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Apple in talks with T-Mobile about new iPhone and iPad?

Amazing Iceman

Amazing Iceman

macrumors 603
Original poster
Nov 8, 2008
6,102
5,102
Florida, U.S.A.
About 3 hours ago, I was informed by a reliable "Apple source" that Apple and T-Mobile are negotiating to offer the upcoming iPhone and the iPad (not sure if it's the current version or an upcoming version).

This would mean great news for me and other users, as I have always been hesitant about switching my mobile phone service to AT&T. I have been waiting for a long time, so hopefully this is the year I've been waiting for.

Well, I'm sure many people will be happy to hear this, please take it with a hint of salt until this rumor gets confirmed by other sources, if it hasn't already.
 
Of course Apple will add T-Mobile U.S. to the new iPhone carrier list, they do this on purpose every year, to make sales look better.

First it was Verizon added after only being on ATT in the U.S. and sales grew, but they grew due to having all those new Verizon customers now. Then last year Apple added Sprint, again making sales larger, but only because they have all these new Sprint subscribers now. And this Fall T-Mobile will be added, again to increase sales.

My point is, if Apple had all 4 U.S. carriers om board form the start, I bet the sales #'s don't look like they grow so much each year, they would have plateaued at some point. But if you add on a big carrier every year, of course the % of sales grows with that. Not necessarily that the iPhone is selling better.
 
Darthdingo said:
Of course Apple will add T-Mobile U.S. to the new iPhone carrier list, they do this on purpose every year, to make sales look better.

First it was Verizon added after only being on ATT in the U.S. and sales grew, but they grew due to having all those new Verizon customers now. Then last year Apple added Sprint, again making sales larger, but only because they have all these new Sprint subscribers now. And this Fall T-Mobile will be added, again to increase sales.

My point is, if Apple had all 4 U.S. carriers om board form the start, I bet the sales #'s don't look like they grow so much each year, they would have plateaued at some point. But if you add on a big carrier every year, of course the % of sales grows with that. Not necessarily that the iPhone is selling better.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm sure Apple holds back on massive amounts of sales year by year just to create artificial sales numbers. :rolleyes:

Please--these deals are hard to make, and rely a lot on the carriers who have to buy the phones at retail price and decide whether or not they feel they can sell enough of them to make it worth the trouble and recoup their money on contracts.

The smartphone market is still a growing market. Ask Apple if they've been holding back on adding the iPhone to China Mobile just to make it look like they're growing when they aren't.
 
Spiderman, good point. Last year it was said Sprint had to make a HUGE multi-billion dollar investment to have the iPhone, not easy to get that kind of capital and spend all that money, which will take years of iPhone sales to make that back.

I was always confused as to why T-Mobile U.S. never got the iPhone ? T-Mobile Europe has it, why not here in the U.S. ? Did ATT pressure Apple not to allow T-Mobile U.S. to have it due to competition ?
 
Darthdingo said:
I was always confused as to why T-Mobile U.S. never got the iPhone ? T-Mobile Europe has it, why not here in the U.S. ? Did ATT pressure Apple not to allow T-Mobile U.S. to have it due to competition ?
Click to expand...

Mostly it was because T-Mobile's 3G network was incompatible with AT&T's 3G network. Instead of creating an iPhone that supported both, Apple went ahead and created one that would support most of the world's 3G bands. It's only now that T-Mobile is refarming one of their bands to support the 4S that Apple can now ink out a deal with them.

Also, presumably the European T-Mobile networks are similar to AT&T and not T-Mobile USA.
 
Darthdingo said:
I was always confused as to why T-Mobile U.S. never got the iPhone ? T-Mobile Europe has it, why not here in the U.S. ? Did ATT pressure Apple not to allow T-Mobile U.S. to have it due to competition ?
Click to expand...

You're thinking too much about conspiracy. T-Mobile uses different 3G frequencies compared to AT&T. Therefor a normal GSM phone is not UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+ compatible with both carriers.
 
