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For me, having severe scratches and dents on a rear iPhone 5 body is just as bad as breaking the back glass plate on an iPhone 4s, I'd want it replaced too.

Glass does not break unless it's having impact.
Aluminum dents and scratches from normal use and interaction.

So yes, iPhone 5 finishing is just as fragile as 4s backplate. If not more.

a LOT more actually. i never used a case on my 4 or 4s. not using one on the 5 either. the aluminum sides look like ***** from just normal use. the ones on the 4's never did.
 
Does anyone know if it's an unlocked iPhone or if they will they unlock immediately?

Since they are "financing" it, as opposed to "subsidising" it, you are technically paying full price, and so it should be an unlocked phone, no?

From what I understand the phone will be locked until the phone is paid off. The nice surprise is that you will be paying $70 less then what Apple charges for the same unlocked iPhone 5.
 
They need some new copy writers -- "Only T-Mobile lets your iPhone 5 be as great as an iPhone 5." What the hell does that mean?
 
From what I understand the phone will be locked until the phone is paid off. The nice surprise is that you will be paying $70 less then what Apple charges for the same unlocked iPhone 5.

I wonder if they'll allow you pay all the instalments up front, then unlock immediately... easy way for $70 discount.
 
Only T-Mobile lets the iPhone 5 be as great as an iPhone 5...

...except for the hotspot

All post-paid users on the new plans get 500mb of tethering a month. Not sure what you are talking about. None of the old plans included tethering. You might of been able to do it before because T-Mobile had no control over the iPhones on their network. But they do now so you have to be on a plan with mobile hostpot.

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Just bought the T-Mobile version, I'm still getting EDGE Speedswherever I used to have 3G with my old T-Mobile phone. Are we sure this has full 3G ?

Are you sure you have the T-Mobile version? Does your box say 1700/2100 on the bottom? Some Apple Stores have been giving out the wrong versions apparently.
 
I wonder if they'll allow you pay all the instalments up front, then unlock immediately... easy way for $70 discount.

I believe you have to wait up to 14 days after making an unlock request if you pay up front. And if you pay up front you have to get at least one month post-paid to get the reduced price.
 
I wonder if they'll allow you pay all the instalments up front, then unlock immediately... easy way for $70 discount.

Yes. You can pay off the phone at any rate you wish, as long as you pay the minimum of $20/month.
 
How so stupid? Are you referring to the $20/month for 24 months? It is an interest free loan, you know that?

I think it is great that I can get the 32GB iPhone 5 for $199 down, the others will charge me $299. I will actually be getting the iPhone 5 for $679 vs $749 if I bought it directly from Apple.

Also, there is no ETF to worry about which is what I really like. Again, please explain how all this is stupid? :confused:
because im always gonna have service so i dont care about contracts
 
From what I understand the phone will be locked until the phone is paid off. The nice surprise is that you will be paying $70 less then what Apple charges for the same unlocked iPhone 5.

Tempting.

I understand T-Mobile has upped the ante by investing a great deal to improve their coverage. How will this compare to the other carriers?

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a LOT more actually. i never used a case on my 4 or 4s. not using one on the 5 either. the aluminum sides look like ***** from just normal use. the ones on the 4's never did.

Especially the black models. Using advice from my Cupertino buds, I went with the silver/white model and used Invisishield on the front and back, no scratches or wearing issues as the black anodized aluminum models. Only issue I've had is a dent on the upper right corner (maybe I can hammer it out lol). Oh well.
 
Preordered mine and my wife's. They'll get here on Tuesday. Looking forward to it... :D

The immortal words of Bill Gates: "640K is more memory than anyone will ever need" should teach you not to make assumptions about extra computing/data resources being unnecessary.

Check your sources. This is an apocryphal quote. What Gates actually said is that the move from 64K to 640K was planned to provide enough memory for ten years, but it ended up running out in six. Yes, he was surprised that 640K of memory wasn't enough, but it was a timeframe misjudgement, not a case of thinking it was all that would ever be needed.

Does anyone know if it's an unlocked iPhone or if they will they unlock immediately?

Since they are "financing" it, as opposed to "subsidising" it, you are technically paying full price, and so it should be an unlocked phone, no?

General rule, they'll unlock it once it's paid off. However, talking to a support person over the phone, I was told they'll consider special cases (i.e. traveling abroad) for early unlocking.

because im always gonna have service so i dont care about contracts

Uh, it's not quite as simple as that. Two cases:

First case (the one most people think about), you buy a phone and keep it 3 years before buying a new phone. In this case, if you accept the premise that the cost of TMo (plan + financed phone) is essentially the same as AT&T or Verizon (contract plan with subsidized phone), you save money for the year when you're not paying for the phone, or about $240.

