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Yes, another 'Should I Wait' thread

T

theaudioguy

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 4, 2010
31
0
So my wife and I are switching from T-Mobile to AT&T (various reasons). And it might come to the point where we will have to switch before the new iPhone comes out (whenever that may be). It'll be my first smartphone. I want to wait to switch until I see what the new iPhone will be like, but I might be forced into switching sooner than that. Even though the iPhone 4 is almost a year old, would it be worth it to get it now and keep it for a couple of years? If I do get an iPhone now, I wouldn't do another upgrade until the contract is over (I really don't want to spend over $400 to upgrade).

So I guess my question is, is the iPhone 4 a great enough device for me to have for a couple of years without having regrets to have the 'latest and greatest'? Or maybe I could 'borrow' someone's iPhone 4 until the new one comes out. :)

Man, I want an iPhone badly.
 
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I'd wait four more months and see what September has to offer.
You say you never had a smartphone so in a way, you have no idea what you're missing.

I'd wait, ignorance is a bliss.
 
Maskusee said:
I'd wait four more months and see what September has to offer.
You say you never had a smartphone so in a way, you have no idea what you're missing.

I'd wait, ignorance is a bliss.
Click to expand...


I agree with you, but my problem is that I might have to switch to AT&T before September or even June/July. Probably within the next couple weeks.
 
Then if you can, get something to hold you over till June/July/September.
If it makes you feel any better, ive been waiting with my 3Gs till the newer model.
 
Maskusee said:
Then if you can, get something to hold you over till June/July/September.
If it makes you feel any better, ive been waiting with my 3Gs till the newer model.
Click to expand...

If you haven't had a smart phone before you could just get a cheap "pay as you go" phone until they release the iPhone 5.
 
Bought my 3GS June 2009, definitely going to wait until a new model is released. My 3GS will absolutely hold me over and performs just fine.
 
Personally (your mileage may vary) I was going to wait for the new version coming in the late summer, but it doesn't seem to be coming with all that many new bells and whistles for me. Faster processor, perhaps a better camera. In my own situation, my wife was upgraded to a 4 a few months back and I thought I could wait. Since the next version looks like it will only be an incremental version, and I would really like to have a big redesign (coming in 2012?), it behooves me to upgrade my 3G now, and then be eligible to upgrade in late 2012.

Plus, I will be buying a refurbished 4 from AT&T so I will essentially be getting my iPhone 4 for free after I sell my phone back to green.ebay.com. :)

(I would just wait overall, but MAN does my3G drag...especially in the FaceBook app and Maps!:mad: Plus, I have phone-envy with my wife's retina-display 4! LOL)
 
film major said:
If you haven't had a smart phone before you could just get a cheap "pay as you go" phone until they release the iPhone 5.
Click to expand...

I've thought about that but when we switch I don't want a cheap phone 'to get me through'. We'll be paying about $40 more to go to AT&T (add on another $60 for data plans) and I don't want to pay that much and not have a smartphone.
 
theaudioguy said:
I've thought about that but when we switch I don't want a cheap phone 'to get me through'. We'll be paying about $40 more to go to AT&T (add on another $60 for data plans) and I don't want to pay that much and not have a smartphone.
Click to expand...

You wouldn't have to pay for data until you needed to get the smart phone. I am pretty sure you can add data to an existing contract, AT&T isn't going to turn down taking more money from you.
 
film major said:
You wouldn't have to pay for data until you needed to get the smart phone. I am pretty sure you can add data to an existing contract, AT&T isn't going to turn down taking more money from you.
Click to expand...

yeah I know, but even without data I'd still be paying $40 more. If I'm paying that much more, I'd rather pay for data as well and get a smartphone.

But I'm leaning toward getting an iPhone 4 when I switch. I know it wouldn't be the latest and greatest by the end of the year, but it's still an iPhone. And I'm assuming it'll run iOS 5 which would be a huge plus. Then it wouldn't feel outdated in a year or so.
 
Have you given any thought to porting your number to a cheap prepaid plan for a few months if you're forced to leave T-mobile. Then, port your numbers to ATT when the new Iphone arrives.
 
Maskusee said:
Then if you can, get something to hold you over till June/July/September.
If it makes you feel any better, ive been waiting with my 3Gs till the newer model.
Click to expand...

