New and old AT&T iPhone plans compared, cost increases detailed - Page 2

Originally Posted by Rot'nApple

While I can't comment on those who have problems with connections, and not having an iPhone or AT&T service, I have seen since its initial release, three iPhones out in the wild. For my geographical area, all three had no complaints about dropped calls or failed to connect calls. They said it was comparable to any other local service providers. Grant it, it's only three, buy still...

Originally Posted by rbonner

Does anyone know what the rates default to if we pass our existing iPhones to the kids? 2 2G phones and 2 3G phones. Do we all pay the increased data rate, or only the 3G versions?

Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by ericblr

This is precisely the reason why I will NOT be getting an iPhone just to deal with AT&Ts bullcrap! .....They could really wipe the map with customers if they opened up their iphone to more carriers. AT&T will just continue to jack up their price and continue cutting service.

Originally Posted by echosonic

I will not be upgrading my iPhone. I think the costs are ridiculous. If 3G was more expensive, and therefore required a higher fee, then the fee should be only in the monthy bill, it would not have to be leeched onto the text messaging service as well. This is asinine, and they will not get any more money from me. As soon as voice-over-IP is up and running on the iPhone, I will hack it and leave the Cellular carriers behind permanently.

Originally Posted by AlecR

I was excited to purchase the iPhone in a couple weeks until i read this. The original iPhone was a bit out of my comfortable price range. Now this...
I'm not huge on texting and would never use 200 in a month but I am really upset they cut that out of the plan while raising the price.

Originally Posted by winterspan

[B]

With both company's plans above, you can upgrade to 900 minutes for $20 more, or upgrade to 1500 txt messages for $10 more. However, if you want access to the GPS on Verizon smartphones, you have to PAY $10/month! Imagine the outrage is AT&T/Apple charge a monthly fee for GPS!

Originally Posted by elearn

What this means is that as cool as I think the 3G iPhone is I'm not going to buy one. [...] if I read the copy on apple.com it looks like I get to use all the iPhone 2.0 features that don't require a new handset. Yea!

Originally Posted by maCar

Really weird reasoning...
*snip*
I mean, did it occur to you that maybe the other plans are also overpriced and those are the ones that need to be adjusted?
As far as Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile goes, as long as there are people out there thinking like you and not willing to complain about it, they will never try to offer competitive and realistic pricing.

Originally Posted by toneloco28

No, I'm a real estate developer but thanks for trying. Did you even read my post? I said within that the intention was not to argue on whether the service was overpriced or not, but to say that anybody acting surprised was somewhat of a shock to me. Beyond the fact that AT&T has had these same prices for all their PDA/Smartphones for years, they TOLD us everyone would have to add a $30 data add-on to any iPhone 3g the date of the announcement! They also said the pricing of the device was only open to upgrade eligibe customers...

Who says I'm not willing to complain? I just know better than when all the information is given to me beforehand, I'm not going to act shocked when it comes out and all the people who heard what they wanted to hear, cry foul. Competition is good, especially in the cell phone arena, but I was just stating that as far as Verizon goes, so goes AT&T. If you want lower data prices for the iPhone--then wait for Verizon to drop their prices and see AT&T react accordingly. It's business.

Everybody assesses value towards things differently. For someone who hardly ever uses the iPhone to access data the price might seem like a rip-off. For someone whom has to be constanty connected and relies on responding to clients concerns immediately, being able to look up supplier detail, and navigating my way to different sites--the price may be inconsequential. It's all relative.

Originally Posted by winterspan

ha... What exactly is your definition of "overpriced"? Priced above what YOU want to pay? Obviously since the iPhone 3G plans are the same rates that smartphone data packages have been with AT&T for years now, and are actually $10+ cheaper than Verizon, "the market" doesn't agree with you. If you really want to see painful data rates, look to the north or even many countries in Europe. Most don't even have an option for 5GB of data a month, and if they did, they would pay through the roof.

