# Iphone without subscription?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 20, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688 "2019-11-20T03:45:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/21 "2019-11-20T22:19:45Z")
> [@cochrane](#):
>
> OK, I was going off this [commercial](https://www.ispot.tv/ad/ZAYu/sprint-take-it-to-eleven-iphone-11-and-35-a-month), which seems to imply the iPhone 11 is free, although I admit it’s short and lacking in details. I’ll accept Sprint’s website as legit. Still, $53 a month is a good deal, Straight Talk unlimited with your own phone is $55 a month.
I think it’s still more than that. As far as I can tell from Sprint’s website, you can only get the $35/mo unlimited plan if you own the phone. If you want to rent one, the cheapest I can find is $60/mo unlimited.
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### Author:  [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/22 "2019-11-20T23:38:12Z")
> [@SamuelA](#):
>
> So the goal is to save $25 on a 5 year old phone?!
>
> Phones aren’t like kitchen mixers. More than 2 years out of date and you begin to run into problems. The primary one being that while newer OS updates may install, the phone doesn’t really have the specs for them, and so it tends to run slower over time.
I believe it’s a four-year old phone, and the goal is to get the cheapest possible new device that does almost everything an Iphone or Ipod does except make calls. I don’t need the phone service, and I can live with not updating the OS (although I run Windows 10 on my desktop, I have an old laptop running XP that still serves me well for non-demanding tasks). My eyes are bad enough that visual apps are hard for me to use on a phone, so really my main use for it would be downloading and Bluetoothing music and podcasts, and taking pictures and 4K videos that I’ll upload to the desktop. If you know of a cheaper solution that works with the Apple store, I’m all ears.
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### Author:  [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/23 "2019-11-20T23:41:47Z")
> [@cochrane](#):
>
> OK, I was going off this [commercial](https://www.ispot.tv/ad/ZAYu/sprint-take-it-to-eleven-iphone-11-and-35-a-month), which seems to imply the iPhone 11 is free, although I admit it’s short and lacking in details. I’ll accept Sprint’s website as legit. Still, $53 a month is a good deal, Straight Talk unlimited with your own phone is $55 a month.
Again, I only need the phone service a couple or three weeks a year, so the Total Wireless that lets you buy a month at a time would be much cheaper for me in the long run.
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/24 "2019-11-21T14:46:44Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#):
>
> I believe it’s a four-year old phone, and the goal is to get the cheapest possible new device that does almost everything an Iphone or Ipod does except make calls. I don’t need the phone service, …
As I _just_ noted, I am puzzled by the repeated use of “iPod” (_n.b._) in this context. Only the iPod touch could do even WiFi calls. Something you can do with any functional smartphone without cell phone service.
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### Author:  [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2019, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/25 "2019-11-21T16:20:36Z")
Yes, he’s talking about an iPod Touch, the current models were introduced in May of this year, so they’re not that old. There’s nothing puzzling about it. I explained thoroughly in my reply yesterday.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/26 "2019-11-21T16:46:04Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#):
>
> and taking pictures and 4K videos that I’ll upload to the desktop.
If you plan on making 4K videos, plan on using a massive amount of memory. None of my devices do above 2K, and experimenting with that, I found that around 2 megabytes per second is the lowest I can go for capturing in h.265 without macroblock artifacts in moving objects. (I recompress the video afterwards using FFmpeg and get as much as 10x the compression at the same quality, but that is much slower than realtime.) So at 4K, you might get around 4 minutes per gigabyte.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/27 "2019-11-21T17:00:12Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#):
>
> Again, I only need the phone service a couple or three weeks a year, so the Total Wireless that lets you buy a month at a time would be much cheaper for me in the long run.
You do need to reup your service every month. If you let your account go dormant, they’ll deactivate your account and reassign your number.
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### Author:  [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/28 "2019-11-21T17:00:48Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> So at 4K, you might get around 4 minutes per gigabyte.
Even that might be a stretch. 2-3 minutes per GB might be a safer estimate. Also that’s 4K at 30 FPS, it doesn’t look like the iPhone 6S can do 4K at 60 FPS.
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### Author:  [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2019, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/29 "2019-11-21T17:39:33Z")
When you buy those Total Wireless or other service-linked phones, typically you are unable to use the phone with any service until you have paid for 12 months of service with that provider. The phone will be locked out of any other provider until then. (There might also be an expiration of the lock, but it will last a couple years)
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### Author:  [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2019, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/30 "2019-11-22T13:03:34Z")
Agreeing with others. For what the OP wants to do an Ipod Touch (which just had a new version released) is exactly what he needs.
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### Author:  [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2019, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/31 "2019-11-23T07:33:53Z")
> [@DeptfordX](#):
>
> Agreeing with others. For what the OP wants to do an Ipod Touch (which just had a new version released) is exactly what he needs.
Fine, I’m willing to be educated. The best price I can find for the Ipod 7th gen is $189, about $65 more than I would spend with the Iphone 6S and the month of service needed to activate it. What features does it have that would justify the extra $65?
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### Author:  [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2019, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/32 "2019-11-23T10:16:35Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#):
>
> Fine, I’m willing to be educated. The best price I can find for the Ipod 7th gen is $189, about $65 more than I would spend with the Iphone 6S and the month of service needed to activate it. What features does it have that would justify the extra $65?
Comparing the features of the two is a real mishmash. The 6s has a bigger screen than the Touch, but their pixels per inch is the same. The 6s has Touch ID so it’s more secure, but the Touch has a faster processor. The 6s supports recording 4K in H.264, and while the Touch doesn’t support 4K, it does support 1080p in H.264 as well as the more efficient (space saving) HEVC format (in 1080p, I assume). The 6s has better front and back still cameras, but the Touch is lighter and thinner.
