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RadioShack to Offer No-Contract Virgin Mobile iPhone 5 Beginning Tomorrow

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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iphone_5_black_white.jpg
As announced earlier this month, Sprint subsidiary Virgin Mobile is set to begin offering the iPhone 5 later this week. While the no-contract carrier will offer the phone via its own website, select retailers, such as Best Buy and RadioShack, will also be carrying the Virgin Mobile iPhone 5.

According to a tipster, RadioShack will begin selling the contract-free Virgin Mobile iPhone 5 beginning tomorrow, both in store and online. The entry level 16GB iPhone 5 will retail for $549.99, and customers with an eligible trade-in can receive $50 off the purchase price before July 27.

RadioShack is also offering new discounts for Virgin Mobile's iPhone 4 and 4S. The iPhone 4S retails for $400 while the iPhone 4 retails for $300. RadioShack is introducing a $50 promotional discount on the older iPhones until July 6, which can be coupled with the $50 trade-in discount. That drops the price of a contract-free iPhone 4 to $200 with an eligible trade-in.

Virgin Mobile's iPhones are available with no contract and plans begin at $35 a month, though the price can drop as low as $30 per month with auto pay. At the $35 price point, the phone comes with 300 minutes of talk time, unlimited messaging, and unlimited 3G data usage (throttled after 2.5GB). A $40 plan with 1200 minutes and a $50 plan with unlimited minutes are also available.

Article Link: RadioShack to Offer No-Contract Virgin Mobile iPhone 5 Beginning Tomorrow
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/06/27/radioshack-to-offer-no-contract-virgin-mobile-iphones-beginning-tomorrow/
theBB

theBB

macrumors 68020
Jan 3, 2006
2,453
3
Is it still locked down so that it cannot be used outside the US?
 
KazKam

KazKam

macrumors 6502
Oct 25, 2011
496
1,687
Too late.

This is exactly what I was waiting for!... Six months ago.

Honestly. Six months ago this is exactly what I wanted: unsubsidized new-ish iPhone, reasonable pay-as-you-go plan. Now the next iPhone is around the corner. Why would I want to pay (slightly less than) unsubsidized for last year's phone?

Nice try. Too late guys.
 
N

NoCleverSNForMe

macrumors regular
Jul 12, 2003
188
111
KazKam said:
This is exactly what I was waiting for!... Six months ago.

Honestly. Six months ago this is exactly what I wanted: unsubsidized new-ish iPhone, reasonable pay-as-you-go plan. Now the next iPhone is around the corner. Why would I want to pay (slightly less than) unsubsidized for last year's phone?

Nice try. Too late guys.
Click to expand...

You guys are hilarious. :)

Two points:

1) You're forgetting that the slightly less than unsubsidized price is coupled with RIDICULOUSLY cheap monthly rate plans ($30-$50/mo). I am in a fantastic Sprint area, so I can benefit from Virgin Mobile. I save hundreds of dollars a year, and I accept that I will have to be on last year's model for 9 months behind everyone else. So what? I have an extra $600 or more in my pocket while your brand-new-in-October iPhone 5 suddenly looks stale in front of the potentially new iPhone 5S. (By the way, the 4S was still a great phone when the 5 launched, and I'm sure the 5 will run iOS 7 just fine when the 5S is released).

2) You can't blame them for releasing it in June. Why would Sprint, the 100% owner of Virgin Mobile, offer its prepaid division the current iPhone at or right after its launch? As a customer, I would obviously choose the $30-$50/mo plans over their $80+fees-$110+fees/mo plans. They're playing it smart - releasing the 5 while it's still current and the 5S is around the corner.

I love that we all have different values - you value the latest iPhone over cheaper service. That's not a bad thing! I just want to open you up to the ideas of people who have different values from you (like me).

Have a great day!
 
ghost187

ghost187

macrumors 6502a
Mar 18, 2010
965
2,042
Why are we still waiting for a cheaper iPhone. $300 is as low as it gets. The molested iPod touch start at $229 (or the version that has hardware ripped off it), so $300 for an iPhone 4 is as low as apple will ever charge. Btw I still don't understand iPad Mini. They could have dropped iPad 2 to $299 and shaved off bezel from the future models if they really wanted to make it more portable.
 
F

farmermac

macrumors 6502a
Jul 23, 2009
779
11
Iowa
I'll probably be placing an order from Virgin mobile tomorrow. 30 days to try service, so If service is good I think 60$ a month for 2 iPhones is going to be amazing.
 
N

NoCleverSNForMe

macrumors regular
Jul 12, 2003
188
111
jent said:
So is it fully unlocked?
Click to expand...

No one knows for sure yet; the other two prepaid options - Cricket iPhone 5 and Straight Talk iPhone 5 are unlocked, so my educated guess would be yes.

They might have some sort of system like T-Mobile has where you must pay for one month of service before they'll give you an unlock code. The reason? Unlike Cricket and Straight Talk, they are offering the iPhone 5 for $100 cheaper than the unlocked models at Apple.

It's $30 for the cheapest plan. (300 min + unlimited text + unlimited LTE data, throttled after 2.5GB)
 
S

sebastian...

macrumors regular
Sep 11, 2011
247
16
NoCleverSNForMe said:
It's $30 for the cheapest plan. (300 min + unlimited text + unlimited LTE data, throttled after 2.5GB)
Click to expand...


Funny differences between europe and usa.
Here we can get 8 GB data with full speed for 10 $ - and this is prepay - you are not obligated to pay every month if you don't want.
And maybe 7 $ for 2000 min voice.
But an unlocked iphone is more like 700 $ instead of 500 $ .
Or for 600 $ iphone in usa you pay 800 $ here.

