2020 iPhone SE on Sprint is here for zero monthly

As I'm in the USA and T-Mobile and Sprint have merged, I got their earliest combined offer--an iPhone SE for zero each month.

This comes as a result of monthly credits, and some accounting magic.  I paid the additional $150 one time for the 256 GB model, so I can have the same capacity as my iPhone 8.  They also waived the activation/upgrade fee, which is okay but I'm not taking it to a store, unless there is some problem.  Since I didn't pay the $27.01 for the iPhone 8 for two months, I'm okay with the extra $150.

Thankfully, my iPhone 7 case will fit just fine, although it has been through four years and two phones.

This was a surprising deal, but the phone is a few hundred less than the next phone and I don't want something huge or something that uses Face ID.  Surprisingly, I'm getting exactly what I want for a price that I really like.  Something must be very wrong.

It's here!  UPS actually left it without a signature--probably something Covid-19 related.  I waited as long as possible before walking to the bus stop and when I was there, I saw the UPS truck leave my street.  I didn't expect the phone to be there.  It's slightly scary that it was.  Someone could have taken it.

Sprint had good instructions on how to activate the phone.  That's just odd that any U.S. carrier has good instructions.  They usually mis-type technical terms.  In any case, I went to their website, signed into their system.  It brought up the old and new phones and I clicked to transfer the activation.  It complained that I hadn't turned off "Find My...", so I went into the phone and took care of that.  Once that was finished, the new phone was activated.

Apparently, the iPhone SE was not on iOS 13.5, so my current backup did not work with a previous operating system.  I updated the operating system slowly.  I figured a fast, new phone wouldn't take quite so long with 13.5.  I was mistaken.

Once that was handled, it allowed me to restore my latest backup onto the phone and began to download every app and install them--in order of most used.  Since I have way too many--222--and 256 GB, it took too long, even with a fast internet connection through Comcast/xFinity.

Restoring movies didn't take too long.  With 256 GB, I can fit my 11 or so digital downloads from when I had the iPhone 5c and could only load one at a time.

The phone doesn't seem all that fast, probably because the iPhone 8 was very fast already.  The display looks better--sharper, with deeper blacks.  There may also be a psychological effect from this "white" version having a black fascia, unlike the iPhone 8.

The logo has slipped further down, so my iPhone 7 case, no longer shows the logo.  There is no "iPhone" on the back, to go along with the logo change.

Since this phone supports many more LTE bands, I'm hoping to see if performance is enhanced because of T-Mobile LTE.  I'm sure T-Mobile users' LTE is enhanced, as Sprint has the best LTE in town.

Considering that this isn't costing me any monthly money, I'm extra pleased to have it--just for the new battery.  I just need to make sure I get the phone back to Sprint as soon as possible, so that there won't be any charges.

Sprint kept bugging me to take their newest protection plan and it does more than just protect, but the price was a bit much.  I went to the Apple Support app and bought AppleCare + for $3.99/month, which is cheaper than what I was paying for the iPhone 8 support at $7.99/month.

iPhone 8 replacement will probably be available in spring 2020

As with me, a smaller group of people have been uncomfortable with larger and larger phones.  Years ago, the phablet was an unusual item--a phone too big to be considered a phone.  Now, it's commonplace, especially since iPhone X.  Samsung's Galaxy Note has been around for a while, but it still seemed a niche product.

The iPhone 8 has continued but has not truly been updated and of course, there would not be an iPhone 9.  As of the next spring (March/April 2020), there should be a replacement that could be called iPhone SE 2.  Given that the iPhone SE was based on the iPhone 5, but with more advanced internal hardware, it's easy to predict a similar treatment for the iPhone 8.  Whether the name will be used or not doesn't matter.  They could call it the iPhone 11 mini, for all I care.  Having the A13 processor and 3 GB of RAM seems worth the price of US$399/US$499 for 64 GB or 128 GB of storage.

I told Apple that, without a successor to the iPhone 8, I would consider switching back to Android.  There aren't many Android-based phones I like but Razer and Asus have phones strong enough to get my attention.  Whether I'll grind my teeth every time I read some security glitch or not, who knows?  After my Asus/Google Nexus 7 tablet never really was in sync with Android, I didn't feel great about using it and gave it to someone who clamored for a tablet.  He lost it within a month.  I've looked at the Razer Phone 2 for an alternative, if the iPhone 8 replacement doesn't happen.  Of all the Android-based phones, this one seems to come from a company that is enthusiastic about making something interesting.

It's been suggested that the iPhone 8 replacement will not be named SE 2 but iPhone 9.  That would suggest an end to the 4.7 inch display phones.

Update 2020.02.17: My iPhone 8 battery has been beaten regularly by iOS 13--lately 13.1.1--and it isn't recovering.  The battery health states that it the battery is at 83% of new capacity.  That's close to replacement time.  After nearly 2 years, that is understandable. I'm considering a replacement for the battery in my 256 GB over a new, more powerful phone with a new battery.  If they're still US$79, isn't worth the money, especially when no phone payments (one time or monthly) would be necessary for a while.  US$27.09 each month would be good to save.

Hopefully, the rumors are true and that there will be a media event on 31 March and the actual launch on the 3rd of April.

I've seen another rumor that it won't be a 4.7 inch display but a bigger display of over 5 inches.  That might suggest an edge-to-edge display, which isn't likely in a budget phone.

Update 2020.04.15: Tax Day is here and so is the iPhone 8 replacement, the iPhone SE.

US$399, $449, and $549 for 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB isn't too bad, especially since it's got the same processing unit as the iPhone 11.  The camera is somewhat different with some depth (of field) control.  How much is optical and how much is digital remains to be seen.

Considering how warn my battery is, better with 13.4.1 than earlier releases, but losing power quickly, it's probably better to put US$79 toward the $549 model, so I don't have to give up capacity.

Update 2020.05.22: Sprint just offered me a 18 month lease with $0.00 payments.  I ended up with the 256 GB model since I already have an iPhone 8 like that, and it cost me US$150 + tax up front.

This is possibly the first time since September 2000, when I wasn't with Sprint, that they offered me something better than expected.  That time, I got a Motorola StarTac for $9.99.

Not only was the monthly lease payment waived, but so was the $30 upgrade/activation fee.  We'll see what happens when I get the phone.  Still, it's a great deal compared to paying $79 for a battery swap on a two year old phone.  The latest reviews show that the processing power is better than most anything else on the market, expensive or inexpensive.

I posted something on Instagram and someone complained about my buying so much storage, saying that Apple should allow removable storage.  If there was a possibility of that working as well as internal storage, it would be expensive.  I've worked on a number of big iron systems that had something called Single Level Store--every drive was meant to work together as one.  That was the only time I saw a system work well with multiple, different kinds of drives, but they were all similar with a certain hardware interface, and there was no inbuilt, dedicated storage, so everything had to work together well.

I think I will be surprised at how good the new phone will be.

Update 2020.08.05: My iPhone 8 replacement, iPhone SE 2020, has been very good, just like the iPhone 8.  There isn't much difference, except for the processing power.  That is a good thing, and it was also good that I didn't have to replace a battery.  The price made it extra wonderful.