And surely, complaining about prices on "appleinsider.com" web forums is not going to affect change in the marketplace...




WHAT is this?? A REASONED post in the fanboy forums? *HEAD EXPLODES*

Originally Posted by elearn

There are five 1st generation iPhones at my house. One of them is so busted up [the surgical glass screen couldn't take the use/abuse of a 13 y.o. girl] that it is unusable. Another is in bad shape after having been dropped once too often by her 16 y.o. sister. I'd been thinking about replacing them with the new 3G iPhones...

Originally Posted by elearn

What this means is that as cool as I think the 3G iPhone is I'm not going to uy one. I'm going to remain happily on the sidelines to see what the market comes up with.
Free at last oh baby free at last!

Originally Posted by penchanted

I have no problem with the increased price of the data plan since it offers higher speed and is consistent with the data plans for other smartphones. But I do think that some number of SMS should be included with the iPhone because, unlike all other ATT smartphone offerings, a data plan is required with an iPhone purchase. This would be a reasonable trade-off for the required data plan.

Originally Posted by a_greer

telenav and gps are differant...$10 is for real time mapping, driving directions, road construction updates, searching for resteraunts and such on the rout...all things that VIOLATE THE IPHONE SDK EULA

Originally Posted by elearn

Apple couldn't [literally] sell enough iPhones the first two times it priced them.

Originally Posted by winterspan

So, if you don't use the $10/month "VZnavigator" service, what software can you use to access the GPS capability?

Originally Posted by elearn

There are five 1st generation iPhones at my house. One of them is so busted up [the surgical glass screen couldn't take the use/abuse of a 13 y.o. girl] that it is unusable. Another is in bad shape after having been dropped once too often by her 16 y.o. sister. I'd been thinking about replacing them with the new 3G iPhones [instead of dropping $270 per iPhone via Apple's existing replacement fee schedule].

Now that Apple and AT&T have revealed their respective sales and service prices I am happy to say I feel a little giddy. I feel like I did back in the day when Apple was still shipping the Apple ][, before Steve first powered up his reality distortion field (RD).

What this means is that as cool as I think the 3G iPhone is I'm not going to buy one. I'm going to remain happily on the sidelines to see what the market comes up with. The main selling point for the iPhone, from my perspective, has always been that you can't beat the way it integrates with the Macintosh [I guess I'm not totally immune from Steve's RDF: I just bought a new Macbook Air]. But hey, if I read the copy on apple.com it looks like I get to use all the iPhone 2.0 features that don't require a new handset. Yea!

My hope is the T-Mobiles, Verizons, and Nokias of the world will begin to appreciate the ever-increasing market share of Apple's computers and make software that lets me seamlessly sync my address book to my d--- phone.

Free at last oh baby free at last!

Originally Posted by crees!

You don't get charged for incoming text messages do you? If that's the case we just need an app/way to send messages and can forgo the $5 charge. I do agree with others that data being unlimited, yet being nickel and dimmed over text messages is ridiculous.

Originally Posted by elearn

Yes, that's exactly right. I'm glad to see we both agree. Something is overpriced when it is priced at a level above what I want to pay. This is how the market works. Apple couldn't [literally] sell enough iPhones the first two times it priced them. This is really the third swing Apple is taking at finding the sweet spot. To be sure, there are probably some people for whom the price of the phone added to the cost of the AT&T service that makes it function (i.e. unbricks it) is reasonable.

I'd like to mention one more thing, just so we're clear, on the meaning of something being overpriced. The cost of the iPhone itself doesn't disgust me so much as the cost of the service from AT&T. I took my kids camping a few months ago. Imagine, for a moment, my surprise when I found that my neighbor's throw-away from [she got it from Wal Mart) had more bars than my iPhone. The whole AT&T experience is what makes buying the 3G so unpalatable. I do not see how it makes sense to pay more for less.

