

Apple iPhone 5 US Carrier Comparison Chart - indiekid
http://mgalligan.com/post/31528271799/att-sprint-verizon-iphone-5-comparison-chart
Here’s a comparison chart I made to compare the different reasons to choose AT&#38;T, Sprint, or Verizon as your carrier for the iPhone 5.
======
achille2
This is cool but if you could, please add prepaid? Specifically add the
following?

\- 4th column for StraighTalk as one of the carriers

\- 5th column for Tmobile as one of the carriers)

\- Cost to buy iphone (199 normally, but full price prepaid)

\- Cost over the entire life of the plan

See:

\- Tmobile: [http://9to5mac.com/2012/09/10/t-mobile-unveils-its-big-
plans...](http://9to5mac.com/2012/09/10/t-mobile-unveils-its-big-plans-for-
iphone-bring-your-unlocked-iphone-and-save-1200-vs-att/)

\- StraighTalk: [http://9to5mac.com/2012/07/30/review-the-iphone-on-
straight-...](http://9to5mac.com/2012/07/30/review-the-iphone-on-straight-
talk/)

Note: Since StraightTalk resells AT&T using their own antennas, the available
service would be same. Correct?

~~~
runjake
There's no point in adding Straight Talk at this time because official word
(via their Twitter) is that they do not have nano SIMs and they have no
(announce-able) plans to sell nano SIMs at this time.

Micro-SIMs cannot be cut down to nano-SIM dimensions and be used.

~~~
css771
Why not? Is there a difference in the actual chip? I thought it was just a
trimming of the plastic around the chip.

~~~
needcaffeine
Nano sims are also _thinner_.

Source: [http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/09/12/dont-plan-on-
cutting...](http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/09/12/dont-plan-on-cutting-
microsim-to-fit-iphone-5-nano-sim-slot/)

But it looks like you can hack it:
[http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/09/14/convert-micro-sim-
ip...](http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/09/14/convert-micro-sim-
iphone-5-compatible-nano-sim/)

------
UnoriginalGuy
Americans pay a LOT for their cellular service. I mean $100/month is just
absolutely insane.

Currently I pay about $17/month but if I wanted unlimited everything I could
get it for $32/month.

We don't pay to receive calls or texts however so there is little need to have
"unlimited" either. Even the thought that I am paying for advertisers to send
me junk text messages or calls would drive me insane, if I was in the US.

The US and Canada really have it rough with mobile and internet services...

~~~
drstewart
Cherry-picking one number and comparing it to another country by converting
the dollar amount is a ridiculous and meaningless comparison.

Looking on here:

[http://shop.o2.co.uk/mobile_phone/pay_monthly/24_months/Medi...](http://shop.o2.co.uk/mobile_phone/pay_monthly/24_months/Medium/Apple/iPhone_4S_16GB_White)

It looks like the cost is $70/month for unlimited text/voice and 1 GB of data.
That doesn't seem much cheaper at all to me.

~~~
beagle3
I'm living in NYC and paying ~$80/month for limited everything (900
minutes/1000 texts/2GB/other perks but other discounts).

I visited Berlin in June. I prepaid 15 Eur for unlimited one week everything
on Vodafone. I could have gotten prepaid everything for 30 Eur/month, but I
was only there for a week.

And the 3G speeds I received were actually higher than the ones I usually get
in NYC.

------
r00fus
What about prepaid?

I'm dying to find out if, say, Cricket or Virgin's iPhone5 plans will be any
better - I'm willing to buy up front.

~~~
evan2m
Looks like Virgin has announced their pricing for Australia but not for the
US: <http://www.virginmobile.com.au/iphone>

Virgin's iPhone5 will likely remain a better value than any subscription
option mentioned in the article. Unfortunately Sprint (and therefore Virgin)
can't get close to Verizon's US 4G coverage.

~~~
thematt
Those Australia plans all have stiff data caps. Will that be the same in the
US as well? Hopefully we can still get the unlimited plan for $35/month.

------
darklajid
I really fail to see why 'tethering' should cost you anything, _especially_ if
you're capped in bandwidth already. If you pay for x GB you should be able to
use as much, using any device you like. Weird.

------
kurtvarner
Imagine how much of an advantage it'd be to only enforce a _1 year_ contract.
That'd be a huge differentiator, as it would allow you to upgrade your iPhone
on it's yearly release. I'm sure that would cause a massive switch in carriers
for Apple fans.