About 5 minutes ago, I was informed by a "reliable" Apple source that T-Mobile with not get the iPhone until 2013. The "reliable" Apple source told me that this is because T-Mobile does not have LTE in place and won't until next year.
 
andyx3x said:
About 5 minutes ago, I was informed by a "reliable" Apple source that T-Mobile with not get the iPhone until 2013. The "reliable" Apple source told me that this is because T-Mobile does not have LTE in place and won't until next year.
Click to expand...

My ice cream truck guy said the same but also added that Tmobile does not want to give Apple a check with many zeros at the end. So them beeing cheap basicly is the problem he said.
BTW, the info is confidential and "reliable" and confirmed;)
 
RNVarma said:
Mostly it was because T-Mobile's 3G network was incompatible with AT&T's 3G network. Instead of creating an iPhone that supported both, Apple went ahead and created one that would support most of the world's 3G bands. It's only now that T-Mobile is refarming one of their bands to support the 4S that Apple can now ink out a deal with them.

Also, presumably the European T-Mobile networks are similar to AT&T and not T-Mobile USA.
Click to expand...

Well the new iPhone is supposed to support T-Mobile's 3G frequency, but now that T-Mobile is re-farming, it may no longer be necessary.

The facts that they are negotiating does not necessarily mean they may come to an agreement in time for the iPhone 5 launch. And as someone else posted above, T-Mobile may not be ready for LTE, but may be ready for 3G if they new iPhone supports their 3G frequency.

Three more months of waiting and we may now the truth.
I'm currently desperate for a new phone, but I want an iPhone so I'll keep waiting... Heheheh!
 
Amazing Iceman said:
About 3 hours ago, I was informed by a reliable "Apple source" that Apple and T-Mobile are negotiating to offer the upcoming iPhone and the iPad (not sure if it's the current version or an upcoming version).

This would mean great news for me and other users, as I have always been hesitant about switching my mobile phone service to AT&T. I have been waiting for a long time, so hopefully this is the year I've been waiting for.

Well, I'm sure many people will be happy to hear this, please take it with a hint of salt until this rumor gets confirmed by other sources, if it hasn't already.
Click to expand...

I have read those rumors too a few weeks back. Would be great for T-Mobile to get more customers since they have the cheapest rates going.
On my value plan with 5 lines(two so far with data) i only pay $128 a month. To add data to another phone is only $10. That is for the up to 2GB unlimited and apparently we only average using around than .75 GB per month each so it works for me.
I dont stream music or movies which is why i love having the micro card slot. I have it all there.
 
Amazing Iceman said:
Well the new iPhone is supposed to support T-Mobile's 3G frequency, but now that T-Mobile is re-farming, it may no longer be necessary.

The facts that they are negotiating does not necessarily mean they may come to an agreement in time for the iPhone 5 launch. And as someone else posted above, T-Mobile may not be ready for LTE, but may be ready for 3G if they new iPhone supports their 3G frequency.

Three more months of waiting and we may now the truth.
I'm currently desperate for a new phone, but I want an iPhone so I'll keep waiting... Heheheh!
Click to expand...
Im sure it would get 4G as well. T-Mobile doesnt need LTE. Their HSPA+ is pretty fast and AT&T doesnt have it either. Its only Verizon i think and they are expensive.
 
Vegastouch said:
Im sure it would get 4G as well. T-Mobile doesnt need LTE. Their HSPA+ is pretty fast and AT&T doesnt have it either. Its only Verizon i think and they are expensive.
Click to expand...

This is what I was coming here to say. In the US, unless you're on Verizon, LTE is not spread out enough yet to matter. Assuming the next iPhone supports LTE, the vast majority of iPhone users will still be using 3G speeds anyway. If the T-Mobile iPhone would work on HSPA+, then people would still be very happy because their HSPA+ is pretty damn quick (I know this from experience with my current phone).
 
Having the iPhone on more carriers will definitely be good news for all of us since we'll all have another carrier to choose from. Not everyone likes the direction AT&T and Verizon are headed towards with their new share plans so it's great to have more carriers to choose from.
 
The Galaxy Nexus supports all North American UMTS bands with the same radio (which includes T-mobile), so it is possible for one device to do it.

T-mobile was given a ton of bandwidth by AT&T as consolation for the failed takeover..... they have traded some of it back for access to iphone-compatible frequencies....but this is probably as much a move to clear up space for their LTE deployment as for anything else.

