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
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.
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.
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.
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.