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T-Mobile's iPhone 'Test Drive' Program Upgrades: iOS 8 Soon, iPhone 6 Units Later

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Apr 12, 2001
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Several months ago, T-Mobile US launched an iPhone "test drive" program allowing users to test an iPhone 5s on the carrier's network for seven days free of charge. The program helps users decide if T-Mobile's coverage is satisfactory in the areas they frequent, and also gives users unfamiliar with the iPhone a free introduction to the platform.

tmobile_test_drive.jpg
With Apple ready to release new iPhone hardware and software, T-Mobile has informed Re/code that it will continue offering the program and plans to upgrade the test drive units to iOS 8 within days of its public launch this Wednesday. T-Mobile also has plans to begin offering iPhone 6 units through the testing program, but it will take some time for those to become available as supplies will be tight in the early weeks after release and they will unsurprisingly be prioritized for customer purchases.
"We don't have a definitive timeline, but we do intend to switch over in future," a T-Mobile spokesperson said. "There are a variety of factors that affect that timeline, (including) product availability."
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T-Mobile's test drive program is one component of its ongoing "Un-carrier" initiative in which has sought to differentiate itself from the other major U.S. carriers. The latest piece of the program, unveiled last week, includes support for Wi-Fi calling and a partnership with inflight Internet service provider Gogo to allow T-Mobile customers to use text, picture message, and visual voicemail services on Gogo-enabled airplanes free of charge.

Article Link: T-Mobile's iPhone 'Test Drive' Program Upgrades: iOS 8 Soon, iPhone 6 Units Later
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/15/t-mobile-test-drive-ios-8-iphone-6/
I'm glad AT&T and T-Mobile merge did not happen! It's great to see all these great things coming out of T-Mobile.
 
tommyboy21 said:
Now if only they'd let you ship the phone back to them with a prepaid label, I'd be in! Closest T-Mobile store to me is 200 miles away. :(
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I see a T-Mo store every few miles in West LA... where in LA do you live that there isn't one fore 200 miles?
 
I wonder if they'll let an existing T-Mobile iPhone 5s customer do this. I don't see why not - I want to see how the iPhone 6 in particular performs in my area before upgrading. At least that's what I'd say.
 
I definitely wanted to test drive recently when my Verizon contract was up. I was willing to live with the understandable $750 hold on my credit card, but not being able to ship the device back killed it, as there are no actual T-Mobile stores in my state (even though we've got 4G everywhere). After contacting them about it twice and getting no answer, I stuck with Verizon.
 
I convinced my sister (lives in Cleveland, OH) to take the test drive, primarily so I could stop hearing her complaints about her Sprint coverage. :)

Unfortunately, she was frequently receiving only an EDGE signal - especially while inside of buildings. As a result of the t-mobile test drive, she has a Verizon iPhone 6 scheduled for delivery on Friday :)
 
Will definitely do this once the 6 is available. I live in Upstate NY, and T-Mo's rural coverage is really in need of improvement. But I'll see for myself! :D
 
T-Mobile has awesome speeds here in DFW.

S2jS5lW.jpg


Too bad I already have a large screen phone for a fraction of the price of an iPhone :cool:
 
djc6 said:
I convinced my sister (lives in Cleveland, OH) to take the test drive, primarily so I could stop hearing her complaints about her Sprint coverage. :)

Unfortunately, she was frequently receiving only an EDGE signal - especially while inside of buildings. As a result of the t-mobile test drive, she has a Verizon iPhone 6 scheduled for delivery on Friday :)
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T-mobile's test drive accomplished what it needed to do in your sister's case. The test drive clarified that T-mobile service is no good for her. This isn't a bad thing.

Tmobile wants happy customers. If test drive doesn't work, than tmobile isn't for that person. That's why it doesn't cost your sister any money to "test the network".
 
WestonHarvey1 said:
I wonder if they'll let an existing T-Mobile iPhone 5s customer do this. I don't see why not - I want to see how the iPhone 6 in particular performs in my area before upgrading. At least that's what I'd say.
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I don't see why they would let existing iPhone users do this. Why would an iPhone 6 perform any different than a 5s in terms of carrier connectivity?
 
I've been test driving the T-Mobile service in North Florida this past week. It is abysmal.

With Sprint, there's signal everywhere but slow speeds.

T-Mobile has very fast speeds in minuscule parts of big cities graced by a nearby tower.

It's no wonder that Verizon and AT&T clean up in the mobile space. Even their MNVOs are better than Sprint of T-Mobile.


(IMHO, of course.)
 
WestonHarvey1 said:
I wonder if they'll let an existing T-Mobile iPhone 5s customer do this. I don't see why not - I want to see how the iPhone 6 in particular performs in my area before upgrading. At least that's what I'd say.
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According to this, from their website, I don't see why not.

LCsTBLG.png
 
If only

I live in NYC so T-Mobile service here is pretty flawless. The problem? I do a disproportionate amount of traveling throughout the States and Europe. Service in Europe with T-Mobile is ok and so is the States but I definitely need consistency. I love what T-Mobile is doing. They're forcing carriers to rethink their approach to offering customers the true best they have. John Legere is awesome!!! For now, I'm stuck with AT&T but the second they (T-Mobile) improves their network to my satisfaction, I'm jumping ship.
 
Getting my Test Drive phone tomorrow

My AT&T contract expired yesterday and my T-Mobile Test Drive phone will be here tomorrow. Living in the Atlanta area, I suspect my coverage should be solid and I look forward to tremendous savings over AT&T. I'm still grandfathered on the original Unlimited Plan with AT&T but am anxious to get the hell out if the next 7 days go well.

I like that T-Mobile doesn't charge you extra for going over your allotted Data Cap but rather they just throttle you. I'm fine with that.
 
aneftp said:
T-mobile's test drive accomplished what it needed to do in your sister's case. The test drive clarified that T-mobile service is no good for her. This isn't a bad thing. Tmobile wants happy customers. If test drive doesn't work, than tmobile isn't for that person…..
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Exactly. Unhappy customers are bad for business. They are much more likely to spread the word about their dissatisfaction than happy customers are to heap their praises.
 
dsburdette said:
My AT&T contract expired yesterday and my T-Mobile Test Drive phone will be here tomorrow. Living in the Atlanta area, I suspect my coverage should be solid and I look forward to tremendous savings over AT&T. I'm still grandfathered on the original Unlimited Plan with AT&T but am anxious to get the hell out if the next 7 days go well.

I like that T-Mobile doesn't charge you extra for going over your allotted Data Cap but rather they just throttle you. I'm fine with that.
Click to expand...

I travel to Atlanta often and the coverage has been pretty solid. LTE all over. There might be some buildings with weak signal penetration though depending where you go. Guess you'll get to see soon.
 
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