Second case (the one that most people seem to overlook), you want to buy a new phone every year. With AT&T and Verizon, you have to pay full price for the new phone upfront. No options. Further, because your old phone is still within its contract period, they won't unlock it to make it easier for you to sell. So, it's a double lose situation. With TMo you can pay off your old phone, unlock it, then buy the new phone under finance and sell the old phone. Odds are that you'll make more off your old phone than the pay off cost, so you may net enough to cover the down payment on the new phone. Thus, your final cost is zero, and you've moved to upgrading your phone every year, instead of every other year.

Food for though...
 
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AT&T lagging behind

Called Tmo to make sure all iPhone 5 features were included in there new Simple Choice Plans. Their customer service rep confirmed that Facetime over 4G, Messages, Visual Voicemail and Personal Hotspot (PH) are features included in this plan. There is one caveat, the PH is limited to 500MB if you want to add more data to it you need to include a $10/month for 2GB or $20/mo for 4GB plan on top of the $50 Unlimited Talk+Text (first line) and $20 4G unlimited data plan (per line).

Now I called AT&T to talked to their sales rep (I'm with them now) and ask them if there was any incentive for customers like me willing to switch to Tmo over less expensive plans (I currently have a "Grandfathered Unlimited" with Family Plan) when compared to their Mobile Share plan. I did the #s Tmo is about $45/mo cheaper than AT&T and I really dont care that much about LTE since I am mostly on wifi. Well the Sales rep said, "Good luck you have been a good customer for a long time would hate to see you go."

They confirmed to me that once you break contract and pay your ETF they are willing to unlock the phone to you.

Hope this information is useful to many of you.
 
"Fragile finish" is making a comment about materials.
Sure are a lot of people here that could use a primer with the dictionary :)

Finish has _nothing_ to do with materials.

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I can't wait to leave AT&T for T-Mobile.

Be _very_ careful what you wish for :eek:

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My experience is just the opposite. Verizon provides LTE where I live. AT&T just talks the talk where I live.

It sounds like perhaps you could use a refresher on how cellular networks operate :)
 
Anybody remember how when iPhone 4 released on Verizon during the middle of its product lifecycle that there were small lines for it and so many said that it did not bode well for Apple?

However, the iPhone 4 went on to have an extremely strong year and last quarter, iPhone made up 67% of Verizon smartphone sales. Keep in mind that Verizon is the only carrier that actively markets its own branded Android-based phones in competition with iPhone, and still iPhone did 2/3 of their sales last quarter? Finally, during the last quarter iPhone 4S lifecycle we still saw iPhone make up 45% of Verizon sales. I would say that is a pretty good share of their sales. I expect T-mobile to follow suit.

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Would it have been cooler if they made a mockup of the glass cube from Apple's flagship store and then broke that?

T-Mobile has a different and less affluent customer base than Verizon. Now a bunch of folks will be switching to T-Mobile for this deal and to finally be able to be off contract. But generally speaking Verizon was the service that they least price sensitive customers got. They got it because it was the most reliable and monthly fee didn't matter.

So for the T-Mobile customer the cheaper Android offerings are going to be more compelling than for Verizon customers. But iPhone will still sell great.
 
Called Tmo to make sure all iPhone 5 features were included in there new Simple Choice Plans. Their customer service rep confirmed that Facetime over 4G, Messages, Visual Voicemail and Personal Hotspot (PH) are features included in this plan. There is one caveat, the PH is limited to 500MB if you want to add more data to it you need to include a $10/month for 2GB or $20/mo for 4GB plan on top of the $50 Unlimited Talk+Text (first line) and $20 4G unlimited data plan (per line).

Now I called AT&T to talked to their sales rep (I'm with them now) and ask them if there was any incentive for customers like me willing to switch to Tmo over less expensive plans (I currently have a "Grandfathered Unlimited" with Family Plan) when compared to their Mobile Share plan. I did the #s Tmo is about $45/mo cheaper than AT&T and I really dont care that much about LTE since I am mostly on wifi. Well the Sales rep said, "Good luck you have been a good customer for a long time would hate to see you go."

They confirmed to me that once you break contract and pay your ETF they are willing to unlock the phone to you.

Hope this information is useful to many of you.

AT&T and Verizon don't need your money. This has been blatantly obvious for years. Long gone are the days where requesting a transfer to the retentions department actually means anything.
 
On AT&T now and think T-Mobile would be a good option. I have no real need for LTE. I mean who needs 30 down and 20 up on a smartphone. Really.

Wonder how T-Mobile service compares to AT&T.

I do not own an iPhone 5, but I have friends who are on AT&T and I have borrowed one of their phones to test it out. My ex-girlfriend and I are on T-Mobile's family plan. We have unlimited everything (4G data is slowed after 2GB per line to 3G or 2G). We pay $99 a month before taxes and fees, $114 after taxes and fees.

We went to the T-Mobile store in Ann Arbor Michigan. There was a small line. The friendly staff said it was much bigger earlier. She went in not thinking she was going to get a phone, but walked out with a black 16 GB iPhone 5. She is not tech savvy so I borrowed it for a few hours to set up.

