Apple to Offer New Contract-Free Plan Options for iPhones in U.S. Retail Stores

[Giuly]

Sales staff will promote ATT's $60 per month pre-paid plan (with 2.5GB of internet data and unlimited talk and text) to those seeking AT&T plans, while the stores will offer $50/month (1GB LTE data) and $70/month (5GB LTE data) unlimited data plans to customers seeking T-Mobile devices

Oh my, what a splendid marketing team and pricing strategy they've got themselves there. Quite marvellous.

That is, unless you've just bought Beats, of course. France has a $25 prepaid plan with unlimited text, voice and 2.5GB of data, and cheap data to refill. Italy has $50 plans with 15GB of data, and $15 plans with unlimited music streaming. And both have SIM-locked iPhones with what is basically financing at around $30 per month for two years. Sweden, of course, as 10GB of data per month for $25, too.

But it's definitively nice to see the ISPs of the US, Germany and the UK celebrating Y2K and approaching the 2000s decade. If they'd just put a 1 in front of the 5GB, they might as well be mistaken for state-of-the-art.

 

[Yakibomb]

And all plans quoted cost more than double what they should. Telcos in North America are greedy slime-ball weasels.

I would kill for North American speeds and prices What I end up paying for data here is actually disgusting compared, especially when you take into account the speed and network coverage

 

[lolkthxbai]

What's the difference between month-to-month and prepaid? Aren't they kind of the same thing...?

 

[Yakibomb]

What's the difference between month-to-month and prepaid? Aren't they kind of the same thing...?

Well with prepaid you don't have to worry about the obligation of signing a 24 month contract, so at any given point you're free to change plans or carriers.

 

[kdarling]

Wow, this will be a way to handle the migration away from 2 year subsidy plans.

There's a lot of people who'd buy an iPhone with payments spread out over 2 years as opposed to plunking down $700 all at once.

Nice move on Apple's part.

I think you misread it. This is not about payment plans for the phone. It's about trying to bring more unlocked iPhone sales into the Apple stores.

The idea is that by about offering a couple of cellular plan kits for an unlocked phone in the Apple store itself, more unlocked buyers will come to Apple instead of buying elsewhere.

Why would anyone buy a non-contract phone from Apple using what's described in the OP? Unless I missed something, the most important point is buried: "The activations must be done at the time of purchase in Apple Stores and those devices will be unable to be returned to Apple for a refund."

I think you're right. Something is missing.

Most likely, the no-refund policy applies to the purchased plan.

 

[NutFlush920]

Well with prepaid you don't have to worry about the obligation of signing a 24 month contract, so at any given point you're free to change plans or carriers.

Now days you don't have to sign a 24 month contract if you buy the iPhone outright with at&t or Verizon. You in fact save $25/mo per line on the Family Share plans that have 10+ GB if you don't subsidize.

In my opinion it's best to buy the Verizon iPhone outright as it gives you the most freedom to change carriers and keep your same iPhone. You can use it on at&t, T-Mobile, and of course Verizon here in the US.

 

[JoEw]

Why would anyone buy a non-contract phone from Apple using what's described in the OP? Unless I missed something, the most important point is buried: "The activations must be done at the time of purchase in Apple Stores and those devices will be unable to be returned to Apple for a refund."

Who would give up their consumer protection just to buy a phone in an Apple store? There has to be something missing in the OP.

How is this unlocked if I have to activate it at time of purchase?

Why no refund option? Doesn't Apple give us 30 days?

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Now days you don't have to sign a 24 month contract if you buy the iPhone outright with at&t or Verizon. You in fact save $25/mo per line on the Family Share plans that have 10+ GB if you don't subsidize.

In my opinion it's best to buy the Verizon iPhone outright as it gives you the most freedom to change carriers and keep your same iPhone. You can use it on at&t, T-Mobile, and of course Verizon here in the US.

I always wondered why Apple made 2 different models of iPhone, why not just sell Verizon one to everyone??

 

[NutFlush920]

I always wondered why Apple made 2 different models of iPhone, why not just sell Verizon one to everyone??

My guess is that internal space doesn't allow room for all the antennas. Perhaps with the rumored sizes of the 6, there will be 1 US model. Would make sense with more carriers moving towards this new business model of no longer subsidizing. Can't imagine people would accept paying $650+ for a new phone anytime they want to switch carriers.

$200 subsidized was a lot for most people so this would really rattle some cages if they found out they couldn't take their $650+ iPhone (or other smartphone) and use it on other carriers.

I think the phone and service should be separate. Back in the days of landlines, if I wanted to switch providers, I didn't need to buy a specific phone to use with their service. I simply called and switched. They did what they needed to make it happen and I (the customer) continued using whatever phone I had plugged into the wall jack. The more features (bells and whistles) the phone had, the more expensive it was.

Here s a great site for those who want to look. https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/

 

[Rocketman]

Hopefully as more years pass and the majority of consumers buy phones unlocked, phones will actually compete on price and that means cheaper smartphones for us all. I see this as a step towards that future.

Since iPhone 1 almost 7 years ago we are only now getting unlocked phones. It will be another couple of years till any sort of cost competition creeps in since plan costs offset device costs with sharing to Apple, prepaid or not.

Rocketman

 

[lolkthxbai]

Well with prepaid you don't have to worry about the obligation of signing a 24 month contract, so at any given point you're free to change plans or carriers.

Month-to-Month isn't under contract either so....

 

[JoEw]

My guess is that internal space doesn't allow room for all the antennas. Perhaps with the rumored sizes of the 6, there will be 1 US model. Would make sense with more carriers moving towards this new business model of no longer subsidizing. Can't imagine people would accept paying $650+ for a new phone anytime they want to switch carriers.

