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Apple Announces iPhone 3G S, Launching June 19th

Natesac said:
I am a happy 3G owner from (3g launch) in the Dallas area (near the mothership, great 3G here)

I called AT&T (611) today to check on when I could get the $299 price for the 32Gb. The guy on the phone said the computer told him I could get it 12/12/09.....................JawDrop

But he also said that since this announcement is so new that this date is a worst case scenario and he told me to wait a few days for more news from AT&T on how they will be handling current 3G owners.

He also noticed that I had already received an upgrade on 7/11/08. This also happens to be the same day I started my AT&T contract. When I was buying my Iphone 3G on 7/11/08 the guy ran my contract and had me all ready to go and rang me up and right as I was about to swipe my card I noticed the price was $100 too cheap. The goofball had mistakenly picked up a 8GB instead of the 16GB I had asked for. There was an hour long nightmare of the whole store trying to figure out how to let me walk out with a 16GB 3G.

So today, AT&T dude opened up a case (or something like that) for AT&T to look into and remedy the problem. He said AT&T would be calling me in a few days. The guy said he could not make any promises, but most likely this would push the date to "much much earlier" than 12/12/09 for upgrade to 3G S.

I am crossing my fingers. I really want the better camera 32GB and the voice activation looks really cool.

I will probably keep my current 3G to swap the sim in for when I am in high risk locations like the lake, concerts, the beach etc.......
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I have the exact same date to upgrade but my friend can upgrade right now and he got his when I got mine on launch day last year.
 
Lost Sales

I think these subsidy restrictions are deterring existing customers from upgrading to a newer device and a more expensive data plan. They're force to wait until they qualify. That doesn't sound like a great business model.
 
Just got off the phone with ATT. The guy I just spoke to was very informative and gave great news for those of us who were early adapters with on-time payments and such.

On July 11, 2009, I WILL be able to upgrade to the new 3GS for the same subsidized price that a new customer will pay.. ie: 199,299 (16gb,32Gb, respectively).

HOWEVER, my 2nd 3g phone on my account, wont be able to upgrade until March 2010.

I asked him to doube check and make sure his information is correct and he told me that he was just handed the info and read it pretty much word for word.

For those of you with different dates, I asked him why that would be so, since some were purchased on the same day and he said it is determined by several factors, a couple being, payment history, legnth of service.

Good news for me I guess.




From Apple's website: (These prices indicate if I was to order before my July 11th date. NOT what the price will be after July 11th.)

appleupgrade.jpg





From AT&T website:


attupgrade.jpg





I Hope this helps some of the confusion around here...
 
michelle21 said:
Jayenh


Business is business, we will pay the premium, But understand something, developers kind of operate in packs. We communicate a lot.

Expect to pay through you nose for anything coming along. WE HAVE to justify our costs too.
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Then i won't be buying it :) bumping up software costs isn't going to get you more money. sure, you'll make more per sale, but you will make less sales.

if you're not making enough to cover a $200 - $400 premium on top of what a new customer or upgrade eligible customer has to pay so that you can continue your business/hobby then perhaps you should stop with the continued investment into something that isn't turning around and making you profit. and if you work with others, then perhaps you should have looked at the fact that last years contracts were like a normal subbed phone, unlike the 1st year, and designated someone not to upgrade early a year ago so that they can get the next phone (which was guaranteed, we all know how apple work with their strict product cycles) at the end of their original 2yr contract. or perhaps split the cost a little bit since it benefits the team (i'm assuming you work as part of one from how i'm reading your above post)

i don't really want to get in to a lengthy debate or argument, i just think that blaming the carrier and apple is wrong. this is exactly how mobile phone contracts have always been, regardless of how much you love your phones manufacturer or how long you have been with your carrier.
 
I have been with AT&T since the launch of the first iPhone and have never been late on a payment ever. That isn't good enough for them... I think this is funny. I'm not going to complain. It is what it is. Maybe I shouldn't get the new iPhone and this is just telling me I shouldn't... but you never know AT&T may see all these upset current customers and give us a break on the price. I am not worried. I'll get it when I get it if anything.

