The point is you can now technically use an iPhone on three of the four major carriers in the US...all except Sprint.
The only thing stopping the iPhone from working on Sprint is Sprint. CDMA carriers have control over their carrier crap on CDMA phones. Whine to Sprint about unlocking your Verizon iPhone, then.
well you buy a un lock iphone direct and shop around a little with the phone in hand as opposed to sitting w/ verizon/att and getting confused/screwed .
anyway iphones sales will sky rocket now .
and apple has taken the first step on the way to taken control OVER phone/voice/data costs in the clients favor and pushing the carriers aside a little .
well you buy a un lock iphone direct and shop around a little with the phone in hand as opposed to sitting w/ verizon/att and getting confused/screwed .
Except you still have to pay AT&T/T-Mobile their standard monthly fees. So it's absolutely no better.
Quote:
anyway iphones sales will sky rocket now .
Nope. Because there's only one GSM carrier with compatible 3G, and T-Mobile won't even exist in a few months.
The US is an unusual market for smart phones and carriers. It seems like there is a cartel - which is nobody offering a PAYG voice and data plan, for instance. Common here (UK).
Can be refilled in most shops.
I'm not sure what Europe is like, I haven't been there for many years now, but in all of the USA and Canada cell companies operate like an oligarchy or cartel and have for many many years now.
For some reason, even though the USA is the "land of the free" and rabidly capitalist, this anti-comptetitive collusion/price-fixing is considered a good thing.
Canada, which typically protects individual freedoms more than the US, for some reason also bows to the cell carriers and in fact is a lot worse. We have five major carriers, but they all collude on pricing so it really doesn't matter which you pick. Also, because we are all forced into three year contracts for the same phone, we not only have no choice, we have to pay 30% more for the handset.
Currently, (in Canada) I buy my phones contract free and unlocked just on principle, but I still have to pay 70 or so a month (closer to 80 with tax), for the plan, and yet if I paid just for the data and phone service I actually *use* ... it would be closer to five bucks a month.
Lets face it, governments are weak nowadays and work for industry more than they do for the people anymore. I wouldn't expect anything to change until the market gets some real competition, and that means outsiders moving in and disruption of the cell companies themselves. It will take a while for sure.
Personally I don't see what the big deal is. So you buy an unlocked iPhone and you can now choose between at&t and T-Mobile for VOICE service. There is no choice when it comes to data. As has been pointed out you would be restricted to the abominably slow Edge network with T-Mobile. And "unlocked" doesn't mean "jailbroken" either. So some idiots will spend $700 just for bragging rights it would appear. I doubt there are large numbers of international travelers who need to take advantage of an unlocked iPhone. In the U.S. this looks pretty stupid to me. After at&t and T-Mobile merge you will have paid full price for an iPhone that works only with, wait for it, at&t. I think this is a purely political move, just like some have theorized. Apple won't actually sell very many of these things.
I agree. When I went to London, I bought an international data plan from AT&T for my time there. When I came back I canceled it and they essentially charged me by the day, so I just paid for the days I was there. I didn't bother with the international voice plan because I wasn't expecting to receive/make that many phone calls and the price differential on the calls wasn't that much (as I remember it.)
(And by the way, my phone worked spectacularly in London - it even worked on most of the underground stations and the speed was terrific in most places. Proved to me that there was nothing wrong with the phone and much wrong with AT&T in the U.S.)
In the U.S., there isn't much choice of a carrier anyway. Unless I was travelling all the time, an unlocked phone for $649 wouldn't make any sense for me and I suspect, not for most people. If you keep the phone for two years, AT&T would have to reduce the cost of their plan by more than $27 per month to receive any benefit. Do they?
Not really. Just how many people do you think will be willing to pay an extra $450 to get an iPhone and still have to pay full price for the service? This will mainly appeal to frequent overseas travelers or people really, really desperate to stay on Tmobile.
The only financial incentive for other people is if you want to get a voice-only plan and only use data via wi-fi. That's assuming you can find a voice-only plan that comes with a microSIM card that fits in the iPhone. The $30/month you save would cover the $450 increase in purchase price after 18 months. [Then again, how many people desperate to save $30/month can afford an extra $450 in upfront costs?]
