Can I just buy the Iphone 5 without having a service connected?

My birthday is soon coming up and I wanted to ask my parents for the new iPhone 5. I have an android now and i'm connected to sprint service but my upgrade is on June and my birthday is on May. Can my parents just buy me the iphone 5 without it being connected to any service and wait till my phone is eligable for an upgrade? I want to get the 16gb or 34gb which is around like $300 or so. But the thing is I don't want my parents paying $1000 for my phone. They said we might change phone company on september. BTW i'm on a two year contract with sprint but it end soon on June. So cn i get an Iphone 5 for my birthday or wait?

You can get it unregistered but it will be really really expensive. Like a 16GB one is 650$ to a 64GB one going for 850 while with a plan they're around 200 for a 16GB one

Well if you looking to get an iphone 5 thats fresh from apple without service it will cost like $800 maybe more. The cost is only lowered if you get a contract with a carrier. So that choice is really up to what you feel is best.

Yea, but it'll be expensive & most likely wouldn't be able to work with Sprint. The factory unlocked model.

$649 for the 16GB, $749 for the 32 (not 34) GB.

It is best to wait if you don't want your parents to pay over $600 for a phone without a contract. That's expensive. You can wait until your contract ends and get it for a more affordable price.