I do agree they should have all existing iPhone customers on a even playing field as far as pricing.
 
mike105 said:
I talked to Apple and the csr said that free shipping is standard and it will get shipped on the 19th, not delivered on the 19th.

...so I asked about the pickup option and is the availability guaranteed and she wasn't sure about it, but said that there should be one waiting for me at the Apple Store if I preorder.

This is a complete BS. I would rather pay a little more and have it on the 19th, but it seems that no matter which option I pick, it will only get shipped on the 19th and not delivered... and now i don't know what to do.
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Well you could wait till it got delivered. :rolleyes: Just be glad you get it then, unless you just HAVE to be the cool guy with the new phone, I don't have a problem waiting till July. 21st for me.
 
jayenh said:
Then i won't be buying it :) bumping up software costs isn't going to get you more money. sure, you'll make more per sale, but you will make less sales.

if you're not making enough to cover a $200 - $400 premium on top of what a new customer or upgrade eligible customer has to pay so that you can continue your business/hobby then perhaps you should stop with the continued investment into something that isn't turning around and making you profit. and if you work with others, then perhaps you should have looked at the fact that last years contracts were like a normal subbed phone, unlike the 1st year, and designated someone not to upgrade early a year ago so that they can get the next phone (which was guaranteed, we all know how apple work with their strict product cycles) at the end of their original 2yr contract. or perhaps split the cost a little bit since it benefits the team (i'm assuming you work as part of one from how i'm reading your above post)

i don't really want to get in to a lengthy debate or argument, i just think that blaming the carrier and apple is wrong. this is exactly how mobile phone contracts have always been, regardless of how much you love your phones manufacturer or how long you have been with your carrier.
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There is a point to this.

We are trying to get apple to extend the developer agreements by 12 months, because it is the developers and the apps that are keeping the iphone viable in the market place.
 
mspman said:
Personally, I'd be fine with paying my $500 if it did not have a two year agreement extension. That plus the $18 upgrade fee and the $18 activation fee stinks of corporate greed.
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That is my whole issue. I understand when you buy a subsidized phone the contract ends up paying for the hardware. But when you pay full boat for a phone the contract is unjustifiable b/c the CellCo didn't spend a dime to get your account. If fact if I had a choice I'd pay $600 for a phone to not be in a contract.
 
700 comments later, this has probably already been brought up, but AT&T is going about this upgrade situation the worst way possible.

Chances are, most of the people that would buy the S already own a 3G (and are still locked in their contract)... in the end, they'll most likely wait and leave Apple and AT&T with a surplus of these phones and it's basically going to appear to be a failure.
 
Someone here might be able to help me as I haven't gotten through with Apple on the phone yet. I'm on my father's family account (purely for the financial benefit) and have reserved a 3G S at an Apple retail store for launch day, but it says you have to bring a gov't issued ID and your SSN. Of course, those are my father's and he won't be there with me to pick the iPhone up. Will Apple let me pick it up without him being there? Thanks.
 
From Gizmodo: http://i.gizmodo.com/5284318/whiners-of-the-world-shut-up-about-the-iphone-3gs-upgrade-price

So you bought your heavily subsidised iPhone 3G with a two-year contract and now you are upset because AT&T wants to charge you full price for the new iPhone 3GS, right? Well, stop whining. You have no arguments.

I have the iPhone 3G—by the way, I paid an extra $500 deposit on top of the price tag because I didn't have US credit history back then—and I don't qualify for a subsidised upgrade. I have to finish my contract first, then renew to qualify for the subsidy. If I was in Spain or anywhere else in the world, it will be the same.

But I am not whining. Not because I am a fanboy—I hate AT&T with a passion—but because there are no logical arguments to support the whining.

