Posted on 11/17/2025 12:18:14 PM PST by Red Badger
If you’re looking forward to upgrading to the new iPhone, and you’ll go hungry without SNAP ... you might be a Democrat.
Now the cool kids are going to have to buy two Iphones a year instead of just one.
Speaking of which, I thought a new model AppleTV 4k was supposed to drop by now? I need another one. “Need” being a relative thing. House I bought recently came with an LG projector and SONOS sound system in a space I’m setting up as an office. I want an AppleTV on the projector, the LG “smarts” aren’t very, and will spy on me more.
Well said.
I'm interested...
I have never owned an iPhone in my life. And I don’t plan to.
My 5 year old phone that I paid $29 is still working.
Good for you. I’ve owned several iphones. And Apple stock which has paid for every iphone i’ve ever owned times 500.
I wonder how far phones are away from satellite internet built in?
iPhone 18 , spies on you even better
I buy cheap smartphones not iPhones and they do what I need.
I do however desire satellite phone service as well as modest sat based internet.
I see that the Starlink Mini is now on a 229.00 sale.
It seems that if you buy one and sign up for a month of 50GB metered service that after that month is up you can switch to something called standby mode and the Mini will remain online and you get a guaranteed, unlimited 0.5mbps up and down...
Now 0.5mbps is like old-school DSL, it’s crap compared to high speed connectivity but it IS able to make clear phone calls via satellite and you can watch a youtube at 360p or 480p depending on the particular video and can browse the web much like the old days at 56kbps dial-up .. now this would be actually 500kbps up and down or several times what old dial-up was like but still it’s SLOW when compared to fiber. I did see people making video calls and that seemed to work.
It sounds silly but what pulls it back from being silly is it only costs 5 dollars a month! So that’s 5/mo to have a satellite phone, slow internet browsing and email and you can watch mediocre quality video... hey it looks fine on your phone or tablet!
This is all very new and who knows how long they will have this plan but golly it is tempting. I saw where one guy suggested they might require like a month of full service once in awhile to keep it going but who knows... it says unlimited but I have been bitten by the unlimited claim before ... like the old AOL unlimited dial-up that was NOT always unlimited. I have fairly good fiber to the house 250/100 and thus would use this only mobile and if my home service went down so I would not be constantly using it.. if that became necessary I would get a regular plan.
You can also at ANY time log into Starlink and add the remainder of the month for 50USD and I believe it is pro-rated so if there is only one week left you pay for just the week... at least that is what I have seen on youtube videos I have watched regarding this plan.
It seems to me this is a great prepper device... for 5/mo you might at least have a chance at having comms if the balloon goes up... that is if it’s stored in an EMP enclosure and the Rooskies don’t shoot down the satellites...lol
I have seen vids where a guy sticks it on his dash and it works, it works overseas but just for a 2 month period, like if on vacation.
It does NOT allow connection on the high seas but I bet you they will introduce some sort of way to connect in an emergency... the plan to have internet using Starlink on the ocean is a more expensive plan but I bet that as you can add a month of high-speed service I bet you could upgrade to the global service if it became necessary to do so...
There is a rechargeable battery pack you can stick on the Mini to make it wireless and more portable. It connects to your devices via Wifi. So basically you end up with something the size of a large tablet that you just stick somewhere it can see the birds... I saw a guy using it with it sitting against a window inside his apartment.
They have the 229.00 USD deal at WalMart and Amazon and at the Starlink site.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=starlink+standby+mode&sp=CAI%253D
“Now with Tint Control!”
And really, on any of them, they’re all dumb if you don’t connect them to anything.
Interesting details on the SLMini. My amateur radio club is planning to add that to our operation/communications trailer for Internet connectivity for things like APRS.fi to supplement our network of APRS stations on towers. Of course, it would also be a better way for connectivity than the hotspots we’ve used in the past. The phone capability is also intriguing for our use case. Thanks for the thinking points!
I’m also a Ham!
I have my trusty 7300 and other rigs but if things come unglued having the internet will be sweet!
This guy is getting 72mbps in his office with the Starlink Mini just sitting on his desk.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NmvKq3waBzQ?feature=share
There’s a “back to school” season for phones?
Sheesh, it used to be metal lunch boxes and the DIY brown paper book covers.
I completely forgot about those brown bag book covers.
Yikes!
It’ll take a while to shrink them down to current phones’ size.
Right now they are about the size of a cellphone circa 1995 or so............
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.