plus if i buy the iphone i'll be helping stimulate our economy!!!
Nope, you'll just be letting AT&T stimulate your prostate.
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There has GOT to be something we can do about AT&T...
- Thread starter Mad Mac Maniac
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Nope, you'll just be letting AT&T stimulate your prostate.
The price of the "early termination fee", which is $175 at first, and goes down by $5 for each month you've had the plan.
That's a good point. Buy the new iPhone for $199, cancel after 30 days and pay the $175 ETF, and with the cost of your first month bill and activation, it's not going to be horribly much more than $399, which is what people are paying to unlock the "old" iPhone nowadays.
and now the other question is, if you do all of this and get it unlocked, will the phone and radio work on other networks?
it has to, cellphone providers only have a limited range of frequency they can play with
I picked up an iPhone for the wife for christmas off ebay. It was unlocked and we stuck the tmobile card and shes been using it since. Its $20 a month for unlimited internet and email. I think she pays $99 a month for unlimited minutes and text total.
I cant wait to get my iPhone now. I waited. I just hope some smart folks can crack it and soon!
I was disapointed there is no video but all the rest is a nice upgrade.
I cant wait to get my iPhone now. I waited. I just hope some smart folks can crack it and soon!
I was disapointed there is no video but all the rest is a nice upgrade.
Right, it doesn't support the frequencies that T-Mobile US is using for their 3G network. It'd work on their 2G network, but you wouldn't get any of the advantages of 3G. I guess if you really wanted gps that it might be worth considering?
whoops sry bout that, i forgot about the 3G (how the hell did i do that after all the fuss
) i was tlkn about just regular networksIt will also be worth noting that after you buy your phone and break your contract, that you still have to get around jailbreaking your phone to make it work with the other network.
Something that may prove more difficult this time around.
With the need to sign up and then terminate the contract, I think this will discourage people from doing this. The US, UK, France and Germany are, I believe, the only countries that have exclusive deals. The other contries do not. That means less and less people will be making programs that Jailbreak the phones.
There will be less and less people that are writing programs that jailbreak since there will be less demand for a jailbroken phone, not to mention the more and more difficult Apple will make it in the firmware to break.
Something that may prove more difficult this time around.
With the need to sign up and then terminate the contract, I think this will discourage people from doing this. The US, UK, France and Germany are, I believe, the only countries that have exclusive deals. The other contries do not. That means less and less people will be making programs that Jailbreak the phones.
There will be less and less people that are writing programs that jailbreak since there will be less demand for a jailbroken phone, not to mention the more and more difficult Apple will make it in the firmware to break.
and those are the exact same countries that had exclusive deals before who needed to jailbreak the phone. so it's no less demand. less percentage of total iphone users sure, but that's all.
Just don't get the new phone, and get a 1st gen once they drop in price a little.
Really 3G is great and all, but unless you can tether the iphone to your laptop and use it's internet connection, there's only so much high speed browsing you can do on the phone. And even still is that worth $30 a month when you probably pay 40-50 for a home broadband connection?
Really 3G is great and all, but unless you can tether the iphone to your laptop and use it's internet connection, there's only so much high speed browsing you can do on the phone. And even still is that worth $30 a month when you probably pay 40-50 for a home broadband connection?
How about all the contries that didn't have a deal for the iPhone at all. Those countries HAD to unlock to even work in their country.
Here's my situation - I've had an EDGE iPhone since Day 1. I like it a lot. I'd like it more with GPS and 3G. I was all set to pay $399 for an 8GB model and simply swap SIMs with my old iPhone, then give the old one to my girlfriend to activate.
Now I hear about this rate plan stuff. Meaning that the 3G iPhone is NOT "Half The Price" as Apple claims, it actually costs MORE over the two year contract period. (Funny how that works, since Apple said that one of their goals with the new iPhone was to reduce cost. They (or AT&T) are basically running a con on consumers now.) Anyway, here's my math, somebody correct me if I've made a mistake:
8GB EDGE iPhone = $399 purchase price + 24 months * ($40 voice + $20 data) = $1839 over contract period
8GB 3G iPhone = $199 purchase price + 24 months * ($40 voice + $30 data + $5 SMS) = $1999 over contract period
Granted, that's only $160 over two years. But that increase keeps growing as time goes on. Perhaps with the economy the way it is, I'm being overly sensitive to price. I mean, my current EDGE iPhone is simply a luxury, not a necessity. But I've decided that the additional features are not worth the price increase. No angst or anger on my part, simply a cost/benefit decision. So now I'm excited to see what the 2.0 software will bring to my old iPhone - sounds like there's some really cool software that will be coming out.
