The iPhone is on sale at multiple retailers. Sprint cut $50 off the price of the 4S while the Verizon and AT&T models are $20 through Target. The aging iPhone 4 is only $50 from Best Buy. Best of all, Apple Stores are reportedly matching these prices.
But it’s a bad time to buy an iPhone. The new one is coming next month. You can wait. Plus, that means the older ones will get an even bigger price cut than what retailers are offering right now.
iPhone sales are slowing thanks to a steady stream of iPhone 5 rumors and leaks. Even Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted this on Apple’s most recent financial conference call. Retailers are likely feeling the heat too and price cuts are an easy way to drum up some sales. But with all signs pointing to a new iPhone launching next month, it’s simply silly to buy an iPhone right now.
Retailers are trying to offload the current stock with as much margin as possible. If Apple follows its past pricing scheme, the iPhone 4S will drop down to $100 and the iPhone 4 will either be $50 or, perhaps, free with a two-year contract.
This isn’t anything new. When new products come out, the price of the old one drops.
However, there are times when you simply cannot wait a month. What if your young son gives your phone a soda bath? If you simply must purchase an iPhone now, AT&T is the best bet right now thanks to its 30 day return policy. Verizon and Sprint only offer a 14-day window. Theoretically, a person could purchase an iPhone 4S now (or anytime in the next month) and then return it for an iPhone 5 next month. But it could be tricky. The retailer would have to have the item in stock to do the exchange and finding an iPhone during its launch week has proven difficult in the past.
Still, the best bet is to skip these sales and just wait until next month. If your current iPhone is borked, just grin and bear it for a month.
Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007. Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook Air) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod, the...
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