“Virgin Mobile, a Sprint subsidiary, is offering the iPhone 5s contract-free for some pretty unheard of prices right now,” Seth Weintraub reports for 9to5Mac.
“The 16GB iPhone 5s is going for $385 without a contract in Gold (best), Space Gray and White. A 32GB iPhone 5s will run you $455 while a 64GB iPhone 5s will run you $525,” Weintraub reports. “Virgin is also slashing the prices on the iPhone 5c with the 16GB model in all colors is $315 while the 32GB model is $385. Those are easily the lowest prices we’ve seen for the current generation iPhones.”
Weintraub reports, “For those who were considering an iPhone but hesitated at the costs, that’s around $1000 bucks for a current generation iPhone and 2 years of unlimited data. You won’t find anything lower.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
Will they work on AT&T’s network?
VM works on Sprint’s network …
YES…u get it “unlocked”!!
I know I’m going to get 3 in a couple days 🙂
IIRC, This will only work on the VM plan on Sprint network in the US. I believe it will NOT work on GSM networks in the US, but only internationally.
I have a 5 on this network for my wife and it works well in SE Michigan, YMMV. I picked up a 5s to replace the 5 at this price.
For singles and couples, Virgin’s plans are by far the cheapest in America. Unless you live in an area where Virgin/Sprint coverage is poor, you’ll save an iPad every year in the difference between VM and any other carrier.
Right now, there seems to be nobody who can successfully and independently unlock 5, 5c or 5s. The only way to unlock them is with the blessing of the carrier, which simply won’t happen in the case of VM iPhones. The nice thing is that the phones apparently do work with foreign SIM cards, which makes them extremely attractive to foreign buyers. This is something I found out on various forums out there, but I’d like to see it confirmed by a first-hand account.
pretty good deal.
I recall that Virgin Mobile’s phones are carrier locked, and they will not unlock these phones for you. This affects the resale value for phones purchased through Virgin, since you cannot carry them onto another US network. I looked into Virgin Mobile last year, and opted to go with T-Mobile instead because I could use an unlocked phone and carry it over to another provider if/whenever I wanted. And buying an unlocked phone might cost more at the outset, but having a factory unlocked phone also ensures the highest resale value.
so when i receive my phone i dont have to pay for the plan just use the unlock system?