Filed under: Macworld, Retail, iPhone
For some, iPhone could cost up to $1349
For everything the iPhone offers, $499 and $599 really is a killer deal. But what if you have to shell out up to $1349 to get your hands on Apple's revolutionary do-it-all mobile device? Nick Starr points out that Cingular still charges a deposit of up to $750 for some customers who have bad credit. Add up $599 for the phone with a $750 deposit and you have one expensive little telephone. Of course, I have to point out that you can earn your deposit back after a year of good standing with Cingular, but still - that's one heckuva a barrier to entry. So never mind how much you have spent already - how much would you spend on an iPhone?
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Mojo said 2:51PM on 1-10-2007
I have great credit and probably would recieve a nice discount, maybe getting my iPhone for half price. What's your point?
Reply
madcrasher said 2:09PM on 1-10-2007
The other good news is that desposit can go away very fast. June of last year, Cingular wanted a $150 deposit for lack of a credit history. By August I had had a credit card for two months, and Cingular wanted *no* deposit. Thus, I'm with Cingular now: they're the only cell phone company that didn't want to charge me to be a customer.
Reply
phlavor said 2:22PM on 1-10-2007
If your credit is bad enough to have to put down a $750 deposit maybe you shouldn't be buying a $600 cellphone. I have bad credit and Cingular doesn't make me deposit a dime.
Reply
Baldwin said 4:08PM on 1-10-2007
Do you honestly think someone with bad credit will be interested in a 500 dollar phone? I used to work for Cingular and you have to completley trash your credit to get a deposit, and even then most of the time it's either 100 or 250.
I'm a college student and I have NO CREDIT what-so-ever. I went into a Cingular stor the other day and they punched in my info and they said that I had "no deposit" so, if someone with NO CREDIT can get "No deposit" you must have pretty crappy credit to get a 750 dollar deposit..
Have a nice day,
-Baldwin
http://www.thinkshoppingonline.com/
Reply
figlife said 2:27PM on 1-10-2007
I am nervous that the price will be very similar for Cingular customers like myself who are going to want to get the iPhone unlocked. I'm very nervous...
Reply
Rik said 2:23PM on 1-10-2007
That's going pretty far out on a limb. I mean if you have bad credit should you be buying a $599 phone. Lets not feel sorryt for people that have bad credit...its self inflicted
Reply
Nick said 2:26PM on 1-10-2007
Don't forget all those who want to switch from another company and will have to pay an early termination fee (anywhere from $150 on up) and an activation fee for activating a new account on Cingular.
iPhone...$599
ETF from T-mobile...$200
Activation fee from Cingular...~$35
My cost = ~$835
That's getting pricey!
Reply
Nick said 2:28PM on 1-10-2007
Sorry, I should have specified that the early termination fee only applies for those still stuck in contracts.
Reply
Mr. Krinkle said 2:30PM on 1-10-2007
It should also be noted that if anyone should want to purchase the iPhone w/out contract to use on pay as you go Go Phone service, add anywhere from $200-$300 for the unsubsidized price of the iPhone
Reply
Simon said 2:37PM on 1-10-2007
Everything costs more if you have bad credit. Kind of like smoking or being obese. Doesn't make much sense.
Reply
jwest said 2:37PM on 1-10-2007
Krinkle -- it's been noted in several places that the iPhone won't be available without a contract (i.e. no pay as you go).
Reply
wWw said 2:37PM on 1-10-2007
LET'S FACE IT - THE IPHONE IS NOT FOR THE CONSUMER LINE.
People thought that $400 for an iPod was ridiculous when it first came out. Now we've accepted this price range.
Wait until celebrities sport this baby around LA!
Reply
Matthew said 2:49PM on 1-10-2007
"7. It should also be noted that if anyone should want to purchase the iPhone w/out contract to use on pay as you go Go Phone service, add anywhere from $200-$300 for the unsubsidized price of the iPhone"
Where'd you get that information? URL?
If true, which goes against all information I've gathered, then that would technically be an unlocked iPhone.
SJ mentioned yesterday that Apple had an exclusive relationship with Cingular.
Reply
Jay said 2:47PM on 1-10-2007
The biggest problem is that deposits might be repaid in monthly installments (Sprint does this, not sure about Cingular), spread over 12-24 months. So getting $750 back could take longer than the life time of the plan you sign up for (currently 2 years). Clever or rip-off?
Reply
Samtherocker said 2:54PM on 1-10-2007
Simple way not to get charged for "bad credit": Don't have what you cannot afford.
Reply
Splashman said 3:05PM on 1-10-2007
Gawd. I'm giving up on TUAW. I've kept it in my RSS feed to keep up on things, but as a value proposition it's just not worth the eye strain that results from rolling my eyes so much.
I can only conclude that TUAW contributors are paid by the post. How else to explain a non-story like this? One could just as easily write this headline: "Crappy 'free' Samsung phone could cost as much as $750." Scrolling through the last week of posts reveals at least 18 that I'd categorize similarly; without MacWorld, I'm sure the signal-to-noise ratio would be much worse.
Click. Done.
Reply
DJRyRy said 3:07PM on 1-10-2007
most people with bad credit have it as a result from credit card/student loan debts when people face the reality that after 4 years in school the job market sucks, so they make late or small payments til they get themselves established.
it's sad that now that some of these people are now established, have jobs, money to spend, etc are being demonized for up to 10 years for mistakes they made in the past... the whole credit check thing blows... I know I'm not who I was 5 years ago even if my report says otherwise...
but then again, I got financed for a brand new car, i doubt I'll have trouble getting an iPhone
Reply
Patrick said 3:21PM on 1-10-2007
The phone is pretty expensive for a personal device for non-business use unless you are the type who either love expensive gadgets or is super rich and this is chump change. That being said, My wife and I both run our own company. We are not rich (yet) by any means but we both plan on getting the iPhone (for what it does it needs a better name). Part of our business is web development and other means of communication for small businesses and organizations. We know our customers may have potential clients who will be using the iPhone and I want to make it easy as possible for those potential clients to communicate with my customers.
That being said and staying closer to the topic I think the people who would incur these kind of charges because of bad credit do so because they are the kind to buy something like an iPhone when they really shouldn't be going into debt any further. We plan on purchasing this device out of our budget and it's a good incentive to make that much extra for those tools and I do see the iPhone as a serious tool.
Reply
Exilio said 3:27PM on 1-10-2007
What a ridiculous article. I have NEVER read any article about a new phone that was factoring in the deposit one must pay for a new mobile phone if their credit sucks. Geez guys, you need to edit these articles a bit better to see if they are worthy of TUAW or of lining a bird cage.
Reply
asthmatic said 3:26PM on 1-10-2007
I agree with Splashman. A majority of TUAW's posts seem like they were written for a forum rather than a blog. Come on.
Reply