That's right! The plan is month-to-month and if you buy a Samsung S8 on Verizon's zero interest payment plan, they'll give you $200 off their normal price. I personally use the S8+ and both devices are pretty amazing. Ask me for details.
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Does anyone else out there feel that aside from having too small a screen, the iPhone 4S/5S/SE housing were the most user friendly sized Smartphones on the market? They felt great in your pocket, in your hand and offered the best one-handed dialing experience. While the Android camp were making those giant Super AMOLED screens iPhoneApple users could only salivate over, they also made their housings out of cheesy looking plastic. Apple finally moved to their newer iPhone 6 chassis style which allowed them to grow their screen size from 4" to 4.7". Unfortunately, they flattened these devices out and made them much wider. They retained the metal case and the sex appeal - only if you dared to walk the tight rope without a net (using without case protection). The latest iPhone models went from metal to glass housings. If I had asked Apple to manufacture a phone that was slippery, fragile, and likely to slide out of my hand, the iPhone 6 and all models after certainly fit that bill. Buying an iPhone 8 or X model and putting a case on it feels like taking a shower while wearing a raincoat. I found the original pre-iPhone 6 design to be extremely rugged. That meant adding a tempered glass screen saver was the only protection really needed. The body looked high end and was extremely durable. I'm not impressed with the all glass design of the new devices, although I realize Apple did this to support wireless charging.
Does Apple management not read the chat room gossip about their devices? I am not the only one who loved the design of the pre-iPhone 6 models. After all, many folks don't plan to watch Netflix on their Smartphones and would just like to make calls, message, and lightly browse the internet. If I was Apple designer Jony Ivey, I'd bring out an iPhone SE on steroids. The first move would be to replace the stupidly small 4" screen with a larger Super AMOLED or even LCD screen, for crying out loud. Samsung and most of the Android camp lost those space wasting screen bezels years ago. It's time for Apple to adapt to modern times on more than just their Flagship $1000+ iPhone X and do the same. When they brought out the iPhone SE model which was an iPhone 6s in an iPhone 5s housing, I almost bought one but bought the 6S+ instead. I got so disgusted with Apple (before Throttle-Gate) that I moved to a Samsung S8+. I love this device but the reality is it's enormous and I don't watch as much video as I thought I would. That's why a report that I read from Ming Kuo Chou, my most accurate Apple knowledge source, indicating that Apple would not be doing something new with their SE model concerned me. At this point, that model might be the only reason I would want to come back to Apple. Duh! Customers looking to supersize their home theater experience are going to love this! Starting February 2, and for a limited time, all customers who purchase an LG G6, V30 or V30+ can get a FREE LG MiniBeam projector from LG, while supplies last!
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Only peasants stand in line at stores. Dr Wireless can seamlessly move your numbers over, whether you want to use your current device, or take advantage of Verizon's BOGO offer makes no difference. If you tried the rest and are ready for the best, just complete our application and "pass me the monkey"! We'll take it from here...
By now, everyone knows that Apple got busted for covertly sending over a software update that included a nasty surprise. It slowed down the processing speeds of iPhone models 6, 6S, SE and 7 series devices. I have covered this issue in multiple previous blogs. The two things that really steamed me about this were, 1) It was done covertly under the guise of a "software update". 2) These were not discontinued models but current models being sold today by both Apple and all of the wireless carriers.
When Apple admitted to this, they initially thought offering their $79 battery for $29 would make this problem go away. Well, after 24 Class action suits were filed in the US and who knows how many internationally, Apple's in more trouble than they bargained for. I personally could not even make an appointment at my local Apple store because they were so backlogged, they were not even setting future appointments at that time. On the positive side, there's a rumor that Apple is running out of the replacement battery for the 6+ model and is upgrading those for free to the 6s+. The main reason to replace batteries on these models is not just for extra time before it goes dead, it's because replacing the battery also un-did the speed throttling of your processor. Apple just announced that it will not be necessary to install a new battery to get your original faster processor speeds back. They are releasing new iOS 11.3 that brings new features. Buried in the list of features is the fact that it offers battery management features. One is the ability to turn off the "Power Management" feature. Dr Wireless has been offering T-Mobile service since they were known as VoiceStream. They did not always have the greatest domestic coverage as they have today. They did always beat the daylights out of all the other carriers in regards to overseas roaming and long distance calling costs though. They did this by offering unlimited 2G/3G data and texting in 140 countries including Korea for FREE on all plans. What is exciting and different here is T-Mobile is offering FREE Voice calling and high speed data for FREE from February 7th - March 20th.
