^ So, I agree with the freedom Android gives you. But I'd dare to say you need that freedom in order to mix and match a bunch of hardware and software to get a janky but cutting edge experience. Apple is janky too if you dabbled in and out of their walled garden like I used to do. It really only shines if you have the #courage to become an iSheeple. Then the Apple experience is just more refined and cohesive even objectively better.
I guess when I consider how I use my phone these days, I probably need less freedom and more privacy. I like the direction that Apple is going with user privacy. That iPhone 12 is starting to appeal to me but I've gotten so used to buying 1 year old,1/2 price Android phones, that I can't stand paying full price for a new phone. I'm pretty sure I've never payed over $600 for a phone and I'm usually closer to $400 to $500. I have an old iPhone 8 to trade in, but I don't need a new line or want to move from T-Mobile.
i mean i guess it really depends how you look at the purchase. apple supports their phones for 5 years of updates. plus the phones have long legs. iphone 6s just finally hit the cutoff mark for the 5 years and they're still beasts.
A limited time Promo that ran a few years ago called the Tmobile ONE All-in. Basically 2 Lines Unlimited Data /$100.
That looks like the equivalent of the current Magenta which would run $120 all in. The trick to upgrading cell plans and phones as cheaply as possible is to do it around June and/or December. Typically lowest plan pricing is in the summer with the cheapest phone deals around Christmas. T-Mobile usually runs a $25/mo plan every summer and you can pick up a discounted iPhone12. In December, the plan will be more but likely a free iPhone13. 1. You/Wife sign up for new account promo deals and phones (with new phone numbers). 2. What for phones to arrive. 3. Port your numbers to NumberBarn (which auto-closes old account). 4. Port from NumberBarn to new account. 5. Repeat in 2 years but change who opens the account, you/wife. You can do #3 and #4 same day maybe an hour apart.
If you don’t want to jump through hoops for discounts. Check our the Apple Refurb store. They swap out the entire exterior shell so there is never the risk of scratching or damage. The XR is going for $450. FYI, some of that is hype. They do a great job with privacy on the physical devices in your possession. However, anything backed up to iCloud isn’t as private. They turn over data on request 95% of the time. But they won’t sell you out to advertisers at least. As far as we know anyway.
Man the Youtuber's fucked me again. I'm so done listening to those jokers. A bunch of them raved about Best Buy Open Box. So I got an Apple Watch 6 from there with a CC promo for $300 all in. Crazy deal. After a week I decided I liked it and would keep it. Bought a bunch of accessories and tried to activate the LTE data. After some back and forth with Sprint it turns out the Apple Watch I got from Best Buy has a industry ban on service. Possibly reported stolen... Now I passed up the OTHER sale from 2 weeks ago and am looking at a $200 price hike. I'm done with Youtube tech reviewers lol
Tech youtubers are some of the worst grifters and shills you will come across. They are all paid to hype shit. A lot of it sucks or is underwhelming. They act like they're your best buddy as they try to sell you something. Every new product is the best thing ever and a total gamechanger. Which ones tried to convince you that you should buy something from Best Buy? That store sucks nuts. I ended up unsubscribing from a bunch of them. I just couldn't listen to Linus from Linus Tech Tips get orgasmic over another overpriced monitor. They really are like the modern equivalent of the ShamWoW Guy or Billy Mays from Oxiclean.
I agree. The whole "fake news" thing really changed my views of Youtube. There is no easy way to vet someone as a subject matter expert. It's basically a popularity contest which tends to favor sociopaths, conartists and scammers. Even Linus is wrong and fails to grap some tech concepts. I say that as someone with only rudimentary indirect knowledge working in an enterprise enviornment. The biggest stock market channel on youtube is run by a guy that worked at a grocery store. Now they are all millionaires selling overpriced T-Shirts to dumb kids lol.
I bought a used iPhone several years ago and I remember having to worry about those bans. If I remember correctly you have to check the serial number against a database. Impossible to do in a store and uncomfortable to do in a private sale.
Gah! Google Hangouts has stopped working...mostly. It's all weird now. Messages come though on Voice or Chat or Hangouts. I think old Hangouts message chains are accessible through Voice but no longer work through Hangouts. Hangouts still works with other Hangouts. And Chat is tied to Hangouts but wont let me access old messages in Hangouts or Voice.
google basically killed off their service without a backup plan. this is why I barely use most of their services anymore, including android. you can pretty much remove Hangouts now. and just use Google voice app and google chat app separately
Hasn’t Google Voice been in purgatory for a decade? The last time I installed it the app looks the same as it did on iPhone4. I gave up on it.
Tmobile has a deal coming out in a few days. Basically get a free iPhone 12 with 11 trade-in or 1/2 off with 10 to 6 trade-in. 2 year contract required but no new line activation needed. Monthly plan price would go up $20 but that price includes 3 lines.
That's actually just the regular Magenta Max deal. The trade-in is only worth it if you can nab a cheap iPhone6 off ebay, imo. Or you could take the one time hit to get into an iPhone churn cycle. With iPhones you want to trade in and upgrade yearly. Usually it's only a few dollars tax because they hold value well. It's a bad idea to hold them and let the value drop. Or you could roll the dice for a better trade in promo on the 12, probably late summerish when the 13 is on the horizon. Verizon just ran a promo for $830 trade-in for any old iPhone or Galaxy. Plus a bonus GC for switching carriers. But each line was $60/mo.
Verizon still has that deal and it seems amazing at first. I went to the store today and they said with trade-ins I could get $700 towards the 12 and $300 gift card. So basically $2000 to switch 2 lines to Verizon. I'd need the $70 plan since the $60 plan has a daily 500mb limit. Two $70 plans with taxes and fees runs about $165 a month. With my T-Mobile grandfathered plan and grandfathered kickback, I paid an average of $90 a month last year. So I'd be looking at an extra $75 a month to switch to Verizon. That's an extra $900 a year or $1800 every two years which is what the current deal locks you into. This plan only makes sense if I'm flipping a free phone every year or two and even then it may or may not be better than my current plan. So I think I'm going to go with the T-Mobile 1/2 off with trad-in deal they are running next week. No new lines or porting of numbers needed. I keep my $90 plan and there is a chance I can trade the 12 for a 13 next year.
Fair enough. I didn’t look at the intricacies of the Verizon deal as I’m banned from their service. The T-Mobile offer is good just not slick. The iPhone XR should be worth a free upgrade any model below that being half off is fair. But I get what you’re saying and 2021 me would take the offer too. Finding the “best” deal was a point of pride and entertainment for me. But it’s just not that important to me anymore.
You're banned from Verizon services? What did you do to deserve that? It's not a super slick deal but it does have 256 thumbs up and it hasn't even gone live yet. The "No add-a-line or port in required" part is probably popular. People seem to be getting tired of jumping through hoops for deals. I asked the guy at T-Mobile about canceling a line before adding a new line and he said there is a 3 month no deals allowed if you cancel a line. I was also interested in the Magenta plan with the 3rd line for free and he said I couldn't switch to that plan and get the iPhone deal. https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-ca...ience&irmpname=Slickdeals_LLC&group=TMDesktop