Though you may think the iPhone 5 only costs $200, you’re forgetting about the contract that’s tied to it. Yep, that fatty two-year, soul-selling new contract you get when you buy a new iPhone. That’s the real cost of the iPhone 5 and it can get quite expensive.
And to be completely fair, $1800 is actually a low-end estimate. That just so happens to include the cheapest plan on AT&T, which gives you no free text messages and a laughable amount of data. If we’re being honest, you’re going to need a lot more. Anywhere from $200 more if you’re on AT&T to a couple thousand dollars more if you’re on Verizon. Over the lifetime of the iPhone 5’s contract, you’ll spend anywhere from $1800 to $4800. That’s a good chunk of change.
Marketing firm Avalaunch put together all the data and made the snazzy infographic below. It’s a pretty solid estimate of how much the iPhone 5 will cost you over two years (to be fair, most smartphones cost around this price too).