Here's their deal... "We’re rolling out the magenta carpet for customers traveling to PyeongChang for the 2018 games! From February 7 – March 20, T-Mobile customers roaming in South Korea with Simple Global will receive unlimited talk, text, and high-speed data at no extra charge!" Offer Details
If you are not already with T-Mobile and are interested in seamlessly moving your number and device over, contact Dr Wireless for assistance. you guys would just listen to what the public wants and stop the proprietary crap. My iPhone 6s+ worked fine, although I had noticed a substantial dip in battery life and processor speeds. I later found out these "problems" were covertly (and intentionally) pushed out in the guise of an innocent iOS software upgrade. This was actually discovered by a Reddit user quite accidently. Apple came up with a lame excuse that it was a "battery preservation" measure to keep these devices from shutting down. My interpretation is they were aware of having a battery defect and decided to keep it quiet. Some of my wireless analyst colleagues feel that Apple doomed the iPhone 8 series by releasing the X model just one month later. All of the wireless carriers have been running BOGO deals on the iPhone 8 models so this is likely true. Maybe what Apple did was to help push iPhone 8 sales. In my case, what Apple did backfired! Instead of upgrading and buying an iPhone 8 or X, I decided it was time to take another walk on the Dark Side and try the Google Android Platform again. Boy, am I glad I did. I actually love my Galaxy S8+, but not right out of the box like an iPhone. The default Samsung keyboard was awful. Fortunately, Google's GBOARD is awesome, and now my default keyboard. Apple's SIRI may have been revolutionary 5 years ago but couldn't carry Google Assistant's, Alexa, or Cortana's bags as far as functionality goes today. Now I have a whole team of virtual assistants working for me. What I have come to realize is even though the S8+ is a dream phone with a beautiful 6.2" Screen, I miss the days of my iPhone 4s and 5s models. These were far more pocket friendly, and afforded me true one-hand use. The Apple iPhone SE was a weak attempt to keep this body style alive. Apple took their 5S and put the guts of the 6S along with the 6S camera technology in it. Word is they are going to introduce a new SE model with the guts of the 7 series which is a good start. The reality is the public could give a rats ass about whether their devices has an A8, A9 or A10 processor. They want a device that makes calls clearly and shoots good quality pictures. My iPhone 6S+ did all of that until Apple slowed it down and tried to convince me I needed to upgrade. The only thing I hated about my iPhone 6S, aside from the huge screen bezel was the thin case. It always felt like it would slide out of my hand without a case on it. I have large hands and it never felt comfortable. There was something about the square sides of the older style that made if appealing and less likely to fall out of your hand.
The picture below was shot with my iPhone 6S+ and the resolution and colors were more than adequate for me. If Apple does bring out a new SE model in the above 4S/5S/SE casing, waterproofs it, and gets rid of the lame waste of screen bezel, I'd probably come back for it. This would also give Apple a better chance of competing with the low-to-moderate priced Androids . After all, not everyone needs an enormous device to watch Netflix on their phone. Software updates, whether operating system or device manufacturers are normally legit. That does not mean you should immediately download one as soon as you get them. There are many reasons not to do this. Even the "Good Guys" can cause problems unintentionally (as well as intentionally). Before downloading or upgrading anything, here are the types of updates you can expect..
