Pre-Paid iPhone Service to be Available?

BoyGeniusReport.com has posted screenshots from AT&T's accounting system revealing new account codes for three versions of iPhone sales:

- iPhone PostPaid
- iPhone PrePaid (Pay As You Go)
- iPhone Hybrid (Pick Your Plan)

"PostPaid" is the traditional 2 year contract sign up method that most cellular customers, while PrePaid and Hybrid represent different PrePaid (no contract) plans that Cingular currently offers.

Cingular details the plans on their site:

Pay As You Go
Pay As You Go is wireless made easy. Simply pay in advance for what you need. No long-term contracts, credit checks or surprise bills - just all the benefits of wireless, with no complications.

Pick Your Plan
Get the best of wireless without long-term contracts or unexpected bills. With Pick Your Plan, you establish monthly automatic payments for service and use the balance on your account for voice minutes or other features. It's that easy.

The benefits are clear -- no long term contracts. However, subscribers of these plans must purchase phones at full price, without benefit of subsidies.

As an example, the most expensive phone available on the Prepaid phones from Cingular at present is the Motorola RAZR V3 which would cost you $199.99 without annual contract. In contrast, the same phone when purchased with a 2-year contract plan is Free (after $50 rebate). The deep discount is due to a subsidy paid by Cingular to encourage customers to sign long term contracts.

What gets interesting now is that Apple's iPhone is rumored to have tossed this business model out by not allowing the phone to be subsidized. This remains an unconfirmed belief, but this means the $499/$599 iPhone costs should be the same with or without contract. Readers have speculated that this would mean that iPhones would only be sold with contract. The unrestricted sale of iPhones without contractual obligations would more easily allow users to buy and unlock their iPhones for use on other networks.

By offering this option, AT&T/Cingular could lose revenue from individuals who might otherwise commit to a 2 year obligation, but Cingular is said to be giving Apple a portion of revenue from subscribers. Since details of the revenue sharing are unknown, it's possible that non-contract sales/revenue may fall under different terms making the pre-paid (no contract) plans (paradoxically) more profitable for Cingular.

Alternatively, these accounting codes may not mean anything and simply included by default or mistake in their accounting system.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Monday June 30, 2025 1:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
maxresdefault

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options...