AT&T To Offer No-Contract iPhone 193
rfc1394 writes "While the regular price of an iPhone is $199 if you take a 2-year contract with AT&T, if you're willing to pay a lot more you can get one without a contract. An article in InfoWorld mentions that 'Freedom will come with a price — $599 for an 8GB device and $699 for a 16GB — but this will mark the first time consumers in the United States are able to buy an iPhone without being tied down to a two-year contract. The phone probably would still be locked for use only on AT&T's network, said Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg. But buyers could choose a pay-as-you-go plan for voice service.' The question still remains, does it make any sense to pay that much for a phone that is still locked to AT&T's network even if you aren't bound to a contract?" Update: 07/05 18:21 GMT by T : An anonymous reader suggests that there is a convoluted but possibly cheaper route to an new, unlocked iPhone.
Re:This is a response to iPhone unlocking... (Score:5, Informative)
Most phone companies have a stipulation in the contract that forces you to return the phone if you cancel the contract soon after starting it. In this case I would think that time would be about 6 months or so - enough time for them to squeeze out the 600/700 dollar cost.
Re:This is a response to iPhone unlocking... (Score:3, Informative)
Well, you should have bought insurance.
Re:This is a response to iPhone unlocking... (Score:5, Informative)
Cancellations/Early Termination Fee: An Early Termination Fee of $175 may be assessed against you in the event that you terminate your Wireless Service Agreement and/or selected plan before the expiration of its term. For Service activated on or after May 25, 2008, the Early Termination Fee will be reduced by $5.00 for each full month toward your minimum term that you complete. You may cancel your service, for any reason and without incurring the Early Termination Fee, within thirty (30) days of signing your Wireless Service Agreement, PROVIDED, however, that if you cancel service you will remain responsible for any service fees and charges incurred. If you cancel within three (3) days of signing your Wireless Service Agreement, you will be entitled to a refund of your activation fee, if any. If you exercise this option, you may be required to return devices and associated accessories purchased in connection with your Wireless Service Agreement.
So you wait until the 4th day.
Re:This is a response to iPhone unlocking... (Score:5, Informative)
No lock for no-contract phones (Score:4, Informative)
Once you are out of contract, they are required by law to unlock your phone for use on any carrier, so selling a no-contract phone thats locked doesn't make a whole lot of sense, as they'd just have to provide an unlock code at your request anyway. I guess they'll probably do it just to make people who don't know any better use AT&T anyway.
Either way, the price makes buying an unlocked phone absolutely retarded. You pay the $199/$299 and pay the $175 contract early termination fee and save yourself some money. After paying the termination fee, they have to unlock your phone so you can take it where ever you want, sans visual voicemail of course.
Re:This is a response to iPhone unlocking... (Score:4, Informative)
You can't buy insurance from the carrier for high dollar phones such as the iPhone. People that buy them will buy another one if it gets stolen ( Well, okay, I'm buying another one to replace my stolen iphone on the 11th ). And its not really profitable for them to charge you a $20 insurance fee for a phone that they actually have to pay for, unlike all the other give-away phones that they don't mind insuraning because they are so cheap that the fee they charge you when you make a claim is more than the phone costs them.
Re:I don't think so... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Why buy an iPhone (Score:5, Informative)
Are the hardware specifications of a cell phone the only relevant thing? Absolutely not. Hardware defines the device's potential, but the device's quality is determined in a large part by its software. And Openmoko Freerunner's software stack is pretty sucky right now.
Right now Freerunner's battery life is something like 5 hours [openmoko.org], and there are many other issues [slashdot.org].
A great example of why all but a handful of people may prefer an iPhone to a Freerunner is this month's discussion of filesystem images [openmoko.org] on the mailing list. Apparently there's an FSO image ("make and receive calls. That's about it."), an ASU image ("qtopia apps don't start if I have the SIM in the phone"), a GTK image ("more or less what the phone came preloaded with"), a ScaredyCat image ("mostly works"). This should make it pretty clear that a Freerunner is not a consumer-ready device and is definitely NOT an iPhone equivalent.
A Freerunner should only be purchased by those who are fully prepared to deal with it as a hobby rather than as a consumer-ready phone/PDA. Posts like yours are misleading and do a disservice both to the consumer and to the Openmoko project.
Re:I don't think so... (Score:2, Informative)
I personally wouldn't buy the thing either way...
Re:This is a response to iPhone unlocking... (Score:2, Informative)
The 3 day "trial" is a full 100% refund. The 30 day "trial" is the same thing, but you don't get your activation fee refunded ($36) (for days between day 4 and day 30). Given this, after 30 days, you have to pay (1) 1 months worth of service (2) $36 activation fee (3) 199/299 for the phone, and (4) termination fee of 175 - and quite possibly a pro rated second month of usage (if any).
Re:Canadians (Score:4, Informative)
Here is Roger's Early Cancellation Fee for the IPhone:
"The ECF is the greater of (ii) $100 or (iii) $20 per month remaining in the service agreement, to a maximum of $400 (plus applicable taxes), and applies on each line in the plan that is terminated."
So waiting a month and then canceling will cost you $700 vs $175 with AT&T
Re:$80 to cancel in Oz (Score:4, Informative)
Yes, but you'll be paying 800 $Aus (just for the phone) to do so, won't you?
at $880 (which is about $840 USD), that's a heck of a difference from the AT&T price!
Re:Why buy an iPhone (Score:3, Informative)
Except, in my opinion, it doesn't work. Or, to be more precise as a pocket computer, it's amazing. As a phone, however, it's craptacular. Phone calls on it are unbelievably bad. Like Eighties analog cell coverage in the mid-West bad. It's inexcusable.
Re:This is a response to iPhone unlocking... (Score:3, Informative)
Sorry you're wrong. Insurance is definitely offered on iphones. I guess you don't know what you are talking about or regret not buying the insurance yourself because I have an iphone and I have insurance @ 4.95 a month w AT&T. That's pretty standard for a smartphone. Verizon charged me the same insurance fee when I had a treo.
Must be you (Score:3, Informative)
Re:This is a response to iPhone unlocking... (Score:3, Informative)
So, we can buy the iPhone outright for $599/$699 or we can get a contract and cancel it after 14 days (but before 30 days) and pay a net of $235/$335.
Re:You aren't paying $70/month for a phone (Score:3, Informative)
Except that I'm getting the same thing out of my current iphone for $20 bucks a month (Gophone ftw). Sure a speed boost would be nice, but not 50 bucks a month worth of nice -- especially when the $20 bucks I'm paying per month now will work just fine an an iphone 3g for unlimited 3g data if I can get one without a contract.
Not only that, but with gophone once every 45 days I can buy $10 bucks worth of credit on my sim card for only 2-3 bucks (via ebay, using a new prepaid code) and that I get periodic bonuses when I do refill? My 20 bucks a month ends up being more like $15 bucks a month that I've actually deposited.
Now I do pay 25 cents a minute for the occasional phone call -- but I don't do nearly $55 dollars worth of talking at that price -- and if I did, there are voice plans available I could add to my service -- but I'm perfectly happy with $20 bucks a month data and no voice plan.
Anything you can do to weasel out of being locked into an unreasonable inflated contract monthly cost is worth it.
Re:Why buy an iPhone (Score:2, Informative)
in Baton Rouge, La... its just peachy call quality.