Cause in my area, AT&T coverage actually sucks.
And plus I love paying only $40/mo (with data included) via T-Mo fam plan. Do I need 3G? Nope... GPS? Already have one in my car.
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AT&T and Apple Tightening Policies to Reduce iPhone Unlocking
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Cause in my area, AT&T coverage actually sucks.
And plus I love paying only $40/mo (with data included) via T-Mo fam plan. Do I need 3G? Nope... GPS? Already have one in my car.
What I find interesting is that they are increasing the cost of the data plan from $20 to $30/month for 3G. Without having to provide a monthly kickback to Apple, they get the $10/month they were giving Apple (or whatever it was) plus the additional $10/month for 3G - a significant income stream boost out of the iPhone product line. There is a lot in the AT&T press release about making pricing of plans consistent with other cell phone data plans. I don't actually think that is a good thing though....
I can't wait until the exclusive agreement runs out and you can unlock, legally, your iPhone...
I can't wait until the exclusive agreement runs out and you can unlock, legally, your iPhone...
I was also trying to pre-order online (oh well, waiting in line with people doesn't hurt that much) but it only refers you to an AT&T store OR an Apple Store. So I guess that's where the 30 days penalty comes into effect. That really sucks for unlockers.
Hmmm. Yeah, OR you could just try selling a service (cell network) which people want to buy at a fair price and without all the hassle.
It's not like people were unlocking iPhones and stealing AT&T's product (cell network service). They were unlocking iPhones to use on OTHER networks because AT&T's product is so incredibly damned crappy, and their customer relations are so incredibly damned crappy, that the $200 early-cancelation fee plus hassle of voiding warranty and dealing with jailbreaking was worth it to customers.
Any time people are spending large amounts of money and time just to avoid buying your service there's more wrong with the world than people knowing how to slip through the cracks.
As expected, though, AT&T decided to tighten its grip instead of learn from its customers. Obviously, they are all just plain wrong, and would be much happier if they would just accept their jackbooted overlords.
Yeah, I can see it...
Customer: Hi, I'm buying this iPhone as a gift.
Clerk: Cool! I'll just rip open the box, place the phone on this grainy tabletop and use my fat greasy fingers to activate it. Woah, dropped it, sorry. I'll just wipe it off with this stinky rag. Oops, dead battery, can you come back after lunch when I've recharged it next to the garbage can?
Unfortunately, yes. But for me it even wasn't alive.
And I will continue talking about list of countries.
Let's compare Guinea-Bissau which is on the list and Russian Federation, which isn't.
From CIA World Factbook:
"One of the five poorest countries in the world, Guinea-Bissau depends mainly on farming and fishing.
...
Telephones - mobile cellular: 95,000 (2005)
...
Internet users: 37,000 (2006)"
Russia:
"Telephones - mobile cellular: 150 million (2006)
...
Internet users: 25.689 million (2006)"
Even with T-Mobile in the USA, think about it this way... if it was worthwhile to use the old iPhone to begin with (on EDGE), and the new iPhone were available at comparable prices without an obligation to AT&T (which it isn't), why would it be any less worthwhile than it was a month ago to use the new iPhone on EDGE? It has longer battery life than my iPhone. That would be reason enough.
For me, I'd love to have HSPA, but with the new AT&T plans, to get what I have now with T-Mobile would be a $30-35/mo increase in costs... that's $400 a year that, at this point, I'd rather spend on other toys.
I don't really care in the end. Don't get me wrong. The point of my response to dizastor's post was primarily that it didn't make any sense -- that the existence of the app store isn't closely related to interest in unlocking the iPhone, the existence of interest for which I've already justified....
With all these pricing schemes changing, I would hate to see what the revised estimates from the analysts are going to be. I would expect both Apple and AT&T stocks to drop tomorrow.
They must be praying that the corporate world picks up the slack, because they are killing the consumer market off. The folks over at RIM must be doing back flips...
