlocked to all networks. So I guess I pay the unsubsidised price.

Also the fact that contracts work out more expensive for me personally, so I'll stick to Pay & Go with O2.
 
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