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TracFone: 64GB Apple iPhone 12 + 3-Mo Unlimited Talk/Text + 20GB Data Plan $108
$108
$250
56% off
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It's 64gb, which is an absolutely tiny amount of storage in 2026. And you CANNOT upgrade it via MicroSD card ("APPLE" doesn't even have a slot for it!). Newer phone OSes might eat up a majority of that space before you even you install the first application. You'll constantly be off-loading applications, photos, and media every few weeks. Or needing a VERY expensive cloud storage plan.
And then there's the concern of future software upgrades -- if you only use it for the most basic stuff like calls and texts, you'll PROBABLY be fine. But if you're like a majority of people with the mobiles surgically attached to their hands for 24 hours a day, then when the software expires, so does access to "essential" services like banking and medical.
(which btw, if you value data security and privacy, I'd suggest to NEVER put on a mobile in the first place. but you do you! I know I'm screaming into the void whenever I make that suggestion anymore.)
I would say to only consider this device if one absolutely needs the "APPLE" ecosystem and you refuse to have any significant budget for it. You can easily get $40-75 Track Phones with Android OSes that have MUCH better quality of life specs.
These mid-tier androids sometimes aren't "as powerful" if all you care about is CPU speed, but pretty much anything mid-tier and above made in the last 2-3 years, you'll have more than enough. (If you care about raw CPU speed, use a laptop instead of a handheld...?)
Source for the Android? I use a 2024 "MO TOG" Stylus 5G with 128gb storage, 8gb ram, larger screen, 120hz refresh rate screen, MicroSD card slot, and stylus! It's more than enough as a daily driver. $40, here on SD. The Poetic case I bought was nearly half the cost of the phone...!
Sadly and obnoxiously the last small/mini phone they ever made.
It'll make these FIVE year old devices actually usable for many years to come, instead of borderline ewaste.
But something something "we'll lose revenue if we do that", and now we have a yearly upgrade cycle. 🤣
It's 64gb, which is an absolutely tiny amount of storage in 2026. And you CANNOT upgrade it via MicroSD card ("APPLE" doesn't even have a slot for it!). Newer phone OSes might eat up a majority of that space before you even you install the first application. You'll constantly be off-loading applications, photos, and media every few weeks. Or needing a VERY expensive cloud storage plan.
And then there's the concern of future software upgrades -- if you only use it for the most basic stuff like calls and texts, you'll PROBABLY be fine. But if you're like a majority of people with the mobiles surgically attached to their hands for 24 hours a day, then when the software expires, so does access to "essential" services like banking and medical.
(which btw, if you value data security and privacy, I'd suggest to NEVER put on a mobile in the first place. but you do you! I know I'm screaming into the void whenever I make that suggestion anymore.)
I would say to only consider this device if one absolutely needs the "APPLE" ecosystem and you refuse to have any significant budget for it. You can easily get $40-75 Track Phones with Android OSes that have MUCH better quality of life specs.
These mid-tier androids sometimes aren't "as powerful" if all you care about is CPU speed, but pretty much anything mid-tier and above made in the last 2-3 years, you'll have more than enough. (If you care about raw CPU speed, use a laptop instead of a handheld...?)
Source for the Android? I use a 2024 "MO TOG" Stylus 5G with 128gb storage, 8gb ram, larger screen, 120hz refresh rate screen, MicroSD card slot, and stylus! It's more than enough as a daily driver. $40, here on SD. The Poetic case I bought was nearly half the cost of the phone...!
A lot of people would actually buy it if it was an iPhone 12 Mini due to the form factor, or an even older iPhone 11 due to the usbliter8-based Jailbreak. A jailbroken iPhone is more usable than a rooted Android these days due to Android hardware attestation and some BS OEM restrictions. For those who care about privacy and security, I'm pretty sure they already own a Pixel phone with GrapheneOS installed and this is just their secondary phone for tinkering with.
Anyway, the standard iPhone 12 is nothing special. One may still buy it and hope for a newly discovered A14 hardware vulnerability.
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A lot of people would actually buy it if it was an iPhone 12 Mini due to the form factor, or an even older iPhone 11 due to the usbliter8-based Jailbreak. A jailbroken iPhone is more usable than a rooted Android these days due to Android hardware attestation and some BS OEM restrictions. For those who care about privacy and security, I'm pretty sure they already own a Pixel phone with GrapheneOS installed and this is just their secondary phone for tinkering with.
Anyway, the standard iPhone 12 is nothing special. One may still buy it and hope for a newly discovered A14 hardware vulnerability.
As for security, I'm not talking device-level security -- I'm talking about the entire security posture.
A mobile phone is a...
- dainty glass screen (sometimes with glass on BOTH sides of the device)
- brought along EVERYWHERE you go (instead of at home, behind a locked door)
- held 5+ feet off the ground (without any strap, leash, or fall protection)
- a target for thieves (even with remote bricking/erasure features, they still sell it for scrap)
- a target for unscrupulous law enforcement (they'll just image the device or retain it, even if they can't compel you to unlock due to disabled biometrics)
- has a less robust OS -- ergo, less security protection than a traditional laptop.
Putting all of one's 2FA (application or SMS), medical, financial, personal/confidential information on such a device that can easily be lost or destroyed is, as we say in the industry, "a very bad idea". You'll be spending literal weeks proving your identity to your essential services because you lost your device....or worse, you get locked out without any form of recovery.
Whereas a laptop sitting at home is behind a locked door, isn't mobile, and has better security software than a flim-flam mobile OS. And if you NEED a mobile device for your authentication, you're better off getting one of those $40 Android deals where it literally sits at home inside a locked drawer until you need it.
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