When it comes to choosing a new phone, most of us don’t stray far from the brand we pledged our loyalty to a decade ago. For me, that’s the Apple iPhone. While some may argue that Android is better (they’re wrong) for its customisable interface and expandable storage, I’m devoted to the simplistic design of the iPhone, where the apps are in the same place they’ve been for years and my muscle memory takes care of most of the hard work.
But while an upgrade every two or three years is common for many, it’s undoubtedly becoming more expensive every time. The good news is that there’s not really any reason to stay loyal to particular phone service providers — and comparing plans to find the best deal before locking yourself into a two-year contract is just plain savvy.
Aside from considering the usual factors when deciding on a new phone plan, like how much data you need and how much you want to spend per month, it’s also worth considering how much you are willing to spend on the phone itself every month.
Essentially, the smartest move is to find the sweet spot where you’re getting maximum data and paying the minimum amount on the handset itself. Once upon a time, it was common for 24-month phone plans to absorb the cost of your new phone, but sadly, those days are pretty much over.
Generally speaking, plans no longer include the handset for free, even in plans on the upper end of the price scale. In our research for this article, the latest release iPhone (the entry-level iPhone 13) costs between $38 to $56 per month, on top of the network usage fees. This scales upwards for more premium devices like the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone Pro Max, and is slightly less for the mini version.
As always, the best place to start when considering a new mobile phone plan is to compare the prices between providers, and Whistleout is the best place to do that. Below, we have added the comparisons for the best possible deals for the new iPhone 13, but for more phone models, head here.
Read more stories from The Latch and subscribe to our email newsletter.