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Buying from Apple remains the cheapest way to get the iPhone 15 in Canada

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Apple’s new iPhone 15 series launched with a hefty price tag — the phones even got a price bump in Canada!

But if you’re deadset on buying a new iPhone this year and you want an iPhone 15, here are the cheapest options.

Before we get too deep into it, there are a few things to touch on in order to set the foundation for what we’re going to do here. When it comes to buying a new phone — any new phone, iPhone or otherwise — people need to consider two monthly costs. The first is the cost of the phone and the second is the cost of the plan. You won’t get much mileage out of a new phone if you don’t have a plan to go with it.

Plus, if you choose to buy a phone through a carrier, you’ll have to get a plan with that carrier, too. So, it’s doubly important to consider the cost of a plan when looking at phone upgrades, even if you plan to buy the phone outright.

Another factor worth keeping in mind is that Canada’s Big Three carriers — Rogers, Bell, and Telus — all offer a program that discounts the monthly financing of a phone if customers agree to return the phone (or pay the difference) after two years.

As you’ll see below, generally, it’s not worth going this route unless you get a really, really good deal on the monthly financing (spoiler: you won’t).

With that said, let’s get into it.

The cheapest way to get the new iPhone you want

Let’s start with the obvious. The cheapest way to get an iPhone 15 model is to get the iPhone 15. It is the lowest cost option across the board and unless you really need the extra features offered by the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, it’s probably the choice that makes the most sense purely by the numbers.

That said, some people will want to try and get the most expensive option for the lowest possible price, too. So, I did the below calculations based on the iPhone 15 Pro Max starting price. The calculations work regardless of the iPhone 15 model you want, just swap out the numbers where appropriate. (Plus, focusing on one model saves us both a lot of time since I won’t need to write as much and you won’t need to read as much.)

The cheapest way to buy an iPhone 15 model for most Canadians will be to buy it outright from Apple. The main reason for this is that it’s the lowest cost for all of the iPhone 15s (Apple now charges interest if you finance through it and the carriers slightly inflate the cost of the phones so you end up paying them more). The other reason is buying from Apple means you get to pick your plan or keep your existing plan if you have a good one, potentially saving you hundreds over the course of two years.

Here are examples based on the iPhone 15 Pro Max:

From Apple

$1,749 outright or $79.09/mo financing for 24 months at 7.99 percent APR, which works out to $1,898.16 total. Then, couple that with the cost of a plan that makes sense for you.

In my case, I’d likely keep my current Fido plan (the $45/50GB Black Friday special), but there are plenty of other decent options out there, like Telus-owned Public Mobile’s current $40/30GB 5G promo plan. Using that plan, it’s $960 total over two years, which means $2,709 total when combined with the iPhone 15 Pro Max or $2,858.16 if you finance through Apple.


Whatever the case may be for you, Apple’s pricing should be the benchmark. If the iPhone you want and the plan you want are cheaper than buying through a carrier, you’re good to go.

From a carrier

Starting with the Big Three, Rogers will be the way to go because they offer the cheapest possible plan to go with the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Rogers’ plan is $70/mo ($65 with autopay) for 60GB of 5G data at the time of writing. Bell’s minimum plan was $80/65GB and Telus’ was $105/150GB.

Rogers charges $50.81/mo financing with Upfront Edge, plus $65/mo (assuming you take the autopay discount) for a total of $2,779.44 over two years. And you don’t get to keep the phone unless you pay back the $580 Upfront Edge credit after two years.

If you skip Upfront Edge, you’ll pay $74.97/mo financing for a total of $3,359.28 over two years, the same as with Upfront Edge and the $580 at the end of two years.

Now, you might be wondering about the flanker brands, Fido, Koodo, and Virgin Plus. Once again, the Rogers side comes out at the lowest cost because of cheaper plan options. Fido has $39/mo 10GB (after $5/mo autopay discount), while Koodo and Virgin both have a minimum $65/mo plan.

