Anybody buying the iPhone 6S? (1 Viewer)

Ronald Epstein · Sep 12, 2015

This is my first "S" phone ever. I have always skipped the "S" line because the upgrades were very incremental.

This time out, I am going from an iPhone 6 Plus to a 6S Plus.

It's costing me dearly. I am still in contract. The phone is about $949 outright (before tax), and is contract free.

I am trading in my iPhone 6 Plus for just under $400 from Gazelle.

Yes, still an expensive purchase.

I don't want to sell the phone on eBay. Went down that route once before and almost got taken.

So why did I go with the 6S?

Three reasons...

First, I love the LIVE PHOTOS. What an ingenious idea on Apple's part. I love the fact you can take a photo and it captures enough seconds prior to and post that it makes those images have a bit of life to them without taking up a lot of extra space.

Second, I love the fact that Siri is always on. That will help me immensely while on the road if I want to dictate a text message to someone.

Finally, I just love the idea of having a new iPhone every year. Apple's new payment plan that allows you to get a new phone every year is fine. However, you have to go into the store to sign up for that plan and there is no guarantee a phone will even be in stock the day you have your reservation. I may, instead, go with the AT&T's NEXT plan in another year and do it that way.

Clinton McClure · Sep 12, 2015

Ron - My wife and I are on the AT&T Next plan and became eligible for upgrades in June but waited because I knew the 6s would be out this fall. Since going to iPhones when the 3gs came out, we have always stayed on the S upgrade cycle (4s then 5s) and skipped the regular iPhone release. We will both be hitting an AT&T store after release day to re-up with 6s phones. I can't do the 6s Plus. Too big for my taste.

Ronald Epstein · Sep 12, 2015

Clinton,

Good to hear your experiences.

What do you think of the NEXT plan?

I thought it allows you to upgrade to a new phone every year? If that is the case, will be you upgrading next year as well (for iPhone 7)?

Can't blame you for not going with the Plus phone. For some, it is just too big.

DaveF · Sep 12, 2015

Ronald Epstein said:
Clinton,

Good to hear your experiences.

What do you think of the NEXT plan?
I thought it allows you to upgrade to a new phone every year? If that is the case, will be you upgrading next year as well (for iPhone 7)?

Can't blame you for not going with the Plus phone. For some, it is just too big.

AT&T has three flavors of NEXT, ranging from 12 months to 24 months. Note the plan spreads the cost of phone out about six months longer than the plan duration. So at the end of the contract you either turn in your current phone, and residual value is applied to next phone, or you pay the remainder and own the phone.

Note that in all these financing plans, TANSTAAFL. Ultimately, you're paying the full cost of the phone and getting some carrier-determined used phone resale price.

DaveF · Sep 12, 2015

We're getting two iPhone 6s 64GB. Going to try and renew an AT&T 2 year contract, since it's cheaper over two years than the new no-contract / NEXT plans.

My current two year contract is over Oct 20, so we'll be shopping then. And practically, that's when new iPhones were available for walk-in purchase two years ago. So I doubt I'd get a phone much earlier even if I wanted too.

DaveF · Sep 12, 2015

Sam linked this in the other thread. In case it's of interest to you:
“Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program vs. the big four carriers’ payment plans | Ars Technica”

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/09/apples-iphone-upgrade-program-vs-the-big-four-carriers-payment-plans/

Robert Crawford · Sep 12, 2015

Nah, I have one more year to go and I don't use my phone enough to justify the cost of upgrading now.

Josh Steinberg · Sep 12, 2015

Probably not - my iPhone 5 is still working just fine for everything I use it for (mostly texting and reading the newspaper and HTF app during my commute), so I'll hold on to it until it starts showing signs of wear. There have been rare occasions when I wished I had one of the newer ones with a better camera, but for the two or three times a year I wish that, it's not worth it to me to upgrade.

Clinton McClure · Sep 12, 2015

We used to do the 2-year subsidized plans but with my work's discount, the Next 12 plan ended up being cheaper, plus I got a better data plan and unlimited texting. I will have to see what Apple brings to the table with the 7 before I decide if I will upgrade next year too. Even then, I would wait for the 7s. My 5s works perfectly but I want a 6s for Apple Pay.

DaveF · Sep 12, 2015

Clinton McClure said:
My 5s works perfectly but I want a 6s for Apple Pay.

My 5s is great. With the new non-contract plans, there's some sense and temptation in dropping my monthly rate and keeping my 5s for another year. But I really want Apple Pay. It's not universal, but it's becoming more common at restaurants and grocery stores I frequent.

Josh Steinberg · Sep 12, 2015

Clinton and Dave - this is probably a really stupid question, but since I haven't kept up with all the details on it, what is the advantage to having Apple Pay? Is it just that you can in theory leave the wallet and credit cards at home and pay with an app on the phone, or is there an additional something to Apple Pay that I'm missing?

McPaul · Sep 13, 2015

The last iPhone I had was the iPhone 4. I gave that to my mom a couple years ago cause she couldn't use her nexus she had. So I've been using the nexus since.