~~~
mdasen
AT&T used to allow iPhone users an upgrade annually for the new iPhone despite
being on a two-year contract. I'm not sure if they have for this round, but
every other year, they simply changed upgrade eligibility for iPhone users
right before the iPhone came out.

The problem is that this is very expensive. An iPhone costs $650 and you get
it for $200. That means that the carrier is eating $450. Even if you argue
that a carrier is getting a discount and it's only costing them $300-350, they
have to earn that back. $300-350 over 12 months is $25-29.17 per month that
they have to earn back, plus interest. So, you have a $30 data plan, and only
$0.83-$5 of that is going to actually implementing, maintaining, etc. the
network. If they're subsidizing the device by $400, giving you an upgrade ever
12 months would mean taking a loss of $40 not including the cost of creating
and maintaining the network.

So, it's quite detrimental to a company's bottom line to offer that to the
point that it isn't wonderfully feasible. Sure, you can say that it gets you
the voice plans of those people who switch and maybe that can go to the
subsidy as well and whatnot, but the margins are thin. I'm quite literally
paying $40/mo for my iPhone plan as an add-on to a family plan (plus 1/5th of
$20 for texting ($4) and 1/5th of $70 for voice ($14)). So, I'm paying a total
of $58 and getting a $450 discount on the device. $450 over 12 months is
$37.50 plus interest and so I would only be paying $20.50 per month for my
actual usage. Even if I bring my own phone, there isn't a carrier that would
give me a price near that low.

Frankly, I think it would be better for uses to pay the $649 up-front and have
cheaper plans (and this does happen in many countries and can happen here if
you want to buy the iPhone 5 for T-Mobile). However, even there I wouldn't be
getting such a value. T-Mobile offers 500 minutes plus texting plus 2GB of
data for $50/mo. For $8 more on a family plan, I'm getting $450 off my device
which even if I can only upgrade every 24 months is an $18.75/mo value.

It would definitely be a huge differentiator. AT&T did this for many years to
keep Apple fans happy and to prevent their yelling from overwhelming the press
around the new device. However, it's really expensive. Even if you gained more
customers, it likely wouldn't be worth it.

~~~
lsllc
If you ask nicely, AT&T will upgrade every year -- they have for me. They'll
tell you about the "early upgrade fee" ($250), so just ask them what your
current early termination fee is -- it'll be less (that's why they raised it
last year).

So you pay the ETF and switch to Verizon. If you got the 4S last year, you're
looking at $215 right now for an ETF vs $250 for the "early upgrade fee".
Chances are, they want to retain you as a customer, so they'll waive the
upgrade fee.

I certainly don't feel bad for AT&T, my average monthly bill is $130, so I'm
paying them ~$1600 in monthlies per year plus the annual $200 (& change!)
upgrade fee. So I don't think it's unreasonable to get a new $650 iPhone each
year for the $2K I'm paying (which as you say probably only costs them $350).

I just wish they'd formalize this into a "Apple fanboi" plan so I don't have
to threaten to cancel, argue with managers etc to get that shiny new phone on
release day!

Full disclosure: I do sell the previous phone via eBay, so I guess I'm at
least making the $200 upgrade fee back.

------
cdmoyer
Hmm, the AT&t prices are too high based on their new mobile share plan. $70
for 4 gigs and $40 per smartphone with unlimited talk and text.

<http://www.att.com/mobileshare>

------
iigs
Does anyone have info on the Sprint tethering pricing listed here? I don't see
it on their site or a Google search, and the existence of such would be very
compelling for me (obnoxious overage price notwithstanding).

~~~
prophetjohn
They had the info when I was checking out. I don't remember the specific
amounts of data, but the rates were +$20 and +$50 per month to your plan.

~~~
iigs
I saw that as well... 2 and 6 gb. I understood the infographic to mean a base
amount of tethering data was free per month, which sure isn't how it looks on
Sprint's site.

~~~
prophetjohn
I also interpreted the infographic to mean that you can tether up to 5GB per
month for free, but I think that's incorrect.

~~~
indiekid
I can update the chart if someone finds a definitive price.

------
amartya916
Not relevant for people who switch phone in two years, but AT&T's phone
unlocking at the end of the contract or with account charges taken care of, is
pretty neat.

~~~
indiekid
If a Verizon account has been in good standing for at least 60 days,
supposedly they'll unlock your device:
[http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-57361283-266/will-
verizon-...](http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-57361283-266/will-verizon-
unlock-my-iphone-4s/)

~~~
ben1040
Only for international use. Domestic use is still locked to Verizon.

------
LVB
Not looking forward to basically a 100% increase in my bill when Verizon pulls
the plug on the grandfather unlimited plans.