I seriously doubt that T-mobile is going to cut a deal for the iphone. It hasn't gone well for Sprint, and Verizon isn't even pushing the iphone at its stores. With AT&T now unlocking iphones, T-mobile will probably find it far cheaper (and less hassle) to let customers bring their own iphones onto the network.
 
Tarzanman said:
The Galaxy Nexus supports all North American UMTS bands with the same radio (which includes T-mobile), so it is possible for one device to do it.

T-mobile was given a ton of bandwidth by AT&T as consolation for the failed takeover..... they have traded some of it back for access to iphone-compatible frequencies....but this is probably as much a move to clear up space for their LTE deployment as for anything else.

I seriously doubt that T-mobile is going to cut a deal for the iphone. It hasn't gone well for Sprint, and Verizon isn't even pushing the iphone at its stores. With AT&T now unlocking iphones, T-mobile will probably find it far cheaper (and less hassle) to let customers bring their own iphones onto the network.
Click to expand...

So your saying all those sales they had for the 4S are still going thru AT&T because Verizon is pushing people to Android phones? I dont agree. And i havent heard or seen one thing that indicates T-Mobile wants to go the LTE route.

Yeah the iPhone on Sprint is slow and from my experience and others i know here in my area that have Sprint, it still isnt very good but what i read a few weeks ago was that T-Mobile see's themselves losing customers and can gain many back by having the iPhone. They didnt try to go with them earlier because Apple wanted a ridiculous amount of money but now T-Mobile sees it as a possitive for the long run.

Sure for them it is cheaper by just letting customers use the iPhone on their network but for many ....like me , EDGE isnt worth sticking with the iPhone on their network. I think they will get more customers if they have the iPhone as a part of their available phones because they are the cheapest of all the others. It certainly wont hurt at all.
 
Last edited:
If T-Mobile wants to stay competitive, or rather, become competitive it needs the iPhone.

T-Mobile will be the odd man out for iPhone5, and that is sure to cause some pain to their bottom line.
 
I want to upgrade to a iPhone and get rid of my laggy as hell iPod Touch 4G but I am waiting and waiting for T-Mobile to offer it. I have T-Mobile with a old flip phone and get the pay as you go but I would sign up contract and all for a iPhone. I want a iPhone 4S because the iPhone 5 might have a new dock connector which will make all of my stereo docks obsolete. :confused:
 
I will never go back to T-mobile. They treat their customers like crap, their service is no good, and they don't honor their own protection plans. I don't care if the next iPhone is a TMO exclusive, I can make do without it.
 
I hope this is true
I been waiting forever for the iPhone to come out on tmobile
I love their plans and their service
I was thinking of switching carriers but is not worth it since all the other carriers are to expensive
I think I'll save a lot of money by just buying a iPhone unlocked and running it on tmobile with 3G speed ones their done with their upgrade

And in my opinion lte is not needed currently since it drains the battery of phones
Heck 3G drains a lot of battery also
 
Vegastouch said:
Ive never had a problem with TMo in the 8 years ive been with them. Maybe you just had a bad sales rep you talked to.
Click to expand...

Yes, I did. Every time I called/stopped in, for the entire four years I was with them. I paid for a protection plan on a phone. The phone went dead one day without me dropping it or damaging it in any way. The phone was still under warranty. They refused to replace the phone. I later find out there was a problem with this specific phone and thousands of people were affected. Somehow it was still my fault in their eyes. Good riddance.
 
Darthdingo said:
Spiderman, good point. Last year it was said Sprint had to make a HUGE multi-billion dollar investment to have the iPhone, not easy to get that kind of capital and spend all that money, which will take years of iPhone sales to make that back.

I was always confused as to why T-Mobile U.S. never got the iPhone ? T-Mobile Europe has it, why not here in the U.S. ? Did ATT pressure Apple not to allow T-Mobile U.S. to have it due to competition ?
Click to expand...


T-Mobile International AG is a German holding company for Deutsche Telekom AG's various mobile communications subsidiaries outside Germany.

German Courts need to be nice to Apple. ;)
 
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