Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How are those iPhone bills going for everyone?

K

kulimer

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 30, 2011
330
2
I was about to get iPhone with AT&T today, the AT&T customer service told me, for an individual plan (that's the one I asked), it's about $85 per month, or $1000 per year. That's crazy.

$39.99(talk)+$20(messaging)+$15 (data)+tax and all that=$85

I remember I used to pay $25/mon. How are things going for everyone else?
 
My O2 Plan

kulimer said:
I was about to get iPhone with AT&T today, the AT&T customer service told me, for an individual plan (that's the one I asked), it's about $85 per month, or $1000 per year. That's crazy.

$39.99(talk)+$20(messaging)+$15 (data)+tax and all that=$85

I remember I used to pay $25/mon. How are things going for everyone else?
Click to expand...

Here in the UK runs me around £30.00 per month. (around $45 ish) For this I get 10Mb data, 1000 texts and 500 calling minutes....More than enough for my needs.

I know back home you guy's have limited choice and have to pay a bit more, but a close friend in MA is with Verizon for everything (Phone landline Mobile TV) he has uncapped BB but not sure what he pay's....Will ask next time we speak.

More choice in the UK, but I'd better get used to things over there as I'm planning on returning home in the New Year.
 
Last edited:
Im on a payg contract in the uk on 02.

£25.50 gives me

300 cross network minutes.
Unlimited texts.
Unlimited 02 wifi.
50 mms
1gb data use.

No nasty bills at the end of the month.

If i go over my 1gb of data then 02 just restrict my speed with no further charges at all.
 
Mines $150 for 2 lines, 550 min., unlimited any mobile, unlimited texting, unlimited data (my line), 2gb data (wife's line), after student discount.

You might be able to go with no texting if the people you text also have iPhones by using iMessage, also check to see if you qualify for any discount, either through your work or university.
 
kulimer said:
I was about to get iPhone with AT&T today, the AT&T customer service told me, for an individual plan (that's the one I asked), it's about $85 per month, or $1000 per year. That's crazy.

$39.99(talk)+$20(messaging)+$15 (data)+tax and all that=$85

I remember I used to pay $25/mon. How are things going for everyone else?
Click to expand...

This is typical pricing for any smartphone plan. When I decided to upgrade from a dumbphone to a smartphone, which just happened to be an iPhone, I was obviously making a conscious decision to up my monthly phone cost. That was 2.5 years ago, and I still have an iPhone/smartphone, thus I have concluded that the increased cost is worth the convenience given to me by having this phone.

My bill is $39talk + $5messaging + $30unlimited data = $75

I guess I could have stayed with my $20/month 1999 Nokia phone forever, but I didn't.
 
Sprint: $150.00 - 27% work discount 1500 min + Unlimited everything + Unlimited mobile to mobile cross networks.

I don't use any of the minute but this is the smallest family plan.. =(
 
I pay $30 for 1 gb data (but actually it's unlimited), unlimited sms/mms and 300 minutes a month.

Living in Denmark atm :)
 
Seems to be a big difference between uk and USA

I'm on O2 uk

600mins
1200 SMS
Unlimited data
Unlimited cloud wifi
£19 / $30
 
Macman45 said:
Here in the UK runs me around £30.00 per month. (around $45 ish) For this I get 10Mb data, 1000 texts and 500 calling minutes....More than enough for my needs.

I know back home you guy's have limited choice and have to pay a bit more, but a close friend in MA is with Verizon for everything (Phone landline Mobile TV) he has uncapped BB but not sure what he pay's....Will ask next time we speak.

More choice in the UK, but I'd better get used to things over there as I'm planning on returning home in the New Year.
Click to expand...

Does the UK offer unlimited data plans? I've heard that wifi is plentiful in the UK so unlimited data might not be needed.
 
mpossoff said:
Does the UK offer unlimited data plans? I've heard that wifi is plentiful in the UK so unlimited data might not be needed.
Click to expand...

Only one carrier still does. The rest have scrapped it unless you're grandfathered in.

As for the OP i also pay £20 ($31) and get;

600mins
1200sms
Visual Voicemail
MMS
Roaming discounts
Unlimited Wi-Fi and Data
 
Yes, I am in the UK.
£35 per month = 2000 any network minutes + 5000 (three to Three minutes) + unlimited texts wifi and data.
The data is called all you can eat data so truly unlimited.
"Unlimited Data" carries a fair use policy AYCED doesn't
 
Carriers Do

mpossoff said:
Does the UK offer unlimited data plans? I've heard that wifi is plentiful in the UK so unlimited data might not be needed.
Click to expand...

