“To help iPhone maniacs get a grip on their expectations, here’s the complete rundown of what it means to own an iPhone,” David Pogue blogs for The New York Times.
Pogue writes, “This information comes directly from AT&T’s public relations representative, so you can take it as gospel.”
Pogue answers the following questions:
• Does the new $70 iPhone plan include any text messages?
• What do text messages cost, then?
• Why is the business rate more expensive than the standard iPhone rate?
• Does AT&T offer one of those “unlimited” $100-a-month plans, like its rivals, for the iPhone?
• What happens if you already have an iPhone and want the new one? Current iPhone customers are eligible to upgrade to the iPhone 3G. All you have to do is bring your old iPhone to the store and get the new one activated. By the way, since the original iPhone is still a terrific device, you can give it, for example, to a family member or a friend and they can reactivate it for service. Among other things, the 2G [original] iPhone can use the new iPhone 2.0 software, connect to Apple’s new applications store, and of course get music, podcasts and more from iTunes. It will continue to work on AT&T’s Edge network.
• Is there any discount if you have more than one iPhone?
• What about the family plans?
• What’s the early-termination fee?
• How does the iPhone 3G plan pricing compare with plans for other devices?
• What are the international options?
• What improvements have been made to the AT&T network coverage since last year?
• Since you have to activate the iPhone 3G in the AT&T store now, won’t that create massive lines for days?
Full article, with the rest of the answers, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Carl H.” for the heads up.]
Why take our 2g phones into the store to activate the 3g version?
Why do I have to activate in store? I bought my old iPhone on the first day and I found the at home iTunes activation to be the simplest, most pleasant thing in the world.
@ Tommy Boy
Cause ATT got their fingers in the mix and they want it this way now.
After reading the full article, I just want to know if I can pay full, unsubsidized price for a new iPhone 3g and keep my original iPhone pricing.
I wish o2 would let me order my upgrade 16GB iPhone, but their site has been down most of the day, too much traffic.
Great, I get an SMS from o2 this morning saying I can upgrade online and get it couriered to my house on Friday, but their site is as stable as Vista Ultimate on a Dell Latitude.
NO 3G service cost more
I am still really really wanting to know how the apple stores are going to handle activation. There have still been rumors of a home activation when purchasing at an apple store, esp since apple hasn’t mentioned a word of how launch day will go down….
the iPhone 3G is already sold out (pre-orders were made available by O2 this morning at 8.00). There were no 16GB left by mid-day and now everything is gone!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but is referring to the first version of iPhone as the “2G iPhone” completely wrong? The 3G iPhone is actually the second version – 3G meaning the name of the data service from AT&T;. It seems so misinformed of writers to refer to the original iPhone as the “2G” – maybe it should be referred to as the “Edge” iPhone.
rsbell: Why take our 2g phones into the store to activate the 3g version?
Presumably, they’ll move the SIM over from your existing device.
Tommy Boy: I just want to know if I can pay full, unsubsidized price for a new iPhone 3g and keep my original iPhone pricing.
No — if you have the 3G device, you have to have the 3G plan. You ought to be able to upgrade to the 3G (for the upgrade pricing of $199 purchase + $360 rate increase over 24 months + $18 “upgrade fee” = $578) and then get NEW service on your old phone for $36 activation and the existing EDGE rate plan. Possibly $5 more per month for the SMS on top of the old EDGE pricing, too. Weasels.
Just cuz it can’t be said enough.
Old phone = $399 purchase + $480 (over 24 months) + $36 activation = $915
New phone = $199 purchse + $840 (over 24 months) + $18 activation = $1,057
STEEP PRICE INCREASE, NOT A PRICE CUT.
rgbtweaker – the EDGE network & its associated speed is commonly referred to as a 2G (sometimes 2.5G) cellular data network. But I agree with you, they should be referred to as iPhone EDGE and iPhone 3G or iPhone 1 and iPhone 2 for clarity. the “G” for generation will in the future be ambiguous as to phone generation or data network generation.
So if you pay the full un-subsidized price for the new phone you still have to pay the full priced voice and data plan – why would you ever pay the full price? I would think if you buy at full price that your plan should be less.So I guess the best deal is to pay the 199/299 and suck it up.
I wouldn’t call a $142 increase spread out over 2 years a “steep price increase” at all. That works out to a mere $6 per month. Considering that the new iPhone works on a much faster network, and that it now has GPS built-in, it’s a very small increase actually.
Besides, the iPhone 3G data plans are no more expensive than they are for a Blackberry or Windows Mobile phone either.
what really sucks is that I want a new 3G iphone, but according to AT&T;there is no 3G coverage here. So to get the new phone I have to pay more month for a service I cannot use. Seems very shady to me, especially since the 3G phone is capable of turning off 3G and runnning on edge.
Why not give me the option of paying full price for the phone and keeping my existing plan, so I can take advantage of the GPS, Increased Storage, and better speakers of the new device? All while continuing to run on edge? I am very disappointed by this.
I refuse to pay more monthly for less when I cannot leverage the 3G.
Does it have better speakers? I’d heard about the original phone’s speakers but haven’t heard about the new one.
From AT&T;Rep: “We have lots of experience with long lines and will be very well prepared.”
