I think we’re going to be all iPhoned out by the time Friday gets here! The news today is that AT&T and Apple have FINALLY announced the service plans for the iPhone, and surprisingly, they’re much more reasonable than I ever expected.
Yesterday the speculation was that prices would run similar to those for BlackBerry users with a price range of $84.98 and $179.98. Fortunately for those of you who plan on getting an iPhone, the BlackBerry pricing isn’t even close to what iPhone users will be offered.
Besides being affordable, they’re also pretty simple because each plan is actually three plans bundled together. It’s simple. They all include unlimited data, visual voicemail, 200 SMS, and the standard roll-over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling that AT&T offers. So here it is, official prices straight from AT&T and Apple:
- $59.99 for 450 minutes
- $79.99 for 900 minutes
- $99.99 for 1,350 minutes
The only other charge will be a fee of $36 to activate the phone, and family plans will also be an option.
See, I told you it’s affordable! I think that’s by far the best service plan I’ve seen that includes unlimited data (email, web), so way to go Apple and AT&T. While the phone isn’t exactly affordable for the majority, at least service plans are.
Regarding the service plans, Jobs is quoted as saying:
“We want to make choosing a service plan simple and easy, so every plan includes unlimited data with direct Internet access, along with Visual Voicemail and a host of other goodies.We think these three plans give customers the flexibility to experience all of iPhone’s revolutionary features at affordable and competitive prices.” And yes, he did say “Goodies.”
While I still won’t be seen standing in any iPhone line on Friday, I must say that they did a great job of coming up with simple plans and affordable prices. I guess the cheaper plans will help people justify spending so much on the phone itself? Remember, a two year contract is required, and you can activate your phone via iTunes. This ensures that you get the experience of un-boxing the phone instead of some AT&T rep. doing it for you. More info on that here.
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Tags: Hardware, Apple, Downloads, iPhone, Microsoft, Screenshots
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A minimum of $1,400 over 2 years still seems like A LOT of money to me.
Wow!! That is much better than I thought it was going to be. Suddenly, the idea of actually owning an iPhone went up a little…
Granted, it is a lot of money, but I think it’s a great deal for all you get.
As long as people have money to burn Apple & AT&T will be happy
Count me out…
There are couple of catches here….u dont have any choice of phone numbers when you activate through iTunes. You are given just one phone number. Atleast in AT&T store, you can request a different number. Also, I suspect the iPhone is tied to your phone number, not just AT&T. This also means, you cannot but iPhone on your personal plan and use it for your business (as iPhone is not available for business plans yet)
“Yesterday the speculation was that prices would run similar to those for BlackBerry users with a price range of $84.98 and $179.98″
AT&T Blackberry Unlimited is $49.99.
I pay the same on T-Mobile with 700 minutes.
?
Oops - sorry.
I just noticed that AT&T Blackberry Unlimited is in *addition* to voice plans - yikes - AT&T Blackberry rates suck!!
T-Mobile has 1000 minutes and unlimited Blackberry data for $59.99 - plus T-Mobile does not charge additional for using your phone as a tethered modem to your laptop like AT&T.
Yeah, way too much in my opinion. If the upfront cost wasn’t so high then it might not be too bad.
I was quite surprised at how reasonable the monthly plan is as well, but still $500 for the phone is something I can’t really stomach.
You can surely bet they’ll be happy!
And there will be plenty of people forking over their money.
You know, you just brought up a really good point that I didn’t think about. Will people be able to switch their current phone numbers from another provider over to the iPhone? A lot of services are willing to switch the number over and I’m sure they’ll lose a lot of business.
Wow, that is a fricken steal. I never heard of a Blackberry service so cheap but I went and checked it out and that is indeed true. Thanks for the heads up Seth.
Actually even the way-faster Sprint EVDO service is a better value - same $59.99 and 450 minutes as the iPhone EDGE, but with unlimited nights and weekends like the more expensive iPhone plans…especially if you get a Sprint Mogul which will be upgraded to Rev A EVDO later this year….making it the fastest phone network until Verizon launches a Rev A phone…