Apple iPhone Review » iPhone Rate Plans

Why AT&T’s New Data Plan Will Likely Save You Money

iPhoneChris — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 08:45:41 +0000

Most of us were pretty upset when AT&T announced it would get rid of unlimited data plans, but if you are in the vast majority of iPhone users, a look at your past data usage will reveal that AT&T’s new plan will actually save you $60 a year.

Currently, AT&T’s unlimited data plan is $30 per month, but the new plan will cost $25 per month for 2 gigabytes of data, plus $25 for every 2 gigabyte increments you exceed. AT&T will no longer offer the unlimited data plan.

The idea of AT&T revoking the choice of unlimited data seems frustrating, but further investigation reveals that only extremely heavy data users will pay more money per month.

After doing some casual research, I realized that even a frequent iPhone user like me uses far less than 2 gigabytes of data per month.

Here’s what I found when I went to Settings >> General >> Usage:

These data usage statistics show that I’ve used a total of 9.3 gigabytes in the last 12 months, since I bought this iPhone 3GS. As someone who owns an iPhone-related website and is always on their iPhone, I was surprised to see that in the last year I have used only an average of .775 gigabytes per month. That’s less than 1 gigabyte per month without ever trying to restrict my data usage.

If my data usage is far less than 2 GB, I would venture to guess that yours is, too, unless you spend hours upon hours watching videos over 3G every day or downloading very large email attachments.

I have asked a few of my friends and family to check their own iPhone data usage, and every one has been surprised to find that they are actually going to save $5 a month with AT&T’s new data plan, since your data fee will drop from from $30 for unlimited data to $25 for more than you need.

You can thank those few extremely heavy iPhone users for subsidizing your new cheaper plan. Of course, as mobile phone usage continues to soar, we will likely start using more data, and perhaps spending more money in data chargers. At that point, will AT&T improve its infrastructure to meet the demand, or simply charge higher data fees?

How Much Data Do You Use?

Go to Settings >> General >> Usage and see how much data you’ve used since you purchased your iPhone. Will you save or lose money with AT&T’s new data plan?

Why AT&T’s New Data Plan Will Likely Save You Money is a post from Apple iPhone Review.

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No More Unlimited Data for iPhone on AT&T: Does it Tick You Off?

iPhoneChris — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:58:40 +0000

Thought unlimited data on your iPhone was too good to be true? It is now. AT&T has removed the option of unlimited data for smart phones and will begin charging new users based on how much data they use.

There are two new plans available for smart phone users. One, dubbed DataPro, offers 2GB of data per month for $25. If you go over, you are charged another $25. A second plan offers 200MB of data per month for $15, and if you exceed it, you’ll pay another $15 for 200 more megabytes.

This sucks if you ask me. Part of the magic of having an iPhone is the ability to do anything at any time without having to worry about data charges. Now, iPhone users will be forced to pay more to ration their data use, instead of AT&T paying more to upgrade its damn network already. What’s more, US iPhone users don’t have the choice to switch to another carrier because of AT&T and Apple’s exclusivity deal. This is not progress, it is regress, as Cult of Mac writer John Brownlee accurately points out:

&%$@ you, AT&T. Has there ever been a more worthless telecom? After three full years of supplying terrible service to their iDevice customers and skimping at every turn on using their profit from iPhone contracts to substantially improve their 3G networks, they’re now raising prices for inferior service. — Opinion: AT&T’s New Data Plans Make iPhone Look Worse Than Android

Time to go to Android on Verizon, where you can get unlimited data for $29.99. Either that or jailbreak/unlock your iPhone and use another carrier.

What’s Your Opinion?

Does it bother you that AT&T has removed the unlimited data plan for iPhone? Is it enough to make you switch to Android? Let me know what you think in the comments.

No More Unlimited Data for iPhone on AT&T: Does it Tick You Off? is a post from Apple iPhone Review.

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3 More iPhone Rate Plans Revealed

iPhoneChris — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 17:41:10 +0000

While browsing the AT&T website, I stumbled upon three additional iPhone rate plans that weren’t previously announced:

Most people will choose from the first three service plans, but those of you who demand more minutes can upgrade to 2000, 4000 or 6000 minutes for $120, $170 and $220 respectively.

In addition, the AT&T page (click the PLANS tab beneath the iPhone logo) reveals that additional SMS text messages will cost you $10 for 1500 texts or $20 for unlimited.

