Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
2. Find an iphone! What i did was looked around on craigslist for a while. I eventually ended up posting an add saying i wanted an iphone 3g for 200. i got 5 emails within the first hour! If you have cash, people are willing to sell cheap.
To the OP -- above is the only way I can think of getting an iPhone for so cheap.
 
I think your best bet's to get a 2G and use it with T-Mobile to avoid AT&T catching you out later.

The 2G's incredibly easy to keep unlocked as well (the reason I bought it instead of a 3G).

Incidentally I've been using my 2G without a data plan for the last 2 months or so. I've not fallen apart yet.
 
Seriously, an iPhone without a data plan just sucks. Than you better get a cheap phone which is also able to play music.

There's nothing really out there that is comparable to the iPhone. Plus, since Sept. 6th, AT&T won't even sell you a smartphone without a data plan.
 
What's so hard to understand? If you want the subsidized price, sign the contract and pay the costs associated with it; if you don't want or can't afford that contract, the price is $599. If you can't afford to do either, then you can't afford an iPhone.
 
What's so hard to understand? If you want the subsidized price, sign the contract and pay the costs associated with it; if you don't want or can't afford that contract, the price is $599. If you can't afford to do either, then you can't afford an iPhone.

Someones a negative nancy.
 
I've got the same issue as the OP...Can't afford to pay $30 a month, and can't afford to buy a phone for $600/$700. What do I do?
 
What's so hard to understand? If you want the subsidized price, sign the contract and pay the costs associated with it; if you don't want or can't afford that contract, the price is $599. If you can't afford to do either, then you can't afford an iPhone.

Even if you bought the phone at the unsubsidized price, once you actually hooked it up you'd still end up with pretty much the exact same monthly costs - you still have to pay for all the same services including the mandatory data plan. The only difference is that you can end the service at any time without the ETF.

Remember that AT&T's one-size-fits-all pricing schemes for the iPhone apply to all iPhones, regardless of whether they are subsidized or not, and AT&T officially won't hook an iPhone up to a prepaid service even if it is unsubsidized.

Ironically, it usually appears that if you take the iPhone at its subsidized price, pay for the first month's service, then cancel and pay the ETF in accordance with the contract, you'll actually end up slightly better off than if you just bought the phone outright for the unsubsidized price and sat on it as a paperweight for the first month.

The moral of the story: buying the iPhone from AT&T unsubsidized is virtually always a worse choice than buying it subsidized.
 
It's smaller and less objects to fumble than an iPod Touch plus a cheap camera cell phone together.

Some people are willing to pay more just for portability (MacBook Air, & etc.)

Speaking of the MacBook air... that's no more portable than a MacBook Pro. I can't believe what a rip-off that thing is. Yeah, it looks cool and it's thin but it's missing almost everything a computer should have!

0 Optical DVD drive
1 Audio Port
1 USB port
1 Power Port
1 Mini-display port

That's it. Rip-off. Plus, it's like $300 more expensive than a MacBook Pro.
 
You can call me a negative nancy too.

Your options are buy the phone and get a data plan. Buy an unsubsidized phone, unlock and go over to t-mobile or - and here's the shocking one

Choose another phone that has multimedia capabilities.

Why does it have to be an iPhone? Because you/your daughter like it the best? Well that's fine and dandy but if you can't afford the costs that go with it at this time, then save your money and buy one when you can.

I'm not being elitist. I'm just someone who thinks it's important to live within ones means or below it. If I wasn't in a position where I could afford the phone I wanted, the apartment to rent or buy, the car to lease or buy, the restaurant I wanted to eat at, etc then I would choose an alternative.

The difference between WANT and NEED are important to remember. No one needs an iPhone. Nor do they NEED a camera. Or whatever feature. These are all wants. If you do NEED a cell phone then you can choose from plenty which are cheap/free and only require a voice plan. And I understand wanting to consolidate devices as that's why I, myself, chose the iPhone. It wasn't a NEED. It's what I WANTED. And it was within my means.
 
agreed ^

you can get unlimited voice/txt in the USA for as little as $29.99 with pageplus (runs off verizon)

having a phone is a NEED

having an iphone is a WANT
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.