iThread (AKA Apple Thread)

[imref]

Apple has announced an event for September 7th, expectation is that it's the iPhone 7 launch.

From what I've read, the 7 is an incremental improvement over the 6+, with a better (and possibly dual) camera, more storage (minimum will be 32 GB), water resistance, and likely no ear bud jack.  The unknown is if they will include a lightening to 3.5 mm adapter for free or charge for it, and if they will include bluetooth ear buds (they've trademarked "AirPods"). 

Next year's iPhone 7+ or 8, or whatever they'll call it, is supposed to be a much bigger improvement.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/08/29/apple-sends-invitations-for-iphone-7-event-on-sept-7-see-you-on-the-7th

[BrandonK]

No 3.5 mm is stupid. The DAC is already bad enough on an iPhone. Add in Bluetooth conversion and everyone will be listening to crap quality all the time

[HalfSmokes]

Or lightning, because why use an industry standard when a proprietary option is available

[HattoriHanzo]

No 3.5 mm is stupid. The DAC is already bad enough on an iPhone. Add in Bluetooth conversion and everyone will be listening to crap quality all the time

Yeah the iphone and many other phones have such bad audio output I'm sometimes surprised that there aren't more people using external dac/amps.

[BrandonK]

Yeah the iphone and many other phones have such bad audio output I'm sometimes surprised that there aren't more people using external dac/amps.

People are uninformed. I'll admit, I don't use an external DAC on the phone, but that was a contributing factor to choosing an HTC. I also use my phone to listen to music very little. Home setup is fine

[BrandonK]

Sure enough, they took out the 3.5 mm jack. iPhone 7s ship with the lighting adapter headset. Buy a $30 3.5 mm to lighting adapter, I guess. Stupid. freak Apple.

[HalfSmokes]

I have less than $30 invested in apps - back to android next phone

[BrandonK]

I have less than $30 invested in apps - back to android next phone

The HTC One is a great phone. When it's time to get a new one, I'll probably look at them again.

[HalfSmokes]

I'm going to wait until the current iPhone 6 dies. I love the phone, but I use headphones a lot and i don't like the idea of having to constantly charge them or that I can't use them and charge my phone at the same time

[imref]

Hopefully someone will sell a splitter to enable charging while using headphones.

[BrandonK]

Hopefully someone will sell a splitter to enable charging while using headphones.

I'm imagining Apple will. For a cool $55, of course.

[imref]

Sprint and T-Mobile are offering a free iPhone 7 32 GB to anyone who trades in a 6 or 6s in working condition.  If you want a 128GB or 256GB, you just pay the extra cost.  Sprint is also giving a free upgrade to 256 for anyone who buys the 128 on-line.   For these deals you need to commit to staying with the carrier for two years.

AT&T is offering the same trade-in deal but only for customers of u-verse or direct

UPDATE: well it's not quite 'free,' you have to pay for the phone up front, they then credit the cost of the phone back to your bill, pro-rated over 24 months.

Verizon is now also offering the trade-in deal if you turn in an iPhone 6.

[HalfSmokes]

Well buying your own device didn't last long

[imref]

For those considering a 7: Be aware that the T-Mobile and AT&T iPhone 7's are GSM only for voice, they do not support CDMA.  So if you have any dreams of taking the phone with you at some point and switching to Sprint or Verizon, you are out of luck.  The T-Mobile and AT&T phones will also not work on China Mobile's network if you have plans to travel there at some point.

[imref]

I dug a bit into the various plans tonight.  Verizon and Sprint cost $160 for four phones.  T-Mobile is $140 with their current discount. 

Sprint and T-Mobile (via the new T-MobileONE plan) offer unlimited data but they restrict video streaming to 480p.  T-mobile limits tethering to 512 Kb (3G speeds) unless you add an additional cost tethering option to your plan, throttles you once you exceed 26 GB of data, and charges $5 a month if you don't set up auto payment.

Sprint limits tethering to 5GB a month, after that it's $15 per GB.

Verizon allows you to roll over unused data to the next month. 

All told, Verizon seems to be the best deal out there, a bit more than T-mobile but the network is better and there are less restrictions.

[imref]

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/09/hundreds_of_verizon_customers.html

Anyone else having run-away data use issues with Verizon?

[HalfSmokes]

verizon hasn't been able answer why McCullough's "dumb" phone with no data or internet capability is using data, she said.

Some how I see this ending with an enormous fine

[imref]

Some how I see this ending with an enormous fine

I think that happened to them once already.

[Natsinpwc]

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/09/hundreds_of_verizon_customers.html

Anyone else having run-away data use issues with Verizon?

Couple months ago I was at 90 percent of my data. Made sure I didn't use data the last day of billing but they charged me for going over. Called to complain and they credited the money. Admitted they were having data issues. Wasn't a lot of extra but most people won't check small amounts so I am suspicious about them.

[1995hoo]

Going back to the iPhone, my wife is still using a 4s. If I can ever figure out what her Verizon password is (she never remembers any passwords), I think I'll see what kind of pricing we can get for an SE or some iteration of the 6/6s. She's always complaining because her phone's memory is always full, which is because she only bought a 16 GB since that was the cheapest and because she never deletes photos.

I wish she had let me upgrade her two years ago when I got my iPhone 6. Verizon gave me $200 for my iPhone 4 (as a Verizon Wireless gift card, which I then used to pay the phone bill each month). That was a great deal. Now they'll only give her $15 for hers.


Edited to add: So I found a password manager app on her iPad and of course the password she has saved there doesn't work. Ugh.

[imref]

AT&T joined the other carriers in offering the free iPhone deal for a anyone trading in a 6.  Verizon is offering 650 for a 6 and 400 for a 5se. Of course the catch for all these deals is that you pay for the phones up front, then they apply your credit on a pro-rated basis over two years.

[Baseball is Life]

Just ordered the IPhone 7 with Verizon and they say it will come in by Oct. 5. I'm never one to order the newest thing (I traded in a 5C) but my phone was beginning to lose its charge quickly and occasionally show a "No SIM card" indication and lose phone service for no reason. Without going into the deal they gave too much, my monthly bill will be actually about the same.

I do have doubts about the no 3.5mm jack but I'm hoping the adapter might do the trick.

[imref]

Just ordered the IPhone 7 with Verizon and they say it will come in by Oct. 5. I'm never one to order the newest thing (I traded in a 5C) but my phone was beginning to lose its charge quickly and occasionally show a "No SIM card" indication and lose phone service for no reason. Without going into the deal they gave too much, my monthly bill will be actually about the same.

I do have doubts about the no 3.5mm jack but I'm hoping the adapter might do the trick.

We ordered four Verizon  7s last night to replace two 6 and two 5se on Sprint. three of which were 16gb and were full. It's a ton of money up front but with the trade in deal our monthly bill goes down by about $120.  We got the 12gb shared data plan which is actually a 20gb plan.

[1995hoo]

So I was able to reset Ms1995hoo's password and I can get her a 64 GB iPhone SE for $50 plus activation fee. Nice enough price, but I half wonder if it'd make more sense for me to upgrade my iPhone 6 to something else and then hand it down to her. I'm not necessarily interested in the 7. It sounds like you have to buy the bigger phone (7 Plus) to get the spiffier camera, and to me the wireless headphone thing is a turnoff because I hate earbuds and I use a wired pair of Sennheisers that are extremely comfortable with my prescription eyeglasses. I'm guessing it would be an utter waste to upgrade from a regular 6 to a 6s, but at the same time, the notion of getting a 128 GB 6s for me and giving her my 6......

[imref]

https://www.wired.com/2016/09/review-apple-iphone-7-7-plus/