~~~
mdasen
I felt that was a disingenuous part of the chart. The author said that
FaceTime only worked over cellular for AT&T when you moved to a shared data
plan, but always worked on Verizon. That's technically true, but only really
because Verizon won't offer customers subsidized pricing without moving to a
shared data plan.

From Verizon's perspective, if you pay their post-pay rates and bring your own
iPhone, you're paying them an additional $18+/mo since they don't have to
cover the subsidy. As such, if you have a grandfathered plan, they care less
since you're basically paying for a higher rate plan by not using a subsidy.

~~~
eddieplan9
That $18.75/month buys you much more than unlimited data, if it's a truly
unlocked phone.

~~~
thoughtsimple
It's a CDMA phone which by definition can't be unlocked.

~~~
indiekid
That's not true. CDMA is just one band. The iPhone 5 supports multiple bands,
including GSM bands and LTE bands. It also includes a SIM card slot. The
iPhone 5 can be unlocked and a new SIM inserted.

~~~
thoughtsimple
Not the iPhone. You can use the SIM internationally but not in the US. Put an
AT&T or T-Mobile SIM in your "unlocked" Verizon iPhone and it will not work.

UPDATE: I should also add that if you buy an factory unlocked iPhone from
Apple, there is no way to activate it on any CDMA network. CDMA is inherently
a locked network.

------
Quasimoto3000
Sprint seems to have it together on this one.

~~~
indiekid
The biggest drawback for Sprint is their abysmal LTE coverage. They bet too
early on with WiMAX and lost out on the LTE train. It's going to be a good
long while before they're caught up there.

~~~
Nrsolis
That's not necessarily true. There is little difference between WiMAX and LTE
on all of the hard parts: antenna configuration, transceivers, and amplifiers.
Even the modulation scheme is the same: OFDM. Sprint started installing
firmware-upgradable base stations a little while ago and I strongly suspect
that the process for converting from WiMAX to LTE is governed by staff time
limitations than outright technical debt.

~~~
indiekid
Unfortunately LTE-based devices on Sprint still won't be backwards compatible
with the converted WiMAX towers as they only output in 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and
3.5 GHz bands. The iPhone 5 specifically maxes out at a 2.1GHz band.

~~~
Nrsolis
Oh ya, the user terminals out there are going to have to be replaced
wholesale. My only point was that Sprint is going to be able to convert to LTE
a lot quicker than people expect. Building up a user base is another issue
entirely.

------
kenj0418
AT&T: Tethering is included (no additional cost, using your existing data
pool) with the new shared data plans.

~~~
indiekid
Corrected that part. Thanks.

~~~
thoughtsimple
You should also fix the cheapest unlimited plan with 4 GB is $110 not $120
with 1 GB.

------
reagan83
His AT&T pricing is inaccurate (he is reporting it too low). This looks like a
great comparison chart, but the first thing that jumped out at me was the low
prices he used for his analysis. After doing my own research it turns out his
#'s for w/1 phone is wrong, w/2 phones it's even more wrong, etc.

------
whichdan
For people with LTE: Is the difference significant enough to warrant upgrading
from a 4 or 4s?

~~~
Pewpewarrows
It's typically faster than any Wifi I can connect to. So yeah, absolutely.

~~~
beagle3
Would that still be the case when adoption rate is higher, though?

Does anyone have an idea what kind of internet pipes LTE base stations get,
and how much bandwidth they can (realistically) provide to every phone once
they are operating at planned capacity?

------
branchan
I actually didn't know only AT&T is able to do voice+data. For me, that option
alone seems to justify the carrier choice. Nothing better than looking things
up online or checking map directions while staying on the line with somebody.

~~~
benguild
Yeah, same here. I do this all the time. The fact that AT&T is the cheapest
option for me ($75/month for unlimited data, 450min, 1000 sms) and that it's
the only one here that does this basically forced me to keep it. — Now, I just
have to figure out how to unlock my phone (@cutyoursim?) and whether or not I
want to rent a phone for LTE or just get a SIM Card whenever I travel.

------
frankus
Anyone know if VZW will let you use something other than the "Share
Everything" plans with the iPhone 5?

I'd like to switch (they're the only ones with LTE coverage in my city) but
probably half of my calling is to/from/in Canada.

~~~
indiekid
Share everything is the only current option.

