contracts

if you buy the iphone at the apple store, do they make you renew your contract to get the 499 and 599 prices? i thought about this today in class. cingular makes it seem you have to sign up for a new 2 year contract to get those prices.

any thoughts?



and yes, i said class. one of my masters classes takes place on saturday.

You don't sign up for your contract at the Apple store so you pay the 500/600 prices. But until you activate the 2 year contract the phone is a paperweight

Something interesting I saw about the contracts. Apparently, if you don't pass AT&T's credit check for the contract, they'll let you go month-to-month on a prepay plan. Granted, prepay is more expensive than contract, but it's funny that they're allowing it. Another downside to pre-pay is paying full-sticker for a phone, but with the iPhone, there's no difference.

i had been up for 12 hours when i went to purchase the iphone and had too much cafiene- so i asked a lot of questions, that i was still confused about after i left. Aparently my original contract that ended in april goes unchanged. so in theory i could buy a, samsung, or whatever for the upgrade 2-year renewal price. Iphone plans (even if it is just adding to an existing older plan) are somehow seperate. even though it is the same line on the same plan.


what!?


i have no idea but this is what the guy told me, more than once. so, yeah.
the price of the iphone is same regardless of annnnnything.
period.

there is NO reduced price for the iphone based on contract or not. This was part of agreement Apple forced AT&T into.

AT&T wanted to offer lower cost base on contract length, but Apple said no and set the price points where they are today.

So basically Apple is running the show on the iphone cost and rate plans, not AT&T.

see this thread I started.....

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67710

trpnmonkey41 said:

You don't sign up for your contract at the Apple store so you pay the 500/600 prices. But until you activate the 2 year contract the phone is a paperweight

Click to expand...

Does this mean you could not use the wi-fi portion of the phone if you don't get a contract?

that is correct. The phone is nothing without activating it by getting a plan

jab119 said:

there is NO reduced price for the iphone based on contract or not. This was part of agreement Apple forced AT&T into.

AT&T wanted to offer lower cost base on contract length, but Apple said no and set the price points where they are today.

So basically Apple is running the show on the iphone cost and rate plans, not AT&T.

see this thread I started.....

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67710

Click to expand...

I don't think that's exactly true and here's why. Cell phone companies give away a lot of phones, but do you think the manufacturers like Motorola are giving them away? No. Cell phone providers don't really give you a free phone, they subsidize it through a portion of the profits made on your monthly contract fees.

In articles about the negotiations between Apple and Verizon one of the issues was that Apple wanted a piece of the monthly fee profits from Verizon: something no other manufacturer demands. If AT&T gave in to this demand, then it's likely that the portion of profits that would have gone to subsidizing your phone purchase have instead gone into Apple's pocket. That way, AT&T could meet Apple's demand and not lose any profit.

So it's a win/win/lose situation. Apple wins, AT&T wins, and the consumer loses. Let's just hope this doesn't set a dangerous precedent for other phone manufacturers to follow. Companies like Motorola have deep penetration in the the providers' business. If they decided to make a similar demand, most likely the providers who have to give in or face devastating consequences.

In the end, it is kind of Apple's fault for the lack of discount, but because of their demand for profits, not because they set the price directly. It's also AT&T's fault for giving in. Everyone who thought AT&T paid out to get Apple's product were half right. They are paying.

trpnmonkey41 said:

that is correct. The phone is nothing without activating it by getting a plan

Click to expand...

Not even the iTunes portion of the phone, or syncing contacts and the calendar?

Nothing. It's a brick without activation. The good news is, once activated, you can use it without a SIM card minus calling and texting of course. But the WiFi and iPod functions will work. I don't know who would find that helpful, but some seem to like that ability.

fleurya said:

Nothing. It's a brick without activation. The good news is, once activated, you can use it without a SIM card minus calling and texting of course. But the WiFi and iPod functions will work. I don't know who would find that helpful, but some seem to like that ability.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I won't be buying one now.