T-Mobile USA to Carry iPhone Beginning April 12th, Using New 'Uncarrier' Payment Plan

TmobileT-Mobile, the only major U.S. cellular carrier to not sell the iPhone, will begin carrying the device on April 12th. The carrier will sell the phone under its new 'Uncarrier' policies as T-Mobile attempts to differentiate itself from other cellular networks with new 'customer-friendly' rate plans.

New iPhone customers will be able to purchase the 16GB iPhone 5 for $100 down, plus 24 monthly payments of $20. After the payments are finished, customers will see their monthly bills drop. On traditional subsidized plans from AT&T or Verizon, users pay $199 up front, and then see a subsidy payment invisibly built into their monthly plans. However, if the customer goes longer than two years without purchasing a new phone, the carrier continues to collect subsidy repayments as pure profit.

"This is an important day for people who love their iPhone but can’t stand the pain other carriers put them through to own one," said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile USA. "We feel their pain. I’ve felt the pain. So we’re rewriting the rules of wireless to provide a radically simple, affordable iPhone 5 experience — on an extremely powerful network."

Notably, T-Mobile says it will be the only U.S. carrier to support the 'Wideband Audio' feature of the iPhone 5, calling it 'HD Voice'.

T-Mobile is also offering the iPhone 4S for $70 down and $20 per month for 24 months, and the iPhone 4 for $15 down and $15 per month for 24 months.

The carrier will charge a base rate of $50 per month for unlimited talk, text and 3G data, plus 500MB of 4G data. Customers can add 2GB of 4G data for $10/month per line, or $20/month for unlimited 4G. Additional lines have a base rate of $30/month for the first, and $10/month for each additional. The company officially rolled out 4G LTE service today in Baltimore; Houston; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Phoenix; San Jose, Calif.; and Washington, D.C.

Customers can pre-order the iPhone 5 beginning April 5.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

mbh Avatar
153 months ago
This question has been lingering for a while.

Sign up with the payment plan, cancel 1 month later. obviously T-Mobile would expect you to either return the phone, or pay the full unsubsidized value (reduced by the amount already paid) of the device.

Isn't that a "contract" ?

It is, but it is separate from the service. Once the phone is paid for, you don't have that part of the payment anymore. With other companies your bill doesn't go down once the phone subsidy is paid off.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DipDog3 Avatar
153 months ago
Let's see... $20/month (iPhone) + $50/month (base rate) + $20/month (unlimited data) = $90/month for one line.

I pay $100 for Verizon and 2GB of Data. I would rather pay $10 more a month for a far more grown out LTE network that Verizon offers.

You are comparing cost of Unlimited Data to Limited Data on Verizon at a higher cost and you still want Verizon... :confused::confused::confused::confused:
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Born Again Avatar
153 months ago
Tmobile CEO says to "stop the bull #%*#"

Awesome
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jman240 Avatar
153 months ago
Let's see... $20/month (iPhone) + $50/month (base rate) + $20/month (unlimited data) = $90/month for one line.

I pay $100 for Verizon and 2GB of Data. I would rather pay $10 more a month for a far more grown out LTE network that Verizon offers.
Except you don't have to pay the extra "$20/month (unlimited data)" because the base plan includes unlimited 3G data and 500mb of 4G (Im guessing LTE) data, that "$20/month (unlimited data)" is for 4G data, sure, it may be a must have for you but if you don't need it or want parents to have smart phones and know they'll never use it then it would just be the $70, until you've paid off the phone or if you bring your own phone then its $50.

Family plan with 5 phones, just using the base 3G data is $110/mo as long as you already own the phones.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheRealTVGuy Avatar
153 months ago
$70.00 a month sounds a lot better than $120!

Does this include tethering?

I LOVE the fact that after you've paid the subsidy, YOU JUST PAY FOR SERVICE! I told the AT&T guy that I've been a customer 2 years, my subsidy was paid and that I wanted to see my rate drop. He just laughed.

Here in Central Florida T-Mobile is great. Will visual voicemail and all the other features work now?

And How much for a 32GB iPhone 5?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Illuminated Avatar
153 months ago
Yes but you need to pay $20/month for the iPhone as well so it costs $90/month until your iPhone is payed off, then it's $70/month.

You're missing a key point. So it's $100 down, then you pay $50 a month for unlimited text, talk, and 3G data, plus 500mb of 4G data. Plus you have to pay $20 a month for the phone itself. So it is only $70 a month. Where are you getting $90 a month?:confused:
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)