iPhone 11 iPhone bargain hunter

[penny_whistle]

The iPhone 13 line is now becoming available and (being a bargain hunter) I've been thinking of moving up from my 1st gen 2016 SE to either an iPhone 11 or the current 2020 iPhone SE. I want a newish processor but am not concerned by the lack of G5 connectivity, this will be my phone for probably the next two years. Apple's refurbished site doesn't currently show either model.

Straight Talk (Walmart) has 64 gig versions of the 11 at $399 and the SE at $199. I kinda doubt I'll see better pricing on these models - should I snatch one up?

Not interested in getting a phone/service package, already have service. Also not interested in buying used.

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[now i see it]

The “refurbished” iPhones you get from Walmart are nothing like the refurbished iPhones from Apple.
The Walmart phone will have the original case and screen and maybe battery. In every sense it’s just a used phone that’s been tested to ensure it works properly. The case may have slight scratches or scuffs, same with the screen. It’s just a used phone.

While there are no iPhone 11 regular models currently available at the Apple refurbished store at this time
- their refurbished phones are immaculate. They look (and essentially are) brand new except for the logic board. New battery, new display, new outer shell. It’s indistinguishable in appearance from a new iPhone.
Also comes with a 1 year warranty and you could buy AppleCare+ insurance for it if you wanted to.

Phone availability is constantly changing at the Apple refurbished store. New models arrive all the time.
I recently purchased an ip8+ but they only had 64 GB versions available. So I bought it. Six hours later 128 GB versions became available- so I bought that one too (ha) since that’s the one I wanted.
They shipped me both and I returned the 64 GB model. Painless transaction.

I say, if you can wait a little longer, wait and see what turns up at the Apple refurbished store. You might get lucky.
My last iPhone was an Apple refurbished unit and it worked flawlessly (and still does) after 6-1/2 years.

 

[maerz001]

Coming from a 4“ phone did you hold a larger one? The 11 line is quite large and one handed hardly possible.

But almost double the battery life.
Maybe a XS is an alternative

 

[penny_whistle]

I appreciate the input! AFAIK, Straight Talk's website does not indicate the phones are refurb units. But looking into it further, when I looked up iPhone prices on Walmart, they do reflect they are refurb items. Not interested in buying a refurb/used phone with a potentially compromised battery life, will stick with Apple.

Yes, the 11 is larger than I want ideally. But I want a better camera arrangement/software and a longer life battery than what is in an SE.

An XS is just a bit smaller (though notably lighter) than an 11. It was released a year earlier with an A12 processor, rather than the A13 processor the 11 is equipped with. And it lacks the two camera modes I think I want, Night Mode and Deep Fusion. For some reason, on the refurb page Apple is pricing the XS higher than the 11 which they just also added to the Refurb page.