Apple’s iPhone Air looks great but maybe your phone plan needs an upgrade

Apple made something wild on Tuesday at its big annual iPhone event: it announced a phone that is actually new. It means iPhone airAnd it is thin-“the thinnest iPhone of all time”-light and striking. His battery life also stinks.

You may not want a super -thin phone with a shitty battery life, but that's probably not the reason why Apple set up the iPhone air.

Apple built the iPhone Air after years of publishing Iphones, which looked like the iPhones of the previous year and every new model Just a little better than the last one. But his competitors were creativeShare phones that fold or develop in half or develop to create larger phones. Several industry analysts believe that the iPhone Air is only a test run for Apple's own folding phase: If you attach two iPhone Airs with a hinge and a small additional screen to create a seamless display, and and boomThere is your folded iPhone.

In a sense, the iPhone air only shows Apple. “Apple as a technology company, as you know, is almost unsurpassed for miniatures, and I think it is a lot:” Look at what we can do “,” ” Tom MainelliHead of device and consumer research at Market Intelligence company IDC, informed me on Tuesday from the iPhone event in Cupertino, California.

As impractical as a super thin, very fragile -looking iPhone with a shitty battery life, many people pay a lot of money to have it as a status symbol. In the meantime, Apple can see what works with this design and uses it to the next completely new iPhone, the analysts can be expected next year and the year after. In total, iPhone sales have slowed down Recently, but with this new thrust, Apple could possibly trigger the type of upgrade cycle that made the iPhone a cultural phenomenon. In addition, the airlines offer subsidies of 1,000 US dollars or more to achieve this (small prints contain a lot).

So what does it mean to actually get this incredibly thin phone into your hands? Is it worth it or is there a better way to update your phone and plan?

Let's bring the iPhone air to earth

More than an analyst that I spoke to told me that they don't necessarily expect the iPhone air to be a great seller. It is striking, but again this thinness is at the expense of a good battery life. The guts of the phone are stuffed into the new elongated camera base, which Apple referred to as “plateau”, and the rest of the phone is filled with battery. Nevertheless, Apple says that the iPhone air of 1,000 US dollars receives Three less hours of video playback When the 800 dollar -In -IPhone 17, which was also announced on Tuesday. The new iPhone 17 Pro receives a dozen hours more video playback than the iPhone air and only costs $ 100. The MP camera of the iPhone Air is also sensibly inferior to the pro models, and the fans always discover Other tiny downgrades in the small print.

However, who knows: The iPhone Air could be a blockbuster. All iPhone owners who have bored themselves have the same-looking iPhone, like everyone else, by buying the same brand new iPhone air. By the way, if you believe that the iPhone air looks great, Apple insists that this is not the case.

“Apple bragged, it is the most durable iPhone ever,” said it Jeff FieldhackResearch Director at Contrapoint, a technology market research company that also worked at the iPhone event. “It has a Unibody design that probably causes the stage for its foldable basis.” And how does it feel? “Impressive.”

Obviously, Apple wants you to buy an iPhone air or an iPhone 17 Pro or even a modest iPhone 17. However, the telephone providers absolutely want to sell you directly with a steep discount, and more than in the pastThey press stunning but logistically complex offers to get a new device and a new contract. Verizon offers A Free iPhone 17 Pro when you exchange A device in every condition-a offer of up to $ 1,100 or a free iPhone 17 without trade. Both AT & T And T-mobile correspond to these shops. (In the meantime, Apple offers 0 percent interest loan If you buy the device with your credit card.)

These offers are delivered with connected strings. This offer of 1,100 US dollars is also not cash or a free iPhone. You will receive the discount on the device in the form of billing loans, which are spread out in the course of 24 or even 36 months. If you change the airlines before the device is paid out, you are on the hook to pay the remaining account balance. Carriers can and do too Increase fees As soon as you have committed yourself to one of these offers and you are probably annoying to add lines or register for additional advantages, e.g. B. Streaming services. If you are already a customer, the airlines usually want to register for a new premium plan that contains functions that you may not want and whose price can increase over time despite the time Advertised “price locks”.

Does your phone plan need an upgrade than your phone?

What now, where we really get into the dark core time, possible that you are already paying too much for your telephone bill. Regardless of whether you want a new phone or not, it is now a good time to take a second look at the details of your phone plan, as the wireless market became more competitive and the prices for the basic service have actually dropped.

A number of increasingly popular mobile virtual network operators (MVNOS) offer service plans that provide a fraction of the costs of the main beam infrastructure. Some of these companies are off for their connections to celebrities Mint mobile and Ryan Reynolds or Trump Mobile and the President. Others do not have traditional business plans, including Helium Mobile that offers free service In exchange for your location data. Some of them are even in possession of the main bearers: Verizon has Visibleand AT&T has cricketfor example. They are all cheap compared to the main carriers.

Many of these MVNOS have been an alternative to the most important airlines for years. They each have their own inconvenience, including limited customer support, data upper limits and confusing prepaid plans. However, they also start with unlimited plans for around $ 15 per month.

You should also expect these budget networks slower for several reasons. Is one deprivationThis means that data from large airlines such as Verizon and AT&T receive priority over the budget sparing in times of heavy networks. (For this reason, important airlines can advertise their offers for “Premium data”.) The other is throttlingWhat happens when you hit your data allowance and the network slows down your speeds, sometimes to the point that the connection is unusable. The data is still technically unlimited, but this is not used much if websites are not loaded.

Nevertheless, the sticker price of a new smartphone is not what most people should pay at at a time like this attention. Your monthly invoice quickly results in more than $ 1,000, and it is probably on automatic payment, which is why you probably don't think about where this money is going. There is also more than one way to save money for your bill. If you are someone who spends most of the time to be connected to WLAN and not need customer support, these cheap telephone plans are very useful. You can use a telephone plan comparison page, like naviTo help you negotiate with your current airline for a better offer.

Celebrate when you have included a lower monthly overhead! Use all the money you saved on your monthly bill to pay your new iPhone air. Or wait another year and get something striking from Apple. It comes.

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