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Unsubsidized IP6. Are you willing to pay MSRP?

H

HKPDW

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 2, 2011
66
0
I paid a visit to my local ATT store and the sales rep mentioned ATT won't be offering a contract plan / subsidized Iphone by the time the IPhone 6 hits the streets.

So, I have to make a choice; spend $700 for the IPhone 6 and try to sell my IPhone 5 for $350 or, keep my IPhone 5.

Considering there may no longer be a subsidy benefit, I'm starting to think sticking with my IPhone 5 is going to be the best course of action.

What would you do?
 
HKPDW said:
I paid a visit to my local ATT store and the sales rep mentioned ATT won't be offering a contract plan / subsidized Iphone by the time the IPhone 6 hits the streets.

So, I have to make a choice; spend $700 for the IPhone 6 and try to sell my IPhone 5 for $350 or, keep my IPhone 5.

Considering there may no longer be a subsidy benefit, I'm starting to think sticking with my IPhone 5 is going to be the best course of action.

What would you do?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't believe the ATT employee.
 
I'll take the cheaper monthly plan for not doing a subsidy and pay MSRP spread over 12 months.
 
Isn't the current phone $650

But anyway, I honestly wouldn't be shocked either way. If they do offer subsidy alongside next, that means they are giving you choices. If they don't offer subsidy, they are making money off of your line instantly because they no longer have a phone to recoup the costs of.

If I were guessing, I would expect them to phase out subsidy plans altogether at some point. Whether that will be quite this soon remains to be seen.
 
AndrewR23 said:
I wouldn't believe the ATT employee.
Click to expand...

I agree. Most of the time anyone who works for your carrier is a complete idiot when it comes to the iPhone. He could also be trying to scare you into upgrading now (if you are eligible) or buying the new iPhone now.

I remember when I was waiting for the Verizon iPhone 4, whenever I would call into tech support, they would try to push me onto a Samsung or Motorola Android phone. They would ALWAYS ask because they are there to sell phones. Same with this guy. Don't believe it.
 
aristobrat said:
I'll take the cheaper monthly plan for not doing a subsidy and pay MSRP spread over 12 months.
Click to expand...


Unfortunately, there is no cheaper plan. I pay $40/voice & $25/2 GB data (minus a 23% corp discount) so, around $50/month plus taxes.

When my contract expires in September, my plan premium will not decrease even though I've reimbursed ATT for the original subsidy. So, if there is no forthcoming Iphone 6 subsidy, I'll have to foot that $450ish lost subsidy benefit and still have to pay that contract/subsidized phone plan premium.

I realize things change but, having to pay full boat for an unsubsidized phone and not getting a discount on my plan premium (for the loss of the subsidy) just sucks.

I hope the ATT sales rep is wrong about the subsidy.
 
The market is moving away from subsidized pricing but in its place they are offering to spread the payments over 2 years. Verizon call it Edge, though I don't know what ATT calls it.

With that said, I wouldn't believe an ATT employee, they're the last to know about any strategic or tactical decisions that the company will be making in the future. Its more likely his opinion then fact. Also I think Apple will have a say in this and they want subsidized pricing
 
If you can afford to buy the phone straight out then you should do so. There is no need to pay any carrier the "privilege" of subsidizing the phone, especially with the likes of AT&T and Verizon. You'll also have a factory unlocked phone that you can use with any carrier that you fancy. You can sell your iPhone 5 to cover some of the cost of upgrading. I've been doing this every year and will not be going back to contracts. T-Mo's $30 plan is fantastic if you can manage only having 100 voice minutes; that alone covers the price of the phone VS paying AT&T's ridiculous plan prices. Big initial investment but if you enjoy technology, saving up throughout the year to cover the difference between the selling price of you told phone and the new one is well worth it IMO.

Then again, I am THE definition of an Apple fanboy so this may all sound crazy to everyone else. I do the same with the MacBook Airs. :D
 
The only subsidized iPhone I bought was the iPhone 3G.
Never again.
Every year I buy the new model unsubsidized and I'm happy.
 
The last time I bought a subsidized phone was the last. I always sell the last one to use the money towards the new one, so except for the first phone, the cost is about the same, give or take, then a subsidized phone. Without a contract, so I get 10% off the monthly bill and I can change carrier/phone whenever I want to without penalty fee. And an unlock iPhone sells faster then a locked one.

So if you can sell your current phone for 350$, you pay the same then for a subsidized phone. A no brainer IMO.
 
Two iPhone 5 that I paid $170 a month for. $400 initial purchase for both together.

Math : $4,480 for two years.

Now I'm paying less then $80 a month combining with my parents value share plan. $1920 over 2 years. Not including phones that saves $2560 for two years.

I think I can pay full price for two iPhones and still save a grand over two years.

The money I'm saving monthly is going to an iPhone savings account. 16 months of savings will pay for new phones. I've had a cell phone for 12 years. This is the cheapest I've ever had a cell bill, and it's for two phones.

