Читать книгу iPhone For Dummies - LeVitus Bob - Страница 9

IN THIS CHAPTER

❯❯ Mastering multitouch

❯❯ Multitasking with your iPhone

❯❯ Spotlighting search

❯❯ Keeping alert through notifications

If you were caught up in the initial iPhone frenzy of 2007, you may have plotted for months about how to land one. After all, the iPhone quickly emerged as the ultimate fashion phone. And the chic device hosted a bevy of cool features.

Owning the hippest and most-hyped handset on the planet came at a premium cost compared with rival devices. To snag the very first version, you may have saved your pennies or said, “The budget be damned.”

That’s ancient history now. Almost a decade later, the iPhone has gone mainstream and you get more bang for your buck. A lot more bang.

We can list a bunch of prices here, but pricing for the wireless industry, and accordingly the iPhone, is in a state of flux. You used to be able to buy an iPhone for a subsidized and relatively low upfront price that was tied to a two-year contract with your carrier. As of this writing, however, such contracts are no longer the norm. Instead, wireless companies are pushing installment pricing options, in which you can choose to put little or no money down but are then obligated to pay for the device over typically a two-year term. In some cases you lease the phone; in others, you buy the phone outright.

The entry-level iPhone SE (at the time of this writing) started at $399 or cost $16.63 on up with carrier financing. The highest capacity 256GB iPhone 7 Plus from a carrier such as AT&T cost $969.99 or $32.34 a month.

Of course you still must pay for cellular and data coverage and data from a wireless carrier.

For existing iPhone customers, the upgrade price for a new model may depend on how far you’re into your previous contract, how prompt you are at paying your bill, and other factors. And as they say in the fine print, taxes and fees are extra.

You may also get a nice trade-in deal on your existing phone, from Apple or other retailers.