I was very impressed with the speed. Over 4G I used it to Facetime, download apps, stream Netflix, use Siri, and stream Pandora. The speed was phenomenal. I will not say it is better than AT&T in our area, which is fast, but if it wasn't faster, it wasn't slower.
 
T-Mobile has a different and less affluent customer base than Verizon. Now a bunch of folks will be switching to T-Mobile for this deal and to finally be able to be off contract. But generally speaking Verizon was the service that they least price sensitive customers got. They got it because it was the most reliable and monthly fee didn't matter.

So for the T-Mobile customer the cheaper Android offerings are going to be more compelling than for Verizon customers. But iPhone will still sell great.



I don't buy some of this. Verizon's reputation as the most reliable network stems from it having more towers covering voice. AT&T used to always have a better reputation concerning data speeds. Nowadays they probably are on par with one another in both areas. In some places, T-Mobile actually has better coverage. For instance, I live in Michigan. In the Metropolitan area T-Mobile has very good coverage. I live in Ann Arbor and I have I think lost two calls from people in the last two years. Both were using iPhones on AT&T and they were traveling over the same area of the highway. I never dropped calls there. Moreover, roaming is included in T-Mobile's plan. So, if you travel to an area where there aren't T-Mobile towers, you will most likely ride off AT&T's towers. My point is coverage is dependent on where you live. If you travel a lot to a place T-Mobile doesn't have coverage, then maybe it would be an issue, but like I said you will ride on another carriers towers.

T-Mobile has always had a reputation of good service, and it is why so many iPhone users put up with the lack of support to stay on the network. That and good prices.

It attracts value minded customers largely because as the underdog it has to compete on price. T-Mobile's reliance of Android largely has to do with AT&T and Verizon using their dominance to secure better deals on phones. T-Mobile has said not having the iPhone was the number one reason for customers to leave. That problem has been corrected. It will be interesting to see what happens.

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This would be great if T-mobile actually had an LTE network, and not a few LTE markets. :rolleyes:[COLOR="#808080"

Why does it matter if it has a fully established LTE Network? It does have a well established 4G network, when you include HSPC+. My girlfriend was downloading over HSPC+ at over 20 MBs a second.

My home internet caps out at around 6 mbs a second, and I stream Netflix on that just fine. At some point speed becomes just a marketing tool.
 
Meh? working great for me, I just picked mine up. Ran all through town. My old iPhone 5 only got GPRS mostly, Edge a little. Sounds like yours is broken. I'm selling my old iPhone 5, want to buy that? lol

I'm getting about 10meg down, 2 meg up, we're only HSPA+ 21 here though.. MetroPCS deal is supposed to pump us to HSPA+ 42 and get LTE in our area. can't wait!!

Local T-Mobile Store:
They had 40 iPhones to start this morning in store, opened at 9am, and by 9:30 already had 7 sold(including me). I doubt they will keep stock past today. Ever since the uncarrier event the local store here has been more busy. Combined with this, I think this afternoon will be crazy.

Yes it does.
 
Glad to be leaving Verizon

I have a Verizon plan coming out of contract the 20th. It's a Family Plan and I still have an iPhone 4, though I could have upgraded in December. However, Verizon would have:

  • Removed my grandfathered unlimited data plan
  • "Upgraded" our plan to Share Everything

The Share Everything plan would have cost $30 more per month and given us absolutely nothing. We would have gone from 700 minutes to unlimited, but we only use 130 per month on average. Already had unlimited texts, so $30 for... nada.

Further, the two kid phones were regular slider phones. To put them on smart phones of any sort would have been an additional $30/month each. I guess this is the amount they figure in for phone subsidies...? I don't really know, don't really care. It's more than I'd spend.

Moving to T-Mobile I've purchased two used iPhone 4Ss for the kids and will get an iPhone 5 for me. My monthly cost will come to $130 even including the iPhone 5 financing and both kids will be on iPhones. To be fair, I spent about $600 on their phones, so about $25/month for two years. Call it $155/month on T-Mo.

Verizon would have been $160 + 30 + 30 for the kids, so $220. Even if the kids never get iPhones, my cost would have gone up, my services down (loss of unlimited data) to get a new iPhone. It was crappy for Verizon to put me over the barrel like that, but that's their choice, and I've made mine. Cya VZ.
 
Sure are a lot of people here that could use a primer with the dictionary :)

Finish has _nothing_ to do with materials.

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Be _very_ careful what you wish for :eek:

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It sounds like perhaps you could use a refresher on how cellular networks operate :)

When in doubt; insult.

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More competition = happy consumers (in theory) :)

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However, a good amount have had issues with the front glass breaking due to new 'in-cell" tech, which produces a thinner front glass. Also, the aluminum dents quite easily when dropped in situations that the glass may not crack or shatter. In the end, it's a trade off as both devices are susceptible to damage in differing ways. :eek:

Great explanation.
 
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