I had a 3GS and was upgrade eligible in March by April 1st I decided that waiting for something when you have no idea when it will happen sux so I upgraded to iPhone 4 and haven't regretted it one bit esp with all the rumors of the next gen being a slightly faster cousin of the iPhone 4. If we didn't hear all the rumors about September etc for the next gen I would have waited but I wasn't going to wait 1/2 a year for a relatively minor upgrade.
 
theaudioguy said:
yeah I know, but even without data I'd still be paying $40 more. If I'm paying that much more, I'd rather pay for data as well and get a smartphone.

But I'm leaning toward getting an iPhone 4 when I switch. I know it wouldn't be the latest and greatest by the end of the year, but it's still an iPhone. And I'm assuming it'll run iOS 5 which would be a huge plus. Then it wouldn't feel outdated in a year or so.
Click to expand...

Just to remind you, there is a possibility of key features being omitted from iOS 5 for iPhone 4.

You're so close to the release date, you waited so long, i say try any method you can to stick it out longer until the iPhone 5 is released.
This way you'll be able to enjoy the beauty of a brand new iPhone, as your first smartphone. Otherwise in a few months your buddies are gonna be like "hey look what my iPhone 5 can do.." and you'll kick yourself for not waiting.
 
Reach9 said:
Just to remind you, there is a possibility of key features being omitted from iOS 5 for iPhone 4.

You're so close to the release date, you waited so long, i say try any method you can to stick it out longer until the iPhone 5 is released.
This way you'll be able to enjoy the beauty of a brand new iPhone, as your first smartphone. Otherwise in a few months your buddies are gonna be like "hey look what my iPhone 5 can do.." and you'll kick yourself for not waiting.
Click to expand...

But what if the iPhone 4S comes out? :) jk

I like your advice. Who knows, I might even end up unlocking my current feature phone and use that one. A phone is just a phone right? But if I don't have an iPhone, well, I don't have an iPhone.
 
Buy a used iPhone to use until then next iPhone comes out then use your upgrade eligibility them. Make sure they put a note on the account that you have not used the upgrade yet.
 
AWallen90 said:
Buy a used iPhone to use until then next iPhone comes out then use your upgrade eligibility them. Make sure they put a note on the account that you have not used the upgrade yet.
Click to expand...

I'll be happy to borrow yours for the time being
 
theaudioguy said:
I'll be happy to borrow yours for the time being
Click to expand...

That is essentially what I'm doing, borrowing an iPhone. I bought a 3GS dirt cheap because it needed a new digilizer bought one from amazon for under 10 bucks. When I sell the 3GS and buy an iPhone 5 I will only be out a total of 50 or so dollars.
 
Just my 0.02 but I think that if you've never had a smartphone, and you need to switch soon, the logical choice would be to go with iPhone 4? If you've never owned a smartphone then you're probably not too hung up on specs/know too too much about them.

Whether you get the iPhone 4 or the next edition, it's going to feel new and exciting to you and you're going to enjoy it.
 
Well, it's probably a good thing but it looks like I'm going to have to wait to get an iPhone. If we switch to AT&T we wouldn't be able to afford it. We'd be paying twice as much as we do now, and that's not really in our budget right now. My wife is getting a smartphone because she needs it for work, but since I don't NEED a smartphone we decided we could use that extra $30/month. But I am trying to talk her into just going to AT&T because we need to up our minutes and AT&T has rollover and unlimited messaging with mobile to any mobile. Every plan and company we've looked at is just too expensive for us right now. And I don't want to go pay-as-you-go. Man, I really hate how the US cell phone companies screw everyone over.

Thanks for all of the advice!
 
just buy one now, the iphone 4 is great and does everything i need it to do. If you are going to wait for the new one you are doing it because it is just a new bit of kit. if you havn't had one before it clearly means the specs e,t.c aren't a big deal.

nobody knows when in sep the new iphone will be out or how much better it will be. Who knows it may get delayed longer than sep.
 
no iPhone for me

Thank you all for all your insight. I went a totally different route.

After being in the AT&T store I played around with the iPhone 4 and many other phones. I used the Samsung Captivate and I completely fell in love with the phone and Android. Nothing against Apple, iPhone, or iOS but I felt like this phone and OS suited me better. Who knows, maybe when my contract is up I'll get an iPhone then.
 
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