Is this an okay time to buy an iPhone 3G?

[grantsewell]

So my contract with Sprint has finally expired! I was ready to buy an iPhone, but after MacWorld's lack of announcement for a new model, I'm a little hesitant to go pick up an iPhone 3G, because I don't want to be high and dry in a contract when a new one is released. I've heard the rumors about a quad-core model and larger capacity, both of which I'm not super excited about, but we all still want to be on the bleeding edge. So here are my questions:

1) Is this a reasonably good time to buy the iPhone?

2) If a new model is released, would AT&T offer any half-decent upgrade program for existing 3G users? Did AT&T do anything when the 3G was released?

Thanks!

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

just a heads up. You may want to learn to use the 'search' to find similar threads. People here can get their panties in a bunch when people ask repetitive questions. People ask this a lot and i'm pretty sure there are several from the past week.

But to answer your questions. 1) this is a good a time as any

2) who knows, probably no. iphone to iphone 3g was different because it was unsubsidized. now with the iphone 3g being subsidized at&t will want you to fully live out the contract otherwise they lose money

Now here is what you really want to know. Odds are apple will release a 32gb iphone 3g in the next couple months. Is the memory worth it to you? Will it be $299 or $399 no one knows.

There won't be a major hardware upgrade till july-ish. if you are willing to wait 6 months be my guest, but if i were you I would buy now.

 

[grantsewell]

Thanks. Sorry if this was a double post - I searched I didn't find any direct answers, maybe it was just a fail.

In any case, thanks for the helpful advice. The 16GB is plenty for me, but I just didn't want to get caught up with having to upgrade at full price. From what I've read, the odds of the full hardware release coming out before July isn't likely, but something in 3rd quarter is more probable. I'll probably end up buying now and then buying again later anyways... an old iPhone will still get some cash on eBay, so no huge deal. Thanks again, other thoughts are still welcome!

 

[The Californian]

The perfect time to do it would have been the end of December. My contract ended at Sprint and I was thinking about jumping ship ( while Sprint still had a ship ) for multiple reasons but was a little hesitant because I know the call quality isn't as great on AT&T as it is on Sprint. The reason the end of December was the best time was because AT&T was selling 8gig iPhones for $99 from December 26th until December 31st, so I jumped in on it.

If your hesitant at all, I will tell you that you won't be disappointed. The iPhone is great, the service and call quality are just fine. I am very happy with my switch, and since you missed the "perfect time", now is just as good as anytime. Enjoy!