I don’t know anything about how easy it will be to buy a plan for only 3 weeks out of the year, but the other stuff you mentioned that seems important to you would point to, I think, a 6s. You don’t care about updating, so it doesn’t matter that the 6s probably isn’t going to see any more major iOS updates, while the Touch will probably be getting several more years of updates. You want to shoot video in 4K, well, you can do that on a 6s, but not on a Touch. The 6s screen also has a higher contrast ratio which might help your eyes.
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### Author:  [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2019, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/33 "2019-11-23T11:04:11Z")
Nice summary, **zbuzz**. My reading also indicates that the ipod doesn’t have GPS, while the 6S does. I really see no downside (for my purposes, at least) in getting the 6S over the Ipod. Maybe somebody else will come up with something, but a hulking brute like me doesn’t care if the phone is a few grams heavier.
As for the month-per-year service, the worst thing that can happen is it won’t work, and I’ll just continue to use my TracPhone. But everything I’ve read says that once I activate the phone, the apps will continue to work without a subscription, and that’s all I really care about.
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### Author:  [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/34 "2019-11-23T15:48:24Z")
The biggest concern for the iPhone 6S is just how old the actual unit is. I don’t think there’s any way of knowing. If it was still being manufactured up until very recently, that’s fine, but if it’s old stock that’s been sitting in a warehouse for a couple of years, then the battery could be an issue, which is a $50-80 replacement.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/35 "2019-11-23T16:00:17Z")
I don’t know about iPhones, but you don’t even need to activate an Android phone to use it without a phone plan. I’ve used several used phones that were given to me as media devices, and even bought two new TracFones just for that purpose. Just buy the cheapest service card that exists and toss it in a drawer unused until you actually need it. And since you have a TracFone phone already, you wouldn’t even need to buy a service plan card if you bought the phone from them–just enter your current TracFone phone number and they will sell it to you plain.
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### Author:  [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/36 "2019-11-27T17:58:38Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#):
>
> The cheapest Ipod I can find is around $200. Does it offer anything an Iphone doesn’t to make it worth the extra cost?
Mainly the ability to act as a true phone when you need it to. The iPod doesn’t, the phone does. It’s possible there simply aren’t any great Black Friday deals on iPods.
SamuelA mentioned “You can subscribe to services that will allow you to call or text through the internet, these services are cheap, a few dollars a month. It’s the cellular service that is expensive.”
Actually, Google Voice does that - and is free. A friend who uses it like that says texts are rather wonky, as in they are not delivered promptly, but for voice it works fine.
If you do activate it as a phone, bear in mind that if you turn that off, you may have to get a new SIM card the next time you want to activate it as a phone. We’ve had this happen once or twice when we needed to use an old phone for a bit. A few bucks for the new SIM, in addition to the charges for the service you’re activating.
Check to see if the phone is “unlocked”. If not, that limits which carriers you could set it up on in the future. I don’t know all the rules there, but in theory a carrier is required to unlock a phone on request (subject to some restrictions).
The price of 125 for an iPhone 6s is pretty cheap - but bear in mind that’s 2-3 generations old, so those phones aren’t terribly spendy anyway. Do you know if the phone is new or refurbished?
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2019, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/37 "2019-11-29T00:56:50Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#):
>
> As for the month-per-year service, the worst thing that can happen is it won’t work, and I’ll just continue to use my TracPhone. But everything I’ve read says that once I activate the phone, the apps will continue to work without a subscription, and that’s all I really care about.
Tracfone [now has a refurb 6S for $80](https://shop.tracfone.com/shop/en/tracfonestore/phones/tf-iphone-6s-space-grey-32gb-reconditioned). So you could order from them without buying an additional plan, or use the iPhone to replace your current Tracfone.
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### Author:  [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2019, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/38 "2019-11-29T07:00:21Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> Tracfone [now has a refurb 6S for $80](https://shop.tracfone.com/shop/en/tracfonestore/phones/tf-iphone-6s-space-grey-32gb-reconditioned). So you could order from them without buying an additional plan, or use the iPhone to replace your current Tracfone.
Too late, I _think_ I already bought the new one. I say I think I did because I first tried to buy the rose gold model, and between the time I put it in the cart and the time I entered my payment info, it was sold out. So I tried again with the black model and it went through, but it’s not unusual for them to cancel the sale a day or two later on deals like this.
I would have bought the new one anyway – refurbished models sometimes don’t include the original Apple charger and earbuds, plus I get a three year warranty on the new model with my cc’s purchase protection, so it’s worth an extra 20 bucks to me.
They said delivery would be around Dec 9, so I won’t know till then whether it was worth it.
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### Author:  [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/39 "2019-12-06T19:52:28Z")
Got it yesterday, and it’s a keeper. I thought I would have to buy a sim card and at least a month of service to make it work, but it came with a sim card, and I didn’t have to put it in to get everything working. It instantly connected to my wifi, it easily upgraded to IOS 13, all the apps I’m interested in work fine, including very sharp video of the highlights of Tiger’s 2nd round at the Hero, and I had no problem connecting to my Bluetooth speakers, even though I’m not very phone savvy. Somebody wondered about the battery after sitting around for a while; if the battery condition app is accurate, it’s perfect. It’s also probably the best camera I own now (12MP).
For $99, I’m very pleased with it. I guess I’ll install the sim card just to get 911 service, but it looks like I don’t need to buy any minutes.
Thanks to everyone who gave advice and suggestions, you really helped.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2019, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-without-subscription/843688/40 "2019-12-06T20:10:22Z")
If you want to text for free, (with wifi no phone plan), check out TextPlus. I’ve been using it for years, it’s awesome. Sends photos, works internationally, and NO phone plan required! (They apparently also let you make phone calls, but I’ve not ever pursued that on my iPad!)
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