Yeah. There's really no point in paying $650 for an iPhone if you're going to use AT&T anyway; and lets be honest, who's going to pay that much to only use it on T-Mobile's EDGE network? I'll stick to paying less than a third of that for the phone and upgrading every two years.
Yeah, I'm wondering/hoping this might mean we could see an unlocked CDMA iPhone4 soon, or at least maybe in the next model (4s/5 whatever they call it).
It would be nice to be able to one working on Sprint or US Cellular.
Well well... hell froze over. Must go and put my jacket on!
I"m not that shocked. THe contract with ATT is over and they were likely going to do this with the iphone 5 which they likely planned to release around this time anyway. But the earthquake in Japan destroyed several factories that were probably going to be making parts for the new iphone so they were forced into a delay. So rather than hold the unlock until the iphone 5 and even the white iphone they just went ahead and did it.
Still that said, it bugs me that I know that I"ll be paying the same monthly fees as someone with a subsidized phone. That irks me to no end. It makes me very very tempted to go find one of these mom and pop smaller carriers like simple mobile and just cut down their card to make it work. Might even be able to go pay as you go on some features like voice (which I pretty much never use these days)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beerstalker
Yeah, I'm wondering/hoping this might mean we could see an unlocked CDMA iPhone4 soon, or at least maybe in the next model (4s/5 whatever they call it).
Unlikely. Due to the nature of CDMA tech they aren't locked in the same way as a GSM which can change networks by changing a SIM card. THere is no SIM to change. The phone's details are hardwired into the carrier in a way that can't easily be changed if at all. Making the phones carrier locked by their nature.
Now if Apple could and did release that e-sim in a dual service phone you might have a different game.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mesomorphicman
Guess the people on here who bashed and mocked that Chronic guy who tweeted this over the weekend owe him an apology.
Or not. Because he claimed the numbers were for new unlocked phones being sold in the stores. And there's no proof of that. This appears to be and could remain an online only choice where they are essentially 'custom built' with no lock applied and no sim put in. Not something you can get in the stores. Making him still wrong with what he said was going to happen.
Yeah, I realize that it isn't so much locked internally in the phone, it's locked because Sprint/US cellular can't add the ID numbers into their system or whatever. But, I'm hoping that this change for the GSM version, which makes it so the GSM phone can be taken back and forth between AT&T, T-Mobile, and some other smaller GSM carriers might convince the CDMA carriers to all start supporting the ability to move the phones around between carriers like customers will be able to on GSM.
I think it is more of a change the carriers Verizon, US Cellular, etc. have to make, not one Apple really has to make, but I'm hoping this might push them in the right direction.
One iPhone 5 that could work on any GSM/CDMA carrier in the US would be a huge seller, and would cause the cellular companies to actually start competing in price/services again, instead of these back room deals to secure exclusive rights to certain phones to get customers.
convince the CDMA carriers to all start supporting the ability to move the phones around between carriers like customers will be able to on GSM.
They don't matter anymore, and doing that doesn't matter anymore. LTE uses SIM cards. We'll have the switching ability in less than three years. Sprint already said they'll switch from WiMAX if LTE proves better. It's proving better. CDMA is dead. The amount of time it has left won't matter where carrier switching is concerned.
Quote:
...would cause the cellular companies to actually start competing in price/services again
No, it wouldn't. Why would you think that? If they keep colluding, all of their plans will be the exact same price and it won't matter where people use their iPhones. They don't care.
60 + 25 = 85 bucks that gets me 900 minutes and 2 GB of data with ATT iPhone plan. I have 40 + 30 = 70 bucks, that gets me 1000 t-mo minutes and unlimited ATT data for iPad that I currently have. Both would be under no contract.
I think you might benefit from a contract to keep your rates after AT&T takes ownership and control. If you're without contract, you have no assurance that AT&T won't monkey with your rates.
I'm sure I'm in Avery small minority, but IF my phone was factory unlocked o probably wouldn't jailbreak it, and IF I hadn't jailbroken it I would never of downloaded a pirated app for it.
