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iPhone 3GS Now Free with Contract


As predicted, Apple also kept the iPhone 3GS around to be a low end "free with contract" device on AT&T.

That means Apple is presently selling 3 generations of devices: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S. Having a free option will help Apple compete with many of the cheaper Android phones. The 3GS is the oldest iPhone to support iOS 5.

Top Rated Comments

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Posted: 8 months ago

My 3GS kinda struggled with iOS 4 ... I think it's going to perform like a free phone on iOS 5.


My 3Gs is running faster on IOS5 beta 7 than it did on 4.3.5. No joke. Noticeably.
Rating: 4 Positives / 0 Negatives
Posted: 8 months ago
I'd rather have a 3GS than a new Android phone.

When you're used to Apple, everything else feels low.
Rating: 4 Positives / 1 Negatives
Posted: 8 months ago
My 3GS kinda struggled with iOS 4 ... I think it's going to perform like a free phone on iOS 5.
Rating: 4 Positives / 1 Negatives
Posted: 8 months ago

Really? We'll pay $200 for the 16gb iPhone 4s here in the USA for a 24 month contract.


They have better competition over there.


Yeah the iPhone 4 has been available for free pretty much since launch over here, I would guess the same will happen with the 16GB 4S. Price fixing seems to be rife in the USA, maybe it will get better now you have more networks to choose from. In the UK iPhones are on Orange, Three, Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile & Tesco-Mobile. Even if the networks don't offer it free, the independents will (Carphone Warehouse, Phones4U etc etc along with the 100's of online contract sites).
Rating: 2 Positives / 0 Negatives
Posted: 8 months ago

My 3Gs is running faster on IOS5 beta 7 than it did on 4.3.5. No joke. Noticeably.


Well, that's good to know. :)
Rating: 2 Positives / 0 Negatives
Posted: 8 months ago
I too am amazed with the 3Gs and Apple's software engineers who know how to optimize iOS 5. My 3Gs feels faster with 5.0 GM than it did with iOS4...and this is a phone that is about 2.5 to 3 years old. Great work apple!
Rating: 1 Positives / 0 Negatives
Posted: 8 months ago

No sane person would buy a 2 year old phone to save $100-200 when they have to pay $70+ per month for 2 years to use it.


By this standard, a huge portion of the population is not "sane". But they still buy stuff. Lots. Note that the 2 year old 3GS, which wasn't free, outsold every single Android model last month. With the cost now even lower, what you call insanity should increase, really putting the screws to all the mid and low-end Andriod manufacturers.

The 4S is a fake maneuver. The 4S wasn't intended to increase Apple's market share. It's only just enough of a differentiation to segment the market and allow Apple to lower the price of both the i4 and 3GS. These lower prices are the real attack on market share.

The fanboys will groan is disappointment, but Apple will roll in Billions of earnings from this move.
Rating: 1 Positives / 0 Negatives
Posted: 8 months ago

Really? We'll pay $200 for the 16gb iPhone 4s here in the USA for a 24 month contract.


They have better competition over there.
Rating: 1 Positives / 0 Negatives
Posted: 8 months ago

Free with what contract?

'Free with contract' is kind of meaningless. If you go for enough minutes, even the better phones may end up as 'free'.

I'm expecting the 4s 16G to be 'free' in the UK on the standard 24 month contracts.


Really? We'll pay $200 for the 16gb iPhone 4s here in the USA for a 24 month contract.
Rating: 1 Positives / 0 Negatives
Posted: 8 months ago

My 3GS kinda struggled with iOS 4 ... I think it's going to perform like a free phone on iOS 5.


My 3GS is still fairly fast on iOS 4. Even faster with 5.0
Rating: 1 Positives / 0 Negatives

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