Originally Posted by winterspan

Are you complaining about the iPhone's durability here of just offering background info? All the iPhone and iPod touches my family have are in good condition and seem to be durable. I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate that the 13yr old and 16yr old didn't purchase the iPhones with their own money. My 12-year old cousin's iPod touch which was obtained with his money from working in the summer appears to be in great condition.

I wouldn't be too optimistic about what the "market" will come up with. Have you seen or tried to use any of the so-called "iPhone" killers? They are a joke.

Does anyone know if you can remove the data plan after you sign up? This is be good for those who don't wish to pay ~$80/mo and just use Wifi.

So, if you don't use the $10/month "VZnavigator" service, what software can you use to access the GPS capability?

Originally Posted by iPeon

I was planning on purchasing an iPhone and a MBP. Apple just lost both sales because of AT&T.

I have been a long time AT&T customer... Yet... I'm not eligible for an upgrade. What is my cost for the iPhone? $500.00 for the model I wanted to get, the 16G. Text messaging extra too?

I hope you rot in hell AT&T executives.

Originally Posted by winterspan

I guess you are free to define "overpriced" any way you like, I was just pointing out that these data prices (or higher) have been standard for years now with more than one mobile carrier with millions of customer, and are in fact cheaper than what tens of millions of others pay in most other developed countries. I don't see, therefore, why said costs would "disgust" you. It apparently has to do with common ignorance in this country of the price of mobile data, since most people in this country are already paying similar rates for voice minutes.

It really all goes back to what someone above mentioned, which is the utility of the service. $30 for unlimited data is $1 per day. For the people who rarely use internet, intranet, and email access, it may be too expensive. For corporate users, entrepreneurs, independent contractors, and anyone else that needs to be able to instantly access their email, check inventory, use line-of-business or corporate web applications, and any other important business activities, $1 per day is peanuts.

And I guess I don't understand your "pay more for less" comment. Do you mean because the crappy cellphone had more signal than the iPhone (in which case I'd have to ask if it was an AT&T phone or on another network?), or are you not counting faster 3G data access and GPS as "more".

Originally Posted by chrisgeleven

This is it. I am officially not buying an iPhone. The previous iPhone plans were the perfect price sweetspot for me. My wife and I were planning to get iPhones when our Verizon contract finished in December. If I had know about this price increase, I would even be tempted to break my current contract and get the 1G iPhone, because clearly we are getting screwed now.

Our current family plan with Verizon is $75 a month for 2 lines, 500 minutes, 250 text messages apiece, and the usual stuff (unlimited nights/weekends, unlimited IN calling, etc.). We get a slight discount through my work..normally it would be $78.

To switch to an iPhone, 2 lines would cost $159 plus taxes. That is more then doubling our current cell phone bill. We use MAYBE half of our current text messaging plan (250 apiece), why the heck would we want unlimited text messages for $30?

I don't know if AT&T has noticed, but there is basically a recession going on, no one can afford to drive anywhere, and you expect people to drop $159 a month on 2 iPhones?

I totally understand business users getting charged blackberry rates (since they use it more). But home users? That is ridiculous.

AT&T just lost a family plan purchase and Apple just lost 2 iPhone sales. This is beyond ridiculous.

Originally Posted by Foo2

Apple sold a million or more iPhones at $499/$599 and ran out of supply several weeks ago at $399. The iPhone 3G will be a success from the very beginning. It's all about supply and demand. Demand is high now and supply is tight. Give it time and the price will come down, but not until millions of 3G units have already been sold.

Originally Posted by slicedbread

Couldn't agree more. For business users, okay. For average consumers, it's too much added expense for too little value. AT&T is going to have to drop these prices. I won't be surprised if demand turns out to be much lower than they are anticipating.

Originally Posted by elearn

I have a theory [...] Apple did not "run out." It was a cold calculated decision based on not wanting history to repeat itself.

Originally Posted by robert808

As an iPhone owner who never uses text messaging, I am quite happy to see that AT&T has separated out this cost from the monthly plan. I really have no desire to subsidize those users who use this feature.