Is having an IPHONE really expensive each month?

[honeybear]

Little question regarding IPHONE, does they allow you to do a lot of things, for a good pricing each month, since you have internet all day long with you.

Is having an IPHONE really expensive each month?

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Could you live withOUT your Iphone?

[weasel fierce]

Not too keen on AT&T pricing to be honest. Though I do believe they offer unlimited internet again, but you'll pay more than Sprint from my experience

[v1ad]

well, for 1 you won't have a real phone (in most of Ubuntu users opinions)
and for 2. paying by the gigabit.. ain't worth it.

i would give you a approx price, but their website sucks so bad it takes to much time to navigate.

[MisterGaribaldi]

T-Mobile is the cheapest, Sprint is a bit more, Verizon is noticeably more expensive, and AT&T is *the* most expensive.

[Matthewthegreat]

Dude if your going to get a smart phone get a android powered phone. They are waaaaaayyyyyy most awesome!

[weasel fierce]

T-Mobile is the cheapest, Sprint is a bit more, Verizon is noticeably more expensive, and AT&T is *the* most expensive.

yeah, hate to bag on them, but AT&T is pretty pricey once you factor in everything. It only looks cheap until you realize they charge extra for pretty much everything in your plan.

[MisterGaribaldi]

Not to get partisan here, but I think this cartoon (http://www.csectioncomics.com/2010/11/iphone-vs-android-vs-blackberry.html) says it all.

[v1ad]

hmm also i compared prices a few days ago this is my end result.

cheapest to most expensive for smart phones.

sprint, T-Mobile, at&t, Verizon. also i noticed that Verizon has better service in most places. at&t most dropped calls. T-mobile recently introduced a new 4g network. swapped to Sprint from Verizon. a little loss of service but a lot cheaper.

T-Mobile with data & minutes Unlimited 4G $99.
Sprint with Unlimited data & minutes $78
forgot at&t and Verizon, if you can afford it go Verizon.

[darrenn]

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1938055

This video has a lot of swearing but it is hilarious. At the same time it gives some good points as to why you would buy a android over iphone.

[misfitpierce]

Also factor in that Sprint charges extra $10 a month just to access 4G network... Also factor in that ppl's avg on Sprints 4G atm in 90% of places is 3Mbps speed download... Tmobiles 4G with mytouch4G is getting ppl speeds up to 20Mbps download that can be seen on TMO facebook page under pics. I avg 5Mbps on TMO on 3G and get up to 8Mbps alot lol and its faster than I had on Sprints 4G in Florida plus on TMO you dont pay extra $10 a month to access 4G network. TMO has fastest and largest 4G network atm...

ATT + Verizon I would forget... Period... ATT recently did 25 bucks for 2GB on iPhone on their slow network full of problems, and verizon is like ATT's brother... Monkey see... Monkey do.

Also just DATA+Unlim TALK = $79.99 on TMO V1ad...

[varmeh]

i love my iphone. contrary to what all the android fanboys say, it's a perfectly usable platform that is more feature rich than android - AT THE MOMENT. android will likely surpass it in the coming months/years but apple is still working their headstart with the installed userbase, the ubiquitous ipod/iphone docks, app store advantage, etc.

but i'd wait til win phone 7 is widely available in the next couple weeks before making a smartphone decision. looks pretty slick.

[misfitpierce]

i love my iphone. contrary to what all the android fanboys say, it's a perfectly usable platform that is more feature rich than android - AT THE MOMENT. android will likely surpass it in the coming months/years but apple is still working their headstart with the installed userbase, the ubiquitous ipod/iphone docks, app store advantage, etc.

but i'd wait til win phone 7 is widely available in the next couple weeks before making a smartphone decision. looks pretty slick.


Ummm Varmeh you do realize that Android market share has already surpassed iPhones... right? iPhone is still the alltime fastest selling phone... but not OS... Android is at around 18% of THE WORLD and iPhone is down to 14% or so.

Amazingly... Symbian is still the leader... at a whopping 40+% of the world! WOW NOKIA! And since Gartner and all financial portfolios predict Android to fight Symbian for top slot by 2014 I'd say Android is the best bet ATM!

[era86]

Asking that question here is asking for a flame war... But i'll give it a shot..

If you get an iphone, youre probably going to use a lot of data browsing the web, dloading vids, playing apps, etc. Withh atts data plans, youre going to be paying a hefty amount. You can say the same about any other phone. It all comes doen to use.

So yes, since it really is expensive to have a smart phone each month, period, it's expensive to have an iphone each month.

[Giant Speck]

I suppose it depends on how much money you have and what plan you buy.

For me, it's not prohibitively expensive, but it does hurt a bit to pay the bill each month.

[jrothwell97]

Ummm Varmeh you do realize that Android market share has already surpassed iPhones... right? iPhone is still the alltime fastest selling phone... but not OS... Android is at around 18% of THE WORLD and iPhone is down to 14% or so.

Amazingly... Symbian is still the leader... at a whopping 40+% of the world! WOW NOKIA! And since Gartner and all financial portfolios predict Android to fight Symbian for top slot by 2014 I'd say Android is the best bet ATM!

Market share means nothing with regards to cost and quality. Let's not forget that Windows XP is still the world's most popular operating system. And Symbian was never exactly a bastion of quality.

