Attorney Kevin Camden from Woodbridge, Illinois writes in with this question: Is it possible to upgrade from the first generation iPhone to the current iPhone 3G, and if so, what do you have to do and what is the cost? Thanks for the question, Kevin, and if anyone else has a question that I can try to answer on iPhone J.D., please e-mail me at jeff@iphonejd.com.
From a software standpoint, there is essentially no difference between any of the iPhones. Whether you have the first model released in 2007 or the latest iPhone 3G, you can (and should) upgrade for free to the current version 2.2 of the iPhone operating system. The upgrade should happen automatically when you sync with iTunes on your computer. I mention this because I have heard some lawyers say that they don’t sync their iPhones because they don’t add music, photos or videos, but syncing is important to backup the contents of your iPhone and to keep the operating system up to date.
From a hardware standpoint, you cannot upgrade the first generation iPhone to the iPhone 3G to add the new features such as the faster 3G radio, GPS and increased memory. You can, however, buy a new iPhone 3G even if you still have time left on your AT&T contract for your original iPhone. When you buy the new iPhone, you will simply start a new two year contract. The cost is the normal $200 for an 8GB model and $300 for the 16GB model.
But what do you do with your used, original iPhone? One option is to share the love and give it to a friend. The happy recipient can go to an AT&T store, have it assigned to their account, and start using it. Another option is to sell the old iPhone and, if you do so, you might get $200-$300, more than enough money to pay for the iPhone 3G.
How is it possible to get more money for an older model iPhone than it costs to get the new iPhone 3G? There are a couple of reasons for that, including that a new 8GB iPhone doesn’t really cost $200. The actual cost is probably closer to $500 because analysts believe that AT&T subsidizes about $300 of the cost and makes up that money over the length of your AT&T contract. Also, used iPhones are still valuable because they can be unlocked so that they work with phone carriers in other countries and thus many companies buy used iPhones in the U.S. and sell them overseas. You can sell your iPhone on eBay or Craigslist, and a quick look at completed auctions on eBay shows that over the last several weeks, lots of the first generation iPhones (4GB and 8GB) were purchased for $200 to almost $400 (with unopened and like-new iPhones fetching the highest prices). Another option is to use a website that specializes in buying used iPhones. I haven’t tried and thus cannot vouch for any of these, but examples that I found on a quick Google search include:
These sites say that they will pay you between $100 and $300 for a used iPhone, depending upon the model and the condition it is in.
So now that you know what you can do with your old iPhone, if you have one of the first generation iPhones, should you buy a new iPhone 3G? The answer depends on your needs. 3G is much better than Edge, but you need to think about how much time you spend in an area with a WiFi connection, where that doesn’t matter. The GPS is nice when you need it and I use it at least once a week, but it is just a nice bonus, not an essential feature, and perhaps you already have a GPS. If you have an original 4GB iPhone, are you frequently running out of space to add new apps, new music, etc. such that the 8GB or 16GB models would give you welcome breathing room?
Finally, if you are going to buy a new iPhone, should you buy one now or wait? Only Apple (and perhaps AT&T) knows when the next iPhone will come out. For the past two years, new iPhones have been released in the middle of the Summer, so perhaps the next model will come out in June or July of 2009 and you won’t feel buyer’s remorse if you upgrade today. But also remember that every year in early January, Apple CEO Steve Jobs gives a keynote presentation at the huge Macworld Conference in San Francisco. The next one is scheduled for January 6 to January 9, 2009 and we can be sure that Steve Jobs will announce something new — we just don’t know whether it will be a new model of the iPhone or something else like a new Macintosh computer. The website MacRumors maintains a Buyer’s Guide where they try to predict whether the time is right to buy a new Mac, iPod or iPhone. Their current advice for an iPhone is “Don’t Buy – Updates Soon” and their explanation is offered here.
Kevin, hopefully this answers your question, and perhaps it gives those who bought an iPhone before July 11, 2008 something to think about.
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