The Good... All of the Operating System and Device manufacturers do push out mostly legitimate Software Updates. Usually these are designed to address bugs with fixes and to eliminate vulnerabilities. Often, new features are introduced. These are generally a good idea to do but never immediately. From personal experience, I have always found it a good practice to Google search and see the results of others first. Even with the best of intentions, with millions of applications out there, it is impossible to immediately test compatibility for all. If Apple releases iOS 12 and you see dozens of people who lost all of their contacts after downloading it, you wait for Apple to "fix the fix". The Bad... Fake Malware (Scareware) is made to frighten people into buying protection. Typically, you'll get hit one of three ways. A Browser popup warning which will not go away until you clear the browser's cache is the most common. I received one of those yesterday on my Android's Chrome browser. It warned me that my device was infected with a virus and to click OK and then open a link. That is the worst thing you can do. Close the page and clear your cache. The second technique uses website advertisements. Typically, you click on a site that offers a FREE Web scan. It then finds "bugs" and recommends you various downloads to fix them. The most devious technique though is hackers making it look like the messages are coming from your message system or current Applications. In any of these cases, at best, you end up buying software you didn't need. At worst, you do get a virus or malware included in the download. The Ugly... The proverbial wolf in sheeps clothing. These Software updates are sent out by the manufacturer and are legitimate in that respect. What's ugly though is when everything in these updates is not disclosed. Most recently, Apple released an iOS 10 patch that among other things, slowed down the processors of their SE, 6 series and 7 series iPhone models. This was done covertly and when busted, Apple claimed it was to preserve battery life or prevent freezes. Many of my fellow analyst believe the public is not buying iPhones as fast as Apple would like. What do you think the normal consumer does when they notice their phone is much slower and the battery capacity is diminishing? It may be no coincidence that Apple and the Carriers cannot give away the iPhone 8 series. Oh, and Apple makes changing the battery as fun and easy as getting route canal dental work. Years ago, I recall having an older T-Mobile application that offered FREE long distance calling to Mexico which I loved. After blindly doing a software upgrade that the TM application pushed to me, I began getting an error message when trying to make my FREE Mexico international calls. It turns out that everyone that did the upgrade also lost this feature. Had I known, I would never have done this software upgrade. This is when I started Googling problems before installing anything. These are rare compared to The Bad and The Ugly problems but they do happen. The motto of my story is, "If it Ain't Broken, Don't Fix it"! Unless the software upgrade specifically addresses a bug or an issue you are having, don't do it. For example... If the patch fixes a problem with APPLE PAY and you never even use Apple Pay, don't waste your time doing the software upgrade. I've aways been an Apple advocate and still own three Apple computers. My wife and daughter also use Apple products. I've always loved and sold Apple products because of the simplicity of iOS and the reliability of Apple. There was a brief period when Sprint was first, not worst, with their 4G WiMAX network and I defected to the dark side to get an HTC EVO device. That device was pretty state-of-the art. The problem was the raqidly diminishing battery life, and the fact that Sprint's 4G WiMAX protocol was not adopted by the rest of the industry. I tried a Samsung S3 briefly but went back to Apple.
Several years ago, Apple decided to remove their industry standard 3.5mm headset jack and have their new proprietary "lightning" port do double duty. Apple includes a dongle to allow my 3.5mm JBL headset to work with this new lightning port. That meant that you could either charge your iPhone, or use it with headphones but not both simultaneously. These idiots must have felt that by including the dongle, users would be pacified. Not me! I enjoyed plugging my iPhone in to charge on airplanes and listening to my music. After all, who wants to get off the plane with a totally dead battery? Apple has some huge problems. They stayed with small screens with huge bezels for way too long. The rival Android camp all went to bezel-less Super AMOLED screens years ago. This is one of the reasons that they cannot give away the iPhone 8 and 8+. To make matters worse, the only model they do offer an AMOLED screen on is their new iPhone X, starting at over $1,000. Guess who makes Apple's screens for these devices? Yup, their biggest rival, Samsung. If that wasn't troubling enough, Apple has also relied on Qualcomm for their processors. Those two are now embroiled in a major lawsuit with each other. Apple has since reached out to Intel in an attempt to not have to rely so much on Qualcomm. Just when you think it cannot get worse, it does. A Reddit user noticed dome weeks back that replacing their battery also restored processor speeds. When Apple was confronted, they confessed to secretly