Apple Having Trouble Signing New Carriers Because of iPhone Subsidy and Minimum Purchase Requirements
Apple is missing the opportunity to reach 2.8 billion wireless customers because of their stringent requirements around minimum purchases of iPhones and price subsidies, according to a report from Bloomberg.
In order to carry the iPhone, Apple has strict requirements for carriers. One such requirement relates to minimum purchase agreements, which regional U.S. postpaid carrier Cricket has had some trouble meeting this year.
Some smaller carriers, especially those in emerging markets, have difficulties paying the pricey subsidies that Apple's $600 iPhones require. The rumors about a cheaper, plastic iPhone could address some of these issues, especially for those countries where subsidies are nearly unheard of and customers routinely pay for their phones up front.
For smaller wireless-service providers, teaming up with Apple can be a double-edged sword. U.S. Cellular signed on last week to offer the phone after agreeing to sell $1.2 billion worth of handsets over three years. The company had long said that the handset costs too much; yet, not having the iPhone was costing it customers. Telefonica Czech Republic dropped the iPhone because it couldn’t afford the subsidy.
Apple is rumored to be designing a lower-cost iPhone with a colored plastic shell, with one analyst
expecting the device to be released this fall. This correlates somewhat with hints about future products that Apple CEO Tim Cook gave during his
Q2 2013 earnings call last month.
Popular Stories
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve).
The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a few days after Apple provided the betas to developers.
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 device by going to General > Software Update.
When the...
Apple this week revealed that iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer.
That means that iOS 18 is the end of the road for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, which were all released in 2018. However, those devices will continue to receive security updates for at least a few more years.
iOS 26 is compatible with the following iPhone models:
iPhone 16e
iPhone...
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states and Puerto...
With iOS 26, Apple has made some additions to the iPhone Lock Screen that aim to make it more customizable than ever.
Of course, things can always change before the software makes its way to the general iPhone-owning public, but here are five new things iOS 26 can do on the Lock Screen as of the current developer beta.
Widgets Top or Bottom
In iOS 18, the row of widgets on your Lock...
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements.
While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way.
By the time the ...
Every year between 2015 and 2024, at least one Apple executive agreed to be interviewed by Daring Fireball's John Gruber for a special WWDC episode of his podcast, The Talk Show. Last year, for example, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi, marketing chief Greg Joswiak, and top AI researcher John Giannandrea joined Gruber on stage at the California Theatre in San Jose to discuss...
In a new ad, Google says iOS 26 copies three Android features that have been available on Pixel phones for years: Live Translate, Hold Assist, and Call Screening.
The video, part of the ongoing #BestPhonesForever series, shows an iPhone and a Pixel 9 Pro talking to each other on a fictional podcast.
"I announced live translation for text messages," the iPhone says.
"And it turned out...