Does someone wanna iCal this or are we all going to remember what he said for four days?
3G data plans are more expensive than EDGE plans, as 3G can move more bandwidth. People are comparing Apples to Oranges when they say the new iPhone is more expensive.
You have to compare the iPhone 3G’s data plan to OTHER 3G phones.
Then, you have to compare the old iPhone’s EDGE data plan to other EDGE phones.
The difference between the two comparisons is the the real difference. In fact, my understanding is that the iPhone’s EDGE data plan was as cheap as one could find, and the same is true for the iPhone’s 3G data plan. In other words, there is no increase in comparison to comparable data plans. It’s just that 3G data plans are more expensive. Plain and simple. What don’t people get?
Reality Check –
Could not agree more. I love my Apple products, but Apple’s deal with AT&T;just sucks for those of us who want choice. I, like you, would get an iPhone if there were options to ~not~ pay for services that I don’t use (and cannot use due to geography).
So, Verizon keeps my business and I continue to watch from a distance…happily paying $45 per month.
“Current iPhone customers are eligible to upgrade to the iPhone 3G. All you have to do is bring your old iPhone to the store and get the new one activated.”
Unless this implies that there’s some kind of discount for trading up your old iPhone, that first line qualifies as perhaps the emptiest PR statement I’ve ever heard. Of COURSE AT&T;’s going to allow an iPhone owner to upgrade. Why wouldn’t they? It’s like saying when the light turns green, you’re allowed to accelerate.
The thing I’d like to know is if there’s ever going to be any kind of discount incentive to trade in iPhone for iPhone. I’d love to upgrade, but not at full price after getting my iPhone in January. The second line there seems to indicate that bringing in the old one is part of getting the new one — does that mean trading in for a discount? Allowing a full-price purchase of 3G without extending the existing contract? Trading up at no discount and with a new 2-yr contract but allowing you keep your old number? (Hmm, I bet it’s this last one.)
“As you might expect, our family talk plans are available on the iPhone 3G. All you do is add the unlimited data plan to the new iPhone and you are good to go.”
Okay, this is the only thing keeping me from upgrading on launch. I’m on a plan with my parents and their company with the add-on line price of 20 bucks a month. From what I understood, to upgrade to the iPhone we would have to switch the entire company over to the iPhone plan and add their lines to it. That means I would be playing 120/month which is hard to justify with my wife. The solution is that I’ve talked my father into getting one for him an my mother, but I would have to wait and I’d rather get it on launch.
TL;DR: does the above quote mean that I can just add an iPhone plan onto my already 3G phone plan and get the iPhone on launch without having to switch the plan up?
somebody: wouldn’t call a $142 increase spread out over 2 years a “steep price increase” at all.
It’s being advertised as a $200 price drop. That’s weasel work and I don’t care for it at all. When you pay has little meaning. Imagine they kept the rate the same but announced they were replacing the $299 iPhone with a $450 iPhone. Can you hear the deafening silence at WWDC?
McIntosh: Of COURSE AT&T;’s going to allow an iPhone owner to upgrade. Why wouldn’t they?
They wouldn’t normally be eligible for “upgrade” pricing ($199) on a phone, since they are less than 22 months into their existing contract. But they’re automatically making them eligible. Non-iPhone existing customers are getting the shaft — paying $200 more for the iPhone and still having to commit to a new contract.
@PC Apologist
Please read KenC’s post above and try to comprehend – it’s the same rate you pay for ANY 3G phone with AT&T;. 3G data rate is faster. Faster = better. Faster also means costs more. If you can’t afford the extra 6 bucks a month maybe you should pick up another paper route.
Re; Macintosh:
“Current iPhone customers are eligible to upgrade to the iPhone 3G. All you have to do is bring your old iPhone to the store and get the new one activated.”
Unless this implies that there’s some kind of discount for trading up your old iPhone, that first line qualifies as perhaps the emptiest PR statement I’ve ever heard. Of COURSE AT&T;’s going to allow an iPhone owner to upgrade. Why wouldn’t they? It’s like saying when the light turns green, you’re allowed to accelerate”
Eligible for the purchase at the subsidized price.
Re; PC Apologist:
“It’s being advertised as a $200 price drop. That’s weasel work and I don’t care for it at all. When you pay has little meaning. Imagine they kept the rate the same but announced they were replacing the $299 iPhone with a $450 iPhone. Can you hear the deafening silence at WWDC?”
This whole “people don’t understand monthly fees” line is utter bullshit. Do you really think people don’t know they are paying a monthly fee? Thanks for enlightening us!
Another important point here is that the old upfront price was out of reach for some – this is just easier to do from a cash flow perspective.
AAPLguy:
They’re disguising increases as decreases. Regardless of your position on whether the increase is excessive or not, these are AT&T;-style weasel marketing techniques being employed by Apple. I object. Apple used to mean quality and if the price was higher, it was right there on the sticker. You didn’t have to pore through the fine print to find out what you’re actually paying.
DRM sucks: This whole “people don’t understand monthly fees” line is utter bullshit.
Go ask five people who aren’t in the computer or phone business if the new iPhone is cheaper or more expensive than its predecessor.
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