T-Mobile USA Executive Offers Letter to Customers Regarding Lack of iPhone

With Sprint set to join AT&T and Verizon in offering the iPhone in the United States, T-Mobile appears to be the last of the four major carriers that will be without the device. While a few rumors had allowed those looking for an iPhone on T-Mobile to hold out hope, an internal news posting revealed that the carrier's Chief Marketing Office Cole Brodman had confirmed at a company town hall meeting that T-Mobile USA would not be offering the iPhone 5 this year.

t mobile usa logo
Brodman has now followed up with an open letter to T-Mobile customers, thanking them for their loyalty and making clear that the carrier is interested in carrying the iPhone.

We’ve heard from many customers who love their T-Mobile service, but are disappointed that we don’t carry the iPhone. To these customers, first, thank you for your business. Please know that we think the iPhone is a great device and Apple knows that we’d like to add it to our line-up. Today, there are over a million T-Mobile customers using unlocked iPhones on our network. We are interested in offering all of our customers a no-compromise iPhone experience on our network.

Brodman offers no additional details on the state of negotiations between T-Mobile USA and Apple, instead promoting the company's latest Android handsets and positioning them as able to "rival or beat" any other smartphone on the market, "including the iPhone."

AT&T is in the process of trying to acquire T-Mobile USA, although it has run into opposition from the U.S. government and rival carriers. Regardless, AT&T has indicated that T-Mobile USA would be operated independently from AT&T for some time after the completion of the merger, so it is unclear how quickly T-Mobile might be able to gain the iPhone even under that scenario.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
Apple Shopping Event 2025

Apple Announces 2025 Black Friday Event, Here's What You Can Get

Thursday November 20, 2025 6:28 am PST by
Apple's annual four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping event is returning on Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1 in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, and others. During the shopping event, customers can get an Apple gift card with...
hikawa phone grip stand apple%402x

Apple Launches Second Limited-Edition iPhone Accessory in a Month

Friday November 21, 2025 3:53 am PST by
Apple has begun selling the Hikawa Phone Grip and Stand, a new limited-edition iPhone accessory designed with accessibility in mind. Designed by LA-based Bailey Hikawa to celebrate the 40th anniversary of accessibility at Apple, the grip uses magnets to securely snap onto any iPhone with MagSafe. Apple says it can be removed with ease, and doubles as a stand with two different viewing...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Two Breakthrough Features

Wednesday November 19, 2025 7:26 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include two standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...

Top Rated Comments

dethmaShine Avatar
185 months ago
They are literally begging for the iPhone.

:apple:
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Agent OrangeZ Avatar
185 months ago
Pick the common GMS frequencies and you might get the phone next time.
T-Mobile does have "common GSM frequencies." Their GSM/Edge network is 100% 1900Mhz. But there is only so much spectrum to go around and the big 3 gobbled it all up. That is why T-Mobile was nearly 2 years late launching 3G. They didn't have enough spectrum. So, the government offered up 1700Mhz AWS spectrum and T-Mobile led the charge along with Cricket and Metro PCS in the auction.

T-Mobile isn't using 1700Mhz as it's "choice." It's all that is left. But hell... Apple made a special CDMA iPhone 4 for Verizon... why not make an AWS iPhone for T-Mobile?

Even then... AT&T is gobbling up T-Mobile for their 1700mhz spectrum to deploy LTE on it. So it is "good enough" for AT&T. And I am sure that when the 2012 iPhone launches with LTE, Apple will support 1700Mhz LTE for AT&T along with both sides of the 700Mhz spectrum for Verizon and AT&T both.

And Sprint? Sprint is currently running WiMax at 2500 Mhz spectrum. When they convert to LTE (not "if"... "WHEN"), then we will have LTE 2500Mhz too.

Like Samsung, HTC and Moto learned a long time ago... you have to learn to accept it all.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dmcaudio Avatar
185 months ago
i use my 3GS on t-mobile...

quite frankly, i LOVE not being required to have a data plan. Everywhere has wifi these days, and when I REALLY want to use the net on the go, I tether to my iPad. I personally think it's TOTAL CRAP that carriers require a seperate data package for each of your devices, and am glad that I can use my iPhone how i want, with whom I want.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Agent-P Avatar
185 months ago
I hope the iPhone 5 ends up supporting the T-Mobile frequencies even if T-Mobiel doesn't officially end up carrying the iPhone. By my math, buying an iPhone unlocked outright and coupling it with T-Mobile's cheaper plans saves me a few hundred over AT&T and Verizon (over the course of a 24 month contract).
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chirpie Avatar
185 months ago
It's odd to acknowledge but then not address the issue in any meaningful way. In business you never say "sorry" unless it's blatantly your fault, and you never bring up a shortcoming unless you aim to deflect it properly.

This just seems... weird.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wordoflife Avatar
185 months ago
I think iPhone could save T-Mobile. Hell, I'd switch.



Maybe.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)