Which mobile plan to choose in anticipation of the Apple phone?

December 26, 2006 5:33 AM

I need to pick up a mobile phone this week, but I plan to dump it the very moment Apple releases its mobile phone. Which plan and phone should I pick?

I'm switching jobs (going into business for myself, yay!) beginning January 1st, 2007. I see rumors saying the Apple phone could be released as early as January 15th, but really, who knows? I need to buy a phone and plan that I can either get out of easily or use with the Apple phone when it finally comes out. Any advice? Thanks!

posted by JamesToast to technology (11 comments total)

Do you want a number that you will keep?

Or a temporary number that you will ditch when you move to the new phone?

If option A, the rumor is that the Apple phone will be carrier independent so you will just need a phone that uses a SIM card that you can take out and put into the new Apple phone.

If option B, you could just go with a pay-as-you-go service, like Go Phone.
posted by silly110671 at 5:51 AM on December 26, 2006

Prepaid phones are cheap and you don't have to do anything to get out of the plan, just don't refill it. Also, you can usually port your prepaid phone number to a postpaid plan.
posted by SteveInMaine at 5:56 AM on December 26, 2006

I have not found prepaid phones all that cheap if you actually use them.

I too await the Apple phone with (probably misplaced) anticipation, to the point that I limp along a totally dying phone rather than spring for a new one. The rumors I've heard have Apple partnering either with Cingular or T-Mobile at first. But either way, it's nutty to commit to a year (or 2) with any carrier until you know for sure, so if you can live with 35/cents a minute and the monthly charge of most prepaid plans -- ie., you don't live on the phone -- that makes sense.

I wish it would be Jan. 15, (but then allow a month for backorders, two months for the first major defects to appear and be fixed, and we're talking late spring for the sane adopter). But if it's slick, boy are they going to sell a lot of phones. I know 5 people waiting, like me, for the day they hit the shelves.

And then will come the inevitable AskMe question: should I buy AppleCare for my ApplePhone?
posted by spitbull at 6:22 AM on December 26, 2006

If it does materialize, all the rumors point to GSM, so you could swap in the SIM card from a Cingular or T-Mobile phone.
posted by cillit bang at 6:24 AM on December 26, 2006

The main benefit of going for a pre-paid phone at this point is that you won't have to pay the $150 - $250 service cancellation fee if the Apple phone comes out on Cingular but you've just purchased T-Mobile (or vice versa, or any other combo). So even if all the 35-cent minutes add up, they're not compounded by that astronomical fee.
posted by jk252b at 7:36 AM on December 26, 2006

And then will come the inevitable AskMe question: should I buy AppleCare for my ApplePhone?

No one can say for sure until it comes out, but given that the expected shelf life of a phone is about 2 years (in the U.S. at least, the typical duration of a contract), I'd say no.
posted by mkultra at 8:14 AM on December 26, 2006

You have no idea if there will be an Apple phone. Apple has never confirmed one. The only data has come through third-party speculation. If there is an Apple phone, you have no idea when it will arrive. If you believe one rumor over another with regards to ship date, you would have as much knowledge of the technical details if you made them up yourself. And yet you want to calculate the least financial risk to you in buying a non-Apple phone to minimize your losses when one appears.

Anything realistic-sounding about an Apple phone has a nearly-equal possibility of being right. You may as well buy a good phone you can afford that will do what you need for as long as you need it without regards to Apple's plans.
posted by ardgedee at 8:21 AM on December 26, 2006

Since you are waiting for an Apple phone, make sure whatever you get is long lasting and durable.
posted by mrbugsentry at 10:45 AM on December 26, 2006

I have not found prepaid phones all that cheap if you actually use them.

Have you looked recently?

The break-even point for T-Mobile prepaid is approximately 400 minutes a month. If you use more than that, it's cheaper to have a monthly plan (especially if you're mostly using nights/weekends).

If you use fewer, it's cheaper to go prepaid (which is 10 cents per minute, 24x7, added in increments of $100 -- it's also not that hard to find discounted refill cards, bringing you down to 9-9.5 cents per minute).

Both T-Mobile prepaid and postpaid use SIM cards that can be placed in any other unlocked GSM phone. Numbers can be ported to and from, no problem.
posted by toxic at 1:31 PM on December 26, 2006

Don't they also have a monthly "service charge" no matter how much you use them? And are all the minutes realy 10 cents?

I have had a long love affair with T-Mobile, for amazing customer service despite somewhat poor coverage (which has improved where I am, steadily). But my latest encounter with their service process was *really* frustrating, though they ultimately did right by me. What a racket.
posted by spitbull at 1:53 PM on December 26, 2006

Don't they also have a monthly "service charge" no matter how much you use them?

No.

And are all the minutes realy 10 cents?

a 1000 minute refill card costs $100 at retail, and can easily be had for ~$95 online, and the minutes don't expire as long as you add money to your account at least once a year. Lower-denomination cards have a higher per-minute rate and shorter expiration. The $15 cards for sale at WalMart are a ripoff (or a tax on the poor and/or stupid), but that doesn't mean the whole system is.

Prepaid cellular in the US used to be a raw deal, and for heavy users (or folks who use a lot of SMS or data services) still is less than ideal. But for the great majority of people who use their cellulars lightly and primarily for voice calls from inside the US, the rates can be quite competitive.

The carriers have made no effort to remove the stigma associated with prepaid users (the starter kits don't have current phones, it's frequently pitched as the plan for people with bad credit), so lots of people assume that what they learned about prepaid years ago (35 cents per minute, monthly service charge, etc. just look upthread) is still universally true. It is still true among some prepaid carriers, but certainly not all.

Considering the carriers want you to sign a two year agreement, it's not in their best interest to tell you that you might be able to pay less, and have a more flexible plan, as long as you don't want a subsidized newest generation phone.
posted by toxic at 2:46 PM on December 26, 2006