The First Pre-Paid iPhone 4S has been announced...

[JB2K]

...and it's coming to regional carrier Cricket Wireless.

Pricing will be set at $55 per month, but the phone cost will be $400 for the iPhone 4/$500 for the iPhone 4S.

While that sounds expensive, if you do the math, you will come-out ahead (assuming over a 2-year period) than you would with one of the "Big 3" carriers.

The CNN article is here for your reading pleasure.

Thoughts?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Sounds as if Cricket's coverage doesn't compare to the coverage of the current iPhone carriers. That will be a big drawback.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

I guess it's a good deal for some but that's more than I pay per phone for 5 phones on AT&T with 4 being iphones.

 

[Green Tea]

I read here that folks can take their out of contract iPhone and get prepaid service from Wal-Mart's Straight Talk and accomplish the same thing. i have not tried it, but someone explained it pretty well just a few weeks ago.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I read here that folks can take their out of contract iPhone and get prepaid service from Wal-Mart's Straight Talk and accomplish the same thing. i have not tried it, but someone explained it pretty well just a few weeks ago.

Don't you have to unlock your iPhone first?

 

[JB2K]

I read here that folks can take their out of contract iPhone and get prepaid service from Wal-Mart's Straight Talk and accomplish the same thing. i have not tried it, but someone explained it pretty well just a few weeks ago.

You are absolutely correct -- and no, you do not have to "unlock" the iPhone (and yes, it's perfectly legal -- it's just something Apple and the "Big 3" don't want people to know about).

The only "catch" is it has to be an AT&T iPhone, as that is the only iPhone which will accept Straight Talk's SIM card (since Verizon and Sprint use different technologies) -- there are countless tutorial videos on YouTube explaining how to do this in terms everyone can understand.

For those interested, you can order the SIM card directly from Straight Talk (since you will most likely get a blank stare if you ask a Walmart associate about this).

 

[JB2K]

I guess it's a good deal for some but that's more than I per phone for 5 phones on AT&T with 4 being iphones.

For the single user who lives in a Circket service area, it could be a very big deal, as the other carriers charge well-over $100 a month for an iPhone with "unlimited everything".

Also with "no contracts" comes no credit checks -- which for the "credit-challenged" and for those not wanting to be on the hook for 2 years could be big, too.

While Cricket may or may not work for some people, it looks as if Apple has finally saturated the post-paid/contract market and they've opened the floodgates for the prepaid users. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Apple's prepaid offering expand to other carriers such as Boost Mobile or Virgin Mobile (since both of those carriers are owned by Sprint, a current iPhone provider).

 

[MMitchell29]

You are absolutely correct -- and no, you do not have to "unlock" the iPhone (and yes, it's perfectly legal -- it's just something Apple and the "Big 3" don't want people to know about).

The only "catch" is it has to be an AT&T iPhone, as that is the only iPhone which will accept Straight Talk's SIM card (since Verizon and Sprint use different technologies) -- there are countless tutorial videos on YouTube explaining how to do this in terms everyone can understand.

For those interested, you can order the SIM card directly from Straight Talk (since you will most likely get a blank stare if you ask a Walmart associate about this).

Can you elaborate more on this? Hubby is a trucker and currently paying way too much on cell phone bill. We have sprint and been with them for 14 years

 

[JB2K]

Can you elaborate more on this? Hubby is a trucker and currently paying way too much on cell phone bill. We have sprint and been with them for 14 years

Are you talking about making iPhones work for Straight Talk service or getting a Cricket iPhone?

Though the Cricket iPhone would be innovative for many, due to their currently spotty network coverage, I wouldn't recommend it for a trucker.

If you are asking about converting an existing iPhone to Straight Talk service, you won't be able to do it with your Sprint phone, since Sprint uses a different technology (CDMA). To make an iPhone work with ST, the first requirement is that it must be an AT&T iPhone, since this process involves the usage of a SIM card.

Hope this helps?

 

[bettymae1121]

I have a pre-paid iPhone now, just had to *ahem* modify the iPhone to get it to work! I pay $30 a month on T-mobiles plan. We got an older version iPhone off e-bay for $100 so it was a great deal!

Don't ask me how it's done though, my DH took care of it.

 

[plummer925]

For $45 a month you can buy a sim card through Straight Talk and use it in an AT&T Iphone (that you would have to buy) and have unlimited everything for 30 days!

 

[timmac]

I have a pre-paid iPhone now, just had to *ahem* modify the iPhone to get it to work! I pay $30 a month on T-mobiles plan. We got an older version iPhone off e-bay for $100 so it was a great deal!

Don't ask me how it's done though, my DH took care of it.

For an out of contract iphone (or one where the ETF has been paid) it's actually trivial to do it now, as AT&T will unlock the phone... this is relatively recent news though.

That said, even with the jailbreak method (which, no, isn't illegal, before anyone asks), the big issue with using T-Mobile is that you can't get 3G speed. For some this might not be a big deal, but for others who rely on data service a lot, that might be a deal breaker.

 

[bdoyledimou]

For an out of contract iphone (or one where the ETF has been paid) it's actually trivial to do it now, as AT&T will unlock the phone... this is relatively recent news though.

That said, even with the jailbreak method (which, no, isn't illegal, before anyone asks), the big issue with using T-Mobile is that you can't get 3G speed. For some this might not be a big deal, but for others who rely on data service a lot, that might be a deal breaker.

"trivial" is subjective I have two AT&T Out of Contract Iphones -- a 3GS that was commitment free when i bought it and a 4 which I paid out.

I have requested both be unlocked, they keep telling me the 3Gs IS unlocked (i got the confirmation and all info is correct) but it isn't unlocked, and when they unlocked the iphone 4, they unlocked someone else's phone (totally different IMEI number in the confirmation email) but keep telling me that that is MY Iphone.

Been a big hassle.