Short answer. Yes.
 
Last edited:
If the subsidy goes away than I'll pay full retail for my next smartphone. The payment plans are a lousy deal IMO and tie you to the carrier without them giving you anything.

At least if you pay full price you are free to go to whichever carrier offers the best deal. There is a rumor that Apple is going to eliminate the iPhone 5c and only offer a larger screened iPhone made of lower cost materials ala mid range Android. I hope that's not true but the iPhone might not be expensive going forward.
 
AndrewR23 said:
I wouldn't believe the ATT employee.
Click to expand...

This. What will actually happen aside. It's no way a regular att employee you can walk up and talk to knows something that far in advance.

If the 6 was somehow awesome. I'd buy full price since I use straight talk now. Otherwise stick with my 5s as planned till 2015.
 
I'd buy the iPhone out of contract in a heartbeat in the US. It's incredibly cheap.
 
i think the price for the iPhone 6 will be 100$ more, because its sapphire glass and more screen estate.
 
barkomatic said:
If the subsidy goes away than I'll pay full retail for my next smartphone. The payment plans are a lousy deal IMO and tie you to the carrier without them giving you anything.

At least if you pay full price you are free to go to whichever carrier offers the best deal. There is a rumor that Apple is going to eliminate the iPhone 5c and only offer a larger screened iPhone made of lower cost materials ala mid range Android. I hope that's not true but the iPhone might not be expensive going forward.
Click to expand...

Well, you do get interest free financing. I'm thinking they have a lot of customers willing to do that because coming up with $750 for a phone is shocking to them.

----------
Serban said:
i think the price for the iPhone 6 will be 100$ more, because its sapphire glass and more screen estate.
Click to expand...

A lot of people don't think about the ripple this can cause.

It's like healthcare, most people don't care how much care costs because they don't get affected by it.

I welcome a model of full price phones. If iPhones are 800 and galaxy's are $600. Apple will feel that. Instead of both being $200.

We're going to see cell phone costs decrease drastically over the next few years.
 
barkomatic said:
If the subsidy goes away than I'll pay full retail for my next smartphone. The payment plans are a lousy deal IMO and tie you to the carrier without them giving you anything.

At least if you pay full price you are free to go to whichever carrier offers the best deal.
Click to expand...
From what I've seen, the payment plans are simply 0% interest finance plans. If you're on one and decide you want to go to another carrier, you simply pay off the remaining balance and go. You won't end up paying a penny more than the person who paid the MSRP in one payment.

With Verizon (unless they changed it in the last week of two) if you're NOT on a payment plan, then they don't discount your monthly fee for that phone.
 
iPhone should have a premium price than a Htc One or Galaxy S5 so iPhone 6 need a 100$ add
 
Yes.

I paid the full $649+tax for my unlocked iPhone 5 and I prefer the freedom of not being under contract for 2 years. I've been on prepaid for several years now, and if I suddenly need to save money I can go to a less expensive prepaid plan with minimal hassle.
 
With the mobile share plan I am on with AT&T I actually am getting discounted service for being on a contract free phone so there is no reason for me to buy subsidized any more.
 
Personally I prefer to buy all my phones outright. That way I have no contractual obligations for them.

That said my good friend is an AT&T district rep. He says AT&T will offer a choice to the customers of subsidized or unsubsidized. Their only goal is to sell as many phones as possible and they know the value of choice for the customer.
 
I would be pretty surprised if carriers dropped the 2 year contracts. They are getting money through the roof, and I'll gladly stay with a carrier for two years if they are willing to subsidize my phone.
 
ZacUSNYR said:
Two iPhone 5 that I paid $170 a month for. $400 initial purchase for both together.

Short answer. Yes.
Click to expand...
The OP is paying $50/mo for service and that already includes an $18.75/mo subsidy for the iPhone. Effectively, he's only paying $31.25 per month for service for 500 minutes (iirc) and 2GB data. That's gonna be hard to beat if he needs to stay with either AT&T or Verizon's network.

Sure, rates for Ting, Republic Wireless and T-Mobile sound nice in theory but only if there's coverage. Frankly, when you consider the included subsidy on older plans, AT&T's Mobile Share Value plans kinda suck until you hit 4 people with smartphones sharing at least 10GB.
 
HKPDW said:
I paid a visit to my local ATT store and the sales rep mentioned ATT won't be offering a contract plan / subsidized Iphone by the time the IPhone 6 hits the streets.

So, I have to make a choice; spend $700 for the IPhone 6 and try to sell my IPhone 5 for $350 or, keep my IPhone 5.

Considering there may no longer be a subsidy benefit, I'm starting to think sticking with my IPhone 5 is going to be the best course of action.

What would you do?
Click to expand...

What would I do?

I would never believe a sales tech at the local ATT store. They are clueless.
 
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