iPhone versus iPod touch pricing: Say what?

As several people have said: almost certainly contract lock-in, on-the-spot. That's quite an important thing to mention when giving people buying advice, don't you think? :-/

As other users have pointed out, really you're paying a lot more considering a monthly data plan, which AT&T has bumped up in the US so that as I understand it the full price is $70/yr for data+voice. I just got an 8GB touch for free with the education deal, but if I were in the market for a new device I'd still have paid for the Touch (after waiting a month or two to make sure the price isn't going to drop). Maybe there are other features that I'm unaware of, but so far the only differences I see are a phone (which I have) and a camera (which I have). I don't like the shape of the iPhone for talking, and I figure I'm paying $50/month for a voice plan with Verizon, which has much better coverage in my area, and I'm getting all those nifty "data" features like Safari and Google Maps for free with my Touch. Yes, I have to be somewhere with WiFi to use it, but it's easy to duck into a coffee shop or library for a moment.

Not sure abt other countries, but 2 year contracts are the norm over in Singapore, where phones are not allowed to be locked to telcos. Of course, those who not wish to be tied to any contractual agreement with their telcos can fork out more. I wonder if my telco will force me to fork out for a data plan.

Reading the AT&T press release, it sounds like Apple took a cut on the front side when a sub purchased the phone, then apple and at&T shared the revenues off the monthly. ($12 to $18 to apple each month) Anyone know what the hardware split was?

With this new product, it looks like Apple is taking 100% of the hardware purchase and leaving 100% of the monthly to AT&T. Thus the lower hardware cost and the higher monthly cost.

Of course Apple will have an arrangement that is financially more beneficial to them, so somehow the net economics has to be more than the $831 they used to get. Lower hardware costs and less monthly recurring revenue, I guess they are hoping the licensing and App Store to make up the difference.


I wonder what the arrangements are with the other carriers.

I'm keeping my iPod touch, thanks.

i-touch will most likely drop down to 199/299 for 16/32GB...but can u imagine what does that has effect for the other ipod families?

Apple is basically telling all ppl who wants an ipod(or anyother mp3 for that matter), "get an iphone, its cheaper"

Maybe I am an oddity, but I have never wanted an iPhone. An iPod Touch on the other hand is quite a bit of technolust in my opinion.

I am hoping the other shoe will drop soon, but my guess is we will not see an iPod Touch update until the first batch of iPhones sells for a few weeks. I am looking to trade up from my n800 to something more current. And from what I have been seeing, the Maemo devs are heading to iPhone land.

Here's the scoop:

2-year contract
No more subsidies between AT&T and Apple
Data plan went UP in price - $30 instead of $20

Oh yes, the iPhone is cheaper and obviously a better deal because you say its so right? Monthly bills and AT&T's fine print say otherwise. Sure the device may be cheaper, but the monthly bills, data rates, and service fees all apply; this isn't Apple's fairyland by any means. Now, everything that was said about firmware 2.0 can be applied to the iPod Touch, either for 10 bucks or by a jailbreak. Still thinking it's a better deal? This is all excluding AT&T's notorious history for handing over phone and data records to the US government. But please, jump on the bandwagon and by yourself an iPhone and watch your money disappear like wildfire. It is after all a better deal ;)

BTW, this post was completely unneeded and quite frankly misleading. I thought this site was for news, not a place for fanboys to rant about how bad old or underrated technology is and how superior others are. Get a grip and rethink the goal of this post, if you can find it.

The iPhone is NOT a better device than the iPod Touch! They are basically the SAME DEVICE, except one doesn't have the phone and non-wifi Internet in it. But some people don't care to drop $60 a month, or can't afford to, and the iPod Touch is still a GREAT option for them. I think the iPod Touch costing the same as an iPhone makes total sense.