The real cost of the iPhone 5: $1,800+

Mashable today posted an incredible series of images showcasing the true cost of the iPhone 5, based on the pricing tiers of its three main American carriers (AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint). The infographic eventually concludes that in America, an iPhone 5 on a 2-year contract will cost you at least $1800 (with a minimum of $170 in accessories).

Where I am in Canada, cellphone plans are typically 3 years. If you want to get the 16GB iPhone 5 for $199, you’re signing up to a 3 year contract no matter which carrier you pick. My plan costs $75 a month, and I get a considerable 6GB of data, unlimited text, and 200 voice minutes. Over 3 years with a new contract, a new iPhone with this plan would cost me around $3,000. That being said, I’ll have this plan regardless of whether or not I buy a new phone.

Does this discourage you from buying an iPhone on-contract, or is it the same as what you’d be paying with another phone? Check out the full info graph below, and let me know what you think in the comment section!

Via: Mashable

Tags: 1800, 2-year contract, AT&T, carriers, Cost, iPhone 5, real, Sprint, true, US, Verizon

Papun 6 pts

I'm from Finland, and simply bought an agreement complimentary 16 GB iPhone 5 for 699€ (incl tax). Expensive? Nah, not really. I pay ten euros / thirty days for my organize, including unrestricted, unthrottled (typically 5-15 MB down / 2-5 up) DC 3G, 525 sms & 500 minutes of speak. I don't speak or text actually that a lot, extremely the program is perfect in my circumstances. Plus, I am not tied up to my operator, I can change carriers whenever ever I choose to. .

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Aglet

I'm from Finland, and just bought a contract free 16 GB iPhone 5 for 699€ (incl tax). Expensive? Nah, not really. I pay 10 euros / month for my plan, which includes unlimited, unthrottled (usually 5-15 MB down / 2-5 up) DC 3G, 500 sms & 500 mins of talk. I don't talk or text even that much, so the plan is perfect for me. Plus, I'm not tied to my operator, I can switch carriers when ever I choose to.

Plus, I ain't buying any friggin accessories! (well, maybe a spare cable, when DX starts selling them) The most beautiful phone in the world in a case? No way. All my speakers are wireless, too, so they didn't become obsolete.

BrainRoopull 19 pts

Aglet, I think people like you are the future of the market. Talking & texting is secondary to everything else we do with our phones. In America, the carriers haven't even come close to addressing this realization. It took them forever to even offer us unlimited voice & text, and they're going in the wrong direction with data. Only Sprint offers unlimited data, and there's speculation they'll join the rest of the pack with limited data with huge overage charges.

Captainchris 7 pts

@BrainRoopull tmobile now offers unlimited data

Captainchris Is it not throttled after 2 gig (or whatever limit the set?)

@BrainRoopull not anymore. About month(ish) ago they released unthrottled unlimited plans. I like tmobile, we don't have it where I live. (I'm also a sprint user)

Captainchris Okay, that's new to me. I had T-Mobile until about October last year for one of my devices. I hated it. The coverage was horrible, but even when we did have a solid signal, the connection wasn't stable enough for any streaming. For example, we could start a movie, watch it for a few minutes & then the connection would die. For whatever reason, we'd have to re-start the stream from the beginning. With other carriers, if you lost the connection for a moment, at least the stream would pick back up where it left off.At our home, we had decent coverage when we got it, but we had a storm two months into the contract & all but lost coverage at the house. TMO repeatedly said they'd look into it & call us back with what they found. The never contacted us at all. Finally, instead of being jerks about it, we just bought our way out of the contract & went with someone else.

@BrainRoopull we have similar issues with sprint 3G in my city. Sprint has been known for slow 3G, but when I go to other cities I feel like my phone is going light speed. lol. I have heard tmobile is like that where they have great fast Internet some places and the they blow in other places. They also have a pretty nice sized hspa+ network.

no_reazon 5 pts

Are you link baiting? Or just slow? It's the SAME for almost every smart phone. iPhone or not, you're paying the EXACT amount. Sure, you might save $50 or more by getting a crappy android, but the cost of the plans don't change. Man, get a new job.

Jellotime91 9 pts

no_reazon

First of all, I'm not the one who made this. Second, if you actually *read* the article, I clearly said "I'd be paying for this plan whether or not I bought a new phone".

There was "no_reazon" for you to post your comment.

MustafaTanriverdi 5 pts

In Australia there's plans as low as $47 a month for 2 years. And you get the iphone 5 16gb. They also give you a free case, screen protector or charger.

When Sprint forced me back into the market by telling me I HAD to buy a new phone when my old one broke (a new phone that "can't be activated on your current plan,) I did this same math. People didn't believe me when I explained the savings I'd get by switching to Boost.

touchmyapp 6 pts

this is consistent with all phones, as they all use the same plans, have the same app costs, and have the same accessory costs. But i have 29$ unlimited everything, so its all good. CANADA FTW!

jarrod

touchmyapp Who is your carrier, from what I have seen Canada is a very pricey country for phone service with little options.

touchmyapp There are new UMTS-only carriers (same freq as T-Mobile) in Canada that offer very inexpensive unlimited plans, but they only work in major cities or "hotspots", and anything else is "roaming". I assume he's on WIND, Mobilicity, or Public Mobile.

austinjf05 5 pts

I still only pay $32 a month with unlimited data, so I'm happy

MikeGooden 7 pts

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