The cheapest data plan is $15 per month, the cheapest voice plan is $40. Actually, they do have cheaper voice plans, but not for iPhone users. It's hard to see the data plan as the problem when voice is almost three times as expensive.
I guess I am assuming you can afford a feature phone to begin with. For people with family plans, the cost of an additional phone is only $10/mo, which makes the data plan more than the cost of the additional line...
Terrible logic. Most of those feature phone users had their feature phone before there was an option for something better. Back when gasoline powered cars came out someone could have said "who needs a car without a horse? Compare the number of stagecoaches out there with the small number of cars!"
The fact is an iPhone without data is like the car in Borat's home town - pulled by a horse, you lose the critical element that makes it useful.
To each his own I guess, but my experience is that there are many people out where who will not pay for the data plan.
Not everyone needs to be connected 24x7 or have mobile access to the internet - even though we do.
I don't understand. Why don't you just buy an iPhone at retail (or secondhand for $400) and slide in a SIM card without a data plan? You know you can do this, right? Something tells me you don't want to pay $700 for an iPhone. You want a $200 iPhone AND not have to pay ATT back for the subsidy.
Prove me wrong.
AT&T won't allow iPhones on their network without a data plan. I don't mind paying AT&T the subsidy - that why I replace my family phones every two years and extend the contract.
The contract isn't the issue. The cost of the phone isn't an issue either - I pay more than that for a new iPod touch.
Even if the cost of the phone WAS the issue, I have my old iPhone 3GS they could use,
Sorry, how can a company exclude certain phones from their plans? You get a SIM and a plan and then put that SIM in any phone you want. Read through the fine print when you get a new plan + SIM, does it say anywhere in that fine print that this plan cannot be used on iPhones?
I have used multiple SIMs in multiple iPhones in multiple countries, never did changing the phone change the underlying contract I had for that SIM card.
Say what you want, but in the US if you do this, AT&T will automatically add a plan after they detect the phone on their network. People got away with this in when the phones originally came out, but not any more.
AT&T requires a data plan for all of their Smartphones.
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VZ boost cricket t-mobile
I found this price point but a very weak player
http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-20021329-251.html
Net10 and straight talk offer a sub smart phone for 99
But I would think with apples cost structure could put together
Much more than above for 225 prepaid apple phone with
Upgradable iOS is doable BUT when will it be time to do that
Are people buying a lot of android prepaid or at this time
A niche phone and how much are they really saving
The data plan is the same minutes maybe
Apple would have to put a lot more value in it than
The major teleco's
Maybe apple will go mvno
How does the customer gain if subsidized contract costs 200
And prepaid costs 200?????
The Universal SIM would not only cut costs, but would apparently "give Apple an advantage over mobile carriers in influencing customers,"
Translation: you can't change carriers unless Apple permits it.
With current SIM cards, you can travel anywhere in the world, buy a cheap local SIM card, and save tons of money.
every itouch owner will jump at this smaller no contract deal
owner both at once is ver cool
now if i can work out how or why i should buy the fantastic IPAD to boot .
and too think my baby iPhone can power my touch to a free wifi world
go apple
go verizon
9
Does the price of the handset really matter anymore?
In Europe and Asia, you get no-contract pay-as-you-go data plans for as little as $5/month. Yeah, the price of the handset matters.
The cheapest data plan is $15 per month, the cheapest voice plan is $40. Actually, they do have cheaper voice plans, but not for iPhone users. It's hard to see the data plan as the problem when voice is almost three times as expensive.
I guess I am assuming you can afford a feature phone to begin with. For people with family plans, the cost of an additional phone is only $10/mo, which makes the data plan more than the cost of the additional line...
Yes you can, you can either buy a used iPhone or pay the full $700 price for a new out of contract iPhone and use it without a data plan.
In the US, AT&T doesn't allow an iPhone to be used on their network without a data plan.
Terrible logic. Most of those feature phone users had their feature phone before there was an option for something better. Back when gasoline powered cars came out someone could have said "who needs a car without a horse? Compare the number of stagecoaches out there with the small number of cars!"
The fact is an iPhone without data is like the car in Borat's home town - pulled by a horse, you lose the critical element that makes it useful.
To each his own I guess, but my experience is that there are many people out where who will not pay for the data plan.
Not everyone needs to be connected 24x7 or have mobile access to the internet - even though we do.
I don't understand. Why don't you just buy an iPhone at retail (or secondhand for $400) and slide in a SIM card without a data plan? You know you can do this, right? Something tells me you don't want to pay $700 for an iPhone. You want a $200 iPhone AND not have to pay ATT back for the subsidy.
Prove me wrong.
AT&T won't allow iPhones on their network without a data plan. I don't mind paying AT&T the subsidy - that why I replace my family phones every two years and extend the contract.
The contract isn't the issue. The cost of the phone isn't an issue either - I pay more than that for a new iPod touch.
Even if the cost of the phone WAS the issue, I have my old iPhone 3GS they could use,
In the US, AT&T doesn't allow an iPhone 3G, 3Gs, or 4 to be used on their network without a data plan.
Fixed, for those of us who may have been around on Day One 2007.
Sorry, how can a company exclude certain phones from their plans? You get a SIM and a plan and then put that SIM in any phone you want. Read through the fine print when you get a new plan + SIM, does it say anywhere in that fine print that this plan cannot be used on iPhones?
I have used multiple SIMs in multiple iPhones in multiple countries, never did changing the phone change the underlying contract I had for that SIM card.
Say what you want, but in the US if you do this, AT&T will automatically add a plan after they detect the phone on their network. People got away with this in when the phones originally came out, but not any more.
AT&T requires a data plan for all of their Smartphones.
False
You used to be able to get away with this, but now AT&T automatically adds a plan when they detect that you have an iPhone.
Fixed, for those of us who may have been around on Day One 2007.
Interesting, I knew they used to allow this, but I never realized that it was tied to the phone.
I guess I should have held on to my original iPhone.