3 ms·

> the continued lack of an iPhone is only going to hurt them more. I noted that Apple is offering the unlocked 4S almost immediately this time, unlike the 4 wh

> the continued lack of an iPhone is only going to hurt them more. I noted that Apple is offering the unlocked 4S almost immediately this time, unlike the 4 where they waited half a year or a year before offering it. Hopefully this could be the beginning of the end of carrier-locked phones in the US. Where I am, you could buy a locked iPhone with a carrier plan through the Apple Store for the 4 model, but for the 4S this simply disappeared, they now only sell unlocked phones. I'm guessing because the carrier subsidies are so small that it's not worth "polluting" the brand with it.

eli 15y ago
Few Americans are going to buy a $600+ phone up front and then pay an inflated monthly service charge that is based on you having to repay a phone subsidy.
- stanleydrew 15y ago
  T-Mobile doesn't charge the subsidized plan price if you don't buy a subsidized phone from them. Or at least they didn't as recently as a year ago. I pay $60/month instead of $80 because I bought my Nexus One from Google.
  - billpaetzke 15y ago
    No one's going to use an unlocked iPhone with T-Mobile because it doesn't get 3G (due to non-standard frequency).
    - aaronbrethorst 15y ago
      Or, over a million people will. "Today, there are over a million T-Mobile customers using unlocked iPhones on our network," [T-Mobile USA Chief Marketing Office Cole] Brodman continued. "We are interested in offering all of our customers a no-compromise iPhone experience on our network." http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/231602261 http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/23...
- randall 15y ago
  Not to mention the lack of 3g data.
- TimGebhardt 15y ago
  T Mobile doesn't work this way. They break out the subsidy of the phone and the data/voice plan as separate line items. I will pay off my brand new Galaxy S2 in 22 months, after which my phone plan will be $15 bucks cheaper a month.
- losvedir 15y ago
  Downvoted for misinformation[1]. I hate the subsidized phone system in the U.S., but at least T-Mobile is not like that. Let's try to spread the correct word and see if we can fix it. I'm a happy T-Mobile user after buying an unsubsidized Nexus S. Edited to add: However, for the iPhone 4S specifically, you won't get 3G data, which is too bad. I'm thinking about getting the pentaband GSM Galaxy Nexus, though, which does get 3G (and even HSPA+, I think), on T-Mobile. [1] http://explore.t-mobile.com/value-plans http://explore.t-mobile.com/value-plans
mikeash 15y ago
Unfortunately, as I understand it, the 4S still doesn't handle T-Mobile US's rather unusual 3G frequency, so you're relegated to EDGE if you buy an unlocked 4S and use it with a T-Mobile SIM. Some people may put up with this, but I doubt it would make a noticeable dent in T-Mobile's numbers.

eli 15y ago

Few Americans are going to buy a $600+ phone up front and then pay an inflated monthly service charge that is based on you having to repay a phone subsidy.

stanleydrew 15y ago
T-Mobile doesn't charge the subsidized plan price if you don't buy a subsidized phone from them. Or at least they didn't as recently as a year ago. I pay $60/month instead of $80 because I bought my Nexus One from Google.
- billpaetzke 15y ago
  No one's going to use an unlocked iPhone with T-Mobile because it doesn't get 3G (due to non-standard frequency).
  - aaronbrethorst 15y ago
    Or, over a million people will. "Today, there are over a million T-Mobile customers using unlocked iPhones on our network," [T-Mobile USA Chief Marketing Office Cole] Brodman continued. "We are interested in offering all of our customers a no-compromise iPhone experience on our network." http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/231602261 http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/23...
randall 15y ago
Not to mention the lack of 3g data.
TimGebhardt 15y ago
T Mobile doesn't work this way. They break out the subsidy of the phone and the data/voice plan as separate line items. I will pay off my brand new Galaxy S2 in 22 months, after which my phone plan will be $15 bucks cheaper a month.
losvedir 15y ago
Downvoted for misinformation[1]. I hate the subsidized phone system in the U.S., but at least T-Mobile is not like that. Let's try to spread the correct word and see if we can fix it. I'm a happy T-Mobile user after buying an unsubsidized Nexus S. Edited to add: However, for the iPhone 4S specifically, you won't get 3G data, which is too bad. I'm thinking about getting the pentaband GSM Galaxy Nexus, though, which does get 3G (and even HSPA+, I think), on T-Mobile. [1] http://explore.t-mobile.com/value-plans http://explore.t-mobile.com/value-plans

mikeash 15y ago

Unfortunately, as I understand it, the 4S still doesn't handle T-Mobile US's rather unusual 3G frequency, so you're relegated to EDGE if you buy an unlocked 4S and use it with a T-Mobile SIM. Some people may put up with this, but I doubt it would make a noticeable dent in T-Mobile's numbers.