AT&T offers up refurb iPhones

We love you anonymous tipster! Thanks for letting us know about these insanely good iPhone refurb deals direct from AT&T. I bought one of these up last time round. This time, you can pick up a 16 GB iPhone for just $349 or an 8GB for only $249. Free shipping and a full one year warranty (Be sure to check out our previous post about checking your warranty coverage).
And yes, you can use one of these babies to get yourself set up with that $240/year unlimited data plan I wrote about.
If you don't plan to set up a new account, hacktivation using iLiberty+ or one of those zithings will be required. Caveat hackteur.


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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Luke Bornheimer said 1:01PM on 5-14-2008
Yet another sign that the new 3G phone is coming... clearly trying to clear supplys before they lose all value. Also, important to point out, this also gives people an option to buy the current iPhone, hence eliminating the whole "inventory disappearance". Although we all hope for an early launch, I think what we'll see is June 9th, Steve presents it and the next day, the 10th, a TUESDAY! the phone will be on the website and in stores.
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chass said 1:15PM on 5-14-2008
this begs the question: how big of a fool am i to scratch my long held iphone itch by buying this now? how soon will i be able to get a 3G iphone for around $250?
if the subsidization rumors are true, it's probably around a month, and my fool-nicity is gargantuan. but if they're not, i'll probably have to wait upwards of 6-8 months to find a refurb 3G for $250, and the fool-nicity factor would be substantially mitigated...
I CAN'T MAKE UP MY MIND!!!
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Galley said 1:29PM on 5-14-2008
I know how tempting it must be to jump on this deal. I scored on of the refurbs the last time, and I'm very happy with my purchase. At this point we have no idea what kind of new hardware features the 2G iPhone will have, other than 3G support. They could be $400 out-the-door, or they could be $200 with a subsidy. The U.S. could get the 2G iPhone next month, or we may not get it until fall, after it has rolled out in Europe and other territories.
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Girl Friday said 1:40PM on 5-14-2008
Forgive this newbie question, especially since I'm not sure if I'm even asking in the right place. I've only ever used my cell phone as a phone.
The $240/year unlimited data plan that was mentioned; does that mean that I would pay $240 plus the monthly voice fees and such?
Thanks
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M Gruen said 1:57PM on 5-14-2008
Reply to Girl Friday:
no that was referring to the prepaid unlimited data for $20 a month he wrote up over the weekend
Paul said 1:46PM on 5-14-2008
Not worth it this time around.
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al said 2:07PM on 5-14-2008
i'll wait til June 9th. More upgrades hopefully on 2G iphone.
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Ondra Soukup said 3:46PM on 5-14-2008
"zithings" ? why don't you say ZiPhone ? I remember when tuaw was more of even-handed place, not a personal blog of biased members of some groups that tend to dislike, say...other groups :/
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david said 4:19PM on 5-14-2008
Any word on whether the 3G data plans will cost more?
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kiensoy said 4:23PM on 5-14-2008
If I use ZiPhone to unlock it, can AT&T force me to a 2-year contract still?
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Phillip Black said 4:55PM on 5-14-2008
So I can buy this then unlock it without signing up for anything? I am on a AT&T family plan and just want unlimited data not the extra $5 for those 200 SMS. I was think about signing up for unlimited data for $15 on my w810i then just taking the SIM card out and useing that with the iphone. Is that ok, will it work?
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Philster said 5:16PM on 5-14-2008
Question: Looks like you are required to sign up for 2 year contract during checkout. Has anyone successfully purchased a refurb from AT&T w/o contract?
I'd consider purchasing a refurb 8gb as a backup but don't want to sign up for another 2 year contract.
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David said 5:31PM on 5-14-2008
I bought a refurb from AT&T online for $249 last time around. Your credit card just gets charged for the $249 and that's it. The contract comes into play when you activate the phone. Me, I just used ZiPhone, put in my T-Mobile sim, and went happily on my way. No AT&T contract.
Bren said 6:57PM on 5-14-2008
I bought one. :) I've been watching the refurb page on Apple's site for a while now.
Some of you might say it was stupid, seeing as there is bound to be a 3G iPhone within a month, but, the speed doesn't bother me that much. The sites I visit the most don't have too much junk on them. TUAW might have the most.
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dirty6 said 8:41PM on 5-14-2008
WRONG, bad info up here...Not sure how things were worded last time AT&T was selling refurb iPhones (I did buy one then...) but the AT&T product specs page this time around CLEARLY says that refurb phones only have a 90 day warranty.
When I bought my refurb I actually got a long-ish warranty. I got it in March and the check-your-warranty site says that the warranty expires in August 2008, which is about 5 months of coverage. I called Apple, they said that AT&T had no power to extend Apple warranties during the refurb process, so the refurb warranty basically expires 12 months after the original purchase date (not the refurb purchase date, the original date that the first owner bought the phone on).
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Doc said 10:41PM on 5-14-2008
I just bought one from AT&T. I was on dealmac.com ( a great site by the way:) and saw this deal, so I had to jump on it!
Did not have to do a credit check or anything just a credit card!!
A few questions please:)
1) Anyone see why you could not buy applecare for this?
2) What's the beat case for the iphone?
3) How is the data on T-mobile with this?
4) Best site for inside/hack info for iphone?
Thanks in advance, and thanks to TUAW for such a great site:)
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Galley said 9:09AM on 5-15-2008
1. AppleCare is available.
2. Check out the InCase Slider, available in glossy white, glossy black and matte black. Goinincase.com or Apple.com, or The Apple Store.
CB said 12:47AM on 5-15-2008
Out of stock currently. That was fast.
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xnifex said 1:21AM on 5-15-2008
wow i'm so glad i jumped on this! i was so mad when i read about the last one way too late. read this this morning & immediately ordered the 16gb to use with tmobile!
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Michael said 3:25AM on 5-15-2008
Anybody know where I can still get a cheap (less than $499) 16GB iPhone, now that the $349 refurbs are sold out?
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