Offer that kind of plan, it depends on how long you tie yourself in for. My contract is up at the end of this month, because I'm returning to the States in the New year, I think I'm going to have to go with a 3 month rolling contract, which means missing out on a free 4S (Have one anyway from Apple) Unless I can find a way around it.

Otherwise I would have to buy myself out before the contract was complete. Since Own my phones (have a 4 too) It's no big deal, but a free 4S would be nice.

MOst good carriers (I've been with O2 for over 4 years now) will let you slide a little over your plan before hitting you with extra charges. They also offer "Bolt on's" which you can apply for a on off fee if you are getting close to your agreed limit.

The real pain is that my sim based 4 and 4S will not work with Verizon, only At&T who don't get the best of reviews, so I have a choice....Sell them and by a cheapie to get me over there and then buy a Verizon phone....Or, go with AT&T as I'm told my phones will work on their network.
 
mpossoff said:
Does the UK offer unlimited data plans? I've heard that wifi is plentiful in the UK so unlimited data might not be needed.
Click to expand...

Yes, I am currently on giffgaff PAYG, £10 per month for 250 mins any network, unlimited texts and (truly) unlimited data.
 
I have Sprint. 4 iPhones. Family plan with 1500 anytime minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited data and texting. $200 total or $50 per phone. Family plans are the only way to go. The more lines the better.
 
Phone Junky said:
I have Sprint. 4 iPhones. Family plan with 1500 anytime minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited data and texting. $200 total or $50 per phone. Family plans are the only way to go. The more lines the better.
Click to expand...

With AT&T we have 4 lines, each with unlimited data, unlimited family text, 700 minutes, free mobile to ANY mobile, $165 plus taxes. We never go over minutes because we each have our google voice numbers in our alist which we use for outgoing calls only to landlines using the GV Connect app.
 
I'm in Canada and bought an unlocked phone. Using it on Fido with no contract – just PAYG (35¢/min). This first month I used 6 minutes of talk time and paid $10 for 100mb of data and only used about 40mb.

I don't have a car (commute by bike) and have wifi and landline at home and work, so only need the cellphone part of the iPhone for emergencies.

I calculated that if I bought a locked phone at the subsidized price but had to pay the minimum $50/month here (which doesn't include a texting plan) for the 3 year contract (no 2 year contracts here), I would be paying about $2100 total for my 32gb iPhone 4s. By buying it unlocked combined with my limited need for data and talk time, I'll be paying about $1200 over 3 years.

For many years I wanted an iPhone but decided that the price of contracts just made it too expensive. So instead I had an iPod touch, which for my needs was excellent value. It's only the new PAYG option now allowed for iPhones that made me switch.
 
I pay about $385/month for four iPhones.

One of them has the 4GB tethering plan.

They've never been cheap. The iPhone encourages people to *use* them, so carriers consider them a deluxe-among-the-best.
 
kulimer said:
I was about to get iPhone with AT&T today, the AT&T customer service told me, for an individual plan (that's the one I asked), it's about $85 per month, or $1000 per year. That's crazy.

$39.99(talk)+$20(messaging)+$15 (data)+tax and all that=$85

I remember I used to pay $25/mon. How are things going for everyone else?
Click to expand...
Over here in the Netherlands (or Holland, if you'd like), the cheapest plan is €29,50 per month (or $39.80 per month - current exchange rates, 11/27/2011)

You also must pay extra for the phone (in the US $199, $299 or $399), which results in the following prices:

iPhone 4S 16 GB - €259,95 (current rate: $350.70)
iPhone 4S 32 GB - €359,95 (current rate: $485.61)
iPhone 4S 64 GB - €459,95 (current rate: $620.52)

With these prices, you are locked in for two years. In a two year period, this will all cost us €967.95 ($1305.86) for a 16 GB model. You can also buy the iPhone with a 1-year contract, than the prices are:

16 GB - €389,95 ($520.08)
32 GB - €489,95 ($660.99)
64 GB - €589,95 ($795.90)

In this case, the total cost will be €1097.95 or $1481.24 for a 16 GB iPhone 4S.