doing the unthinkable... Intentionally slowing down the processor speeds of iPhone 6 series, 7 series and SE models secretly. They say it was in the guise of protecting the device from battery problems. Many industry analysts like myself think they did this to accelerate new iPhone sales. The carriers like users to consider upgrading every two years. Apple is not content with a 2 year cycle as they obviously want their users to buy a new iPhone which seem to come out twice a year. Many of my clients still use iPhone 5 series devices because they still work great, although the batteries diminish over time. The most logical solution for iPhone owners is to replace their batteries when needed. Here's the problem. It's bad enough Apple's batteries are expensive ($79). They are also not user replaceable and require an appointment with an Apple technician to get them installed. Finding out the these idiots have been intentionally slowing down phones and monkeying with my processor speeds and battery life was upsetting enough. Even though I dumped my iPhone, my wife has an iPhone 6 which barely stays on and became very slow. I know Apple offered to replace the batteries for $29 and tried to make an appointment with an Apple store. None of the local stores even had any appointments available. I contacted Apple via chat and argued for half an hour about getting the $29 battery. i was told that they would have to "diagnose" my wife's phone and any other problems she would be charges for. I explained that I'm an Apple dealer, and had diagnosed the device to only need a new battery. After threatening to blow this up on all my social media accounts, he agreed to swap the battery and would make an appointment for me at a local Apple Store. While there are at least two in my area, he told me that they had an opening in a week at a store in Los Cerritos which is no where even near me. What this tells me is there is such an onslaught of people with old iPhones waiting to get battery replacements, that Apple's service is totally compromised. It looks like my wife will be using her old iPhone 5s until Apple replaces her iPhone 6 battery or she follows my lead and gets an Android. Steve Jobs is probably rolling over in his grave over all of this managerial ineptness. In case you've been stuck on Gilligan's island without internet access, you've likely heard about Apple getting caught and admitting that they have been secretly slowing down iphone models that they are still selling currently. As of yesterday, there were 17 Class Action suits filed against Apple for as high as $999 Billion.
Apple only came forward admitting this stuff was true after a Reddit user discovered that replacing the battery would restore the phone’s performance. Jeffrey Fazio, an attorney who cleaned Apple's clock in 2013 for $53 million regarding Apple's iPhone warranty claims says, "Apple chose to conceal the battery defect. His new suit alleges that “the batteries’ inability to handle the demand created by processor speeds” without the software update that slowed the iPhone down was a defect. Rather than curing the battery defect by providing a free battery replacement for all affected iPhones, Apple sought to mask the battery defect.” In any case, I was pissed off enough to personally move from my iPhone 6s+ to a Samsung Galaxy S8+. I still have two iMacs and a MacBook Pro so I cannot totally abandon the Apple ecosystem. Fortunately for consumers, when a company gets exposed like this, they are forced to operate with totally transparency as they are under the regulatory microscope. I banked with Wells Fargo before and after their wheels fell off from their "Opening added accounts without customer knowledge fiasco". I'm still with them because doing anything covert, or unethical at this point would be a death sentence. What's amazing about this situation is the phones in question, the iPhone 6 series and the 7 series, are all still current models in Apple's product line being sold by their stores as well as all the carriers. Traditionally, if a battery is below 80% when tested at the "Genius Bar", they replaced it for FREE, if under warranty. If out of warranty, it was $79 to replace it. After the backlash, Apple just announced they will replace batteries in iPhone 6, 6s, 7, 7+ and SE models that are out of warranty for $29.99 which is a $50 discount. Because of the uproar, word has it that they will replace batteries regardless of whether they are under or over 80% capacity. The offer may get even better as the amount of Class Action suits builds. This problem is too big to go away without some major concessions from Apple above and beyond an $50 discount for a new battery. They have wronged their most loyal advocates and better come up with some good will quick. If you have an iPhone model older than the 6 series, our friends at BGR found a viable solution. Ironically, what I find even more painful is that as soon as I post this, I'm going to have to go to an Apple store with my wife's iPhone 6 and get their $29 battery upgrade. Then, I will be visiting my Independent Apple Technician who will be selling me an iPhone 7 for her. I will then bring that back to Apple and have them swap out the battery. Duh! |
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March 2021
CategoriesAuthorJoel Saltzman has over twenty years of wireless industry experience. He is currently CEO and Chief Wireless Analyst for Dr Wireless. |