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I need to do the research to understand this. My MIL has an old iPhone 4s with no text plan and a carrier that doesn’t work for calls inside her condo. Her grandkids are getting frustrated with having to email her instead of text. We were planning to get a step or two down from the newest iPhone with a reduced price after the 6s announcement and add her to our Verizon family plan. I gather that’s a more complicated choice now with the changes Verizon/Apple have made.
How do you even get an iPhone 4s without a text plan? Isn’t text included with data?
She got it when it was new in 2011. Not texting was a thing then.
I think her carrier is AT&T or Sprint. Neither works very well here, but did in the midwest where she bought it. “Unlimited text” is still a separate line item from data on our Verizon bill. Don’t know if she will need to change her Midwest area code phone number. That has been a sticking point for her, but the battery on the 4s isn’t holding a charge very well anymore, so she has admitted it is time for a change.
I’m betting you can get a plan for the same cost…or a monthly plan…with an IPhone 5s…which should be at additional cost…that will include unlimited talk and text.
Or you can put MIL on your family plan for $10 a month.
@Ynotgo - your mom shouldn’t have to change her phone number. Phone numbers are portable.
I got the 6s Plus because I am extremely far-sighted and found I can type on the bigger phone without digging out my glasses. I also realized I generally use both hands to do most anything on my phone so the extra size isn’t the issue I thought.
As a note about what the change in the way phones are sold means, I think it drives sales toward the high end: the carriers make more money selling $800 phones than $99 or less phones and you can now get that expensive, advanced thing for roughly the price of a subscription to Hulu or something like that. And this means you can change to the newest phone about a year or so with very little or no extra financial cost - that is as long as there is a strong market for your old phone!
And yes, if you’ve had a 2 year contract and it’s expired, you call and get the subsidy price taken off your bill. It should be $20-25/month. As I noted, in my case, this means a new 6s Plus will cost be $10-11/month not counting my trade-in and that trade-in is equal to a year’s monthly charge. If I had a 6 to trade-in, I’d have enough credit to wipe out my bill for month or so.
I’m with thumper1 & DrGoogle. My office gave me a 6 a few months back. It’s still in a drawer because I refuse to give up my 5 until it dies – which may be soon, since I’m having more and more trouble charging the battery. Anyone have any tips for that? It seems to be the connection on the phone itself rather than the charger.
Have you called apple support about that? I’ve found them to be very helpful with the issues I’ve had. I also have found doing a search on the Internet can solve some of the issues I’ve had.
@flytothemoon: assuming that’s a response to me, I’ve haunted the 'net and nothing has really worked, i’m not inclined to follow the advice about poking into the connection with a paper clip. and, it’s not my account but a work account, so i have to go through them for apple support – which they won’t do because they want me to activate the 6. i’ll obviously lose in the long run, but i love my little 5. 
^ my H was very reluctant to give up his 5 (also through work) but he loves his 6 now.
We do like the smaller phone rather than the “phablet” trend. My eyes see the old phone and all the text on it just fine. The extra size carries a bit more weight, which addes up with all the “stuff” already in the purse.
@#emilybee: Where does he carry it? I’m a back pocket but the 6 will bend, as I understand it. Work told me to carry it in a front pocket, but that’s where I carry [scratching] keys and coins. Aaargh …
@aboutthesame, yes, that was meant for you, but apparently it’s not apropos advice.
Have you tried recalibrating the battery? I was having trouble charging my iPad, and then I read you should let the battery completely die before recharging it. That did the trick.
I bring the charge to work so I have a charge at home and a charge at work.
My 6 is bigger than my DH’s 5s… by half an inch or so. I find the 6 a very convenient size, and like it better than my old 4s. The plus is just too big, IMO. Here are the lengths:
iPhone 6s Plus
iPhone 6s
iPhone 6 Plus
iPhone 6
iPhone 5s
Height
6.23 inches (158.2 mm)
Height
5.44 inches (138.3 mm)
Height
6.22 inches (158.1 mm)
Height
5.44 inches (138.1 mm)
Height
4.87 inches (123.8 mm)
So the 6s plus is larger than the 6 plus? I thought they were the same size. Interesting.
You guys are confusing me, and its because apple is confusing with these s and plus descriptions. The 6s/6splus was just announced and it hasn’t been released yet (will be in a few weeks- Sept. 25) so unless someone here has a prototype (that would be cool) I think you guys are saying you have the 6 plus, not the 6s or 6s plus.
No, the plus (whether 6 or 6s) is the same size. The 6s is the newest release. It comes in regular (6s, same size as the 6) or supersized (6s plus, same size as the 6 plus) http://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/
Think: plus= BIG
s= second edition
so the S model is what is just being released, in 2 sizes.
The iphone 6c (for cheap plastic case) seems to have vanished
Okay @jym626, I guess I misread your post. The way I interpreted it, it said the 6s plus is 6.23 inches and the 6 plus is 6.22 inches. You must have meant something else, but that’s what led me to believe you were saying the 6s plus was larger than the 6 plus.
And yes, many posters on this thread are saying 6s when they actually mean 6 plus.