Pixieish
Well-Known Member
I never had a monthly fee added to my bill before this last upgrade (it had been 2 years). That was the perk of staying a customer - you got free upgrades. Granted, I was always at least a model behind, but I didn't care.
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iPhone buyers - which one are you buying in 2017?
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
I never had a monthly fee added to my bill before this last upgrade (it had been 2 years). That was the perk of staying a customer - you got free upgrades. Granted, I was always at least a model behind, but I didn't care.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
You didn’t get a free upgrade. It was subsidized by your contract.
Pixieish
Well-Known Member
Well, I never saw a rate increase, so if the cost was in there, it was well-hidden.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
It wasn’t a line item and you always paid it, even if you didn’t get an upgrade.
donsullivan
Premium Member
I switched to Apple's iPhone Upgrade program last year to take away some of the sting of the increasing cost of these devices. Now I just increase my monthly payment a little when I upgrade later this week for my iPhone X.
21stamps
Well-Known Member
You are definitely paying it. I always buy my phones outright so I can avoid a contract and a plan, which makes my bill less.
Before AT&T lost exclusivity I always purchased the new iPhone, and sold my old one on the same day, usually only had $200 difference between the new and old. Then came Verizon, then Sprint, with their stupid $199 w/contract! And ‘free upgrades’ caused a hit to the resale market.. and finally last year was the first time that I sold my phone back to Apple. I still received $375.
You can do the math with your carrier, but I like to own my phone and not have an “x” amount of time commitment to a carrier. Regardless of if you do the annual iPhone plan or not you are still paying more if you’re under contract.
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lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
What contract? If you buy the LTE model it is typically an extra $10 a month for the service. You don’t have to activate the LTE and there is a Series 3 model without LTE. The reviews of the LTE model have not been favorable.
donsullivan
Premium Member
I have the Generation 3 Apple Watch with LTE on my AT&T account. I had the 2 previous generations and I am one who find great value from the Watch for my use patterns. It's an amazing tool when traveling. I always purchase direct from Apple instead of the carrier and I have absolutely no contract of any kind on this device or any of the phones on my account. The Watch just added $10/month to my account to mirror my iPhone phone number onto the Watch. That's the same incremental charge I pay for my iPad on the same account.
21stamps
Well-Known Member
So I can cancel the $10 per month at any time without penalty? I didn’t know that.
Even if so I can’t bring myself to pay $120 per year+ tax for service for a watch.
21stamps
Well-Known Member
That’s good to know. I’m not caving yet..but it makes me feel better.
How long does your watch last between charging? Besides working out, I’ve tried to think of when it would be beneficial to where I could leave my phone home or in the car.. I just don’t know if the battery would last long enough.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Yes, the $10 is month-to-month as you desire. You don’t even have to start LTE service if you buy the Series 3 GPS + LTE.
If you don’t think you’d ever use the LTE, you could buy the Series 3 GPS and save a little on the cost.
Battery is all day, but really has to be charged each night. They will last about 1.5 days max without a charge.
donsullivan
Premium Member
That has been my experience as well. I have a charging dock next to the bed that I put it on each night, or have the cable with me when I travel. Never had an issue with it not making it thru even the longest days.
I've had every version since the original, and the LTE is the best of the bunch. Takes everything from the Series 2 and gives the flexibility to use when the phone isn't near.
If you have the use case for that capability, it is a wonderful device. I can't see how anyone could review it unfavorably if they have a use for it. From what I have seen, too many people review it when they themselves don't have a need for LTE.
Yep only the original had battery life issues. I was typically going from about 7am to 10pm with that one. But since the second version, battery life issues are just not there.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
The issue that came up was with the LTE actually connecting.
Yeah that problem as very short lived and was solved with an OS update. The watch was sometime latching onto a Wifi connection that it couldn't actually use, and would not connect to LTE because it thought it had a usable WiFi. I think the update was released about 2 days after the Watch shipped.
donsullivan
Premium Member
With the latest software release for Watch, adding Apple Music support when using AirPods is really cool. You can walk away from your phone and have access to all of your music and if your phone rings, you just tap the Watch and answer and then you go back to your music when the call finishes. With Siri you can also make calls if you need to as well.
