iPhone will not require a contract.

iRye · Jun 8, 2007

I'm probably one of the few who noticed, but remember the original iPhone ads? At the end of the ad, we noticed this:

And of course, it said "2 year minimum contract required."

I'm addicted to these beautiful ads. They're so nice. So, obviously, I'm watching it a LOT. I noticed today that magical "2 year minimum contract required." was simply not there!

iPhone, meet massive overpriced eBay sales.

Original Nerd · Jun 9, 2007

iRye said:
I'm probably one of the few who noticed, but remember the original iPhone ads? At the end of the ad, we noticed this:

View attachment 6080

And of course, it said "2 year minimum contract required."

I'm addicted to these beautiful ads. They're so nice. So, obviously, I'm watching it a LOT. I noticed today that magical "2 year minimum contract required." was simply not there!

iPhone, meet massive overpriced eBay sales.

It will require a 2-year contract...100% Positive on this one.

iRye · Jun 9, 2007

Okay, but why did that just randomly disappear?

Sandwichman · Jun 9, 2007

Well, Apple doesn't like extra stuff, they like it nice and clean. Maybe they just cleaned the fat off of the ads.

notoriousvdh · Jun 9, 2007

yeah it will require prolly a 1 year if not 2 year contract.

jotdess · Jun 9, 2007

If it's 1 year, it'll be more expensive. Go to any carrier and try to get the 1 year instead of 2 year plan. You'll see the hike in price.

iRye · Jun 9, 2007

Yeah, but there's anything is possible. It is an unreleased product, after all.

snoslicer8 · Jun 10, 2007

Regardless if retail stores (Apple and AT&T alike) require 2-year contracts for purchase, the iPhone will be on eBay without a contract. You'll just pay close to $1,000 for it.

Original Nerd · Jun 10, 2007

The only way Apple or AT&T will sell the iPhone will be with a 2-Year contract and the unlimited data plan.

Apfel · Jun 10, 2007

Apple might have chosen to cut it off, or the ad just got cut off due to bad placement in the ad rotation.

Herbert

iRye said:
Okay, but why did that just randomly disappear?

DVaris223 · Jun 11, 2007

My main concern about the iPhone in general is if they will offer insurance, and how much the deductible will be. I have a feeling many iPhone users who lose/get their phone stolen will have to downgrade.

jotdess · Jun 11, 2007

Hmm, might not be available until later, if at all. I had a few phones from different carriers that weren't covered under insurance due to availability. This might be the same way, but who knows.

MikeYMS · Jun 11, 2007

You don't "trim the fat" off of an advertisement like that. Legal repercussions and all.

Coney Island · Jun 27, 2007

MikeYMS said:
You don't "trim the fat" off of an advertisement like that. Legal repercussions and all.

I like your avatar.

WhiteYfz · Jun 27, 2007

it does require a 2 year contract but at the apple store, you can just buy the phone alone

Original Nerd · Jun 27, 2007

WhiteYfz said:
it does require a 2 year contract but at the apple store, you can just buy the phone alone

At all stores you can just buy the phone. If you want to use the phone for anything even the ipod side of things you must sign up for service. Post paid service will require a 2 year contract.

IF you require a deposit you will be offered the Pick Your Plan prepaid service. This option will only be available if you require a deposit. It is not offered any other way at this time.

MikeYMS · Jun 27, 2007

Yup and that is why they pulled the statement from the ads. It'll help business if people can just buy them without activating them...so technically they're not requiring the 2 year plan...but you'll need one if you want to actually use the phone.

rjharary · Jun 27, 2007

AT&T outsmarted even the ebay folks, looks like youll have to extend no matter what!

eric06 · Jun 27, 2007

This is a common sense question but I know people have tried to do this with other cell phones.

Since most cell phone towers are shared by all the networks, can you buy the iPhone from AT&T and take it to lets say Alltel and get it to work on their network?

baggss · Jun 27, 2007

eric06 said:
This is a common sense question but I know people have tried to do this with other cell phones.

Since most cell phone towers are shared by all the networks, can you buy the iPhone from AT&T and take it to lets say Alltel and get it to work on their network?

Probably not. The phone is likely locked onto the AT&T network. Even if you could, not all Networks use the same technology, so if Alltel is not a GSM network, then it definitely would not work even if the phone was unlocked.

The towers are shared, but each network provider has to put their own antenna on the tower.