[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":118},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog:2007:true-cost-of-the-iphone":3,"blogMore-Technology":104,"comments-true-cost-of-the-iphone":117},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":86,"commentCount":87,"date":88,"description":12,"excerpt":89,"extension":90,"filenames":91,"hidden":92,"image":91,"meta":93,"minutes":82,"navigation":94,"path":95,"seo":96,"showCategory":91,"stem":97,"tags":98,"updated":91,"url":101,"wordCount":102,"__hash__":103},"content\u002Fblog\u002F2007\u002Ftrue-cost-of-the-iphone.md","True cost of the iPhone",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":80},"minimark",[9,13,18,29,32,35,38,46,50,53,56,59,62,65,74],[10,11,12],"p",{},"So you like the iPhone and think you’ll buy one?",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"in-the-usa","In the USA…",[10,19,20,21,28],{},"If you live in the USA then thanks to Cingular’s exclusive multi-year deal if you want an iPhone and go with their ",[22,23,27],"a",{"href":24,"rel":25},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.cingular.com\u002Fcell-phone-service\u002Fcell-phone-plans\u002Findividual-cell-phone-plans.jsp",[26],"nofollow","cheapest voice-only plan"," at $39.99 a month (which you have to pay for 24 months) you can expect your iPhone to cost you (assuming you can get out of your current contract without penalty):",[10,30,31],{},"4GB: $499 + $959 = $1,458",[10,33,34],{},"8GB: $599 + $959 = $1,558",[10,36,37],{},"Being that Cingular normally discount smartphones by around $150 when you take a contract I guess Apple could end up selling them for $599 and $699 once they are out of the Cingular deal. Hopefully this \"exclusive deal\" leaves the door open for Apple to sell them direct without a plan for a slightly higher price.",[10,39,40,45],{},[22,41,44],{"href":42,"rel":43},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.myilife.com\u002Fforum\u002Fviewtopic.php?id=63",[26],"This guy"," believes the text, voicemail and Internet supplements needed push the monthly price up by another $35 a month!",[14,47,49],{"id":48},"europe","Europe…",[10,51,52],{},"When Apple come to Europe signing such an exclusive deal could severely hamper adoption and gaining that elusive 1% worldwide market share. Europe is a massive patchwork of operators and people won’t want to switch and lose their number, especially the sort of heavy-use\u002Fbusiness people they’re aiming for.",[10,54,55],{},"Perhaps we just have it cheaper in Europe for once?",[10,57,58],{},"My current plan costs around $30 a month and includes 50 free minutes, 50 free texts and gives a whopping $350 discount off a HTC TyTN smartphone when you take out an 18 month contract. On that basis the price would be:",[10,60,61],{},"$481 + $360 = $841",[10,63,64],{},"The user interface can’t touch the iPhone and it has less storage (for now, thanks to the microSD slot) but it is also UTMS\u002F3G, can load third party apps, has instant messaging and also can connect to a Bluetooth GPS device to interact with third-party mapping software. I can also change the battery when things go bad if needed and it runs Skype. The second camera (the one on the front) means I can video-call.",[10,66,67,68,73],{},"Nice try Apple but I’ll wait for the 3G iPhone. Why not add some of ",[22,69,72],{"href":70,"rel":71},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.steffennork.de\u002F2007\u002F01\u002Ftop-10-most-useless-apple-iphone.html",[26],"these fun features"," in the mean-time ;-)",[10,75,76],{},[77,78,79],"em",{},"[)amien",{"title":81,"searchDepth":82,"depth":82,"links":83},"",2,[84,85],{"id":16,"depth":82,"text":17},{"id":48,"depth":82,"text":49},"Technology",3,"2007-01-10T12:25:55+00:00","[object Object]","md",null,false,{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002F2007\u002Ftrue-cost-of-the-iphone",{"title":5,"description":12},"blog\u002F2007\u002Ftrue-cost-of-the-iphone",[99,100],"Apple","iPhone","\u002Fblog\u002F2007\u002Ftrue-cost-of-the-iphone\u002F",361,"v-CRt_xYPyfEP9_ZJG8Cv4AxiELri878PYGd-23-IpU",[105,109,113],{"title":106,"date":107,"url":108},"VTX5000: Part 4 - Communications","2026-05-06T10:19:24.727Z","\u002Fblog\u002F2026\u002Fvtx5000-part-4-comms-routines\u002F",{"title":110,"date":111,"url":112},"VTX5000: Part 3 - Software ROM","2026-04-15T23:00:00.000Z","\u002Fblog\u002F2026\u002Fvtx5000-part-3-software-rom\u002F",{"title":114,"date":115,"url":116},"VTX5000: Part 2 - Hardware","2026-03-30T23:00:00.000Z","\u002Fblog\u002F2026\u002Fprism-vtx5000-part-2\u002F",[],1780900520538]