Weird Case Where It (Almost) Makes Financial Sense for Me to Buy an iPhone X?

Llachysim on 27/03/2018 - 00:01
Last edited 27/03/2018 - 00:25 by 1 other user

Hi all,

I'm moving from Brunswick to Essendon next week and am as such losing my much loved FTTP connection, which has me looking at other internet options. There's no NBN or cable services available in the area, but the new place is pretty much across the road from the ADSL exchange, so I'd expect speeds of 20 mbps or so.

I've got a 12 month lease and will potentially be looking to move on after that, so I'm looking for a month-to-month internet contract. Unfortunately, these come with pretty hefty sign up fees (iiNet & Internode charge around $130-$150 to connect both the phone line and the internet), so I'm looking at mobile as an alternative.

With Optus currently offering the iPhone X on a 200gb plan for only $120/month, I'm considering ditching the whole idea of a separate internet plan, bundling it with an AC100S 4G modem for $18 and sharing the data between the two. People have reported getting speeds of approx 150+ mbps using this modem, and upload speeds are obviously going to blow ADSL out of the water.

Worth noting that I've currently got a iPhone 6 128gb on a $24/month Spintel plan, which I'd also be ditching, hopefully getting around $300 for the phone on gumtree or the like (it's in good condition)

So breakdown is:

ADSL option:
Internet Plan - $60/month (e.g. Internode 500gb ADSL)
Internet Setup Fees - $130 one-off
Phone Plan - $24/month

Total - $2146 over 24 months

iPhone X option:
Internet Plan - $18/month
Internet Setup Fees - $0
Phone Plan - $120/month
iPhone 6 sale proceeds - ($300)

Total - $3012 over 24 months

Basically $866 for an iPhone X + much faster internet - am I wrong to think this makes too much sense not to go with?

Mobile Apple Mobile Phone

Comments

  • pao2x on 27/03/2018 - 00:09
    +3

    Go get it as long as you're sure you can live with 200gb/mo

  • garetz on 27/03/2018 - 00:13

    Looks sensible.

  • Quantumcat on 27/03/2018 - 00:16
    +2

    Something to add on the ADSL option is that you'd still need a mobile phone plan of some kind for when you're out of the house. So add say $30/month there. Making it 2146+24X30=2866 and now you're getting the iPhone X for 3012-2866=$146

    Not to mention you get access to all your plan's data when you go on holiday. I would say go for the iPhone X :-)

    As long as you don't download excessive amounts of movies / console games and updates etc (in which case an unlimited ADSL plan would eliminate the worry of going over and getting charged $10 a GB, one month of which would easily wipe out any savings you made going for the iPhone X plan)

    • lachysim on 27/03/2018 - 00:24

      Nah I've included my Spintel mobile plan there, which is $24/month with 6GB data, which does me pretty well.

      You're right about the excess data charges though - could sting badly. That's the main negative here for me, along with having to keep a keen eye on how much data I'm using on a day-to-day basis, which I'd prefer not to worry about.

      But still, the new phone is alluring.

  • Axelstrife on 27/03/2018 - 00:28
    +5

    Go for the iphone x and sell it get something else.
    easily able to get a top android phone much cheaper and better while lowering the total cost even further.

  • SydStrand on 27/03/2018 - 00:56
    +1

    If you're absolutely sure you can go on 200GB, sure. But double check, since you might be surprised at how much data you actually use.

    • lachysim on 27/03/2018 - 01:29

      Yeah it's tough to tell as I'm living with housemates at the moment and can't just check the usage (will be just me in the new place, + the bf on weekends), but I'm pretty sure I hover around the 150-200GB mark.

      Looking at my laptop, it's had 8 days since a full shutdown, has 28GB download and 10GB upload, which'd come to a 142.5GB monthly usage equivalent. That's with streaming 1080p YouTube btw, which is probably a decent proportion of my total use - if I dropped that down to 720p and also limited my upload speed on torrents it'd come down quite a bit as well. Then I've got some sundry use on my TV, Xbox etc. - they don't get a massive amount of use so wouldn't be a huge concern.

      • idonotknowwhy on 27/03/2018 - 09:01

        I'm tempted to do this too (and sell the iPhone instantly). And I'd save on: Line rental, ADSL2+, My current phone plan.

        You should ask your bf his usage is at his place too.
        How many linux isos does he download?
        Does he play console games? (regular multiple-gigabyte updates / month)
        Does he sync bitcoin/crypto chains?

  • ProBoDoBo on 27/03/2018 - 13:53

    Phone is fine.

    • 51ngh on 28/03/2018 - 21:24

      Phone fine is.

  • 51ngh on 28/03/2018 - 21:23
    +1

    Wait, it gets better - I’ll buy that iPhone X off you for $866 !

    Net Result: You get a LOT faster internet than ADSL but for the same price as an ADSL connection !

  • lachysim on 20/05/2018 - 21:44

    Just to reflect on this, I ended up going with the iPhone X option and it's worked out very well. I managed to sell the old phone for $330 ($30 more than I budgeted for) and am getting speeds of 50-80mbps from Optus. Plus I used ~140gb for the first month and am on track for about the same in the second, so hopefully not in danger of excess usage charges. I'd definitely recommend this for others in similar situations, especially if you're renting.

    • dumbmillenial on 23/05/2018 - 16:30

      Cheers for the update. Good to know.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join