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iPhone 6 pricing on AT&T

reggoboy

reggoboy

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 8, 2009
88
29
Looks like the old rumors about carriers no longer subsidizing phones might be true. Just spoke to a rep in the AT&T shop and he said he saw something suggesting the iPhone 6 might be $817. And if you're already on the 10gig plan they lured many of us into then you might be looking at an additional $35/mo per upgraded phone. The math is 817 - 200 up front = 617 / 18 mos = $35.

I'm not happy about this at all. What happens when my wife and daughter want to upgrade their phones too? Suddenly my bill has almost doubled.
 
Your pricing a 32 gb phone at 749 plus tax. If you don't want your fees to double then buy the phone outright.
 
reggoboy said:
Looks like the old rumors about carriers no longer subsidizing phones might be true. Just spoke to a rep in the AT&T shop and he said he saw something suggesting the iPhone 6 might be $817. And if you're already on the 10gig plan they lured many of us into then you might be looking at an additional $35/mo per upgraded phone. The math is 817 - 200 up front = 617 / 18 mos = $35.

I'm not happy about this at all. What happens when my wife and daughter want to upgrade their phones too? Suddenly my bill has almost doubled.
Click to expand...
The ATT reps don't know squat yet.
Relax, wait till 9/9.
 
reggoboy said:
Looks like the old rumors about carriers no longer subsidizing phones might be true. Just spoke to a rep in the AT&T shop and he said he saw something suggesting the iPhone 6 might be $817. And if you're already on the 10gig plan they lured many of us into then you might be looking at an additional $35/mo per upgraded phone. The math is 817 - 200 up front = 617 / 18 mos = $35.

I'm not happy about this at all. What happens when my wife and daughter want to upgrade their phones too? Suddenly my bill has almost doubled.
Click to expand...

Thats is your decision to make. Why complain over something you dont have to do?
 
reggoboy said:
Looks like the old rumors about carriers no longer subsidizing phones might be true. Just spoke to a rep in the AT&T shop and he said he saw something suggesting the iPhone 6 might be $817. And if you're already on the 10gig plan they lured many of us into then you might be looking at an additional $35/mo per upgraded phone. The math is 817 - 200 up front = 617 / 18 mos = $35.

I'm not happy about this at all. What happens when my wife and daughter want to upgrade their phones too? Suddenly my bill has almost doubled.
Click to expand...

If that happens you will suck it up, man up and handle your business as a husband and provider for your family. You can be selfish and only buy a phone for yourself if you want... I say that because you mention if they "want to upgrade their phones too?" None of you have to upgrade phones if the pricing is too much for your finances to handle.
 
I probably didn't emphasize the key point. In the past you paid $200 for the subsidized new phone every 2 years. Now they have migrated most of us to newer contracts where we will still have to pay the $200 up front and then an additional $25-35/mo depending on the model of the phone. Thats a lot more money.

The math is that it's currently $15/phone /mo with AT&T (plus the $100 10gb plan). That 15 will go to 40 or 50/mo for 18mos. Regardless of what apple prices the iPhone at this is how the plan works according to AT&T.

Keep this in mind before you switch to the new att plan.
 
There is no $200 up front with the Next plan. That's the key difference. It will be painless... :D
 
reggoboy said:
I probably didn't emphasize the key point. In the past you paid $200 for the subsidized new phone every 2 years. Now they have migrated most of us to newer contracts where we will still have to pay the $200 up front and then an additional $25-35/mo depending on the model of the phone. Thats a lot more money.

The math is that it's currently $15/phone /mo with AT&T (plus the $100 10gb plan). That 15 will go to 40 or 50/mo for 18mos. Regardless of what apple prices the iPhone at this is how the plan works according to AT&T.

Keep this in mind before you switch to the new att plan.
Click to expand...

The phrase "now they have migrated most of us to newer contracts" is somewhat misleading. You, as the contract holder, had to have agreed to migrate. AT&T doesn’t just pick you up and drop you in the "newer contracts". You have to choose to go there.

I have don the analysis on Family Share vs Mobile Share, and for me and my family/situation, the Family Share plan is the best deal. Therefore, I have not moved over, and AT&T has not "migrated" me.

It bugs the crap out of me when people make choices and then want to play "victim".
 
reggoboy said:
I probably didn't emphasize the key point. In the past you paid $200 for the subsidized new phone every 2 years. Now they have migrated most of us to newer contracts where we will still have to pay the $200 up front and then an additional $25-35/mo depending on the model of the phone. Thats a lot more money.

The math is that it's currently $15/phone /mo with AT&T (plus the $100 10gb plan). That 15 will go to 40 or 50/mo for 18mos. Regardless of what apple prices the iPhone at this is how the plan works according to AT&T.

Keep this in mind before you switch to the new att plan.
Click to expand...

The thing about the new plan is that it is currently $15/phone/month because you are not paying for a phone subsidy in your current plan. If you purchase a subsidized phone then they adjust the price accordingly so that they get paid.

Nothing has changed really other than the fact that when they switched you to the new plan they were generous enough to do away with the subsidy you had been paying on the old plan even if your phones hadn't been covered by that subsidy yet.

Edit: Also if you are on the 10GB plan and haven't used a subsidy since switching you are not under contract, so they are not migrating people to new contracts they are letting people get rid of contracts.
 
