AT&T

465 'AT&T' stories December 2010 - September 2015

Apple discontinues combined Apple Watch + iPhone AppleCare packages

Mark Gurman Sep 14 2015 - 9:05 am PT

On the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus announcement day, Apple increased the pricing of its AppleCare+ protection plan from $99 to $129. We’ve since discovered that Apple has additionally discontinued its combined plans for the Apple Watch and iPhone. Since the launch of the Apple Watch earlier this year, Apple offered combined packages that allowed a customer to protect both devices on a single plan. Now, customers must purchase both plans separately. The combined packages did not bring any discount or value over purchasing the plans separately, so the discontinuation of the program does not come as a major change for consumers. Apple has told employees that customers who have already purchased the combined plans will not be affected through their deals.

Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program doesn’t offer much incentive over alternatives from carriers

Jordan Kahn Sep 10 2015 - 3:01 pm PT

104 Comments

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.
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Handy flowchart outlines your options for picking up a shiny new iPhone [Poll]

Ben Lovejoy Sep 9 2015 - 4:30 am PT

20 Comments

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 …
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AT&T enhances GoPhone plans to support 4GB data in Canada & Mexico

Zac Hall Aug 17 2015 - 7:52 am PT

0 Comments

National carriers across the US have been adding features that make it easier to use their service in Mexico and Canada as a growing trend, and today AT&T has announced enhancements to its pre-paid GoPhone plans to include 4GB of high speed data use in Canada and Mexico as well as the United States. The new AT&T GoPhone feature goes into effect on August 21st and is supported on the carrier’s $60 pre-paid plan without making any changes.

In addition to 4GB of 4G LTE data for use across North America where available, the GoPhone plans include unlimited talk and text in the US, Canada, and Mexico as well. AT&T’s $60 GoPhone plan is reduced to $55/month for customers using the carrier’s Auto Refill automatic payment feature.

For post-paid subscribers, AT&T supports international calling and texting to Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands on its 15GB and 20GB Mobile Share Value plans that it simplified over the weekend. More similarly, T-Mobile enhanced its own plans last month to support 4G LTE data use in addition to text and calls in Canada and Mexico without international roaming fees.

AT&T revamping data plans with fewer options at better rates starting tomorrow

Zac Hall Aug 14 2015 - 8:39 am PT

21 Comments

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.
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AT&T Wi-Fi Calling begins rolling out to some iOS 9 beta users

Mike Beasley Aug 11 2015 - 12:58 pm PT

42 Comments

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.

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Verizon to kill subsidies, launch simpler data plans from August 13

Cam Bunton Aug 7 2015 - 9:57 am PT

24 Comments

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.

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AT&T doesn’t want to be throttled for throttling customers

Ben Lovejoy Jul 29 2015 - 5:14 am PT

16 Comments

It seems AT&T thinks throttling the data speeds of customers without telling them about it isn’t such a big deal. The Federal Trade Commission sued AT&T back in 2014 for “deceptive and unfair data throttling” after the company imposed caps on unlimited data contracts, beyond which it reduced their data speeds by almost 90%. The Federal Communications Commission joined the party last month, fining AT&T $100 million – and The Hill reports that the carrier now wants that fine reduced to just $16,000.

The Commission’s findings that consumers and competition were harmed are devoid of factual support and wholly implausible,” the company wrote in its filing. “Its ‘moderate’ forfeiture penalty of $100 million is plucked out of thin air, and the injunctive sanctions it proposes are beyond the Commission’s authority.”

The FTC had stated that it could legally have imposed fines of $16,000 per affected consumer, but that would have resulted in an “astronomic” fine, so chose to limit the total penalty to one large enough to deter future violations. AT&T had originally claimed that it was doing nothing wrong, but Ars Technica notes that the company amended its policy in May so that throttling was applied only when the network was congested.

AT&T has not offered unlimited data plans to new customers for some years, but has a small-ish group of customers who remain on grandfathered plans which remain valid for as long as the customer retains the plan.

Apple last month removed subsidies from both AT&T and Verizon iPhones, moving to plans where customers pay the full cost of the phone on an installment plan.

Photo: Re/code

T-Mobile adds free Apple Music cellular streaming, offers free next-gen iPhone upgrades to iPhone 6 buyers

Cam Bunton Jul 28 2015 - 7:51 am PT

34 Comments

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.
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AT&T and DirecTV’s $48.5B merger approved, but with strict conditions for AT&T

Chance Miller Jul 24 2015 - 2:34 pm PT

11 Comments

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.

