AT&T

AT&T today has revealed a slight change to how it is handling throttling users grandfathered into unlimited data plans. Up until today, AT&T has throttled unlimited data users when they hit 5GB of usage and are in a congested area. As a reader has pointed out to us this evening, however, the carrier has updated its website with a new policy for throttling those on an unlimited data plans…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Update: The chart above was updated to reflect Sprint’s just announced iPhone Forever upgrade plan pricing. Sprint is offering $22/month regular pricing ($15 for those that trade-in a device) through its iPhone Forever Upgrade program. Customers can upgrade every time there is a new iPhone, but they’ll have to pay off the remainder of the retail price to keep it. Yearly cost for all plans added.

With the launch of its new iPhone 6s lineup this week, Apple is competing directly with its carrier partners by introducing an iPhone Upgrade Program that aims to rival similar offers from T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and others. Customers pay monthly instalments for 24 months, and they can optionally trade-in or pay off the device after 12 months to upgrade to a newer model. Apple’s own upgrade program offers some perks for consumers— the ability to get an unlocked device and use the carrier of their choice, for example— but how does it compare to the upgrade/financing programs from the other guys?

Below we compare the upgrade programs of the various carriers for an entry-level 16GB iPhone 6s and also take into account limited time promotions and other perks to find out who offers the best overall value.
Expand
Expanding
Close

In the old days, buying and paying for a new iPhone was simple: you typically paid $1-200 up-front, then the rest of the purchase cost was absorbed by carriers into the monthly rates they charged for their contracts. There was no easy way to tell how much of that monthly payment was for calls/texts/data and how much was paying off the balance of the cost of the phone.

Today, things are very different, with carriers being much more transparent about what you pay for your contract – if you choose to have one – and how much you pay for the iPhone itself. The WSJ has put together a simple infographic outlining the main options open to you … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Starting tomorrow, AT&T will be revamping its Mobile Share Value plans by adjusting data tiers and plan prices for new and current subscribers. At the low end, AT&T is consolidating a few data tiers into just two options with different price points. Meanwhile, AT&T’s double digit data tiers are also being reduced, and some subscribers can potentially end up with more data at no extra cost per month or get a better rate on even higher data tiers.
Expand
Expanding
Close

As we reported last week, the latest beta version of iOS 9 includes support for Wi-Fi Calling on AT&T for the first time. This feature, which is exclusive to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, allows users to place cellular calls over a Wi-Fi network in situations where they have a poor cell signal.

At the time of the beta’s release, AT&T had not yet flipped the switch to enable the feature on their end, but 9to5Mac readers report that they are now seeing Wi-Fi calling go live on their devices. You can find full instructions below for how to setup Wi-Fi calling and find out if it’s currently available in your area.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Verizon will launch brand new, simpler data plans and kill subsidies as expected from August 13. Today, the company introduced a set of plans which will require customers to pay for their smartphones in monthly installments, or buy them outright, instead of having the cost subsidized.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Summer for T-Mobile this year has meant announcing a series of promotions and plans dubbed #UncarrierAmped. Today, the company launched the latest, and last of these moves. This time it’s all about Apple. John Legere announced in a blog post that the company is adding Apple Music to its Music Freedom free music streaming service and is going to offer this year’s — as yet unreleased — iPhone to anyone buying an iPhone 6 over the next couple of months.
Expand
Expanding
Close

AT&T and DirecTV’s $48.5 billion merger has been approved today following more than a year of regulatory review. The merger will see AT&T become the biggest pay-TV company, passing up cable company Comcast. AT&T says it will serve more than 26 million U.S. customers and 19 million users in Latin America.

Expand
Expanding
Close

One of the main upgrades to the next iPhone’s internals will be a redesigned wireless system featuring a new Qualcomm-made LTE chip, as revealed by images of a prototype iPhone 6S logic board shared by a source. As shown in the image below, the new device will include Qualcomm’s MDM9635M chip, also known as the ‘9X35’ Gobi modem platform. This new chip promises significant performance improvements over the “9X25” chip found inside of the current iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, capable of delivering up to twice the theoretical LTE download speeds…

Expand
Expanding
Close

[Updated with AT&T statement below the fold…]

The Federal Communications Commission announced today that it plans to fine AT&T $100 million for throttling data speeds for customers with unlimited data plans. In its complaint, the FCC said the carrier “deprived consumers of sufficient information to make informed choices about their broadband service” which hurt competition…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple today has informed employees of significant changes to how iPhones are sold via AT&T and Verizon Wireless, according to sources. As we reported last month, Apple has indicated that iPhones sold via AT&T at both physical Apple Retail Stores and on the Apple Online Store will move exclusively to Next financing plans this month, in June. This means that a customer who wants to buy a new iPhone on AT&T will no longer be able to do so on a subsidy…

Expand
Expanding
Close

We’ve confirmed that AT&T’s plans to stop offering two-year contracts through third-party retailers will also extend to Apple.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple will be joining the Dow Jones Industrial Average taking wireless carrier AT&T’s spot on the famed stock market index, CNBC reports. The change will take place in just under two weeks at the end of trading on March 18th. The Dow is heavily viewed as being indicative of the overall stock market performance in the United States, and Apple’s rising stock price will soon be a significant factor to that number.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Verizon is following its More Everything holiday promotion today with a new limited time promo for its customers, the carrier announced today. Starting tomorrow, Verizon will begin offering customers data plans at new price points from 1GB up to 20GB with most price tiers being reduced by $10/month compared to their previous rates.

With the new plans, customers can take advantage of plans with the same data amount at a cheaper rate, or pay the same price and receive a data increase. Additionally, Verizon will introduce more data tiers with 12GB, 14GB, and 16GB options.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Just one day after T-Mobile unveiled its Smartphone Equality program letting loyal customers avoid credit checks, Sprint has announced a new promotion specifically targeting T-Mobile customers with an offer to make switching carriers easier. Sprint’s latest buyback and trade-in offer joins the carrier’s existing ‘Cut Your Bill in Half’ promo which encourages AT&T and Verizon customers to switch; T-Mobile was notably missing from that offer. Here’s how Sprint details the new promotion for T-Mobile customers:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Yesterday we kicked off our running list of the best iPhone cases on show at CES 2015, and today we’ve started collecting the new and interesting iPad cases we’ve run into at the show. Some of the notables include a new case from AT&T that gives Wi-Fi only iPads access to LTE data in addition to a battery pack and microSD slot, and a new folio case from Incipio that adds a small display for smartwatch-like notifications without opening the cover.

Head below for the full list of the new iPad cases, most of which are scheduled to arrive sometime in the weeks and months to come.
Expand
Expanding
Close

AT&T announced today a new plan feature for its mobile share value customers: shareable rollover data. The carrier says more than 50 million subscribers will automatically gain the benefit when it kicks off at the end of the month on January 25th. If this news sounds familiar, that’s likely because competing wireless provider T-Mobile became the first of the big four national carriers to offer rollover data with its “data stash” feature announced last month alongside a free 10GB data promo. Here’s how AT&T says its version of rollover data works:

Expand
Expanding
Close