3 More iPhone Rate Plans Revealed is a post from Apple iPhone Review.

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iPhone Rate Plans Announced: All Feature Unlimited Data

iPhoneChris — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:19:29 +0000

AT&T and Apple announced three straightforward, reasonably-priced iPhone rate plans today.

All rate plans include unlimited data, Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, roll-over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling.

The rate plans start at $59.99, which gets you 450 monthly minutes and 5,000 night and weekend minutes. The $79.99 plan will get you 900 minutes and unlimited nights/weekends, and the $99.99 plan: 1350 minutes and unlimited nights/weekends.

I would have loved to see 500 SMS text messages instead of 200, but other than that, the data plans are reasonable, I think. But do they really need to charge a $36 activation fee? Isn’t $600 for the phone asking enough?

Check out Apple’s press release for more details.

iPhone Rate Plans Announced: All Feature Unlimited Data is a post from Apple iPhone Review.

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Apple to Get a Cut of Cingular iPhone Profits

iPhoneChris — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:56:14 +0000

Steve Jobs doesn’t play nice. Back in 2005, when asked about an iPod mobile phone, Jobs said Apple would have to get through many “orifices [i.e. cell phone service providers] to get to the end users.”

Well it seems Jobs has made it through these orifices, because not only did Apple establish a deal with Cingular (now AT&T) for the iPhone service, it managed to get around Cingular’s usual demands to control most of “every detail from processing power to the various features that come with the phone,” said the Wall Street Journal.

With the iPhone, Apple convinced Cingular that it knows Web surfing and multimedia better than they do. Apparently, this was important enough to Cingular that they agreed to give Apple a cut of the revenue generated from subscribers, even though AT&T won’t get a penny from iPhone sales. Is that a price worth paying to be the exclusive carrier of the Apple iPhone?

Apple to Get a Cut of Cingular iPhone Profits is a post from Apple iPhone Review.

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Cingular Ad: Why So Shoddy?

iPhoneChris — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 21:27:21 +0000

Just about all of you who’ve commented on the Cingular iPhone ad are highly skeptical. I don’t blame you.

You guys are right: the design is completely unprofessional. The fonts are off, the spacing is awkward. Hell, the iPhone prices don’t even match the previously stated prices, (although I did post a few weeks ago about some analysts’ predictions that the iPhone prices would drop).

Nevertheless, the “ad” – or whatever you want to call it – was part of a Pinecone consumer research survey. My guess is that someone put this together quickly perhaps because the focus was supposed to be on the content rather than the design.

I showed Gizmodo‘s Brian Lam the Cingular ad and he said that “the changes are what are critical” and that the research is most likely “standard marketing to check the results of the shifts in pricing.”

Anyway, I don’t ever expect to see this design out anywhere. But I’m really crossing my fingers that Cingular keeps those iPhone prices and rate plans. I’m sure some of it depends on the reactions they receive to the consumer surveys.

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Cingular Ad: More Proof for You Non-Believers

iPhoneChris — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 20:06:28 +0000

Here are some screenshots of the iPhone consumer survey with the Cingular ad (prototype?). The address at the top was cut-off to protect the source. The number at the bottom of the survey is supposedly the Pinecone survey number.

Click the images to see larger versions:

[The images have been removed at Pinecone Research's request.]

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Cingular iPhone Ad Leaked: Rate Plans Revealed

iPhoneChris — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 16:46:23 +0000

Update: AT&T has now announced the iPhone rate plans.

Be the first to see this not-yet-released Cingular iPhone ad, revealed ~~by a reliable source~~ in a private iPhone consumer survey from Pinecone Research.

It appears the iPhone rate plans from Cingular may be the same as Cingular’s current plan options: $39.99 a month for 450 minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile calling, and 5,000 night and weekend minutes. The data plans will start at $4.99 a month for 200 messages OR a $19.99 a month data plan for 200 messages plus unlimited Internet and Visual Voicemail.

EDIT: In addition, the Cingular iPhone ad lists iPhone prices as $299 for the 4GB model and $399 for the 8GB model.

Sounds good to me. Click the ad to see a larger version of the image:

[The image has been removed at Pinecone Research's request. Engadget Mobile still has it up in their post on the Cingular iPhone rate plans.]

You saw it here first.

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