I'd love to get one but the 128gb is nearly $1300. That's pricey.

My work phone is also an android, and I can't put my own device on my work plan. So I'd still be carrying around 2 phones.

Thinking about it.

I like that it supposedly has a better camera, hate the 3d touch screen which doubles the weight of the last screen for a feature I don't see much value in, and hate the "live photos" that take up twice the amount of space on your phone (and cloud storage)

I'd love to see specs on the sensor in this new camera and some "real" sample shots. But I like that it should have a better camera. Still need to get the 6s plus to have OIS though.

And apple pay? The phone has an nfc chip now. Hold the phone near the card terminal with your finger on home button and voila! Apple pay.

Bitchin! (Cue air guitar riff)

Except not available in canada.

Still.

Yep.

Even though we had nfc terminals in the chain stores years before the U.S. Did.

DaveF · Sep 13, 2015

McPaul said:
The last iPhone I had was the iPhone 4. I gave that to my mom a couple years ago cause she couldn't use her nexus she had. So I've been using the nexus since.
I'd love to get one but the 128gb is nearly $1300. That's pricey.

I thought you were mis-reading the iPad Pro price instead. Then I looked up Canadian pricing. Yikes! I thought the exchange was closer to parity.

DaveF · Sep 13, 2015

Josh Steinberg said:
Clinton and Dave - this is probably a really stupid question, but since I haven't kept up with all the details on it, what is the advantage to having Apple Pay? Is it just that you can in theory leave the wallet and credit cards at home and pay with an app on the phone, or is there an additional something to Apple Pay that I'm missing?

The expected benefits are:
Simplicity: I probably already have my iPhone in hand, vs pulling out my wallet, opening it, and clawing out the credit card from the slot.

Security: Apple Pay is more secure than mag-stripe swipe payments.

And it might enable me to remove a couple cards from my wallet, thinning it slightly.

It won't be a total replacement for me. But it's a step in the right direction

DaveF · Sep 13, 2015

My iPhone upgrade plans just became a little uncertain. I found that the new plans and contracts are $30/mo more than I currently pay (on a 2yr contract). Upgrading becomes a value proposition of: Pay for 3 iPhones, get 2. This makes me wonder if I can stay on my current contract and drop my bill further with the monthly subsidy removed. If my bill could instead be reduced another $30/mo, I'm faced with: Keep my iPhone 5s's, or: Pay for 4 new iPhones, get 2.

I need to talk with an AT&T rep to understand what's going on with my current bill and the new plans. I'm not keen on having a 30% monthly increase.

McPaul · Sep 13, 2015

Oops.

McPaul · Sep 13, 2015

McPaul said:
It wasn't too long ago that we were parity! We've just been hammered over the past year and apple over corrected it's retail prices here as well.
Of course I could go on carrier pricing and be locked in for two years at a rate that's 40-60 bux higher, but that costs much more in the long run.

I've also got a 5k iMac and Apple TV on my list.

Going to be an expensive year.

Yikes!

Sam Posten · Sep 13, 2015

I'm skipping this year to finish my 2 year contract and will get the 7+ or equivalent in 2016 and will get on a payment plan that lets me upgrade every year starting then.

Josh Steinberg · Sep 13, 2015

DaveF said:
The expected benefits are:
Simplicity: I probably already have my iPhone in hand, vs pulling out my wallet, opening it, and clawing out the credit card from the slot.

Security: Apple Pay is more secure than mag-stripe swipe payments.

And it might enable me to remove a couple cards from my wallet, thinning it slightly.

It won't be a total replacement for me. But it's a step in the right direction

Thanks for the explanation, Dave - I personally don't see a need for an Apple Pay type product in my life right now so it's not incentive to upgrade, but I hope that you and anyone else picking it up enjoy it! I think I worry about security maybe a little less than others. For instance, I've never been concerned about the mag-strike security, and maybe that's completely stupid of me, but I always thought that the credit card company protected me against unauthorized charges, so that's not really on my radar. And I've got to carry my wallet with me wherever I go anyway (work ID, subway card, photo ID, etc), so getting rid of the wallet wouldn't be a possibility for me in the first place.

One of the cool things about being on the every-few-years upgrade plan instead of every year or every other year is that these incremental improvements seem like a much bigger deal when you're jumping over a few models. I had a 3GS and I know people who went from that to the 4 and were very disappointed. I went from the 3GS to the 5 and it was a noticeable difference, and at this point whatever I get next from the 5 will seem like a big difference.

Clinton McClure · Sep 13, 2015

I skip the main releases and go with the S models for much the same reason. New, cool features are always introduced with the regular models but with the S release, Apple goes under the hood and monkeys about, finding more horsepower and refining the user experience. Most of the new model bugs and shortcomings have been addressed by then as well.

My main reason for upgrading to the 6s is Apple Pay. I don't game anymore so processor speed and RAM are not that important anymore. I don't care about the live photos and will promptly disable that if I can.

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