If you're going to Canada a lot, your best option would be the AT&T iPhone as
the Verizon iPhone won't support Canadian LTE bands.

~~~
frankus
I'm in Canada a lot, but I'm here (Bellingham) more, so I'm torn.

Right now I'm trying to decide between sticking with AT&T's Nationwide plus
Canada and a global data add-on ($110/month) and Verizon's cheapest Sharing is
Caring option plus a prepaid Virgin Mobile Canada plan (once VZW will unlock
my SIM slot -- $105/month total).

With AT&T I only have one phone number and get free long distance calling to
and from Canada (which I do a lot). But the closest LTE market is out of
state, and I would need to use my old phone for overseas use with a local SIM.

With Verizon I get LTE in my hometown and much of the rest of the world, and I
can use local SIMs when I travel, but I would need to use Skype or FaceTime to
call people across the US/Canada border, and probably wouldn't get missed call
or voicemail notifications until I crossed into each carrier's coverage area.

The AT&T option appeals to my practical side and the VZW option appeals to my
hacker side. Anyway I'm traveling till October so I have a couple of weeks to
decide.

------
caycep
I'm sort of debating - I'm grandfathered in w/ one of the AT&T unlimited data
contracts at around $80/mo, but am thinking of switching to verizon for the
extra LTE bands and what looks like better network support in general...

------
brandoncordell
This doesn't seem right. My individual plan cost me $69/mo for an iPhone 4S
with unlimited data. I just switched to a family plan with two iPhones and
it's costing me $110/mo, before taxes and surcharges of course.

------
laacz
So, as for people not from US, could someone, please, explain - how much would
it cost monthly to use a single iPhone5 device with unlimited text/voice, 2GB
data and tethering? Just curious.

------
heed
Can someone explain the business logic behind reducing the cost per phone on a
shared plan?

~~~
indiekid
Incentive to move multiple devices to a single plan. Reduces attrition.

------
adestefan
The thing that sucks is that I have two iPhone 4's that are grandfathered into
the AT&T unlimited accounts and pay less than $100 a month for both. I'll
probably never upgrade since I know I'll just get screwed by AT&T when they
force me to move to LTE accounts.

~~~
mdasen
AT&T isn't forcing customers to change plans (at least not during this upgrade
cycle). Verizon is requiring shared data plans for upgrades, but AT&T is
allowing grandfathered users to keep their plans. AT&T is, however, throttling
past 5GB, but they're doing that whether you upgrade or not, IIRC.

------
mmanfrin
Since when is CDMA a 'worldphone' compatible format?

~~~
indiekid
It's not. That's why the iPhone 5 has GSM bands supported as well.

~~~
DomKM
Could you explain this? This chart* would suggest that, while LTE bands are
shared between the CDMA model and the non-North America GSM model, none of the
models are both GSM and CDMA capable and therefore are not "worldphone
capable". I would love to be wrong about this so please elucidate the
situation if you are able.

*<http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/>

~~~
chrisbolt
The CDMA model does GSM as well: <http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html>

_CDMA model A1429: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz);
UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900
MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25)_

The CDMA iPhone 4S was the same (minus LTE), it has a SIM card slot for global
roaming and everything.

~~~
DomKM
Thanks for the info.

------
w1ntermute
Looks like there's no competition here - Verizon is dominant. Even when it
comes to price, they're not much more expensive, and actually cheaper if
you've got 3+ members on a family plan.

~~~
majormajor
Looks like AT&T is still the only option for simultaneous voice+data, though,
due to antenna limitations: [http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/still-no-
simultaneous-v...](http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/still-no-simultaneous-
voice-and-data-on-the-verizon-or-sprint-iphone-5/)

~~~
eco
It's really weird that there is that restriction because all of the other 4G
phones on Verizon can do simultaneous voice+data. Must be something weird
about this new all-in-one qualcomm chip they are using.

------
benguild
Doesn't the current phone not support VoLTE?

~~~
indiekid
No current network supports VoLTE so I'm not sure this can be confirmed yet.

~~~
benguild
Right, but what if the network began supporting it? My understanding was that
even if turned on, the current device still relies on either CDMA or
HSPA/whatever for voice no matter what.

~~~
wprater
I dont think it's clear yet; changes to the network may only require a change
in software to get this VoLTE function. The document suggests Verizon is
testing this, but where did he get that info? There is no footnote about it.
Also, would the phone even support it?

------
recoiledsnake
If early termination fees are just ~$350, what's stopping people from doing
that and selling the phone on eBay for $400? Am I missing something?

~~~
benguild
Because the combined eBay/PayPal fees are 10%, and you also have to pay $199
for the phone.

~~~
padobson
+1 for doing all the math

