# Benefits of buying an iPhone now?



## kuklachica (Dec 26, 2010)

I have been waiting for Verizon to get the iPhone for a while... in my state Verizon is the only phone company that gets reception with any kind of consistency so AT&T has not been an option. But it is a little disappointing that Verizon released the soon-to-be old version of the iPhone. So I'm curious, does anyone have input as to the benefits of getting an iPhone now vs. waiting until August? These are the only ones I can think of:

1. I use both my iPod and phone daily... it would be nice to have them all in one device. Plus, keeping track of one thing vs. two would help me out a lot.

2. Unlimited data plan is available now, but will be phased out according to Verizon. It most likely won't be available with the new iPhone in August. 


These are the only two I can think of (which, admittedly, are big pros for me, but not sure if they are big enough). Does anyone else have any thoughts?


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## kwajkat (Nov 6, 2008)

Are you with Verizon now? If so and you already have the unlimited plan it probably won't change if they change.  Over on MacRumors, there are alot of people that have gotten the iphone and have issues with it. Like you I have an itouch and had gotten a droid x phone in Dec after they assured me they wouldn't be getting the iphone until this summer at the earliest. So I was naturally not happy when they came out with it a few days after my 30 days were up. After a alot of back and forth with the voices in my head about switching to the iphone, I decided to wait. One I didn't like the offer of $200 if I paid full retail price which is $749 ($50 more than Apple charges). Two there are problems with it, being slow, antenna issues and can not upgrade to the 4G network.  Since I already have the unlimited plan I can upgrade to the iphone much cheaper later on and not have to worry about losing the unlimited if they change over. There is alot of interesting ideas being reported about the iphone that will come out in 2012 and not so much on the iphone 5 that I am glad I am waiting. I have a system in which I carry my itouch in my wallet and the droid x seperately. It works okay and I know that the Droid X is way better than the iphone 4 (8megapixal camera with 750 HD video, built in storage, card with up to 32GB removable storage, etc etc.  So after a long and heated debate with the voices in my head, I am glad I waited


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## kuklachica (Dec 26, 2010)

I am currently with Verizon now, but I don't have a smartphone now, so I don't have any data plan, just the regular voice. All of those issues really turn me off form getting one now, but if I don't get one, I might not be able to get the unlimited plan in the future... and my phone that I have now is dying so I need to replace it either way. Hmmm....


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

My 2 year Verizon contract just ran up, but I'm sticking with my current non-smartphone for a while.

Figure it's best to wait for the iPhone 5 and the next round of Droid phones--both of which will probably hit this summer or next fall.  Also gives me more time to decide if I really need/want a smartphone.  I like them a lot, but not sure I need it enough to pay the data plan costs since I'm near wifi 95% of the time.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

The nightmare scenario would be waiting till August and finding that a new iPhone isn't coming out till Christmas, or that it won't be available on Verizon for awhile.  I doubt either of those will happen, but they might.

In favor of waiting is that 2 gig of data (which I believe is the base data for Verizon's bigger data plan) is a LOT of data.  I do a ton of web surfing and other stuff on my Android phone and I only go over 2 gig occasionally, usually when I travel.  The exception is streaming video--If your plan is to watch Netflix day and night on your iPhone, you'll go through a couple of gig in a single evening, most likely. As long as phone companies give upgrades only every two years, and Apple refreshes the iPhone annually, there will always be stretches where you won't have the newest phone, so I wouldn't let that bother me.

To my mind, the key is to accept their are downsides to both choices, and if you feel  you can live with either downside, just pick one and go with it.  If it were me and I was itching for an iPhone, I'd probably go for it now.  The only killer feature my uninformed guess would place in the iPhone 5 would be 4G.  And it sounds like you don't live in an urban area where 4G is likely to come for awhile.  And there's no guarantee 4G will be included next upgrade.


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## BK (Feb 5, 2009)

I'm eligible for a phone upgrade and had planned to pre-order one when the Verizon order page first went live at 3 a.m., but I had the flu and didn't make it online until the pre-orders were sold out.  After that, I started thinking about waiting for the iPhone5... 

I've wanted an iPhone since they first came out, but not as long as ATT was the only provider choice. Since I've waited THIS long for a Verizon iPhone, I'm guessing a few more months won't kill me, and of course, I have my iPad in the meantime.  I just hope the unlimited data plan will still be available when the 5 comes out.

Then again, you never know what might happen in a moment of weakness... sometimes my car wants to turn in when I see a Verizon store...


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## kuklachica (Dec 26, 2010)

I ended up buying the iPhone today   

I decided that the organization that it will give me, and the fact that I needed to get a new phone since mine was dying, outweighed waiting for a new one. And, even tho the unlimited data plan is something new for me, and I could do without it, I think I will like it. Plus, they give teachers a discount on their bills, so the data plan is actually cheaper than $30 for me


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

The rumor mill is now claiming that the iPhone 5 will be delayed and NOT have a summer release.  Others are saying that isn't so.  I have no idea, I'm paying attention right now 'cause I am poking around for news of an expected high-end Sprint Android phone!


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## Starearedkid (Jan 25, 2010)

I got mine today. I couldn't stand my old phone--which was a crummy blackberry. It seemed like every week I had to do a hard reset because it froze or gave all sorts of errors. We got an e-mail today that we are eligible for an upgrade so I took it. I know that my old phone was on it's last leg--and by the time the iphone 5 came out, would have been dead and gone. I waited this long for the iphone to go on Verizon--so even if another version or two comes out before the upgrade, I don't care. I love it and was playing with it all evening long!


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## njsweetp (Nov 30, 2009)

Also, for those that have the New Every 2 discount and are due for upgrade, you should find out when that upgrade 
expires.  I was due for an upgrade back in August 2010 and it would have expired in June, 2011 if I hadn't used it for
the iPhone.


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