Buy an iPhone through Apple or Verizon?

[lexie's mom]

I would love an iPhone and my contract is up with Verizon but I do not know if I should renew it through them and get the iPhone or purchase it through Apple. I think that the Apple care warranty is a little cheaper compared to Verizon's but wondering if anyone has opinions?

TIA
Stacey

[ahisma]

I'd rather deal with Apple for service. Not sure if you can do that if you buy through Verizon. Be aware though, they have liquid sensors in the phones that IMO are hypersensitive. It's a good idea to get a case that covers the headphone jack and the dock connector. I like the Otterbox Commuter.

[kerriowl]

I don't know about Verizon, but when I bought my IPhone through Sprint, I was unable to buy the Sprint protection plan. The only protection plan offered was Apple Care, which I happily bought. I was told that after 30 days, Apple would be in charge of servicing the phone and if I needed service I would have to take it to the Apple store.

[lexie's mom]

Thanks for the advice! I think I am going to go through Apple since I would rather deal with them.

Also, I appreciate the case recommendation. That would have been my next post after I got the phone. Thanks for saving me some time researching cases.

[scrooks]

I bought my iPhone through Verizon and when I had trouble they sent me to the apple store. Apple ended up replacing my phone for free so I don't think it really matters warranty wise where you buy the phone.

[ckso]

I'm with AT&T but I envision they're the same since it's an Apple product. AT&T's warranty is exclusive of the iphone so I'm not sure if Verizon is the same.

I've actually done it both ways, purchased my phone at Apple and got hubby's at AT&T. It's better to purchase it at Apple because they take more ownership of it and is a lot easier to deal with if purchased direct. You get less runaround.

BUT, when I got the phone for hubby at the AT&T store and bought the Applecare there + acccessories, the manager actually gave me $50 credit on my account. He couldn't give me a discount but as an incentive he gave me credit. So in THAT case, it was better to get it at AT&T

[lexie's mom]

Thanks! We went to Apple and it was a great experience. Now off to shop for the Otterbox case...

[AnnieW625]

Great!

FWIW, I had to buy my phone through Verizon because I had a $100 discount on the phone. I wanted Apple Care Plus, which ended up being only $5 a month vs. the $10 a month Verizon charges for Iphone insurance but since I bought it from Verizon the Apple store people told me I had 30 days to buy it since I wasn't offered it at the time I bought my phone. I walked into the Verizon store on release day last October and bought my phone. I was in and out in less than 10 minutes. I have also had to have two prior phones replaced at Verizon due to battery issues in the first year and had no issues with Verizon giving me a new phone.

We bought DH's phone through Apple and it was just as easy, except the Apple store was super crowded, which was irritating.

Otterbox wise both DH and I have the Defender and we are happy with them. I had no case for my phone for the first month, but with two kids I really see the value of having a larger case. I don't find the phone hard to operate with it on either. I like the belt clip for the gym. I have the plum/pink cover and I love that it isn't black, blue, grey, or white.

[katydid1971]

Thanks! We went to Apple and it was a great experience. Now off to shop for the Otterbox case...
I'm going to be the odd man out here and say I HATED my otterbox. Its VERY big and bulky and doesn't fit in the cell phone slots in any of my purses. You have to take the whole case off to put it on a speakers dock. I ordered this case because of reviews here. I have dropped my phone in it and it has held up just fine.
http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Protective-Screen-Protector-Verizon/dp/B004I8WD6E/ref=br_lf_m_1000101311_1_17_ttl?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=wireless&pf_rd_p=1360541782&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_i=1000101311&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=08439Y6A92XS0F7BVPY0

[lexie's mom]

Great!

FWIW, I had to buy my phone through Verizon because I had a $100 discount on the phone. I wanted Apple Care Plus, which ended up being only $5 a month vs. the $10 a month Verizon charges for Iphone insurance but since I bought it from Verizon the Apple store people told me I had 30 days to buy it since I wasn't offered it at the time I bought my phone. I walked into the Verizon store on release day last October and bought my phone. I was in and out in less than 10 minutes. I have also had to have two prior phones replaced at Verizon due to battery issues in the first year and had no issues with Verizon giving me a new phone.

We bought DH's phone through Apple and it was just as easy, except the Apple store was super crowded, which was irritating.

Otterbox wise both DH and I have the Defender and we are happy with them. I had no case for my phone for the first month, but with two kids I really see the value of having a larger case. I don't find the phone hard to operate with it on either. I like the belt clip for the gym. I have the plum/pink cover and I love that it isn't black, blue, grey, or white.
I did get the Defender one and hope I like it. I also love that it is not black.

[ahisma]

I'm going to be the odd man out here and say I HATED my otterbox. Its VERY big and bulky and doesn't fit in the cell phone slots in any of my purses. You have to take the whole case off to put it on a speakers dock. I ordered this case because of reviews here. I have dropped my phone in it and it has held up just fine.
http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Protective-Screen-Protector-Verizon/dp/B004I8WD6E/ref=br_lf_m_1000101311_1_17_ttl?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=wireless&pf_rd_p=1360541782&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_i=1000101311&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=08439Y6A92XS0F7BVPY0

I had a similar one and liked it a lot too. The problem that I ran into is that when my phone went on the fritz after I had it for about 6 months, Apple told me that it wasn't covered by warranty because one of the liquid sensors had been tripped. I truly don't think the phone was ever exposed to liquid and, in reading a lot of tech articles, the sentiment of the tech community seems to be that the sensors are hyper sensitive.

DH has an Otterbox and we checked his phone - neither liquid sensor was tripped. He abuses his phone, IMO - so it was pretty notable that mine was tripped (I'm super careful) and his wasn't. (ETA: He's had his phone for about 2 years - compared to my 6 months)

I went with the Otterbox Commuter because it's slimmer than the Defender and I didn't feel like I needed all of the protection of the Commuter - but I *did* want both liquid sensors covered. They're in the dock connector and the headphone jack - not covered by the Amazon cover or most others.

FWIW, Apple did replace the phone under warranty, but it was a huge hassle. Ultimately they agreed to open it up and check to see if the internal sensors had been tripped - neither had. All along they would have done it under AppleCare+, but I didn't want to use one of the two incidents or pay the $49 when I was 100% convinced that it was a hardware problem and not due to abuse.

[lexie's mom]

Any opinions on the Griffin Survivor case? I was looking at that one for DH. He is very hard on his phones and would need the most protection as possible.

[poohbear]

I bought my iPhone through Verizon and when I had trouble they sent me to the apple store. Apple ended up replacing my phone for free so I don't think it really matters warranty wise where you buy the phone.

:yeahthat: I bought my iphone through verizon but ended up buying the applecare plan for $99 through the apple store. It doesn't really matter where you buy it. In my case, it was easier to buy the phone through verizon for contract reasons... HTH! :)