Contract-Free iPhone 3G

To many people's surprise, AT&T has announced that customers will now be able to purchase a contract-free iPhone 3G. This is a huge shock to many people who assumed AT&T and Apple would keep the iPhone locked to AT&T. However, users will no longer have a need to jailbreak their iPhone just to use it on another network. Jailbreaking an iPhone is not easy, and Apple has been able to put updates out that return the iPhone and make it useless until the user can jailbreak it again.

Starting next Thursday, AT&T will be selling contract-free iPhones. Users will be able to visit an AT&T store and purchase an iPhone without a 2 year contract for AT&T. However, the price is much higher than purchasing the phone with a contract. An 8GB iPhone 3G will run $599 and the 16GB version will run $699. AT&T is not making it cheap to escape without a contract through them. If you want a contract-free iPhone, then you will have to pay through the nose for it. It should be noted that the early termination fee for AT&T is $175.

There's a catch to this deal. The phones won't require a contract, but they will still be locked to AT&T's network. You will essentially be buying a iPhone without a contract for the carrier the phone is locked to. Customers will either have to purchase a plan later, or jailbreak it.

Let's see how this contract-free deal works out. Will AT&T and Apple see an influx of customers that were simply waiting for a contract-free iPhone, or is the economy poor enough that people can't afford the exorbitant price?

• Email Link
• Print News

ClayMeow on March 20, 2009 09:58AM Wow, Apple & AT&T are even dumber than I initially thought, and that's hard to accomplish. reply to this

hornybluecow on March 20, 2009 02:01PM i found nothing that states iphones will now work on other networks so jailbreak phones are still highly needed. reply to this

DLS2008 on March 20, 2009 02:27PM They are still locked to AT&T's network... Jailbreaks are really needed... reply to this

Zertz on March 20, 2009 02:32PM Useless... they're basically offering you to pay more for the same old thing reply to this

d3bruts1d on March 20, 2009 05:47PM I hope Apple's exclusive contract with AT&T is worth it... I would have thought they would have made more money just by offering it on other providers. reply to this

SMeeD on March 21, 2009 11:30AM Its cheaper to buy the phone under contract and then just pay the early termination fee right there... Or is it more complicated than that? reply to this

DLS2008 on March 21, 2009 01:19PM You still have to jailbreak, but yes, SMeeD, you're correct. The contract-free phone is still locked to AT&T. It's cheaper to buy one with a contract, terminate the contract, and then jailbreak it. reply to this

Frank Rizzo (frank@yahoo.com) on March 21, 2009 04:13PM Who's writing this? In the first paragraph we are told, "However, users will no longer have a need to jailbreak their iPhone just to use it on another network." Then, in the third paragraph we are told, "There's a catch to this deal. The phones ...will still be locked to AT&T's network.Customers will either have to purchase a plan later, or jailbreak it." WTF reply to this

This news has comment postings disabled because it is now archived.