And personally I would instantly switch my iPhone 4 to T-Mobile and get a 4G LTE personal hotspot for my all my devices on one data plan.
Comments
The point is you can now technically use an iPhone on three of the four major carriers in the US...all except Sprint.
The only thing stopping the iPhone from working on Sprint is Sprint. CDMA carriers have control over their carrier crap on CDMA phones. Whine to Sprint about unlocking your Verizon iPhone, then.
anyway iphones sales will sky rocket now .
and apple has taken the first step on the way to taken control OVER phone/voice/data costs in the clients favor and pushing the carriers aside a little .
I can now see a nano phone coming one day .
9
well you buy a un lock iphone direct and shop around a little with the phone in hand as opposed to sitting w/ verizon/att and getting confused/screwed .
Except you still have to pay AT&T/T-Mobile their standard monthly fees. So it's absolutely no better.
anyway iphones sales will sky rocket now .
Nope. Because there's only one GSM carrier with compatible 3G, and T-Mobile won't even exist in a few months.
I can now see a nano phone coming one day .
I refer you to the first half of this post.
I wonder if Apple will unlock already sold iPhones in the US.
That's really the carrier's prerogative, not Apple's.
A blatant attempt to grab the tourist dollar!
I don't even know where to begin saying you're off-base about this...
The US is an unusual market for smart phones and carriers. It seems like there is a cartel - which is nobody offering a PAYG voice and data plan, for instance. Common here (UK).
Can be refilled in most shops.
I'm not sure what Europe is like, I haven't been there for many years now, but in all of the USA and Canada cell companies operate like an oligarchy or cartel and have for many many years now.
For some reason, even though the USA is the "land of the free" and rabidly capitalist, this anti-comptetitive collusion/price-fixing is considered a good thing.
Canada, which typically protects individual freedoms more than the US, for some reason also bows to the cell carriers and in fact is a lot worse. We have five major carriers, but they all collude on pricing so it really doesn't matter which you pick. Also, because we are all forced into three year contracts for the same phone, we not only have no choice, we have to pay 30% more for the handset.
Currently, (in Canada) I buy my phones contract free and unlocked just on principle, but I still have to pay 70 or so a month (closer to 80 with tax), for the plan, and yet if I paid just for the data and phone service I actually *use* ... it would be closer to five bucks a month.
Lets face it, governments are weak nowadays and work for industry more than they do for the people anymore. I wouldn't expect anything to change until the market gets some real competition, and that means outsiders moving in and disruption of the cell companies themselves. It will take a while for sure.
I hope the "iPhone 5" will be unlocked, since I sometimes travel out of the country I'd be willing to pay $650 for an unlocked iP5.
Personally I don't see what the big deal is. So you buy an unlocked iPhone and you can now choose between at&t and T-Mobile for VOICE service. There is no choice when it comes to data. As has been pointed out you would be restricted to the abominably slow Edge network with T-Mobile. And "unlocked" doesn't mean "jailbroken" either. So some idiots will spend $700 just for bragging rights it would appear. I doubt there are large numbers of international travelers who need to take advantage of an unlocked iPhone. In the U.S. this looks pretty stupid to me. After at&t and T-Mobile merge you will have paid full price for an iPhone that works only with, wait for it, at&t. I think this is a purely political move, just like some have theorized. Apple won't actually sell very many of these things.
I agree. When I went to London, I bought an international data plan from AT&T for my time there. When I came back I canceled it and they essentially charged me by the day, so I just paid for the days I was there. I didn't bother with the international voice plan because I wasn't expecting to receive/make that many phone calls and the price differential on the calls wasn't that much (as I remember it.)
(And by the way, my phone worked spectacularly in London - it even worked on most of the underground stations and the speed was terrific in most places. Proved to me that there was nothing wrong with the phone and much wrong with AT&T in the U.S.)
In the U.S., there isn't much choice of a carrier anyway. Unless I was travelling all the time, an unlocked phone for $649 wouldn't make any sense for me and I suspect, not for most people. If you keep the phone for two years, AT&T would have to reduce the cost of their plan by more than $27 per month to receive any benefit. Do they?
anyway iphones sales will sky rocket now .