$200 subsidized was a lot for most people so this would really rattle some cages if they found out they couldn't take their $650+ iPhone (or other smartphone) and use it on other carriers.

I think the phone and service should be separate. Back in the days of landlines, if I wanted to switch providers, I didn't need to buy a specific phone to use with their service. I simply called and switched. They did what they needed to make it happen and I (the customer) continued using whatever phone I had plugged into the wall jack. The more features (bells and whistles) the phone had, the more expensive it was.

Here s a great site for those who want to look. https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/

But the Verizon model supports everything the ATT model does and more bands according to the chart.. so why even sell that crippled ATT model? Must be left over from ATT exclusive deal when the original iPhone came along.

 

[SeaFox]

Well with prepaid you don't have to worry about the obligation of signing a 24 month contract, so at any given point you're free to change plans or carriers.

Yeah, try again.

Prepaid is normally sold by the minute. You recharge your phone like you would filling the tank on your car -- whenever you get low. The main stipulation is you have to add minutes to your phone at least every 90 days to keep the account active and your phone number working.

Month-to-month works more like a normal cell phone plan. You get a set allotment of minutes/texts/airtime each month. Your rate is set and the same month to month, the difference is you pay before each month starts and if you run out of minutes your service stops working instead of being charged an overage.

 

[Yakibomb]

The main stipulation is you have to add minutes to your phone at least every 90 days to keep the account active and your phone number working.

Oh sorry, where i'm from we don't have to add minutes every 90 days to keep our numbers. Seems like such an inconvenience

 

[berehon]

Lol, here in Poland I have unlimited calls, texts and 27GB of internet for 29$...

Here in Ukraine I have unlimited data and 100 free minutes of voice each day for $3,5/month.

 

[furi0usbee]

I'm paying $30.00/mo (with $5.00 discount monthly for debit card attached) with Virgin Mobile. They use Sprint's network and around here it's decent, but not as good as Verizon/AT&T. But for the price I can't complain. A $60/mo pre-paid plan? And pay full cost for the phone? Why wouldn't I just pay $75/mo and get a subsidized phone if going that route?

That's what I mean about these greedy companies presenting "options." Oh, you have them, but they all suck. If VM ever stops the great plan they have, I won't be using iPhone any longer. I'd go back to an iPad mini w minimal data plan and use Skype for incoming calls (as I did before).

Hell, if the iPod Touch had 4G LTE, I'd dump the iPhone all together and use that, as I very rarely make calls. It's all about the data.

 

[NSeven]

In UK i have unlimited 3G (including tethering) 2000 Texts and 5000 mins a month... Tooo goood! all for £15 a month.

 

[pika2000]

If only Apple made a single model for the iPhone to supports all LTE bands around the world, just like the iPad.

 

[SeaFox]

Oh sorry, where i'm from we don't have to add minutes every 90 days to keep our numbers. Seems like such an inconvenience

It's going to vary by carrier/MVNO what the policy is. It boils down to: phone numbers are a finite resource (kind of like public IPv4 addresses). They have a value of their own and the carrier wants some sort of revenue from you to justify keeping an active account in their billing system and holding that number for your usage instead of giving it to another customer. The cost can be super cheap when you consider how small minute packages can be and that you only have to buy one once a set period to show you're still an active customer.

How does your phone companies keep from having all their phone numbers potentially tied up in dormant/abandoned accounts then?

 

[Yakibomb]

How does your phone companies keep from having all their phone numbers potentially tied up in dormant/abandoned accounts then?

They just monitor activity on accounts, if there is no activity for an extended period (generally around 18 months) they shut them down. But I know they cannot shut them down here if you still have minutes equal to around $1 and have been active on the network for a long time. For example I found an old sim card that I haven't used in at least 3 years that hasn't been shut down yet. I guess because we're a relatively small county dormant/abandoned accounts isn't too much of an issue at the moment

 

[charlituna]

I wonder (and hope) if this means Apple will have stock of unlocked iPhone 6 that I can pick up in their store on launch day because I do not want to wait WEEKS AFTER the launch for the unlocked version to become available for order online only, then wait another 4-6+ weeks for shipment. I want an unlocked iPhone ON LAUNCH DAY!!!

If they do then it will probably require activation of service. To keep out the folks buying them to send overseas

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I noticed this too. I don't think Apple can do that; there has to be some sort of return policy on the device.

Or they don't. Many states, if not all, allow for final sale so long as the customer is made aware of this at time of purchase.

Apple has offices full of lawyers, you can bet they verified this policy to make sure it was legal.

 

[dishfan82]

So can you spread out payments if you buy at the Apple store??

 

[GeyservilleMan]

I pre-ordered was unlocked. I don't see why anyone had a problem getting an unlocked model straight away.

The Apple Business Department couldn't give me a straight answer as to whether it was usable in Europe as well. So I waited and waited until almost December before the finally had an available 5S officially unlocked and then decided I'd wait for the iPhone 6

 

[usamaah]

Since iPhone 1 almost 7 years ago we are only now getting unlocked phones. It will be another couple of years till any sort of cost competition creeps in since plan costs offset device costs with sharing to Apple, prepaid or not.

Rocketman

But the iPhone isn't the only phone on the market. Already you can get quality Windows and Android phones for <$100. And I mean quality, like they're definitely usable even if the cameras aren't great.

Apple will never get that low with their phones but the pressure will be put upon them to drop the price of the iPhone (or offer a competitive model) that can compete against the $400-600 range. The vast world market is not in the >$600.