So I am thinking of buying the i phone when the 3G comes out in July. I went to the ATT store (they are currently my carrier) and they said I would have to buy some plan for text and data that costs $20/month. I told them I already have unlimited text and data and they said I still had to buy it, and when it was used up it would rollover to the unlimited part of the plan. Can they really police this. Can’t I just go to the Apple store, buy an i phone, stick in the SIM from my old phone, and use the plan I already paid for?
Nope.
Well, OK yes, but there are some issues:
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It’s hard to open the iPhone. It has no external screws.
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The warranty will be voided.
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Some iPhone features might not work because it’s designed to only be used with the plan that AT&T sells with it. It’s part of the exclusive contract that AT&T has with Apple.
I dunno about #3, but as for #1 and #2, you can pop the SIM right out from the top of the iPhone - I’ve had to do it before as part of a tech support call I put in. It does not void the warranty to pop the SIM out.
I do, however, pay $20/month on top of the standard AT&T cell phone rates for unlimited data. I don’t know about any plan other than my own, though, so can’t answer the OP on that one.
Ahhh, my mistake.
Based on personal experience, assume that the person at the AT&T store has no clue as to what they are talking about. If possible, only deal with the Apple store.
So I’ve heard, the new generation of iPhones is cheaper but they are getting it back by charging more for data service. Correct me if I’m wrong.
On the current iPhone the SIM chip pops out easily using a paper clip.
As of right now, AT&T will require that you sign a two-year contract for a voice plan at $39 minimum coupled with an unlimited data plan at $30. It is not yet clear if this will include any texts. Their other smartphone plans cost the same but do not include any texts, but the iPhone has always been an odd duck as far as their plans go.
As for the SIM, no, you will not be able to pop any other SIM in. The iPhone requires the presence of the SIM it was activated with unless you go through the hacked unlocking process.
Even if you go to the Apple Store, you will be committing to activating service on the new 2yr contract. So even if you do figure out how to unlock the phone, you won’t be off the hook for the service without paying a large penalty (undefined) or an early termination fee (also uundefined).
At this point, AT&T is saying that there will not be a no-commit price, i.e. the full, unsubsidized price for those who wish to buy without a contract.
If you cancel the contract within 14 days there is no fee. After that there is a maximum early termination fee of $175. I do not know if that will change with the G3 rollout.
Part of the issue is Apple dramatically decreased the price on the iPhone. They did this by having AT&T subsidize the price via their required contract. If you do the math over the two year term the new iPhone will cost you $40 more than the old iPhone (cost of phone plus contract over two years).
Apple/AT&T have been unhappy at people unlocking the phone. Apple was issuing software updates which “broke” those people’s phones (and last I heard some were trying to sue Apple over that [cite]).
As such the scuttlebutt I heard was you would NOT be allowed to buy an iPhone without also buying AT&T’s two year contract at the same time. Given the special nature of the contract applying to the iPhone I would carefully read the small print about cancellations and such. They very, very much mean to stick you with that contract since it is an intrinsic part of paying for the phone itself.
Also be sure to double-check AT&T data coverage (be sure to select the “Data” coverage type) to see that you live in an area with 3G coverage. Lots and lots of areas do not (most major metro areas do but even those have some gaps).
I imagine the easy solution would be to cancel your existing unlimited data plan and go with the iPhone unlimited plan. You’d have to retain your texting plan, of course though. Right now it is running $20 for unlimited data, 200 texts and the visual voicemail feature. I’ve also heard rumors that it’s going up, though.
I imagine you could buy the iPhone at a substantially higher price without extending your contract, right? That’s how it works with AT&T’s current lineup of phones. Has anyone heard anything solid on this point?
Well, right now we have a family plan with 5 phones. I don’t want to break that up into individual plans, it would cost a lot more. The iphone is nice, but not worth the extra expenses and hassles in my opinion. I think I have changed my mind.
Nope. Unless you buy a used one or something, you cannot buy a new iPhone from either Apple or AT&T without also signing up for the two-year plan.
This might have been possible before, but certainly won’t be for the new one.
The old iPhone could be activated with iTunes. This meant that you could pop in any ATT sim and it’d work. Now it has to be done in the store which will most likely prevent that from happening.
The cancellation window for the iPhone 3G will be 30 days. The ETF after that has not been publicly announced.
AT&T is saying right now that there is no no-commit price. You either activate or extend a contract or you get no phone at all.
I have my iPhone on a 2-person family plan. Granted, both of us have iPhones. 
But it wasn’t a problem at all. We just got the family plan for voice and then each iPhone had a tacked on data plan. Easy peasy.
Has there been any talk about eligibility for upgrades in regards to being able to buy a cheep iPhone? I just bought my last one in December, so I know I shouldn’t be eligible for an upgrade yet…
Heh… goodness, what an ate-up deal. But of course, Mr. Jobs just knows, he’s got nothing to worry, he has all those people jonesing for an iPhone by the you-know-whats and they’re not gonna turn their back and walk away…
(And not that I could even get one at all yet, apparently although ATT considers PR to be part of the USA market, Apple considers us to be a Latin America market, so we have to wait until they release it to Mr. Slim’s América Móvil).
AT&T has said that anyone who already owns an iPhone is eligible for the upgrade regardless of how long one has owned the original model.
I was already an AT&T (AT&T Wireless then Cingular then AT&T) customer when I purchased my iPhone. My account had two phones, my Razor and a phone that I paid for that I gave to my mother. When I purchased my iPhone it re-upped the contract for 2 more years but the only additional charge was the addition of the data plan. My previous plan stayed intact and in place.
MeanJoe