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I am planning on buying an iPhone

technodumpling

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I am a high school student who is planning on buying an iPhone for the first time. I have only recently started doing thorough research, and only know that I want the iPhone to be my next phone, and that it suits most of my needs (i.e. my life is very social, and I need to keep in contact with a lot of people using social media, so that is why I want it to be my next phone - because of it's good reputation amongst the social people).

The only problem is is that, being a student, I do not have loads of money on hand, and saying that the average monthly plan of the iPhone is about $50, I was hoping that there would be a cheaper alternative, somewhere in the $30-$40 range, which includes unlimited text, about >50 minutes, free evenings and weekends, unlimited downloads (for apps, and maybe some for a few internet downloads), and maybe some skype-ing. I have been looking at plans extensively, and have had no real luck for what my criteria are.

I do like to browse a lot in my free time (before school, during lunch, and after school), like, in the internet, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube occasionally, and other sites that require the internet. I have Wi-Fi at my school and at home, so when I am connected to Wi-Fi either at school or at home, does that still count as data usage on my plan? Or is it free? Because of my notorious usage of data, how much should I get? I've browsed a few threads already, and a lot of people settle for 500MB (which seems to suit them fine), and then some people say that they have 1GB (what they say seems to be a little too much). I feel that i'm kind of in the middle field, so I don't know what to do. I don't want to pay to much, and then not use it all up, but then I don't want to buy too little, then have to pay more for the extra data that I used.

I have looked briefly into prepaid plans, and they are incredibly cheaper. The only problem is that most prepaid plans on most service providers do not carry and/or support the iPhone or the Apple operating system (due to the fact that you are paying less money, so it isn't really worth their time to offer it to you).

What is a student to do?
 
Some carriers have student plans - you might check that route...

Welcome to the forum!
 
With your monthly limit on spending... I'd recommend buying a gently used iPhone and using it on Straight Talk wireless. Unlimited Talk, Text & Internet for $45/mo. We have some pretty amazing threads here at iPF that discuss using an iPhone on ST and the process on how to set it up properly.
 
With your monthly limit on spending... I'd recommend buying a gently used iPhone and using it on Straight Talk wireless. Unlimited Talk, Text & Internet for $45/mo. We have some pretty amazing threads here at iPF that discuss using an iPhone on ST and the process on how to set it up properly.

Thank you for your information.

I live in Toronto, and I don't think that Straight Talk is in Canada (and/or Ontario). Do you have a similar alternative that is available in Canada?
 
Yeah, the most prepaid plans are very expensive but you can always find good alternatives. I personally like O2, I have them for a time now and they are the best. Plus, you can always get the iPhone 4S or even the 4, because their tariffs are not so expensive.
 
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i feel like you should go for the 4s, it's just as good and alot cheaper now the 5 is out
 
Yeah, the most prepaid plans are very expensive but you can always find good alternatives. I personally like O2, I have them for a time now and they are the best. Plus, you can always get the iPhone 4S or even the 4, because their tariffs are not so expensive.

I have never heard of O2 before... I'm trying to look for it on Google, but no luck. Can you link me to their webpage? Yeah, I have been looking into the 4s, because that is the generation that my friend has, and he rates it highly, and I've been researching the specs from both the 4s/4 and the 5, and they virtually seem to be the same, but obviously the 5 has more recent updates done to it so that it is not an exact replica of the 4s/4.

Also, what makes O2 the best, in your opinion/expertise? I have found that a lot of the smaller/less-well-known service providers have lesser quality data speed, and/or lesser sound quality.

Thank you again :)
 
Yeah, I agree. You're literally paying $180 more for the same model as the 4s/4, just with a few more cool apps, and/or just having the benefit of having what's the newest on the market. And I've read better ratings on the 4s/4 than the 5. So, I think i'm going to go with the 4s :)
 
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