T-Mobile Raises iPhone Price by $50, Down Payment on iPhone 5 Starts at $150 - MacRumors
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T-Mobile Raises iPhone Price by $50, Down Payment on iPhone 5 Starts at $150

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When 4th-place U.S. cell carrier T-Mobile launched the iPhone last month, customers could purchase it for a $100 down payment with 24 monthly payments of $20 to cover the full cost of the phone.

Now, however, T-Mobile has ended that promotion and the 16GB iPhone 5 has a $150 down payment with the same monthly payments, effectively raising the cost of the phone to $630 from $580 over the life of the plan, TmoNews reports.

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The 32GB and 64GB iPhone 5 models have seen a similar $50 price increase. Buying a 16GB iPhone 5 through T-Mobile is still slightly cheaper than buying an unlocked iPhone from Apple. That phone is $650, though there is no monthly payment option.

Ah T-Mobile, I knew your introductory pricing of $99 down payment wasn’t going to last. As of today, T-Mobile will ask well-qualified customers to drop $149 as their down payment instead of $99 as has been the case since the April 12th launch. I don’t recall anyone or anywhere telling me the $99 price was only good for one month, but in hindsight I should have seen the writing on the wall.

T-Mobile will continue to take trade-ins of current iPhone models to reduce the down payment required. The company reported last week that it had sold more than 500,000 iPhones in less than a month after launch.

Top Rated Comments

treyjustice Avatar
treyjustice
169 months ago
Seriously? I was wanting to switch to tmobile from AT&T when the 5S came off.... $50 isn' a huge amount but makes me not want to as much
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Plutonius Avatar
Plutonius
169 months ago
Tmobile's network is just as good as any other.

I use (and like) T-Mobile and can tell you right now that the cell coverage isn't nearly as good as the other providers. My phone was totally useless when I traveled to a graduation last weekend (might as well been a brick) because there was no T-Mobile coverage in the area. Luckily, I was with people who had a different provider and coverage. I have good coverage at home but, this happens all the time when I travel.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Plutonius Avatar
Plutonius
169 months ago
That's an awfully bold statement. It depends on where you live. In my area T-Mobile has awesome coverage and 3G/4G data speeds that simply destroy Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T to a slightly lesser extent. No LTE coverage yet though.

All mobile carriers have their good and bad areas. In my experience though, T-Mobile's cell coverage is worse then the other major carriers.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
CEmajr
169 months ago
And when us users paid full price for unlimited on Verizon to keep a perk, we got flamed, yet now that TMO is doing the same thing, its revolutionary.

YEAH RIGHT.

The difference is that your bill on Verizon is the same as someone who got a subsidized iPhone from them. While on Tmobile the bill is cheaper if you chose to pay full price upfront for it.

Totally different.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Plutonius Avatar
Plutonius
169 months ago
You're in New Hampshire -- not the highest priority for any carrier unfortunately. Closer to Boston, TMO is just fine.

I live in southern NH and I work in Mass. As I said earlier, I have no issues with T-Mobile coverage where I live / work. I was traveling to NY state last weekend and I had no coverage. I have also not had coverage in many other states when I traveled. I'm a happy T-Mobile customer but the T-Mobile coverage isn't up to par with the other major carriers.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M
macFanDave
169 months ago
While the so-called Wall Street analysts bloviate about made-up data and unsubstantiated rumors to smear Apple, here we see an actual move in the real marketplace that indicates that the iPhone 5 is still strong among real-world customers who put hard-earned dollars to purchase them.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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