I'm in Canada. Should I get an iPhone, and when?

[Senff]

Hi everybody.

So, I live in Canada, and I am considering to buy an iPhone with plan and all. But, a few questions.

However, here and there I'm reading some reports that the Canadian plans aren't that great and I'm almost getting the idea that the only place where it's actually great/worth having an iPhone, is the USA. So, if there's any Canadians out there who have a plan through Fido (my current provider) who can recommend (or NOT recommend) getting a plan, please let me know.

Second..... There seems to be data traffic limits on the Canadian plans. No big deal. But, am I correct in assuming that if I'm at home, my iPhone automatically switches to my wifi connection, and all data I use then is NOT counted towards the data limit? In other words, the data limit only applies to any data transferred using the phone network, right?

Third..... Normally, I would wait with getting an iPhone until July. Apple will probably release a new version of the iPhone then, so the current version might be a bit cheaper, or maybe I just want the new one because it has awesomer features. However, does anyone know if Canada will be "behind" with this? Will any new versions be released in Canada at the same time as the States (like the regular iPods) or will it take a few months (like what happened with the initial launch of the iPhone)?

Thanks for any help, much appreciated! :)

[jhollington]

Hi and welcome to iLounge.

Firstly, chances are very good that Apple will be releasing a new iPhone model this summer. As a result, you may want to wait a few months to see what happens, particularly since if you get an iPhone now you won't be eligible for another "hardware upgrade" for at least a year or two. I doubt very much that the next-generation iPhone will only be launched in the U.S. The initial launch of the iPhone was U.S.-only as Apple hadn't worked out agreements with the other carriers, but now that those are in place, there's little reason for Apple not to launch the new iPhone worldwide.

The data plans in Canada are not that great compared to the U.S. where AT&T basically offers an unlimited plan. However, I should point out that the Rogers/Fido GSM network is both more reliable and faster than the AT&T network in the U.S. based on my own personal experiences with both. So in some sense, you're getting what you pay for. These data rates are also still way better than they used to be, and not bad compared to many other countries.

Rogers/Fido did offer a limited-time $30/6GB per month plan last summer, but unfortunately you can't get that any more. Even though that plan has a data cap, I really have to wonder what you'd be doing with your iPhone to actually use up 6GB of data transfer a month. People really have no idea of how much data that is. To give you a more practical example, I've used less than 2GB in total since getting my current iPhone last July.... That works out to an average of about 200MB per month for me.

There is the possibility that Rogers/Fido may offer a similar limited-time promotion with the new iPhone release, so that might be another good reason to wait.

This leads into your second question, of course, which concerns Wi-Fi. Using Wi-Fi of course bypasses the carrier entirely and therefore they couldn't charge you for it even if they wanted to. In my case, the primary reason I suppose I haven't used that much data is that I do use Wi-Fi when at home/work, so the 3G data is only being used when I'm out and about. Now, I do travel a fair bit, and frequently work from coffee shops, so I'm not really a desk-bound person.

Your mileage may vary depending on what you're doing, but ultimately if you're just surfing the web and checking your e-mail and things like Twitter while on-the-go you really shouldn't be using that much data. Save things like video streaming and iTunes Store downloads for when you're in range of a Wi-Fi access point and you'll probably be fine with a low to mid-range data plan.

[Senff]

Many thanks for the answers + explanations. It confirms my idea that I should wait until the launch of the new version indeed. Problem is that I want one NOW, so we'll see how difficult it'll be for me to be patient....! ;)