So a two-year plan is definitely cheaper and your contract is longer, but it's still very expensive.

For this €29.50 plan you get the following:

- 150 minutes OR text messages OR MMS (so for example, you can do 100 minutes calling, send 30 text messages and 20 MMS)
- Internet speed of 7.2 Mbps
- Unlimited data, but after 500 MB your speed goes down
- Free usage of WiFi hotspots from T-Mobile and KPN
- Phone insurrance which covers everything (like water damage) for 11 euros a month. Own risk: 40 euros.

------------------------
That said, it used to be much better. They started raising prices with the launch of the iPhone 4. When the iPhone 3GS was released, you could get a 32 GB model for 199 euros and you got:

- 150 minutes
- 150 SMS (but no MMS)
- Unlimited data 2 Mbps (which I believe is really just fine), no datalimit
- Visual Voicemail for free
- Wifi hotspots free
- Phone insurrance which covers everything, even water damage for 7 euros a month. Own risk: €30.

So in 2009 an iPhone was much and much cheaper. Now all the prices are up, and the plans have become worse.

Our telecom providers also wanted to block services like Skype and Whatsapp, but they couldn't do this because since this year we have network neutrality.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am still on this old plan (with truely unlimited data and more texting messages and call minutes), but it will expire this summer (2012). I'm really considering to get the Samsung Galaxy S 2 (or 3 by than). It's not that I don't like the iPhone, but Apple must announce a really great iPhone in 2012 if they want me to spend this much.

A Samsung Galaxy S 2 (or 3) is much cheaper and has got much better ánd cheaper plans and it will still offer similar (and in some cases better) functionality.

The iPhone is now too expensive and I'm lucky I'm still on an older, cheaper plan with unlimited data.

So, what I probably will do when the 6th gen iPhone goes on sale
I will either get a new plan with an Android smartphone, probably Samsung (I have never hated them).

OR

I will sell my iPhone 4 32 GB for hopefully 300 to 400 euros. Get the iPhone 6, probably cheapest one, for 599. My plan will get renewed automaticly. So I will keep the same plan as I have now, and get the iPhone 6 for a nice upgrade price. If I can get 400 euros for my iPhone 4 32 GB, the iPhone 6 will only cost me €199 (16 GB) or €299 (32 GB).

This way, I can get the 6th gen iPhone for €199/€299 and still have my old plan with truely unlimited data which is really crucial to me. I can use as much as 200 MB on one day, just by watching a few HQ YouTube clips on YouTube.
 
Last edited:
It's going great for me.

I'm a very satisfied long time customer of AT&T. My family plan has four iPhone 4S's on it, along with my SGS II. the service has never been better, we all have unlimited everything and I'm paying a price I can easily afford.

It's all good :)
 
mpossoff said:
With AT&T we have 4 lines, each with unlimited data, unlimited family text, 700 minutes, free mobile to ANY mobile, $165 plus taxes. We never go over minutes because we each have our google voice numbers in our alist which we use for outgoing calls only to landlines using the GV Connect app.
Click to expand...

You must have some grandfathered discounted deal. Going on AT&T's website, the cheapest I can come up with is $180+tax. That is ONLY 200MB data on each phone. Bump that up to 2GB per phone and it's $220+tax. 4GB per phone makes it $300+tax. There is no unlimited data option.
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4S: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

That's about what I pay for my AT&T iPhone per month. I budget for it and thus have no problems affording it.

It's the price [we] pay to have these fancy devices.
 
Maccleduff said:
Yes, I am currently on giffgaff PAYG, £10 per month for 250 mins any network, unlimited texts and (truly) unlimited data.
Click to expand...

Apples & oranges - a lot if the non-US responders in this thread are quoting non-subsidy tariffs, where you pay full price for the phone (US$649 or equivalent). OP's quote of $85/mo includes a $450 subsidy to bring the phone price down to $199. In the US, non-subsidy plans are officially not available (there are work-arounds but with loss of features like 3G data or visual voicemail or MMS).

OP, in the US that kind of pricing is par for the course. If you won't text a lot you could drop the $20 texting, paying individually is cheaper if you send/ receive less than 200 texts a month. Family plan is cheaper per phone, if you have family you can bundle into one package. But a smartphone with data is going to cost more per month, no doubt about it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back