T-Mobile’s prepaid carrier MetroPCS will begin offering the iPhone for the first time to its customers starting tomorrow, but only in one market: Florida. MetroPCS will carry a range of models including the iPhone 6s Plus as well as the recently discontinued iPhone 5s.
While prepaid plans on MetroPCS start at $30 and vary from there, iPhones purchased from the carrier will have a fixed price. iPhone 6s Plus (5.5-inch) tops the lineup at $749 with iPhone 6s (4.7-inch) just below it at $649, both in line with Apple’s full retail price.
MetroPCS will also sell two 4-inch iPhones, and at lower prices than other vendors. Apple’s iPhone SE, which features nearly the same specs as Apple’s flagship models and was introduced in March, will be available from $349. That’s a $50 discount off Apple’s full retail price.
iPhone SE (reviewed) replaced the iPhone 5s, putting 2015-2016 specs in the body of the 2013-2014 flagship, and Apple stopped selling the iPhone 5s which was priced at $449. MetroPCS is bringing the retired model back and hitting a lower price point at $199.
MetroPCS offers no-contract plans on a prepaid basis. T-Mobile acquired the carrier back in 2013, when CEO John Legere described the possibility of MetroPCS carrying the iPhone as possible but not imminent. At the time, MetroPCS operated on a CDMA-based network which meant T-Mobile iPhones were incompatible, but MetroPCS decommissioned its CDMA network last year and now relies on T-Mobile’s GSM-based 4G LTE network which probably helped make this deal possible.
A nationwide rollout will follow the Florida launch, but for now only a fraction of MetroPCS customers will be able to buy an iPhone on T-Mobile’s prepaid carrier. I know someone who’ll be happy though…
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