10-04-2011, 03:54 AM
rgG wrote:
I would pay the full retail ONLY if I could activate it on the prepaid plan of my choice. I would save the $400 in less than a year.
That's your prerogative, but I think you'll be waiting awhile for that opportunity and I wonder whether you've considered the opportunity costs in your scenario.
The iPhone 4 was out for a year before Apple offered an unlocked version (starting at $650).
It'll probably be a year before an unlocked iPhone 5 is available in the U.S. (IMHO.) Apple has a tradition of not manufacturing enough devices to meet demand for the first year. AT&T, Verizon and Sprint will have asked for some exclusivity for their cartel when they negotiated their deals and there's no downside (to Apple) from placating them in this respect. They'll sell every handset they can manufacture whether locked or unlocked.
So, you may lose a year waiting for your dream-phone... and you'll get it just in time for the iPhone 6 to come out.
On top of that, there's the extra angst and the service-problems that you're likely to endure when you finally have your unlocked iPhone 5.
If you do go with an local indie cellular provider, you lose the benefits of 3G service. (And if the iPhone 5 does 4G you'll lose both 3G and 4G.)
If you don't go with an indie cellular provider for your service, you'll have the uncertainty that your carrier may discover that you're using an iPhone with a non-iPhone data plan. Neither AT&T nor Verizon authorizes such use. They could cut you off or automatically kick you up to an expensive data plan at any time.
'Seems like a lot of trouble to go through over a cell phone.