May Need a New iPhone - Where to buy?

Don Ro · 08-10-2017, 12:01 PM

Taking mine in to visit the Apple geniuses today...if I need a new one where are the good prices?
I only text, talk, take a few pics, sometimes an email...that's it.
Just need something this side of a can and string.
I'm using Cricket, BTW...$35/mo.
TIA

javadog · 08-10-2017, 12:09 PM

Maybe buy a used one? EBay?

id10t · 08-10-2017, 12:10 PM

I've got an iPhone 4 (s model maybe?) no scratches, 24+ hours on a full charge (I turn off location services, siri, block most apps except browser from using mobile data). Came from the AT&T network. Has older iOS on it, I never updated due to not having space (pics and mp3s). Send me a PM if this will work for you and you want to work something out...

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

You can get the older iPhone from some vendors for dirt cheap. AT&T will sell you a iPhone 5S for a buck or so. But they will likely want more than $35 per month.

If you can get on a family plan with a family member you can get an add on line pretty cheap.

Don Ro · 08-10-2017, 12:57 PM

This is a used phone...purchased from a fellow Pelican a couple of yrs. ago.
What causes iPhones to take a dump...aside from needing a new battery?

McLovin · 08-10-2017, 01:03 PM

We just got iPhone 5SE's from MetroPCS.
These apparently have 6 guts inside a 5 case. IDK, but they work great.
Around $120 each, with tax on full value, total came to around $165-170 each.
The lines cost $25 per line per month, total, all included.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

All modern smart phones are just little computers. The manufacturers constantly upgrade the phones for more features people want. The software to run the new phones will work for a few generations back but eventually the phones can't run fast enough to make them work with the new software. Certainly there is forced obsolescence but why keep making software that is backward compatible to a really early model if that compatibility makes the new phone slower.

After a while they really want you to upgrade to something newer.

I resisted a smart phone until I got a iPhone. Then I sipped the cool-aide. I am hooked and can't imagine trying to live without it. It is a little computer I carry with me everywhere.

I call it my second brain. To have all the appointments, email, thousands of photos, family tree, historical documents and so much more. Yep, I am a geek.

JavaBrewer · JavaBrewer's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don Ro

This is a used phone...purchased from a fellow Pelican a couple of yrs. ago.
What causes iPhones to take a dump...aside from needing a new battery?

What do you mean "take a dump"? Does not power on, crashes consistently, slow,...?

My wife and daughter run 6s phones while my son and I are still on 5s. All have original batteries and still run good. The kids with all their social media apps have less battery life. All are running latest iOS update.

id10t · 08-10-2017, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don Ro

This is a used phone...purchased from a fellow Pelican a couple of yrs. ago.
What causes iPhones to take a dump...aside from needing a new battery?

My wife gets a new one every 2 years as a fashion statement, and screen size upgrades (she's on a 6s now).

My daughter gets them 'cause she gets insanely jealous of the wife's new phone and hers ends up being destroyed (dropped in a toilet, dropped repeatedly, thrown in a fit, "just left on a table while I went to the bathroom", lost on a bus, etc). Her current phone - held together by its "protective" case now - is the last one I'm buying for her or letting the wife buy for her. Her grandmother may continue to enable this behavior though...

My son drops his and cracks his screen, but uses it until it causes blood to be drawn when he drags his fingers across the screen. Not much of an issue for the past year due to failing grades through lack of any effort and lying to us, so his phone has been safely locked in my gun safe.

I upgraded (the aforementioned 4/4s) to a SE simply because I was out of space and latest iOS updates wouldn't install... and I got the SE for the form factor and headphone jack. Next phone won't be an iPhone... unless they can keep the smaller form factor and headphone jack.

id10t · 08-10-2017, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Certainly there is forced obsolescence but why keep making software that is backward compatible to a really early model if that compatibility makes the new phone slower.

Strange, the Linux releases from this year run just fine on a 10 year old computer. Perhaps a bit slower than the latest chip with 32gb of RAM behind it, but workable desktop. Heck, the computer on my desk at work is a 10 year old HP workstation - new enough for 64bit, old enough to not have the vTX extensions to let me emulate 64bit machines in VirtualBox. With 8gb of RAM in it and a 7200rpm SATA drive, I don't feel hampered.

A930Rocket · 08-10-2017, 05:10 PM

My old 4S won't work on the Internet unless I turn off JavaScript. New updates killed it.

I'm thinking of getting a 5 or whatever is the next step up.

Don Ro · 08-10-2017, 06:27 PM

Apple geniuses said my phone was warped from a hot battery.
They showed it to me... bad news.
They took my SIM card and put it into my g/f's old iPhone 5.
She recently bought a new 5ES (5SE?) and her old phone had a recent new battery.
We're in business now.
.
Gonna toss my old phone.
Thanks for the assistance, gents.