Prepaid carrier Cricket is getting a pricier iPhone | Hacker News Reader

Prepaid carrier Cricket is getting a pricier iPhone

news.cnet.com

8 pointsfpgeek11 comments

Pricier?

Let's say I get the $399 iPhone 4 and pay $55/month for two years. Forgetting taxes, that's $71.63 a month. Three years? $66.08 a month.

What's the cheapest monthly plan for a subsidized iPhone from the major US carriers?

A comparable plan from ATT is $200 for 4S, $70(call) + $30(data) + $20(text) = $120/month. That's a total of $3080 for 2 years. I can get by on $70/month plan (450min, no txt), which is $1880 for 2 years.

The Leap is $500 for 4S, $55/month. Total = $1820 for 2 yrs. It's a much better deal. A quick search says Leap has slowest data speeds of all carriers. Is it still worth it?

Cricket is based on the Sprint PCS network IIRC; their data speeds aren't great (here in the Milwaukee area) but it is unlimited and it gets the job done.

I do get to some places where Siri won't work, or works slowly - but my data speed has never been so slow that the AGPS doesn't work properly (which is all I really care about because I get lost easily).

I certainly wish I could stream videos faster but the phone does what I absolutely need so I can't complain.

I pay $72/mo [after taxes] from Sprint; that's with a 20% discount on (I believe) the cheapest plan.

The phone itself was $199 IIRC? (16-GB 4S)

I find it interesting to see the major carriers jumping into the prepaid game. For me, a person who doesn't need "unlimited" data/voice or cell coverage everywhere I go, prepaid plans are a great value.

Prepaid is even more attractive now with most of the carriers offering smartphones (and pretty good ones, at that).

this (and the article) is a loaded title. the 16gb iphone is a full $150 cheaper than the no contract version at ATT. in an absolute sense it is still an expensive phone, but it is clearly not "pricier" than the comparable phone at major carriers

It depends on your perspective.

Pricier than a postpaid plan? Sure.

But on the other hand the 16GB iPhone 4S will cost $499.99 from Cricket, which is $150 below what Apple sells this model for unsubsidized.

Good luck ever reappropriating this phone for use on any other carrier.

I doubt Cricket's going to unlock these, but their 4S is likely just as vulnerable to the unofficial SIM unlocks already in use. Even if Cricket makes you buy a month of service upfront, this could be a rather attractive option for thrifty AT&T users that don't want to be stuck in another contract.

(And that's assuming Cricket even bothers to SIM-lock it. I doubt Cricket has any GSM roaming deals like VZW and Sprint do; leaving it unlocked would make sure it's still usable overseas)

Cricket is CDMA.

The 4S packs both GSM and CDMA modems, however.

I can't imagine they wouldn't SIM-lock it. Otherwise it would just open up the possibility for people to buy a $500 iPhone from Cricket without any service commitment, and sell it for overseas use for $600 or $650.

Aren't the unofficial unlocks right now somewhat janky? i.e. they require one of those Gevey SIMs that are dependent upon having a jailbroken device, and end up making a call to 911 (or your country's emergency line) as part of the bootup process?

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