/ By Jonathan Hawkins / iPhone / / 0 Comments

I Want the New iPhone

So that’s it. You’ve decided to take the plunge headfirst into the iPhone’s welcoming smartphone waters

(incidentally, do NOT drop your new iPhone into any water), and you’re pretty sure that you can afford it. I mean, every other person you know seems to have one, and some of those people barely have enough cash to afford the proverbial pot to… well, you know. So how much could they possibly be? Well, that all depends, but they might be a little pricier than you’re expecting. Should you want to just buy the iPhone 5 outright and shop around for month-to-month plans, get ready to drop around $650 for the 16GB version, $750 for the 32GB one, and right about $850 for the 64GB model. Once you’ve dropped all that dough, you can probably find a plan that costs between $45 and $60 a month, for a low-end total of around $1,800 for two years, or the higher-end price of about $2300 for two years.

Should you decide to go with a two-year plan from a major carrier like AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint, you can probably get the iPhone 5 for either $199, $299, or $399 for the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models, respectively, with either a new two-year contract, or if you’re eligible for an upgrade. You can usually pay about $200 extra for the option to upgrade early, if you absolutely can’t wait. Most unlimited data packages run between $60 and $100 every month, and some don’t actually include texting or voice calls, so after factoring all of that in, on the low end, you can get the iPhone 5 with a two-year contract and pay around $2000 over the two years, and on the high end, you can get your new iPhone 5 and two-year contract and pay right about $3800 over the next two years.

I know, right?