They must be praying that the corporate world picks up the slack, because they are killing the consumer market off. The folks over at RIM must be doing back flips...
I've never had any issues with AT&T. And I even bought the phone in a "spotty area". Its actually worked out because I get better service in areas where my crappy Verizon phone would never get service. I don't see why people bitch about AT&T so much. They're a hell of a lot better than some other carriers out there (ie. Verizon).
Now I don't really agree with this activate on site. Its my phone and I should be able to do whatever I want with it. That means taking it home un-boxed, un-boxing it myself on my own time without people looking over my shoulder and activating it on my own time. This kind of takes away from the Apple experience.
Well, I for one am glad that they might make you activate them in store. When I originally got the iphone, I had to take it back to my local Carphone Warehouse store twice, because the screen on each one was suffering from the negative blacks problem.
Going back with it was a nightmare because on both occasions, I had to really stand my ground to get a replacement. They point blank refused to acknowledge it as a genuine reason. The fact that it would be in store would mean this problem (hopefully it won't exist in the new iphone) could be identified at point of purchase rather than having to go backwards and forwards. In the UK, there is almost an unwritten rule that once you step out of the store with your purchase, then it's 'bad luck buddy, it's now second hand/used goods'.
Sorry for the rant....
Going back with it was a nightmare because on both occasions, I had to really stand my ground to get a replacement. They point blank refused to acknowledge it as a genuine reason. The fact that it would be in store would mean this problem (hopefully it won't exist in the new iphone) could be identified at point of purchase rather than having to go backwards and forwards. In the UK, there is almost an unwritten rule that once you step out of the store with your purchase, then it's 'bad luck buddy, it's now second hand/used goods'.
Sorry for the rant....
You mean the forced in-store activation thing?
Yeah, I sincerely doubt that's legal anywhere in the EU. And it sucks that you can't buy it online, not just Apple Store but no online store period. Man, I haven't bought any electronics from a regular physical retail store for ages...
Nah, they'll probably just make you choose a plan in the store and then scan the bar code on the box. When you get home, you connect the iphone to your computer and iTunes will come up and look for your phone in ATT's database. If there is a match, you are activated and ready to go. The process for buying online would probably be the same.
The new process is obviously not typical Apple. AT&T is the one getting pwned so they had to act accordingly, unfortunately.
With this more "traditional" procedure, Apple now really has no incentive to partner with the carrier. If they could back out of the contract, they would open up their device and release both GSM and CDMA versions to run on most carriers globally. And Apple would win over the mobile hardware industry this way. They're in the business to sell hardware.
If the iPods were still a Mac-only device (read: no support for Windows), iPod sales would probably be 1/3 of what it is today.
I read elsewhere...
...that you can buy a phone at the Apple Store for $399, and then get a $200 credit when you sign it up for AT&T. So perhaps that's why they're saying that you get penalized if you don't sign up within 30 days, and also how they got around not wanting Apple employees dealing with activating AT&T accounts. They may or may not be available online; it's not like they've been actually released yet, so how do we know?
As for why they're sticking with AT&T, oh how quickly we forget: Apple & AT&T signed an exclusive 5-year agreement in the US. No, they're not going to dump AT&T after one year. However, I suspect that the negotiations for renewal have already started... and I suspect Apple is unlikely to do so, as much as AT&T might want them to.
And with what I know of the cell phone industry, I have to say, I suspect that the iPhone would have been a lot less popular if they hadn't signed that agreement. Basically, without that kind of leverage, there are a lot of things that wouldn't have happened that did. (And if you think the AT&T support for the iPhone is bad now, imagine what it would have been like without them being willing to actually dedicate significant resources to it. Ugh.)
Mind you, I won't be getting one. $70/month is way the hell too expensive for me.
-fred
...that you can buy a phone at the Apple Store for $399, and then get a $200 credit when you sign it up for AT&T. So perhaps that's why they're saying that you get penalized if you don't sign up within 30 days, and also how they got around not wanting Apple employees dealing with activating AT&T accounts. They may or may not be available online; it's not like they've been actually released yet, so how do we know?
