T-Mobile USA Begins Taking Pre-Orders for iPhone 5 Ahead of April 12 Launch

[icanhazapple]

Dumb question. Can I use this phone using a different country's SIM? I am planning to travel and would like to use another country's SIM.

I think you would need to be a customer for at least 30 days (this is what Verizon has done for customers who recently acquired a new phone through subsidized pricing). You might want to contact T-Mobile support to verify this.

Of course, you are still obligated to fulfill the duration of the service agreement

 

[KdParker]

Not a bad idea if you plan to move carriers within 2 years since you are not bound to service contract.

 

[Xenomorph]

How is T-Mobile able to sell the iPhone for so cheap?

T-Mobile: $579
Apple: $649

AT&T and Verizon rape their customers (your "free" phone only costs you $1,000 a year), and T-Mobile basically gives you $80 for free. That obviously isn't helping their profits.

 

[yehudah72]

Seems like bad timing with iPhone 5S around the corner.

Apple made similar agreement with Sprint... Can't remember correctly, but I think Sprint got iPhone 4 right before the 4S launched (or something like Taft... Can't remember actual generation Sprint started with)

 

[tigres]

Seems like bad timing with iPhone 5S around the corner.

Verizon did the same thing if I recall when they released iPhone to the network. Spring launch before refresh.

 

[fr33 loader]

This would be awesome for people who tends to hold on to their phone for more than 2 years as their monthly bill will actually come down after the phone has been paid off. Now T-Mob, improve your coverage and I'll actually try you out...

 

[baller1308]

Not a bad idea if you plan to move carriers within 2 years since you are not bound to service contract.

or plan on not upgrading your phone after 2 years.

 

[yehudah72]

I think you missed the 2nd paragraph of the article:

"Single-line service plans for the iPhone 5 require no contract and begin at $50/month for unlimited talk, text, and data, although data is slowed to 2G speeds once the customer reaches 500 MB for the month. A $60/month plan raises the high-speed data cap to 2.5 GB, and a $70/month plan includes unlimited high-speed data."


The 24 monthly payments of $20 are installment payments for the phone IF you don't want to put out the entire $580 immediately. Also, T-Mob will unlock the phone as soon as the phone is paid off, unlike ATT.

I'm on ATT & no plan to switch to T-Mob, but based on U.S. coverage, not $. T-Mob as a carrier is meh, that is why I won't switch.

I ordered 2 iPhone 5 from T-Mo and brought over 4 of my Unlocked AT&T iPhone 4S (total 6 lines).

6 lines of ALL UNLIMITED T-Mo service is $280 per month (5 on family plan + 1 individual line)... with AT&T I currently pay over $480 per month + any overages on data; since we only have unlimited plan on our 2 oldest lines and the 4 newest have the 3GB plans.

Since I'm in Major Metropolitan area (San Diego & Los Angeles, CA.) I don't have to worry about coverage issues, plus my AT&T iPhone 4S will work on T-Mo's 4G HSPA+ network

 

[Terrin]

Seems like bad timing with iPhone 5S around the corner.

Apple is not stupid. I take this to mean no new iPhone until August. Look to when Apple released the iPhone on Sprint at about the same time.

 

[boccabella]

meanwhile at T-Mobile in Germany
Image

In Germany the word "flat" doesn't mean "unlimited," it simply indicates a set monthly quantity.

 

[yehudah72]

It's cool too see what TMO is doing, but I'll stick to Sprint. Better value for me.

Sprint? #

 

[Rocketman]

My takeaway is there is not built-in interest charge on the monthly pay plan.

The tiered caps of "allegedly unlimited" data is misleading as compared to their ads, but at least is a fixed cost plan.

I believe the throttling prevents practical TV streaming. From a wireless user perspective I like that, especially since I can control myself over cellular data, but many are too ADD to do so.

Rocketman

 

[Terrin]

How is T-Mobile able to sell the iPhone for so cheap?

T-Mobile: $579
Apple: $649

AT&T and Verizon rape their customers (your "free" phone only costs you $1,000 a year), and T-Mobile basically gives you $80 for free. That obviously isn't helping their profits.

Easy T-Mobile is selling it to you at cost (e.g. Wholesale price). It is a carrier and makes money on the service plans.

 

[predation]

anyone able to purchase directly without a simpleplan?

 

[Terrin]

This would be awesome for people who tends to hold on to their phone for more than 2 years as their monthly bill will actually come down after the phone has been paid off. Now T-Mob, improve your coverage and I'll actually try you out...