What you pay when you "purchase" your new phone with NEXT is the sales tax up front, and then monthly payments that would more or less equal, including the $15/month per shared line, what you were paying for each line while not on the NEXT program. We ALL paid for our phones one way or another.
 
The NEXT plan has been discussed in many a thread. Basically you pay any/all sales taxes upfront. Monthly costs is divided across either a 12-month or 18-month plan to pay for the phone(s). And AT&T waives the upgrade fee.
 
It's threads like this that remind me why the chronic addiction to the archaic subsidized model in the US will take a while for the carriers to break consumers from.
 
Knowimagination said:
The thing about the new plan is that it is currently $15/phone/month because you are not paying for a phone subsidy in your current plan. If you purchase a subsidized phone then they adjust the price accordingly so that they get paid.

Nothing has changed really other than the fact that when they switched you to the new plan they were generous enough to do away with the subsidy you had been paying on the old plan even if your phones hadn't been covered by that subsidy yet.

Edit: Also if you are on the 10GB plan and haven't used a subsidy since switching you are not under contract, so they are not migrating people to new contracts they are letting people get rid of contracts.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's what it seems. When they cross sold us to the current plan, they didn't explain that the upgrades would be much more expensive. That's the rub. It may have been explained here, but most folks I talk to were also not aware of it.

Part of the trickiness is in how they shuffled funds around in the monthly bill. The base cost used to be about $80; that went up to $100. The price per phone went down from $40 to $15. Seemed harmless enough. But by doing so, they allowed the fixed cost to remain and then surprise folks with the per-phone cost when they want to upgrade. (I had asked how upgrades would work and they said pricing was not yet available on future upgrades).

Sure, $15/mo/phone is cheap. But that base $100 is a good hunk of cash considering it doesn't include any per-phone pricing. The idea that there's no subsidy cash built into that figure is disappointing to me.

Anyway, it's possible that most of you were aware of this, but the other 99% of the customers will not be, and that's what AT&T was counting on when they made the move.
 
reggoboy said:
Yes, that's what it seems. When they cross sold us to the current plan, they didn't explain that the upgrades would be much more expensive. That's the rub. It may have been explained here, but most folks I talk to were also not aware of it.

Part of the trickiness is in how they shuffled funds around in the monthly bill. The base cost used to be about $80; that went up to $100. The price per phone went down from $40 to $15. Seemed harmless enough. But by doing so, they allowed the fixed cost to remain and then surprise folks with the per-phone cost when they want to upgrade. (I had asked how upgrades would work and they said pricing was not yet available on future upgrades).

Sure, $15/mo/phone is cheap. But that base $100 is a good hunk of cash considering it doesn't include any per-phone pricing. The idea that there's no subsidy cash built into that figure is disappointing to me.

Anyway, it's possible that most of you were aware of this, but the other 99% of the customers will not be, and that's what AT&T was counting on when they made the move.
Click to expand...

How could you not be aware of this. If you looked at their website it is and has been easily explained. There is no trickery here, you pay $100 for your data bucket, you pay $15 for each owned phone to attach to the data bucket. If you want a new phone you either buy it outright and still pay $15, do a 2 yr contract and pay the added $25 to pay off the phone, or use next and pay tax up front, and pay the added monthly fee to pay off the phone.
 
Stupid question about the plan... I wouldn't have to give up my unlimited data plan, right?
 
jca24 said:
How could you not be aware of this. If you looked at their website it is and has been easily explained. There is no trickery here, you pay $100 for your data bucket, you pay $15 for each owned phone to attach to the data bucket. If you want a new phone you either buy it outright and still pay $15, do a 2 yr contract and pay the added $25 to pay off the phone, or use next and pay tax up front, and pay the added monthly fee to pay off the phone.
Click to expand...

The web site has changed substantially from when I signed up months ago. Having said this, almost all of my interaction was with a representative over the phone and not via the web site.
 
reggoboy said:
The web site has changed substantially from when I signed up months ago. Having said this, almost all of my interaction was with a representative over the phone and not via the web site.
Click to expand...

When they started the new data plans in early Feb. it has been clearly stated on the ATT website. If you want a new phone and don't want your monthly bill to go up just buy outright.
 
reggoboy said:
The web site has changed substantially from when I signed up months ago. Having said this, almost all of my interaction was with a representative over the phone and not via the web site.
Click to expand...

And thats the problem with you and many other consumers.
Carrier reps will do whatever they can to get more sales and point people in the direction that the company wants them to steer customers to. They will forget to mention the cons or present just the benefits or avoid certain questions or act as if they don't know what will happen with future devices and how etc...
Its your duty and responsibility to research and find out exactly what you're getting yourself into and fully understand every price option and every cost associated with your plan or contract.
Its pretty ignorant to say oh they didn't explain everything to me or I didn't fully understand it, I interacted over the phone and didnt look at the website and many more excuses. Poor me, I didn't know.
Well next time educate yourself and fully understand what you're getting into.
 
engelke2010 said:
Stupid question about the plan... I wouldn't have to give up my unlimited data plan, right?
Click to expand...

I had 2 unlimited phones. 1 at 2gb. The gb user went over often. The unlimited did very little. Now we spread our usuage over all phones, and with 10gb with 4 phones plus ipads at $160 per month.

I know some people want to hold onto unlimited. I was VERY STUPID in doing that for many many years.
 
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