6 reasons to wait on switching to the Verizon iPhone
Will Brinson
I hate (times infinity) AT&T’s service. That puts me squarely in the top percentile of AT&T users and anyone who owns an iPhone.
So, yeah, tremendous news that Verizon’s going to be cranking out Apple’s top product, right? Well, yes. But there’s reason to be cautious. Actually, there are several reasons to be cautious, and perhaps you should think twice about cutting AT&T loose immediately and pre-ordering that Verizon iPhone on Thursday.
6 The Unknown
The only thing we DO know about the new Verizon iPhone is that it’s made by Apple. That’s good news because everything that Steve Jobs and his magical wonderland of Silicon Valley elves create should be immediately purchased (sight unseen even!) by you and then bragged about sanctimoniously to your friends.
However, anyone who did just that with the iPhone and AT&T has probably, at some point, uttered the words “yeah, but it’s the iPhone,” in order to justify the existence of AT&T’s crappy service in their life. However, as terrible as it is, you already know the bugs and quirks and spots in your house where the calls will drop.
The same can’t be said of the Verizon version and, frankly, unless you know with 100 percent certainty that the grass is already greener on the Verizon side (you don’t) or you get literally zero bars in your house, patience is prudent here.
5 “Unlimited” Data
If you’re one of those weirdos like me who checks their email every 30 seconds and only likes watching their streaming porn videos on their phone, you probably have to get an unlimited data plan on your mobile device.
And if you’ve been with AT&T for a while, you’re likely locked into that and haven’t yet fallen prey to their “tiered” data charges. So you love hearing that Verizon will be offering $30 unlimited data plans. But you don’t like hearing that it’s “temporary” — and it’s even worse news that switching now won’t get you locked in for the long term.
Once you upgrade to a new device, Verizon will implement the new pricing on your phone anyway. So, at best, you’re looking at two years of unlimited data for $30 a month … which you already have. So what’s the harm in finding out how much Verizon is going to charge for their larger data packs first? Worst case is you save on …
4 Cancellation Fees
Yes, that’s right. The dreaded cancellation fee. If you’re a non-lawyer who happens to have just renewed your contract with AT&T, it’s going to cost about $350 to make the switch. And that’s before you buy your new Verizon iPhone.
Waiting longer will get you closer to your contract end date and should mean less money that you’ll owe to get out of the contract. If you can, wait until your deal expires and then make the jump. (The really nice thing about said waiting is that it’s a convenient excuse to see how Verizon’s service will work.)
Two more notes here. One, make sure not go and get an upgrade at AT&T while you’re waiting. Duh, right? Well, yeah, but if you pick up some new hardware, you might accidentally lock yourself into a new contract.
No. 2: if you’re a lawyer, or know a lawyer real well and desperately, desperately want to get over to Verizon, you can probably sue AT&T and be done with it, especially if they upgraded you “accidentally” as mentioned in No. 1. It’s not worth paying a small fortune in legal fees, though, but if you can sue for free/cheap AT&T will probably release you ASAP.
3 Talk + Data
When I read that you couldn’t use the internet/text/etc while talking on the phone with Verizon’s rendition of the iPhone (it has to do with the technology available right now), my immediate reaction was “Whatever.” I don’t spend a ton of time chatting and surfing.
But since then, I think I’ve had approximately 15 different moments when I actually WAS talking on the phone and needed to look something up on the internet, so perhaps I do it more often than I think. And, since I’m in the minority of people (apparently), this could be a dealbreaker — if you’re used to texting a lot while being on the phone, use speakerphone all the time to surf while your sig other stains your ear or even just use a headset a lot and work on the phone while talking, well, you might wanna simmer on bolting to Verizon.
2 Tethering Costs
Know what the most awesome thing about the Verizon iPhone is? Tethering. Yup, you’ll now be able to use your mobile phone as a hot spot. Unless, you know, someone actually calls you (see: above).
However, that won’t be free. In fact, it’ll cost an extra $20 a month (in addition to your $30 a month unlimited data plan that won’t last forever). The $20 gets you 2 GB a month of data extra, which means you probably don’t want to be downloading any audio/video to your computer through your iPhone. (Although that would be dumb anyway.)
1 The iPhone 5
Ah yes, the NEW IPHONE. How quickly we forget that Apple fires a new one of these puppies out every summer. If you jump to Verizon right now, you’ll either a) upgrade your 3G/3GS to an iPhone 4 or b) switch your AT&T iPhone 4 to a Verizon iPhone 4.
Either way, when you do that, you’ll be signing a two-year contract with that iPhone 4.
About four or five months into that new contract, Apple will drop the iPhone 5. Or the iPhone 4GS. Either way, you’re smarter to wait and find out exactly what your maximum upgrade would be. Even if there’s not that much of an improvement with the new models, you’ll still get that iPhone 4 for cheaper (usually about $100 per) because it’s not the “top” model anymore.
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