With Fido, you need to pay $999 upfront and $33.35/mo in financing for the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Coupled with the $39/mo plan, that’s $2,735.40 total, just slightly more than buying the phone outright from Apple.

Regional carriers

That leaves us with regional carriers like Freedom and Vidéotron. At the time of writing, both of these appear to be promising if you live in an area covered by one of the two and are willing to return your phone.

Freedom charges $0 down and $49/mo for the iPhone 15 Pro Max on TradeUp (its device return program) and a $50/mo plan. The problem is that, at the time of writing, Freedom’s website wasn’t loading properly for anyone on the MobileSyrup team, making it impossible to check the cost breakdown of TradeUp.

The two numbers we have access to work out to $2,376 over two years, but the TradeUp cost will make or break Freedom’s position among the carriers. That said, if you’re okay with returning the phone, then Freedom becomes a more attractive offer. Plus, the provider has a BOGO deal (of sorts) where customers can get an iPhone 15 with the purchase of another eligible iPhone 15 model, though both phones need to be on $65/mo+ plans.

Finally, Vidéotron had a ‘flashsale’ on the iPhone 15 series at the time of writing. For the iPhone 15 Pro Max, that drops the financing cost from $72.75/mo to $44.75/mo with the take-back credit. The minimum plan is $55/15GB, for $2,395 total over two years. Again, however, you need to return the device at the end of the two-year period.

Wrapping up

As I said at the start, there are several factors to consider when pricing out the cheapest way to get a new iPhone 15. For me, the best option remains an outright purchase from Apple and sticking with whatever plan makes sense for me.

I would also recommend that same course for anyone else considering the iPhone 15 series, but you should tailor the numbers accordingly. Generally, you should compare any carrier rate against the cost you’d pay buying the phone outright plus 24 months of whichever plan works best for you, and go with what’s cheapest.

 

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Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

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LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

X

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

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LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Kuwait bans ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’ video game, likely over it featuring Saddam Hussein in 1990s

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The tiny Mideast nation of Kuwait has banned the release of the video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” which features the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and is set in part in the 1990s Gulf War.

Kuwait has not publicly acknowledged banning the game, which is a tentpole product for the Microsoft-owned developer Activision and is set to be released on Friday worldwide. However, it comes as Kuwait still wrestles with the aftermath of the invasion and as video game makers more broadly deal with addressing historical and cultural issues in their work.

The video game, a first-person shooter, follows CIA operators fighting at times in the United States and also in the Middle East. Game-play trailers for the game show burning oilfields, a painful reminder for Kuwaitis who saw Iraqis set fire to the fields, causing vast ecological and economic damage. Iraqi troops damaged or set fire to over 700 wells.

There also are images of Saddam and Iraq’s old three-star flag in the footage released by developers ahead of the game’s launch. The game’s multiplayer section, a popular feature of the series, includes what appears to be a desert shootout in Kuwait called Scud after the Soviet missiles Saddam fired in the war. Another is called Babylon, after the ancient city in Iraq.

Activision acknowledged in a statement that the game “has not been approved for release in Kuwait,” but did not elaborate.

“All pre-orders in Kuwait will be cancelled and refunded to the original point of purchase,” the company said. “We remain hopeful that local authorities will reconsider, and allow players in Kuwait to enjoy this all-new experience in the Black Ops series.”

Kuwait’s Media Ministry did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press over the decision.

“Call of Duty,” which first began in 2003 as a first-person shooter set in World War II, has expanded into an empire worth billions of dollars now owned by Microsoft. But it also has been controversial as its gameplay entered the realm of geopolitics. China and Russia both banned chapters in the franchise. In 2009, an entry in the gaming franchise allowed players to take part in a militant attack at a Russian airport, killing civilians.

But there have been other games recently that won praise for their handling of the Mideast. Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed: Mirage” published last year won praise for its portrayal of Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age in the 9th century.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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