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White iPhone 4 Coming Today

Posted by samzenpus on from the black-tulip dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Initially, the white iPhone 4 will be available in 28 countries including the US, UK, Australia, China, Japan, and Italy. It will be available for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and $299 (US) for the 32GB model with a new two year agreement through the Apple Store, AT&T and Verizon Wireless stores (as rumored earlier) and select Apple Authorized Resellers."

7 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. Price? by oji-sama · · Score: 4, Informative

    It will be available for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and $299 (US) for the 32GB model with a new two year agreement

    That's a crazy way to state the price. Or are the prices for the agreements always the same, whatever phone you choose

    --
    It is what it is.
    1. Re:Price? by Cimexus · · Score: 5, Informative

      Agreed - can't stand the crazy way the Apple US store quotes its prices. The phone does NOT cost $199/$299. It costs significantly more than that, an amount which you pay off over the next 2 years by virtue of the binding service contract you sign with the service provider. That monthly ongoing cost is not just the cost of the plan alone - it also includes a repayment for the handset, though the exact breakdown isn't revealed.

      So really for a better idea of the cost of the actual phone itself, it would be better to look at the cost Apple are quoting in countries outside the US where you buy the phone outright, unlocked, and off-contract. For example:

      Australia (http://store.apple.com/au/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone?mco=MTAyNTQzMjI)

      16GB: $859
      32GB: $999

      Canada (http://store.apple.com/ca/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone?mco=MTAyNTQzMjI)

      16GB: $659
      32GB: $779

      (And wow ... never knew how much we got ripped off in Australia - the AUD is worth the same or slightly more than the CAD, but our prices are ~$200 more than in Canada. Argh!)

    2. Re:Price? by awyeah · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It costs significantly more than that, an amount which you pay off over the next 2 years by virtue of the binding service contract you sign with the service provider.

      That isn't just Apple, it's every phone. Even the cheap or free flip phones cost significantly more than what you pay for them.

      In the US, our carriers do subsidies, and you commit to a contract term in return for that subsidy. It's always worked that way (at least as long as I've owned a cell phone, since about 1998)

      You're always free to pay the full price for the phone and not lock into a contract. The only difference is that with other brands of phone, the carrier will usually unlock it for you after a period of time, but that won't happen with Apple.

      I think the full prices for the iPhone are $599 and $699, if memory serves me.

      - Dave

      --
      Why, no, I haven't meta-moderated lately. Thanks for asking!
  2. Really? by Slash.Poop · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is this what /. has come to? A story about a different color being available for an Apple product?

    --
    I'll try anything once. Twice if it tastes good
  3. Frontpage of /.? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A nearly one year old device gets a new plastic shell?

  4. It says a lot about their target audience by MikeRT · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That they'd pay full price for a phone that is about to be upgraded just because it comes in a color they like.

    Think about that. The color of the phone is so important that they will pay full retail, plus a two year contract, for a phone that is about to be "obsolete" just because it's white instead of black.

  5. Re:DRM LOCKED and BLOCKED by cculianu · · Score: 4, Informative

    No, you can't. As of the time of this posting no unlocks exist for newer iPhone 4 models. No holes have been found to do the unlocks on anything other than 01.59.00 baseband. It is unknown whether they will ever be found and any unlock will ever again be available.