I'm not sure which way is better.
 
N

NoCleverSNForMe

macrumors regular
Jul 12, 2003
188
111
Mac_Max said:
The $100 discount was an introductory thing. Now they have price parity.
Click to expand...

I'm confused...Virgin Mobile just released their iPhone today for $100 less. How is it an introductory thing? Where did they put "For A Limited Time Only" in their press release? I'm pretty sure this is a permanent price.
 
Yvan256

Yvan256

macrumors 603
Jul 5, 2004
5,081
998
Canada
sebastian... said:
Funny differences between europe and usa.
Here we can get 8 GB data with full speed for 10 $ - and this is prepay - you are not obligated to pay every month if you don't want.
And maybe 7 $ for 2000 min voice.
But an unlocked iphone is more like 700 $ instead of 500 $ .
Or for 600 $ iphone in usa you pay 800 $ here.

I'm not sure which way is better.
Click to expand...

17$ per month for 2000 minutes and 8GB data… Compare that to Canada, where 35$ will get you unlimited incoming minutes but each outgoing minute will cost you 30¢/min extra and only includes 250MB of data in the monthly plan but if you go over that it will cost you 5¢ per extra MB, i.e. 50$ for 1GB.

Canadian carriers are thieves. :mad:

Do we really need to ask which way is better?
 
theBB

theBB

macrumors 68020
Jan 3, 2006
2,453
3
jent said:
So is it fully unlocked?
Click to expand...
The previous rounds of iPhones were locked to Virgin, according to FAQ on the website, and they neither unlocked it for international travel nor did they offer an international roaming plan.
 
KazKam

KazKam

macrumors 6502
Oct 25, 2011
496
1,687
NoCleverSNForMe said:
You guys are hilarious. :)

Two points:

1) You're forgetting that the slightly less than unsubsidized price is coupled with RIDICULOUSLY cheap monthly rate plans ($30-$50/mo). I am in a fantastic Sprint area, so I can benefit from Virgin Mobile. I save hundreds of dollars a year, and I accept that I will have to be on last year's model for 9 months behind everyone else. So what? I have an extra $600 or more in my pocket while your brand-new-in-October iPhone 5 suddenly looks stale in front of the potentially new iPhone 5S. (By the way, the 4S was still a great phone when the 5 launched, and I'm sure the 5 will run iOS 7 just fine when the 5S is released).

2) You can't blame them for releasing it in June. Why would Sprint, the 100% owner of Virgin Mobile, offer its prepaid division the current iPhone at or right after its launch? As a customer, I would obviously choose the $30-$50/mo plans over their $80+fees-$110+fees/mo plans. They're playing it smart - releasing the 5 while it's still current and the 5S is around the corner.

I love that we all have different values - you value the latest iPhone over cheaper service. That's not a bad thing! I just want to open you up to the ideas of people who have different values from you (like me).

Have a great day!
Click to expand...

1) What you call "ridiculously cheap" I call fairly reasonable. Of course I want the newest phone I can get with a reasonable plan. Who doesn't? And, I'm willing (wanting) to pay the unsubsidized price to get it. Honestly, what I really want is the ability to by the newest (at any given time) iPhone, at the unsubsidized price, and be able to pay for just a voice-only plan. I, and many people, are in wi-fi 99% of the time. Granted, voice and data will be technically synonymous at some point, but still.

2) Indeed, I can blame them, and do, along with the rest of the mobile industry in the US, for wallet-raping their customers for so long... tying subsidized phones to ludicrous plan prices.

I think our values are the same... we don't like getting fleeced. ;)
 
T

Tiger8

macrumors 68020
May 23, 2011
2,479
649
NoCleverSNForMe said:
You guys are hilarious. :)

Two points:

1) You're forgetting that the slightly less than unsubsidized price is coupled with RIDICULOUSLY cheap monthly rate plans ($30-$50/mo). I am in a fantastic Sprint area, so I can benefit from Virgin Mobile. I save hundreds of dollars a year, and I accept that I will have to be on last year's model for 9 months behind everyone else. So what? I have an extra $600 or more in my pocket while your brand-new-in-October iPhone 5 suddenly looks stale in front of the potentially new iPhone 5S. (By the way, the 4S was still a great phone when the 5 launched, and I'm sure the 5 will run iOS 7 just fine when the 5S is released).

2) You can't blame them for releasing it in June. Why would Sprint, the 100% owner of Virgin Mobile, offer its prepaid division the current iPhone at or right after its launch? As a customer, I would obviously choose the $30-$50/mo plans over their $80+fees-$110+fees/mo plans. They're playing it smart - releasing the 5 while it's still current and the 5S is around the corner.

I love that we all have different values - you value the latest iPhone over cheaper service. That's not a bad thing! I just want to open you up to the ideas of people who have different values from you (like me).

Have a great day!
Click to expand...

Well said! Needless to say that once 5s comes (4 months?), the 5 will be for $550, but you already got that price! So you are really winning here, getting to enjoy future lower price 4 months in advance
 
M

Mac_Max

macrumors 6502
Mar 8, 2004
404
1
NoCleverSNForMe said:
I'm confused...Virgin Mobile just released their iPhone today for $100 less. How is it an introductory thing? Where did they put "For A Limited Time Only" in their press release? I'm pretty sure this is a permanent price.
Click to expand...

Your post (that I quoted) was talking about TMobile (or at least made it sound that way). Their discount was temporary.
 
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