Sure, it sucks to be me and pay almost-full price for the iPhone 3GS, but that's how life is. You don't get a reduced price on your new notebook just because you bought the old model a year ago. You don't get reduced price on cars, or anything else.

The fact is that the $199/$299 price tag for the iPhone is the result of AT&T's—or any other carrier, since the situation is the same all around the world—subsidy. Without subsidy—and tying you to a new two year contract—the iPhone is not different from something like the Nokia N97, which is $700 unlocked. Or the contract-free, unsubsidized iPhone 3G itself: The iPhone 3G costs $770 and $877 unlocked for the 8 and 16GB versions.

I hate to defend AT&T or any other carrier. I hate their guts. All of them. Their monthly fees are highway robbery, yes. Their roaming charges are unjustified and just outrageous. And while you—and I—may think that you are entitled to a discount because of those fees, that doesn't make much sense. I'm afraid that, this time, they are right. And on top of that, your carrier is actually giving you a discount already. Tiny, but compared to the full price of the unsubsidized iPhone, it's there.

You better get used to this too. These smart phones are really computers. And as applications get more and more complex—especially games—you will want to have the latest and fastest, whether is iPhone, Android, Palm, Windows Mobile, or Blackberry. Just like you upgrade your notebook or desktop computer or video game console.

And with all of those brands, the situation will be exactly the same. Without a subsidy, you will keep paying full price for these tiny and wonderful computers. All of them. And that price will stay at around $600 for a long time to come. It happened before, and it's not going to change.


Or better yet: Don't buy a new phone. Who cares about "new." Does your iPhone 3G work now? Yes? Then get the free iPhone OS 3.0 and enjoy the speed boost from optimization and the rest of the apps. In this economy, you will do yourself a favor.

In the meantime, do the rest of the world a favor and stop whining about what you are entitled to. We don't live in your pretty me me me world.
 
I'm not too happy about the same glossy back. I don't want to get a rubber case to be able to to grip it better because I don't like cases too much.

Also, is there still no flash?
 
Look, we all know how subsidies work. But to those who say "Oh you Apple fanboys think you are special, blah blah", we are in fact very special to AT&T.

A report in April indicated their were 4.5 million iPhone users on AT&T. AT&T claims 78.2 million total customers.

So the iPhone customers represent less than 6% of their customer base, yet accounted for 27% of AT&T's wireless revenue for the quarter. I'd say that is more than reason to demonstrate the unique value of iPhone users.

And to all of the issues with subsidies paid by AT&T, the above report also indicates that before launching the 3G, AT&T had an operating margin of 41.2%. After launching the 3G, that dropped to 33.5% due to the subsidies. However, as of the report date, the margins were back to 40.9% ... where they were at before the launch. So with increased volume of users AT&T has already been paid back for the subsidies less 1 year into the 2 year contracts. With not as many people upgrading to the new iPhone, their margins wouldn't be affected as much as last year and would certainly recover much faster than 1 year.

It just seems extremely short-sighted on AT&T's part since their is no guarantee of exclusivity past next year. Why not lock up that many more customers through 2011?
 
Everyone keeps going on and on about you got your price cut last year and you have to wait and finish out your contract before getting another price cut deal with it... but the facts are most people are going to be able to get that price reduction before their current contract is up...I know I will but it just won't be at launch of 3GS. Not really a big deal.
 
gibbz said:
Look, we all know how subsidies work. But to those who say "Oh you Apple fanboys think you are special, blah blah", we are in fact very special to AT&T.

A report in April indicated their were 4.5 million iPhone users on AT&T. AT&T claims 78.2 million total customers.

So the iPhone customers represent less than 6% of their customer base, yet accounted for 27% of AT&T's wireless revenue for the quarter. I'd say that is more than reason to demonstrate the unique value of iPhone users.