Not really. Just how many people do you think will be willing to pay an extra $450 to get an iPhone and still have to pay full price for the service? This will mainly appeal to frequent overseas travelers or people really, really desperate to stay on Tmobile.
The only financial incentive for other people is if you want to get a voice-only plan and only use data via wi-fi. That's assuming you can find a voice-only plan that comes with a microSIM card that fits in the iPhone. The $30/month you save would cover the $450 increase in purchase price after 18 months. [Then again, how many people desperate to save $30/month can afford an extra $450 in upfront costs?]
If you have an unlimited budget.
Yeah. There's really no point in paying $650 for an iPhone if you're going to use AT&T anyway; and lets be honest, who's going to pay that much to only use it on T-Mobile's EDGE network? I'll stick to paying less than a third of that for the phone and upgrading every two years.
It would be nice to be able to one working on Sprint or US Cellular.
Well well... hell froze over. Must go and put my jacket on!
I"m not that shocked. THe contract with ATT is over and they were likely going to do this with the iphone 5 which they likely planned to release around this time anyway. But the earthquake in Japan destroyed several factories that were probably going to be making parts for the new iphone so they were forced into a delay. So rather than hold the unlock until the iphone 5 and even the white iphone they just went ahead and did it.
Still that said, it bugs me that I know that I"ll be paying the same monthly fees as someone with a subsidized phone. That irks me to no end. It makes me very very tempted to go find one of these mom and pop smaller carriers like simple mobile and just cut down their card to make it work. Might even be able to go pay as you go on some features like voice (which I pretty much never use these days)
Yeah, I'm wondering/hoping this might mean we could see an unlocked CDMA iPhone4 soon, or at least maybe in the next model (4s/5 whatever they call it).
Unlikely. Due to the nature of CDMA tech they aren't locked in the same way as a GSM which can change networks by changing a SIM card. THere is no SIM to change. The phone's details are hardwired into the carrier in a way that can't easily be changed if at all. Making the phones carrier locked by their nature.
Now if Apple could and did release that e-sim in a dual service phone you might have a different game.
Guess the people on here who bashed and mocked that Chronic guy who tweeted this over the weekend owe him an apology.
Or not. Because he claimed the numbers were for new unlocked phones being sold in the stores. And there's no proof of that. This appears to be and could remain an online only choice where they are essentially 'custom built' with no lock applied and no sim put in. Not something you can get in the stores. Making him still wrong with what he said was going to happen.
I think it is more of a change the carriers Verizon, US Cellular, etc. have to make, not one Apple really has to make, but I'm hoping this might push them in the right direction.
One iPhone 5 that could work on any GSM/CDMA carrier in the US would be a huge seller, and would cause the cellular companies to actually start competing in price/services again, instead of these back room deals to secure exclusive rights to certain phones to get customers.
convince the CDMA carriers to all start supporting the ability to move the phones around between carriers like customers will be able to on GSM.
They don't matter anymore, and doing that doesn't matter anymore. LTE uses SIM cards. We'll have the switching ability in less than three years. Sprint already said they'll switch from WiMAX if LTE proves better. It's proving better. CDMA is dead. The amount of time it has left won't matter where carrier switching is concerned.
...would cause the cellular companies to actually start competing in price/services again
No, it wouldn't. Why would you think that? If they keep colluding, all of their plans will be the exact same price and it won't matter where people use their iPhones. They don't care.
(okay, it probably won't sell and i may have to give it away, but still...)
60 + 25 = 85 bucks that gets me 900 minutes and 2 GB of data with ATT iPhone plan. I have 40 + 30 = 70 bucks, that gets me 1000 t-mo minutes and unlimited ATT data for iPad that I currently have. Both would be under no contract.
I think you might benefit from a contract to keep your rates after AT&T takes ownership and control. If you're without contract, you have no assurance that AT&T won't monkey with your rates.
And personally I would instantly switch my iPhone 4 to T-Mobile and get a 4G LTE personal hotspot for my all my devices on one data plan.