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iPhone 6S to double LTE speeds, run more efficiently with new Qualcomm chip

Mark Gurman Jul 1 2015 - 7:19 am PT

29 Comments

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…

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FCC fining AT&T $100 million over throttling unlimited data customers

Zac Hall Jun 17 2015 - 9:44 am PT

25 Comments

[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…
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Apple Stores drop AT&T iPhone subsidies this month as Verizon changes coming

Mark Gurman Jun 1 2015 - 10:14 am PT

70 Comments

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…

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AT&T plans to drop two year contracts through third-party retailers, Apple included

Jordan Kahn May 21 2015 - 3:30 pm PT

43 Comments

We’ve confirmed that AT&T’s plans to stop offering two-year contracts through third-party retailers will also extend to Apple.
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AAPL joining famed Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing AT&T

Zac Hall Mar 6 2015 - 6:05 am PT

5 Comments

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.

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Verizon reducing plan rates by $10/month & adding new data tiers in latest promotion

Zac Hall Feb 4 2015 - 10:38 am PT

6 Comments

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.
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Sprint targeting T-Mobile customers w/ $200 min. trade-in offer for switchers

Zac Hall Jan 23 2015 - 7:37 am PT

9 Comments

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:
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The best cases for the new iPad Air 2 & iPad mini at CES 2015

Jordan Kahn Jan 7 2015 - 4:04 pm PT

3 Comments

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.
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AT&T follows T-Mobile’s lead w/ new shareable rollover data feature

Zac Hall Jan 7 2015 - 7:56 am PT

11 Comments

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:

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T-Mobile CEO John Legere wishes you a NSFW Christmas (Video)

Stephen Hall Dec 22 2014 - 3:36 pm PT

16 Comments

T-Mobile CEO John Legere is known for trolling his competitors, and it looks like he decided to—in the spirit of the season, of course—mock them some more as a Christmas gift. T-Mobile has spent the entire year going through several different “uncarrier” events (now totaling eight), attacking its competitors and introducing services and features that it hopes will set it apart. And as Legere touches on in the below video, plenty of people seem to have been convinced that switching is worth their time…

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T-Mobile teases a new uncarrier deal livestreaming tomorrow as it claims 50% faster LTE in NY

Ben Lovejoy Dec 15 2014 - 6:19 am PT

2 Comments

T-Mobile has announced that it will be unveiling its latest contract-free deal in a livestreamed ‘fireside chat’ tomorrow, Un-carrier 8.0.

Un-carrier 8.0 is ready to roll, and you’re invited to join us for the unveiling of one of our biggest and boldest moves yet! This one is so big we had to keep it a surprise.

Join John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, as he unveils the news during a live fireside chat with David Pogue of Yahoo! News. David will be taking questions for John from Twitter through @JohnLegere and @Pogue and the #Uncarrier8 hashtag.

The company hasn’t hinted at any of the details, but we’ll of course let you know …
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T-Mobile announces new $100 unlimited 2-line data plan, $100 10 GB 4-line plan

Stephen Hall Dec 9 2014 - 3:00 pm PT

26 Comments

AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon need to watch out. The “uncarrier” has announced yet another couple of reasons they hope will get you to ditch your current cellular provider for T-Mobile. Today, CEO John Legere and his cohorts have come out to announce that T-Mobile is now offering a 2-line family plan that comes with unlimited talk, text, and 4G data, for $100 a month.

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AT&T and Verizon warn investors of higher Q4 churn as Sprint and T-Mobile increase competition

9to5 Staff Dec 9 2014 - 12:12 pm PT

3 Comments

While the traditional wireless landscape in the United States has consisted of AT&T and Verizon Wireless as the heavyweights and Sprint and T-Mobile as the underdogs, the divide between the carriers appears to be quickly narrowing. Sprint and T-Mobile have both introduced highly-competitive plans and promotional offerings in the fourth quarter, leading many consumers to switch carriers at a higher-than-average pace.
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Sprint announces ‘Cut Your Bill in Half’ promo for AT&T & Verizon switchers

Zac Hall Dec 2 2014 - 8:27 am PT

25 Comments

Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure teasing the new promotion

Update: Sprint’s CFO says what you probably already know: saving you 50% if probably really more like saving you 20%, and current Sprint plans might already be cheaper. Amusing to see the CFO acknowledge it.

Sprint today announced a new campaign to attract wireless customers from competitors AT&T and Verizon with seemingly aggressively priced plans and an offer to help pay switching fees. Under the new promotion, which Sprint’s recently appointed CEO Marcelo Claure previously teased, the wireless carrier will offer to match Verizon and AT&T plans at half the cost for customers switching to Sprint.

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