With regards to the cost, unless you live in a European country where it's easier to buy phones up-front SIM-free and then stick a pay-as-you-go or a cheap contract SIM in, logic defines that any smartphone will be relatively expensive in the long run. The question you must ask yourself is "can I pay the upfront sum to buy the phone, and can I be sure I will still be able to pay the contract fees in eighteen/twenty-four months?"

[MisterGaribaldi]

This all begs the question... if you're running Linux, what in God's name are you thinking going with an iPhone? It's not like Apple hasn't gone out of their way to keep everyone from syncing and otherwise interacting with their iPhone on a computer that doesn't natively run iTunes.

Android works on EVERYTHING. Period. Google has their SDK available for ALL three major platforms, and even many of the tools over on XDA have native apps for all three major platforms, too.

[weasel fierce]

Also factor in that Sprint charges extra $10 a month just to access 4G network... Also factor in that ppl's avg on Sprints 4G atm in 90% of places is 3Mbps speed download... Tmobiles 4G with mytouch4G is getting ppl speeds up to 20Mbps download that can be seen on TMO facebook page under pics. I avg 5Mbps on TMO on 3G and get up to 8Mbps alot lol and its faster than I had on Sprints 4G in Florida plus on TMO you dont pay extra $10 a month to access 4G network. TMO has fastest and largest 4G network atm...

ATT + Verizon I would forget... Period... ATT recently did 25 bucks for 2GB on iPhone on their slow network full of problems, and verizon is like ATT's brother... Monkey see... Monkey do.

Also just DATA+Unlim TALK = $79.99 on TMO V1ad...

If its 79.99, how does that make the 10 dollars for 4G with Sprint a big deal ? You pay the same, but through sprint, you'd get free calls to all cell phones, not just the same carrier.

Just an FYI

You do bring up a good point though: You gotta see what gives the best coverage in your area. THats a huge part of the decision.

[MisterGaribaldi]

If its 79.99, how does that make the 10 dollars for 4G with Sprint a big deal ?

Because Sprint's $69.99 plan is 450 minutes a month, and T-Mo's is Unlimited. I'd call that significant.

Also, IIRC, Sprint's 450 Everything Data plan, unlike their 900 Everything Data plan, has a 5GB data cap. This is probably not significant if you only use data for purposes of phone operation, but if you wirelessly tether, it could be a problem.

[weasel fierce]

Because Sprint's $69.99 plan is 450 minutes a month, and T-Mo's is Unlimited. I'd call that significant.

Also, IIRC, Sprint's 450 Everything Data plan, unlike their 900 Everything Data plan, has a 5GB data cap. This is probably not significant if you only use data for purposes of phone operation, but if you wirelessly tether, it could be a problem.

The former is correct, though with free calling to all wireless phones, I don't find it an issue. If you run a business off your cell phone, it is.

The second point is not correct. Sprint doesn't cap data except for 3G wireless cards.

[MisterGaribaldi]

Really? Huh, I was under the impression they put a cap on.

Well, in *that* case... party on! :guitar:

[Colonel Kilkenny]

Market share means nothing with regards to cost and quality. Let's not forget that Windows XP is still the world's most popular operating system. And Symbian was never exactly a bastion of quality.

And let's not forget that there's really not much wrong with Windows XP from user perspective. It's relatively cheap and very capable OS. My Ubuntu starts every time without window decorations, my Ubuntu has to be shutdown twice if Spotify is running because the first try doesn't do what it is supposed to do. I love Ubuntu but XP is/was mighty fine OS for "normal" people.

And Symbian was a bastion of quality. N95, E71, etc. ruled. It's not that bad even in 2010. UI/UX isn't the best but it's getting better. Depends on what you think is important.

Thread starter:
Buy the phone you like the most, use whatever operator you like the best (and transfer your current phone number to a new operator if you switch operator). If that ain't possible, switch location and repeat.

[Matthewthegreat]

This all begs the question... if you're running Linux, what in God's name are you thinking going with an iPhone? It's not like Apple hasn't gone out of their way to keep everyone from syncing and otherwise interacting with their iPhone on a computer that doesn't natively run iTunes.

Android works on EVERYTHING. Period. Google has their SDK available for ALL three major platforms, and even many of the tools over on XDA have native apps for all three major platforms, too.

Well said MisterGaribaldi! :)

[v1ad]

Also just DATA+Unlim TALK = $79.99 on TMO V1ad...

correction: its $80 without contract $99 with.

http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/Cell-Phone-Plans.aspx?catgroup=Individual&WT.z_unav=mst_shop_plans_individual

[aysiu]

I have an Android phone with unlimited data and only a few hundred anytime minutes a month, and I pay $54 a month with T-Mobile. My wife has an iPhone with unlimited data, a few hundred anytime minutes a month, and she pays $95 a month with AT&T.

Are you in the US? So far a lot of posters have been talking about T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T. It would all be for naught if you were in another country.

If cost is a huge factor in determining what smartphone you get and you're in the US, I would highly recommend going with a T-Mobile Android phone. Or jailbreak your iPhone and then use it on T-Mobile's network (I know a few people who have done this--it's only Edge, and not 3G, but it still works).

[Johnsie]

The iPhone is so last year. Apple have made the same mistake that they made with macs all those years ago. They have released an OS that only works on apple hardware. That's why the PC beat the mac and apple were forced underground for so many years.