Of course, there is the option to go on a phone plan, but he pays about $15 per month on calls and data using a pre-paid SIM (I pay around $10 to $15). It's cheaper to simply buy a phone outright rather than go on a phone plan, which locks you in and effectively puts you into debt. A phone plan also obscures you from the true cost of the phone. Rather than see the $1000 cost, you see a $80 per month cost, and you are tempted to think to yourself "I can afford $80 per month!" when really you are just spreading out the cost over time, allowing marketers to take advantage of a human psychological weakness called hyperbolic discounting.
What was interesting was that my friend already had an old iPhone 4 (which was quite slow by now) and he was automatically looking for new iPhones. He didn't even think about other brands. This shows how strong the Apple brand is in people's mind. He was mainly keen on getting a faster phone with a bigger screen.
I hovered over his shoulder and asked him if he was wedded to the Apple brand or whether he was willing to look at other brands. He said that he was certainly not wedded to iPhones and was willing to switch, but he had some uncertainty about transferring data from one operating system to another. In particular he asked about transferring his photos. I told him that if he purchased an Android phone, he'd be using Google Photos. I showed him the website and he seemed reassured.
I also recommended that he buy the Nexus 5X because it is a new phone with fairly good specs but only costs about A$700 or so, which will save him a few hundred dollars. I already have the Nexus 5 (2013) and believe it is a great phone. It is two years old now, but it's still running well. I'm sure the Nexus 5X will be great.
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