Exactly my point, my bill was cheaper because I had the lowest possible minute plan with unlimited nights & weekends with rollover minutes. $30 for unlimited data. A single line was just about $110 a month back then. Even if I was paying a secret subsidy charge in that bill it was still cheaper than paying $40 a month for 24 months just for a phone.
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Remember when iPhones cost $199.00?
- Thread starter iMas70
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Exactly my point, my bill was cheaper because I had the lowest possible minute plan with unlimited nights & weekends with rollover minutes. $30 for unlimited data. A single line was just about $110 a month back then. Even if I was paying a secret subsidy charge in that bill it was still cheaper than paying $40 a month for 24 months just for a phone.
OneMike
macrumors 603
Those were the days for real.
Every year get that, you qualify for a early upgrade messsge.
I agree to be honest..
I’ve been with AT&T for about 8 years now. I remember having a shared minutes plan, with unlimited data and then moving to the shared data plan, the amount I pay hasn’t changed at all when it comes to plans.
As of right now the bill is about $200 for 3 lines and if I remember correctly it used the be the same back then. Just now I have to factor in $1000 for a phone wil back then it used to be $200. Granted, phone prices have gone up over the past few years, however the plan prices really haven’t changed much.
Unless I’m being forgetful and missing something.
I’ve been with AT&T for about 8 years now. I remember having a shared minutes plan, with unlimited data and then moving to the shared data plan, the amount I pay hasn’t changed at all when it comes to plans.
As of right now the bill is about $200 for 3 lines and if I remember correctly it used the be the same back then. Just now I have to factor in $1000 for a phone wil back then it used to be $200. Granted, phone prices have gone up over the past few years, however the plan prices really haven’t changed much.
Unless I’m being forgetful and missing something.
Nanotyrns
macrumors 65816
When I sold Macs for Microcenter a browser (not a customer... customers buy things) snorted at the price of a MacBook Air and said "Apple has forgotten their customers!" and I said "No Mac has ever been cheap ever. And the MacBook Air started it's life at $1899 and that was with a Zif drive in it from the iPod. It's less expensive and more powerful than it's ever been."
Maybe you're thinking of that old Nokia phone or something from Samsung.
Never thought I'd be "defending" a wireless carrier ... but 8 years ago, you probably weren't using the amount of data that you currently use and not at the speeds that you currently use data at ... both of which, conceivably, come at increased cost to the carriers. A lot can change in 8 years ... its not like you're still paying for the same 3G connection of 8 years ago.
What do you mean not for a single line? Those are figures for single lines, $70 for one.
jasonklee
Suspended
alphaod
macrumors Core
Maybe when they release it, but I don't remember paying that much for it. I think I paid like $600.
Okay, $75 a month. Still $20 cheaper than what my 450 minute unlimited data plan was when it included a cheap phone.
JulesJam
Suspended
The plans cost more back then. For instance, unlimited talk, text and data on Verizon Nationwide plan for a single line was $120/mo and $30 for hotspot. Now unlimited everything is $90 with $5 autopay discount and hotspot is included.
So you were paying $35/mo more when iPhones were $200.
Then you had something wrong. I know people who paid $95 a month with an iPhone with unlimited data and messaging.
Right, that's what I was paying. $95 a month for 450 minutes, unlimited texting, and unlimited data. Now you pay $75 for unlimited everything but without a phone, so add in that $20 more a month and it's pretty much the same.
You're forgetting that a $1k phone wasn't free back then. You usually had to pay $200-$300 for an iPhone up front, which had a full price well under $1k. Sprint still offers 2 year contracts through Apple, and you could get the iPhone X 64GB for I believe $550, which would be close to $20 or so a month.
JulesJam
Suspended
On Verizon Nationowide unlimited everything was $120 + taxes/fees, which brought it to $135/mo for a single line. Hotspot was $30 extra. Many people had corporate discounts though, which could bring it down to about $110/mo if you had a 20% discount.
Now unlimited everything is $90 - $5 for autopay with taxes/fees comes to about $95/mo and 15GB of hotspot is included. That's a savings of $40/mo if you are on autopay plus you get 15GB of hotspot that you didn't get with the Nationwide plans. Even with a 20% corporate discount, that is still a savings of $15/mo.
PLUS the cost of a phone for 2 years.
95+ 40 for an X 64 gig minimum
I'd much rather pay 95 a month and only 199.99 upfront which my old phone was sold and covered costing me 0 for a new phone.
JulesJam
Suspended
If you had a corporate discount, on Verizon they would discount the Talk and Text portion of your bill and 1 of the unlimited data charges. Now the corporate discounts don't apply to unlimited.
Oridus
macrumors 65816
I do this for a living. In MOST cases, it is cheaper (even if marginally when on an installment), more transparent, more overall value for what you pay for, and has more flexibility for the non tech geeks (most consumers).
I look at rate plans day in and day out, and have for the last 8 years. It's pretty rare for me to cross paths with a situation where an old plan was truly less expensive... and even then, again it's a marginal savings.
And if you wanna get nit-picky about the up front cost, it technically only cost me $63.20 up front to upgrade today. A phone back then of similar price on a 2 year contract would have cost me $200-300 (I get the $300 figure from the Galaxy Note series) in the store/for my pre-order.
JulesJam
Suspended
Yes, we understand that. But the subsidized phones weren't free either. So if you didn't have a corporate discount, you paid $135/mo after all of the taxes and fees + $200 + tax = $215 for the phone. Total 24 month cost for the service and the phone is ($135 x 24) + $215 = $3455.
Now if you pay $95 with all of the taxes/fees and $1000 + tax = $1075 for the phone, total 24 month cost for the service and the phone is ($95 x 24) + $1075 = $3355, so about $100 less.
The subsidized upgrade fee is higher too, $40 for subsidized phones and $30 for financed phones, but that is a negligible difference.
Of course if you had a good corporate discount, you were better off on the older plans. But if you didn't, you are better off on the newer plans.
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And don't forget that the carriers offer trade in deals for the financed phones that can be quite good. Best Buy often discounts the financed phones when you buy from them, for instance right now the Note 8 is $250 off. I am sure there will be deals on the iPhone 8/8+ through Best Buy on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Last year I got a Pixel for $240 and a $100 BB gift card on Cyber Monday.
Oridus
macrumors 65816
Man good luck. I've been fighting this battle with people for years. There was one year I laid out 2 of the most common individual/family plans in the old style, and the new style. Down to estimated taxes, upgrade fees, subsidized prices vs full retail, etc etc. Even with correct math showing the newer ways were in MOST cases either
A) Slightly cheaper
B) Same price but more bang for the buck
C) Slightly more expensive but with more bang for the buck
... people still wouldn't listen or accept it. They don't like looking at the big picture. They get hung up on the retail price vs subsidy and that's it.
One other thing is that a lot of people on these forums think everyone else is like them and either upgrade every year or two years, or will have the know-how to sell their products on the third party market for a slight profit... when in reality most consumers don't care about doing that and want convenience. Also, there's a huge amount of consumers that don't upgrade every 2 years, in which case having the overall cheaper service is far more profitable considering that they're not paying installments sometimes for 2-3 years after they finish their prior installments.