The T-Mobile iPhone is real, and it will be available to subscribers starting on April 12. The company announced on Tuesday that qualifying customers would be able to buy the iPhone 5 for "$99.99 down, plus monthly payments" that are added to their monthly subscription fees. At $20 per month for 24 months, this brings the total cost of a 16GB iPhone 5 to its pre-subsidized price of just below $600—a far cry above what someone might pay for a subsidized device through AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint. On the upside, T-Mobile touted its lack of two-year contract (or any contract at all), which gives subscribers the freedom to leave the carrier at any time without penalty. (Of course, one could argue that being on the hook for 24 months of payments on a phone is akin to a contract.)
The iPhone 5 is not the only Apple device being sold through T-Mobile. The carrier also announced that it would offer the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, though those devices will only be available in select markets. Like the iPhone 5, those buying an iPhone 4S through T-Mobile will be required to put down $69.99 up front (iPhone 4 will be $14.99 up front), with another 24 months of $20 payments.
"This is an important day for people who love their iPhone but can’t stand the pain other carriers put them through to own one," T-Mobile USA CEO John Legere said in a statement. "We feel their pain. I’ve felt the pain. So we’re rewriting the rules of wireless to provide a radically simple, affordable iPhone 5 experience—on an extremely powerful network."
The iPhone 5 will function on T-Mobile's 4G/LTE networks where it's available (T-Mobile also announced on Tuesday it was launching LTE in Baltimore, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Jose, and Washington DC). The iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 will obviously not work on LTE, but they will function on T-Mobile's "4G" HSPA+ network.
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