And to all of the issues with subsidies paid by AT&T, the above report also indicates that before launching the 3G, AT&T had an operating margin of 41.2%. After launching the 3G, that dropped to 33.5% due to the subsidies. However, as of the report date, the margins were back to 40.9% ... where they were at before the launch. So with increased volume of users AT&T has already been paid back for the subsidies less 1 year into the 2 year contracts. With not as many people upgrading to the new iPhone, their margins wouldn't be affected as much as last year and would certainly recover much faster than 1 year.
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We produce them more money because of the data plan mainly. The majority of customers do not pay for a data service at all. And not all iPhone customers use a lot of data probably. We are required to have it.
 
In Canada, the old 16GB models are cheaper than the old/new 8GB ones... Perfect way to clear out inventory!!
 

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Is it really worth it?

After comparing my 3G to the new 3GS, I can't see where it is really worth paying a premium to upgrade. The 3GS has a few new bells and whistles but isn't exactly game changing. With iPhone OS 3.0, my 3G will be more than adequate. Given the fact that AT&T 3G service is at best, sort of usable when it is running perfectly, I don't see how many will benefit from the new speed bump. Maybe in a year it will be better. I am sure by then the iPhone 3GS-XYZ.... will be a bit more of a good buy.
 
#1 - I'm pretty peeved that a $99 bill would have gotten me eligibility in July, but my $97 bill per month doesn't. There'll be a phone call.

#2 - You people who keep saying OMG OMG YOU HAVE NO ARGUMENTS GET OVER IT - you're wrong. There are no LEGAL arguments, and that is correct.

There are other arguments, and I support most of them. See below.

WaPo said:
There are no shortage of AT&T iPhone customers who are pissed off at the company. Not only is their service sketchy at best in many places (I have spotty service in San Francisco, but it was much worse when I was in NYC this past week), but they do things like delay the roll out of features that the rest of the world is getting because they have other providers. And they do things like block the Sling player app from streaming over 3G on just the iPhone, while it works fine on other phones. And they rip us off with text messages (as do other carriers, though AT&T was particularly bad when moving from the original iPhone to the iPhone 3G). The list goes on.

Why this matters is that the dislike of AT&T, mixed with a not huge update to the iPhone and a higher subsidized price could be a perfect storm for users that normally would upgrade, not to. I probably will because the iPhone is integral to my work and I could use more speed and power, but the fact that I'm questioning it should say something. I didn't question it for a second last year.


But here's why it's really a very questionable upgrade: Because Apple is at some point going to move the iPhone beyond the AT&T network. That move could happen as soon as next year. If you buy this iPhone 3G S now, you'll be locked in for two more years (or have to pay the large cancellation fee). Now, AT&T is trying to negotiate with Apple to extend its exclusive deal through 2011, in which case the move to the iPhone 3G S would make some sense. But that has not happened yet, and AT&T is playing in risky waters. If I learned tomorrow that AT&T and Apple were ending their exclusive deal in 2010, there is no way I would upgrade. I'd suck it up and wait for a year.

That's why it may have been smart for AT&T to extend an olive branch to current iPhone users and give them the same subsidized price as new users. Sure, they would have taken a hit, probably a fairly big one, but big picture, I don't think it would be all that bad. First of all, not all current owners would upgrade even at the lower price. Second, if you think about it, it's not really that big of a hit for them. It's really only $200 per customer ? AT&T makes that off of me in two months with my bill. And if they do lose the Apple exclusivity, they will effectively be losing $1,200 (one year's worth of bills) that I otherwise would have been paying them.
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I wonder what Apple thinks about all this? They are the ones who face to lose the most. Remember, one less person able to get upgrade pricing means one less iPhone Gs sold by Apple. And, we all know how Apple likes to brag about number of iPhone units sold. Poor iPhone 3Gs sales are not going to look good on their slide presentations. We saw how poorly the original iPhone sold compared to the 3G with no subsidy, so we should expect similar sales for the 3Gs (with no subsidy). I have a feeling Apple will step up in a few months once they realize new 3Gs sales are not quite media newsworthy.
 
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