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Got a 4s 32gb+applecare subsidized so $500 plus $93/month. $113.83/month over 24 months
Got a 5s 64gb+applecare $950 plus 18 months $30 plus 12 months $55 plus 32 months $45 $58.80/month
Haven't felt the requirement to have latest phone.
Saves me a lot of money. Not to mention the extra cost of getting new cases or other accessories every time phone form factor changes. I'm sure if the subsidy programs kept on the plan cost would of gone up a couple of times.
Saved $1398 on plans. Plus the extra part of two phone upgrades (!$1000?).

Old plan over 5 years would of been $5580 (plan) +$1500 (3 phone upgrades) $7080 total

Actual $2640 (plans) + $950 total $3590
I've saved $3490 so far vs old model over 5 years.
Wow these are like Government budget numbers...If you don't mind me asking...what do you get in return for 32 months $58.80/month? That seems ridiculously expensive...I pay £18 per month, minimum 12 months and get unlimited minutes, unlimited SMS and 30GB data per month....And international roaming free in 50 countries....and £5/day outside those countries...
 
$30/mo Tmobile (walmart plan) 100min/5gb
$55/mo Tmobile (pospaid) unlimited min/unlimited data 5gb@4g + included promo for ipad
$45/mo gophone unlimited min/unlimited date 2.5 or 3.5@4g

European plans have always been a lot cheaper.
Whether govt regulations or extra costs.
US companies have higher infrastructure costs with having to cover a lot of area that is not densely populated.
 
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$30/mo Tmobile (walmart plan) 100min/5gb
$55/mo Tmobile (pospaid) unlimited min/unlimited data 5gb@4g + included promo for ipad
$45/mo gophone unlimited min/unlimited date 2.5 or 3.5@4g
Wow that is seriously expensive...
 
A new iPhone was never really $199. The full price was just slowly taken from you during the course of the contract.

The subsidized phone cost may have been 'baked in", but depending on the phone plan you were on, it may have still been the best (cheapest) plan.

When I learnt that Verizon ended their phone subsidy last year and I wasn't going to be offered another subsidized phone this Sept when my 2 yr contract was over, I asked what new phone plans and rates there were.

Guess what...I can get a cheaper plan. It's about $2 cheaper per month. Big woopy-do!

So I lost my phone subsidy at the cost of saving $24 per year!

Can I please get the phone subsidy back?! Yeah, I didn't think so.
 
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Apple as very tough when introducing first iphone and essentially held a bidding war for subsidies to apple. ATT ended up with paying a $400 subsidy. With the initial $599/600 to customer price, the original iphone is the same price as the new X $999/1000 price. LOL.
 
Blame it all on T-Mobile...

My old plan before ATT did away with contract was...

$50 service
$30 date (3GB if I remember correctly)
$30 charge for contract to pay off phone
$10 second phone (wife's) which strangely paid for the phone over time instead of my $30 contract payment.
$15 data required for wife's phone

Total $135 monthly plus taxes, etc

The above phones also cost $199 DOWN PAYMENT.

Today

$40 service
$40 my phone
$40 wife's phone

Total $120 monthly plus taxes, etc

Re "Today", I paid cash for the present phone ($649)
My wife's phone is paid off.

If I were to buy a new phone this year (I did), it was $649 cash
If I were to upgrade my wife's phone, it would either cost $649 about $30 extra monthly until it was paid off.

So, while it would appear that today's service is slight cheaper, with the extras for new phones, the total monthly cost would be around $180 monthly or $45 more than yesteryear.

However, this is really like comparing the price of apples to oranges. I just sold my IP7 which I bought for cash for $520 net. All the phone companies have confused us to the point where it's nearly impossible to tell exactly what it costs to have 2 iPhones in our home.
 
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Blame it all on T-Mobile...

Blame it on Rio, Nixon, Obama, Trump, not me, anyone else, you, the stars, human nature, fate, your daddy, you mommy, Tim Cooke, god, satan, Spock, Kirk, the tools, the computer, the programer, coach, the play call, the referee, turnovers, the shape of the ball, previous generation, the past, the weather, your parents, the choreography, the rich, the poor, hormones, messenger,.......
 
I love payment plans. Its a zero interest loan over 24 months. One of the best deals you can get :)
I’ll take back my subsidies thank you. I didn’t really pay for a phone since 2008. Can you do that with your payment plan?
 
The subsidized phone cost may have been 'baked in", but depending on the phone plan you were on, it may have still been the best (cheapest) plan.

When I learnt that Verizon ended their phone subsidy last year and I wasn't going to be offered another subsidized phone this Sept when my 2 yr contract was over, I asked what new phone plans and rates there were.

Guess what...I can get a cheaper plan. It's about $2 cheaper per month. Big woopy-do!

So I lost my phone subsidy at the cost of saving $24 per year!

Can I please get the phone subsidy back?! Yeah, I didn't think so.

In Canada, when people complained that 3 year plans were unreasonable, the carriers switched to 2years, but jacked up the prices so that in effect they get their 3 years worth of payments out of you in 2 years. The 3 year plans weren’t so bad if you didn’t mind keeping a phone that long. So yeah, not all subsidized plans are bad, but people shouldn’t mistakenly think that what they pay up front for the phone is all they’re really paying.
 
Remmeber when you had to subsidize these Basic dumb flip phones and still had to pay the $200 upfront?

I know those ***** arent worth $650.
 
Remmeber when you had to subsidize these Basic dumb flip phones and still had to pay the $200 upfront?

I know those ***** arent worth $650.
Lol, a lot of the flip phones were worth $100 at most so I'd only get the ones that were free on plan. At least back then the line fee was just $9.99/mo.
 
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