AT&T to sell iPhone without contract for $599

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(AP) -- AT&T Inc. said Thursday it will start selling iPhones without requiring a two-year contract, but they will cost $400 more.

Spokesman Michael Coe said AT&T will sell the phones starting next Thursday for $599 or $699, depending on the storage capacity. The two models cost $199 or $299 under contract.

The phone company had said in July, when the latest version of the iPhone was launched, that it would sell contract-free phones in the United States. Such phones are sold in some other countries.

The new phones will still be "locked" to AT&T and won't work with any other cellular carrier unless they're modified. AT&T will only activate them on the regular iPhone plans, which include a $30 monthly charge for data access. Prepaid service will not be available.

Apple Inc., the maker of the iPhone, has been selling the device from its stores and Web site, but would not say if it would sell the contract-free version.

Apple is widely expected to release a new version of the phone this summer.

©2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

   

• KBK - May 26, 2009
  • Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
  And the new one comes out at half the price in about a month, with twice the capacity and features.
  
  So I'm supposed to buy something at half the value at twice the price?
  
  Reality, where art thou?
  
  I'm also supposed to be stuck with my current one.. for more than another two years. At a much higher price, with the less features.
  
  Do I trust Apple and my carrier?
  
  Now....withi less than a month from now...every time I look at my 'new phone', these two companies (Apple and my carrier) will piss me off to the boiling point.
  
  The new version is coming out sooooo soon after I was first able to get mine (In Canada), as a early Canadian adopter..well...I'm getting royally FUCKED.
  
  So I will never piss on the best parts of Rogers (my carrier) or Apple..ever again in my life.
  
  I'm not a loyal customer, I'm someone who wanted internet connectivity in a phone package --and was fucked for my efforts.
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• plasticpower - Jun 25, 2009
  • Rank: not rated yet
  What are you talking about? You're mad at Apple for continuing to update and support old iPhones, while releasing new ones? I believe that is what we call "innovation" in the civilized world. Yeah, let's all use old junk phones and wait 6 years to release something new.
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