Virgin Mobile has slashed 15% off both the 8GB iPhone 4 and the 16GB iPhone 4S on one of its prepaid Beyond Talk Unlimited data plans. The deal will get you a new iPhone — without a contract commitment — for less than $300.
It’s no secret that AT&T is the least affordable carrier for the iPhone in the U.S. While T-Mobile has quickly rebranded itself as “The UnCarrier” and other prepaid carriers have attracted customers with their flexible plans and cheaper service, AT&T has clung to its expensive data and phone plans. All that might be ending soon though.
AT&T is planning to launch a pre-paid brand called ‘All In One” on June 15th to compete with other pre-paid carriers like Cricket, U.S. Cellular, Boost and now T-Mobile. The new AT&T pre-paid brand will offer customers monthly services starting at $35 per month for feature phones and $50 per month on smartphones.
Boost Mobile is to begin prepaid iPhone sales during the third quarter of 2013, according to information leaked on Twitter. Boost would become the third prepaid provider to offer Apple’s popular device, following its introduction to Cricket and Virgin Mobile in 2012.
Over the last few weeks, T-Mobile has stolen a lot of the prepaid carriers’ thunder with its new “Uncarrier” plans. But Cricket Wireless is eager to make sure no one forgets about it.
Starting today, Cricket Wireless is cutting the price of its iPhone plans to help it compete against the likes of T-Mobile and AT&T. The new family bundle plan offered by Cricket includes two smartphone plans for $40 each a month. If you just want an iPhone on your own plan, individual plans now start at $50 a month.
Since I’m so excited, we’re going to front load this review: if you don’t want to sign a contract to have an iPhone, Straight Talk is the best prepaid carrier you can possibly choose in the United States. And even if you have no problem with signing a two year contract with one of the big three, you should seriously consider Straight Talk: you get the same quality of coverage and network speeds as if you signed up with AT&T for hundreds of dollars less.
Got that? Now let me elaborate.
Following the iPhone’s prepaid debut on Cricket Wireless just a week ago, Apple’s hugely popular smartphone is now available on Virgin Mobile. Like Cricket, Virgin is offering the handset on a prepaid basis, with prices starting at as little as $31 per month on the company’s Beyond Talk plan — which includes unlimited data, and unlimited texts.
Take advantage of the company’s offer and you could save yourself around $800 a year.
We’ve already talked about how your next iPhone should be a prepaid one, right? Heck, we’ve even discussed why Cricket might be your next iPhone carrier. It sounds like some folks must have been listening.
When Cricket started selling pre-paid iPhones as planned today, people lined up at the door before stores opened to get one of the newly available Apple handsets.
Up until a year and a half ago, U.S. customers had almost choice of carrier or rate plans when buying an iPhone. That’s something that has changed dramatically. The iPhone’s launch on Verizon and Sprint followed by several regional carriers across the country and the recent introduction of the iPhone as an option on prepaid networks Cricket and Virgin Mobile.
The new prepaid iPhone options may seem pricey because Cricket offers a very limited subsidies to attract iPhone 4 and 4S buyers and Virgin offers no discount or subsidy at all. As we noted earlier, however, paying the cost of the iPhone up front can actually save you money overall if you go with either Cricket or Virgin.
Beyond the upfront costs, however, there’s a big question to consider: will either prepaid carrier be included in the launch of the iPhone 5? While there isn’t a solid answer at this point, it seems likely that they won’t.
Cricket Wireless became the first prepaid carrier to offer the iPhone yesterday, but it’s unlikely it’ll be the last. One source claims that both the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S will also be arriving on Boost Mobile later this year.
![Verizon to Launch $50 Unlimited Prepaid Plan, Right in Time for the New iPhone [Report]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
![Verizon to Launch $50 Unlimited Prepaid Plan, Right in Time for the New iPhone [Report]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Verizon-iPhone-e1315961589994.jpeg)
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Verizon Wireless is launching an unlimited voice and data prepaid plan. The plan will compete directly against Sprint and T-Mobile’s prepaid options. AT&T already offers a prepaid plan for $50 called GoPhone.
Verizon’s new $50 plan will include unlimited talk, text and web usage. Starting this Thursday, the plan will be available to eligible Verizon Wireless customers. It looks like iPhone users have one more reason to switch to Verizon.
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![Why Straight Talk Might Just Be The Best Carrier For Your iPhone, Period. [Review]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/straighttalk.jpg "straighttalk")