T-mobile has good coverage in a lot of areas. I haven't had s dropped call in over a year. I live in Michigan. The beauty of no contract though is you are only out a month for giving it a try.

 

[bushido]

In Germany the word "flat" doesn't mean "unlimited," it simply indicates a set monthly rate/quantity.

not really ... a sms & call "flatrate" is unlimited and so is the data technically because u do not have to pay more. they just trottle u after a certain amount of data but u can still use it for free

 

[Plutonius]

Anyone know if the plans include all taxes and fees?

$60/month for 2.5GB of data w/tethering would be a deal if it didn't include the ~$5 in taxes and fees AT&T dings me with.

Also it would be nice if you could put down more - say $300 from the sale of your phone and pay off the rest monthly....

The only way you can avoid the taxes / fees in the US is if you have a pay as you go (pre-paid) service. Even then, you will pay sales tax unless you are in a sales tax free state like New Hampshire .

 

[DaveNinja]

the speeds drop to 2G after the 500MB of high speed is used up? I thought it dropped to unlimited 3G after the 4G/LTE was used up.

Can I buy a T-Mobile iPhone 5 and use it for a month to test the coverage before porting over my current phone number?

 

[Wicked1]

Because this is not a contract like with AT&T or Verizon where you pay $200 up front and pay the additional forever if you never upgrade. With this plan you eventually pay off the phone and $20 a month comes off your bill.

I think this is a very unique and appears to be better way to do this. I hope we see others follow.

It seems from what I am reading, Verizon and AT&T are looking to see how T-Mobile does with this, then they might adopt the model, it would save their bottom lines so they do not have to pay Apple $500 per phone while only charging us $199. They seriously need to drop their rates though for this to make sense, assuming there will be a discount on monthly rates if you choose to buy a device for full retail, or pay for it all up front instead of the 24 month financing

 

[Shanpdx]

Is it unlocked?

With the installment plan?

otherwise nothing to see here, there are still lagging in LTE, and 3G coverage.

it will benefit for current customers also the ones who is using unlocked iPhones on the t-mobile network.

 

[slu]

I think you would need to be a customer for at least 30 days (this is what Verizon has done for customers who recently acquired a new phone through subsidized pricing). You might want to contact T-Mobile support to verify this.

Of course, you are still obligated to fulfill the duration of the service agreement

There is no service agreement. You just are financing the phone at 0% intertest. I don't really know how many more times this can be stated.

 

[yehudah72]

the speeds drop to 2G after the 500MB of high speed is used up? I thought it dropped to unlimited 3G after the 4G/LTE was used up.

Can I buy a T-Mobile iPhone 5 and use it for a month to test the coverage before porting over my current phone number?

That's what I'm doing. I ordered my 6 new lines. In 1 month, I'll port my numbers over (to replace new ones) and that will automatically cancel my AT&T service; if I decide to port & cancel

 

[Plutonius]

T-mobile has good coverage in a lot of areas. I haven't had s dropped call in over a year. I live in Michigan. The beauty of no contract though is you are only out a month for giving it a try.

I'm also on T-Mobile but I have to agree with the many other posters that the T-Mobile coverage isn't as good as the others. Traveling around to different areas in the US, I sometimes end up using someone else's cell because I don't have coverage. It's good to know though that when I travel to Michigan, I will be able to connect on my T-Mobile phone .

 

[goobot]

I think you missed the 2nd paragraph of the article:

"Single-line service plans for the iPhone 5 require no contract and begin at $50/month for unlimited talk, text, and data, although data is slowed to 2G speeds once the customer reaches 500 MB for the month. A $60/month plan raises the high-speed data cap to 2.5 GB, and a $70/month plan includes unlimited high-speed data."


The 24 monthly payments of $20 are installment payments for the phone IF you don't want to put out the entire $580 immediately. Also, T-Mob will unlock the phone as soon as the phone is paid off, unlike ATT.

I'm on ATT & no plan to switch to T-Mob, but based on U.S. coverage, not $. T-Mob as a carrier is meh, that is why I won't switch.

AT&T will unlock your phone for you.

 

[Plutonius]

With the installment plan?

otherwise nothing to see here, there are still lagging in LTE, and 3G coverage.

it will benefit for current customers also the ones who is using unlocked iPhones on the t-mobile network.

It is unlocked after you pay off the phone installments.