As for why they're sticking with AT&T, oh how quickly we forget: Apple & AT&T signed an exclusive 5-year agreement in the US. No, they're not going to dump AT&T after one year. However, I suspect that the negotiations for renewal have already started... and I suspect Apple is unlikely to do so, as much as AT&T might want them to.
And with what I know of the cell phone industry, I have to say, I suspect that the iPhone would have been a lot less popular if they hadn't signed that agreement. Basically, without that kind of leverage, there are a lot of things that wouldn't have happened that did. (And if you think the AT&T support for the iPhone is bad now, imagine what it would have been like without them being willing to actually dedicate significant resources to it. Ugh.)
Mind you, I won't be getting one. $70/month is way the hell too expensive for me.
-fred
I know that I am going completely against the flow of traffic with this, but I for one am kind of happy about this. I am sure that in some way or another that Apple was losing money because of all the unlocked iPhones, and in the long run it would probably end up raising prices and hurting the consumer. But I am somewhat interested to see what these penalties or punishments could be. It sounds like they will be dangerously playing with legal lines if it involves fines or anything like that, but I guess that it is just something that we will just have to wait and see. But the $30 a month for the 3G data plan makes the phone + minimum contract actually more than the current phone. An 8GB iPhone right now with a two-year contract including the $39 voice plan along with the $20 EDGE data plan comes out to $1815 over the two-year contract, while an 8GB 3G iPhone with the $39 voice plan plus the $30 3G data plan comes out to $1855 over the two-year minimum contract, a $40 difference. It sounds like Apple is losing money on the 3G iPhone compared to the regular iPhone especially if they are making no income from the monthly bills.
Maybe I just missed it, but did anybody else pick up on the lack of mentioning AT&T during the keynote (with the exception of the list of all carriers), maybe this is a sign of Apple's discontent towards AT&T. Or am I just looking too deeply at this.
Maybe I just missed it, but did anybody else pick up on the lack of mentioning AT&T during the keynote (with the exception of the list of all carriers), maybe this is a sign of Apple's discontent towards AT&T. Or am I just looking too deeply at this.
What if?
So what happens if my dad opened my att account for me? Will he have to be there when I buy the 3g? If he isn't will the Apple store turn me away?
So what happens if my dad opened my att account for me? Will he have to be there when I buy the 3g? If he isn't will the Apple store turn me away?
haha oops..
Meh.. I never wanted to unlock an iPhone, it just didn't seem natural. What makes me laugh though is in the box it says
" - Sim Card tool "
wonder what's that for
I know that the question's a joke, but if you're genuinely curious it's to help you remove the card from the tiny slot. It's actually labelled "SIM ejector tool" on the NZ site.
I don't know if anybody thought of this, but because Apple is including a SIM tray popper-outer, perhaps AT&T will activate SIM cards for you in the store and you can take them home and put them in your iPhone once you open it. (the iPhone uses a special SIM, yes?)
I'd rather pay full price.
As others have said, I'd rather pay "full price" ($499-$599) for one that doesn't come locked to a 2-year contract. I did that last year, and I'm halfway through that contract. I want to just go until the end of that contract, I don't want to have to start my 2 years over again.
I'm guessing that the 'penalty' is purely that the $199/$299 price points are with carrier subsidy, so if you don't activate it, you pay the different to the 'full' price. (Which we still don't know what that will be.)
As others have said, I'd rather pay "full price" ($499-$599) for one that doesn't come locked to a 2-year contract. I did that last year, and I'm halfway through that contract. I want to just go until the end of that contract, I don't want to have to start my 2 years over again.
I'm guessing that the 'penalty' is purely that the $199/$299 price points are with carrier subsidy, so if you don't activate it, you pay the different to the 'full' price. (Which we still don't know what that will be.)