Now I hear about this rate plan stuff. Meaning that the 3G iPhone is NOT "Half The Price" as Apple claims, it actually costs MORE over the two year contract period. (Funny how that works, since Apple said that one of their goals with the new iPhone was to reduce cost. They (or AT&T) are basically running a con on consumers now.) Anyway, here's my math, somebody correct me if I've made a mistake:
8GB EDGE iPhone = $399 purchase price + 24 months * ($40 voice + $20 data) = $1839 over contract period
8GB 3G iPhone = $199 purchase price + 24 months * ($40 voice + $30 data + $5 SMS) = $1999 over contract period
Granted, that's only $160 over two years. But that increase keeps growing as time goes on. Perhaps with the economy the way it is, I'm being overly sensitive to price. I mean, my current EDGE iPhone is simply a luxury, not a necessity. But I've decided that the additional features are not worth the price increase. No angst or anger on my part, simply a cost/benefit decision. So now I'm excited to see what the 2.0 software will bring to my old iPhone - sounds like there's some really cool software that will be coming out.
People wanted a lower price on the device, YOU GOT , but for that lower price what did you actually get ? Higher in service, and this is just the beginning.
As the app store opens and more people jump on the bandwagon prices are going to go up
As the app store opens and more people jump on the bandwagon prices are going to go up
I still think the price for the amount of time I use the phone is a deal. I am always on the internet on my current iPhone. The price is a steal for the convenience of always being connected.
I was thinking about this price increase last nite. I have to think that this also has to do with the fact that you can't use AT&T Navigator with the iPhone. So with that mind, AT&T figures they could raise the price of data by $10 to cover what they would normally charge for the GPS service. Just somethin that I thought about. I could be off, but as stated if you want it bad enough you're gonna drop the cash as I will myself.
PLEASE PEOPLE! Where is the proof of the extra $5 for the 200 SMS messages? Everything I have read just states an extra $10 for 3G access.. Otherwise the plans should stay the same.. 200 SMS included, 1500 SMS for $10 and unlimited SMS for $20.. If anyone has proof otherwise, let's hear it, otherwise please stop the FUD over the $5 SMS charge!!!
How does that help?
To buy the iPhone 3G, you have to sign a new AT&T contract and get your new iPhone activated in the store (like a regular phone) before you can leave with it.
Even if you jailbreak your new iPhone 3G and use it with another carrier (which would only be T-Mobile in the US, and that sucks because the iPhone 3G doesn't support the frequencies T-Mobile will use when they finally get their 3G network up and running), you still have to deal with the obligation of the AT&T contract you signed when you bought the iPhone 3G, no?
with ziphone and the current iphone you can jailbreak it and bypass activation, i think he meant that eventually they will do this for firmware 2.0
Thats assuming you can walk into an apple store and have the option to walk out with the phone under the assumption that you're going to go activate it at an ATT store.
and then using the Ziphone software you'll be able to bypass activation, pop in your AT&T sim card from your old iphone and continue using the old $20 unlimited plan while still enjoying 3G
Supposedly, Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T Mobility, said so in an interview.
http://gigaom.com/2008/06/09/att-mobility-ceo-new-3g-iphone-game-changer/
OM: Has there been a change in the cost of data plans?
RDLV: The data plans are different on the 3G iPhone vs. the 2G iPhone. Consumers will pay $30 a month every month, while enterprises will pay $45 a month. This is what you pay us on other PDA devices such as BlackBerry Curve. The SMS messages are not bundled anymore, and you pay for what you want. Again, the prices are based on what you buy.
EXACTLY... I just don't understand a complete lack of understanding business seen in so many posts on this subject. "I want every new feature under the sun, I want 1,000 hours battery life, i want it cheap, and oh by the way I want unlimited data and calls for $10 a month"
That's a pretty big assumption. AT&T's made it pretty clear that you'll have to at least sign the contract for service before you can leave with your new 3G iPhone. So even if you make it out of a store with an inactive iPhone, you're still liable for the service. Maybe that's what they meant when they said that there'd be a penalty for anyone who doesn't activate their iPhone within 30 days of service?
AT&T is subsidizing the price of the phone, yes. But by contract they make up that subsidy (assuming $200) in less than two years, and actually end up making MORE over the life of the phone. Personally, I'd prefer they not subsidize it at all - it'd be cheaper for me that way.