Now that the dust has settled a bit on yesterday’s announcement of the iPhone 3g, a few little tidbits are coming to the surface:
- The iPhone 3g will REQUIRE in-store activation! So no more picking one up, never activating it on AT&T (or whomever) and jailbreaking it just to resell it.
- The AT&T data plan is going up by $10/month to $30/month instead of the original $20/month. Rod Harlan has an interesting take on that and the price comparison between the iPhone 1.0 and iPhone 3g.
- As it stands right now, no online orders for the iPhone. You’ll have to go into a retail outlet to get one!
- See the Steve Jobs WWDC ’08 Keynote introducing the iPhone 3g and iPhone 2.0 software update here.
So it looks like even though the entry price for the iPhone is only $199, Apple has tightened up on making sure you activate your iPhone with the appropriate carrier (and sign up for the 2 year contract). Also for those that ask the question: “why is it that I can get a 16GB iPhone 3g for $299 while an iPod touch 16GB goes for $399?”, the answer is with the iPhone you can’t use it without signing up for phone service. Apple appears to be taking a more traditional method of using the service contract to bring down the entry price of the phone. It will be interesting to see as time goes on, whether they will officially offer an unlocked version here in the states at a higher price?
If the 3g iphone cant be jailbroken , then maybe it will make Installer go down , and the existing 1 to 2 million jailbroken owners will not get to enjoy the 3g iphone , then eventually these 1 to 2 miilion customers worldwide are going to hate Apple products and i think in the end many of them will switch back to using windows mobile devices , so in the end , either Apple or AT&T or some big fish in USA is going to do something about this , since there is world wide demand existed from day one , other wise they will lose a lot of faithfull customers sooner than Steve say – Boom !
Hi Terry. I think part of that more conventional approach between Apple and ATT this time around is that ATT is subsidizing the phone more. With V.1 and a higher price, I think the deal between them was revenue sharing, which will not continue. So my guess is, they switched from revenue sharing to a more substantial subsidizing approach. This new strategy also lets them cut down on jailbroken phones. I personally hate the exclusive carrier, if it were open to more carriers, it would be cheaper. Like the sprint all unlimited for $99. Hope it eventually gets to were everybody could have one. Maybe sell it more expensive —without ATT subsidizing it, for those who want it on another network.
Anyway, we’ll see what happens.
Best Wishes
I swore I would never go back to AT&T for wireless service. In the area where I live they could care less about you and the service they provide. The price of the phone was another huge issue. With the 3g iPhone I was hooked… I had to get one of these babies I felt it was worth it.
Thank you Terry for the link to Rod Harlan’s article on the new cost of an iPhone and thank you ATT for reminding me why I still won’t return to you as a customer. Why has Apple chosen to lock themselves in to this deal with AT&T and when will this nightmare end? Surely Verizon and other carriers are losing a ton of money by not carrying iPhones.
Seriously, does anyone know when the contract between Apple and AT&T ends? I would appreciate a response. I guess only then will I be able to get the world’s greatest phone.
Thank you Terry for the articles
Dave,
The AT&T and Apple deal is for 5 years. So you have to figure it’s not going to expire until 2012.
Terry,
Thanks for the reply. I guess I’ll be waiting for 4 years… ARGH! It is a shame that a die hard Apple fan and the owner of 3 Macs feels the way I do. I just can’t bring myself to deal with AT&T and yet I love Apple products so much.
By the way I really enjoy your Adobe Podcast as well as this Blog… thanks!
Not that I am advocating doing this, but I actually read an article recently about how to switch providers and not pay the cancellation fees. Since carriers are always most interested in new customers, they will promote and promise the world. In the article I read (I think it was on MSN), the guy talked about buying into a service contract, and then when a competing company offered to pay his cancellation fee if he switched over, he asked for it in writing, got it and switched!
Given the changing pace of technology, I am of the same mentality as others here – a 2 year plan is starting to seem excessive (I am with Verizon), so this 5 year plan just kind of stinks because it’s pretty clear what they are trying to do…if you can’t win them over with wonders, baffle them w/ bull*&^%! AT&T is showing its true colors here and is precisely why as much as I would love an iPhone, even for the lowly price of $200, it’s just not worth it…unless of course I want to resort to the tactic above. As far as that goes though, why would AT&T care about that anyway – they still get their payout!
What is the cancellation fee anyway? I always figured it was worth it in the long run to pay the fee, although with an unusable phone (unless I can find someone to hack it for me) the cost would be prohibitive.
Hi Terry,
My name is Hafiz and i am working in UAE in a multinational company. I have an iphone 3g 16gb and i am totally new to it.
The problem is that the installer is not working. when ever i open it the screen goes on white for a few seconds and then it crashes.
My second problem is that i cannot read / check the contacts on my sim card for which i am facing many problems.
Can you please guide me how to solve these problems?