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T-Mobile USA Begins Taking Pre-Orders for iPhone 5 Ahead of April 12 Launch

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Apr 12, 2001
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In line with its previously announced timeline, T-Mobile USA today began taking pre-orders for the iPhone 5 ahead of its April 12 launch.

t-mobile_iphone_4_preorder.jpg
Under T-Mobile's new payment model, the 16 GB iPhone 5 requires a down payment of $99.99 with the customer also responsible for an additional 24 monthly payments of $20, bringing the total cost of the device to $579.99. The 32 GB and 64 GB models carry the same monthly payment amounts, but require larger down payments of $199.99 and $299.99 respectively.

Single-line service plans for the iPhone 5 require no contract and begin at $50/month for unlimited talk, text, and data, although data is slowed to 2G speeds once the customer reaches 500 MB for the month. A $60/month plan raises the high-speed data cap to 2.5 GB, and a $70/month plan includes unlimited high-speed data.

Article Link: T-Mobile USA Begins Taking Pre-Orders for iPhone 5 Ahead of April 12 Launch
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/04/05/t-mobile-usa-begins-taking-pre-orders-for-iphone-5-ahead-of-april-12-launch/
Scarpad

Scarpad

macrumors 68020
Jan 13, 2005
2,135
632
Ma
so you are basically paying for an unsubsidized phone but then bound to a two year commitment and no savings on the plans ? Why would I do this again ?
 
Popeye206

Popeye206

macrumors 68040
Sep 6, 2007
3,148
836
NE PA USA
Scarpad said:
so you are basically paying for an unsubsidized phone but then bound to a two year commitment and no savings on the plans ? Why would I do this again ?
Click to expand...

Because this is not a contract like with AT&T or Verizon where you pay $200 up front and pay the additional forever if you never upgrade. With this plan you eventually pay off the phone and $20 a month comes off your bill.

I think this is a very unique and appears to be better way to do this. I hope we see others follow.
 
Chupa Chupa

Chupa Chupa

macrumors G5
Jul 16, 2002
14,835
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Scarpad said:
so you are basically paying for an unsubsidized phone but then bound to a two year commitment and no savings on the plans ? Why would I do this again ?
Click to expand...

I think you missed the 2nd paragraph of the article:

"Single-line service plans for the iPhone 5 require no contract and begin at $50/month for unlimited talk, text, and data, although data is slowed to 2G speeds once the customer reaches 500 MB for the month. A $60/month plan raises the high-speed data cap to 2.5 GB, and a $70/month plan includes unlimited high-speed data."


The 24 monthly payments of $20 are installment payments for the phone IF you don't want to put out the entire $580 immediately. Also, T-Mob will unlock the phone as soon as the phone is paid off, unlike ATT.

I'm on ATT & no plan to switch to T-Mob, but based on U.S. coverage, not $. T-Mob as a carrier is meh, that is why I won't switch.
 
M

madsci954

macrumors 68030
Oct 14, 2011
2,725
658
Ohio
Scarpad said:
so you are basically paying for an unsubsidized phone but then bound to a two year commitment and no savings on the plans ? Why would I do this again ?
Click to expand...

You're only bound if/until the phone is fully paid off. After that, you can leave if you want at no extra fee or if you stay, your bill ranges $50-$70 depending on the data plan.
 
velocityg4

velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,329
4,717
Georgia
It just struck me as to how much profit Apple must make on the 32GB and 64GB models. Since the price differences of SD cards of the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models are nowhere close to the $100 and $200.

Assuming that is the type of memory they use in the iPhone. Which makes sense because of the small size.
 
M-O

M-O

macrumors 6502a
Mar 15, 2011
502
0
why would anyone buy the unlocked phone from Apple if it's $70 cheaper at t-mobile?
 
QCassidy352

QCassidy352

macrumors G5
Mar 20, 2003
12,028
6,036
Bay Area
Those prices are good. Good, but not great, when you consider how limited (geographically) t-mo's network is. If they have strong signal where you are, and you don't travel much, then great. But I used to have a t-mo blackberry for work, and it didn't get signal a lot of places my AT&T iPhone did. So for me, that cost savings (which is really not so much at all with the $20/month while paying off the device) is not enough to justify the loss in service.
 
Diode

Diode

macrumors 68020
Apr 15, 2004
2,443
125
Washington DC
Anyone know if the plans include all taxes and fees?

$60/month for 2.5GB of data w/tethering would be a deal if it didn't include the ~$5 in taxes and fees AT&T dings me with.

Also it would be nice if you could put down more - say $300 from the sale of your phone and pay off the rest monthly....
 
P

PinoyAko

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2012
272
1
Dumb question. Can I use this phone using a different country's SIM? I am planning to travel and would like to use another country's SIM.
 
X

xmaseve

macrumors regular
Oct 24, 2007
111
1
M-O said:
why would anyone buy the unlocked phone from Apple if it's $70 cheaper at t-mobile?
Click to expand...

I bought mine from Apple since its factory unlocked and I don't have to bother calling a carrier to unlock it. Also, if the phone needs to get swapped out, a new unlock request doesn't need to be put in for the replacement phone...Apple just replaces it with another unlocked one.

Plus, the 30 day return policy Apple has is great.
 
slu

slu

macrumors 68000
Sep 15, 2004
1,636
107
Buffalo
M-O said:
why would anyone buy the unlocked phone from Apple if it's $70 cheaper at t-mobile?
Click to expand...

This is a good question. I personally use Straight Talk with my unlocked iPhone 4, but if I can get an unlocked phone from T-Mobile for a cheaper price than Apple when I am ready to get my next phone, I will. Hopefully I can get a good deal on a 5 when the 5S comes out.

I tried T-Mobile on my iPhone 4, but the refarmed coverage where I live is very spotty. But my work phone is T-Mobile and supports AWS, which gives me much better service, but if I am in the middle of nowhere, it doesn't work nearly as well as my Straight Talk sim.
 
F

fr33 loader

macrumors regular
Jul 25, 2007
207
0
PinoyAko said:
Dumb question. Can I use this phone using a different country's SIM? I am planning to travel and would like to use another country's SIM.
Click to expand...

I would assume after you have paid for the phone completely and ask T-Mob to unlock your phone, you would be able to use any SIM card on it...
 
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