The (real) $99.99 iPhone: this week at Best Buy

The bad thing 1 is you got to spend all that money in BB to get the rewards #2 is that if you are on a family plan and you pay around ten dollars a month for A line like I do and you get the phone you can auto add $35.00 dollars to that so your line goes up grand total $45.00 a month so say we have 5 lines and my mom already has an Iphone it is $45.00 + her monthly family plan contract of $150.00 and add $50.00 more dollars per month for 5 lines = $245.00 dollars per month now add a extra Iphone to it and the total is $290.00 per month with out tax or any text or overcharges plus the cost of the phone so who does At&t rip off and Apple ?the Hard working family wanting nice things like Iphones Oh and a 2year contract renewal also DO not let these people rip you off think and do research and the funny thing is At&t who has the contract with Apple for the iphone will not even warranty the product the iphone they promote like glass defects but for a low fee best buy will don't be a fool and don't get fooled by greedy people

The dip in price tells my Spider Senses that something "new and improved" is not far off...

Ah, but if you can't afford the regular price of $199, you can't afford the monthly charges anyway.

TUAW seems like it is constantly days behind in the news.... This has been on MacRumors since the 18th... What gives guys?

Well not real $99.99... it's tied to a 2 year contract, which at this stage you'd be insane to take - there's likely to be a new iphone this summer even.. by which point you'd have another 18 months of wishing you'd waited.

I don't get why mobile phone companies like such long contracts.. in this country they push 18 months (they've not dared try 2 years yet) but if asked will generally let you get away with 12 months. It's insane..

6 months is the longest contract I'd consider... never had a phone last longer than that before it's superceded by a better model. Against my better judgement I took an 18 month for the iphone 3G (no choice) and I'm regretting it already as it's going to cost me a minimum of £360 to get out of the damned contract, as I've since moved on to other devices.

How does the activation work? e.g. is it possible to just buy the phone and then register afterwards (or not)? Or does one need to sign the contract in store before leaving?

You actually have to be a Premier Silver rewards zone member to get the $99 price. To be that sort of member you would have had to spend $2500 in the last year at Best Buy. So normal members like you and me get the phone for $149. Still not bad..

My version of the story is at: http://www.tomorrowland.com/2009/02/23/100-iphones-at-best-buy/

Also, 3G 8GB refurbs are $99 from AT&T for regular folks.