New iPhones on the Way!
As of last night Hawk and I have new iPhones on the way.
We weren't really in the market for updating our phones. At least I wasn't. I updated 2.5 years ago, buying an iPhone SE 3. It's fine for me still. I figured I'd upgrade sometime next year, when the next gen comes out. Hawk's phone is older. She's got the SE 2, and it's about 4 years old. So it's getting creaky enough that it's time to upgrade. For example, the SE 2 doesn't support 5G. And the battery life has deteriorated to the point that it's annoying.
Both of us were kind of inspired by Verizon's recent TV/streaming ad campaign showing people's phones flying to the Verizon store for free upgrades.
Link: Watch video on YouTube
At first we rolled our eyes. We hate ads and prefer not having to watch them. But streaming services have stuck ads in to what used to be their ad-free subscription price-points and made their new ad-free tiers hella expensive. We hate ads but we also hate seeing our monthly cost for TV shoot over $100 again because that's what it now costs to get a few streaming services without ads.
So as I said, at first we rolled our eyes. Then we thought, hey this ad's kind of amusing. It got our attention and wasn't offensively insipid. Then we thought, Hey, free phone upgrades- that sounds like something for us!
Moral of the story? Advertising: It works, bitches! If it didn't, companies wouldn't have spent bazillions of dollars on it for the past 100 years. Even anti-advertising curmudgeons like us aren't immune.
So we made an appointment at the Verizon store last night to talk to a consultant and make sure the offer in the ad wasn't just a con. It was legit! They gave us a $1,000 credit toward buying new iPhone 16 Pro phones. And it was $1,000 each.
Of course, all you get for $1,000 is the base model of the 16 Pro. I wanted 256GB storage (base is 128GB), and Hawk wanted 512GB in hers. Those upgrades cost $100 and $300, respectively. I ordered mine in Natural Titanium color (pictured above); she went with the classic black color. Except it's Black Titanium now. 😅 I don't mind the black color. I've actually always had black for my iPhones, since 2009. I simply decided to try something different this time.
Even with the upcharges from the base model this Verizon deal is a steal. Hawk was looking at a cost of at least $100 just to replace the battery in her old phone, and for that money she'd still have a 4-year old phone. Updating to an SE 3 like I have would have cost $400. For $400 it'd be a new device but one with 3 year old technology. Now for just $300 she gets a brand new device with brand new technology. And for $100 I get the same. That is a legit bargain.
We weren't really in the market for updating our phones. At least I wasn't. I updated 2.5 years ago, buying an iPhone SE 3. It's fine for me still. I figured I'd upgrade sometime next year, when the next gen comes out. Hawk's phone is older. She's got the SE 2, and it's about 4 years old. So it's getting creaky enough that it's time to upgrade. For example, the SE 2 doesn't support 5G. And the battery life has deteriorated to the point that it's annoying.
Both of us were kind of inspired by Verizon's recent TV/streaming ad campaign showing people's phones flying to the Verizon store for free upgrades.
Click to viewLink: Watch video on YouTube
At first we rolled our eyes. We hate ads and prefer not having to watch them. But streaming services have stuck ads in to what used to be their ad-free subscription price-points and made their new ad-free tiers hella expensive. We hate ads but we also hate seeing our monthly cost for TV shoot over $100 again because that's what it now costs to get a few streaming services without ads.
So as I said, at first we rolled our eyes. Then we thought, hey this ad's kind of amusing. It got our attention and wasn't offensively insipid. Then we thought, Hey, free phone upgrades- that sounds like something for us!
Moral of the story? Advertising: It works, bitches! If it didn't, companies wouldn't have spent bazillions of dollars on it for the past 100 years. Even anti-advertising curmudgeons like us aren't immune.
So we made an appointment at the Verizon store last night to talk to a consultant and make sure the offer in the ad wasn't just a con. It was legit! They gave us a $1,000 credit toward buying new iPhone 16 Pro phones. And it was $1,000 each.
Of course, all you get for $1,000 is the base model of the 16 Pro. I wanted 256GB storage (base is 128GB), and Hawk wanted 512GB in hers. Those upgrades cost $100 and $300, respectively. I ordered mine in Natural Titanium color (pictured above); she went with the classic black color. Except it's Black Titanium now. 😅 I don't mind the black color. I've actually always had black for my iPhones, since 2009. I simply decided to try something different this time.
Even with the upcharges from the base model this Verizon deal is a steal. Hawk was looking at a cost of at least $100 just to replace the battery in her old phone, and for that money she'd still have a 4-year old phone. Updating to an SE 3 like I have would have cost $400. For $400 it'd be a new device but one with 3 year old technology. Now for just $300 she gets a brand new device with brand new technology. And for $100 I get the same. That is a legit bargain.