Starting on January 8, 2016, AT&T plans to introduce a "pricing simplification effort" that will see the end of device subsidies and two-year contracts. According to an internal training document shared by Engadget, new and existing AT&T customers will only be able to purchase a smartphone at full price or with an AT&T Next payment plan going forward.
As outlined in the document, the new rules apply to all of the phones that AT&T sells, including smartphones and more basic devices, which will be paid for using new installment plans. More information on how AT&T will handle corporate accounts and non-smartphone devices like tablets and wearables will become available after an official announcement from AT&T, but it appears certain corporate users will be able to continue making two-year contract purchases.
The shift away from two-year contracts and iPhone subsidies began with T-Mobile in 2013, when the company introduced its Un-carrier payment plans uncoupling device costs from plan costs. Verizon followed suit in August of 2015, debuting new smartphone rate plans and eliminating its subsidized two-year contract option for new users.
Existing Verizon customers can still renew their two-year contracts, but AT&T's no-contract implementation is more extreme and will not offer existing customers the option to keep their contracts once they expire.
AT&T has already been working on shifting away from two-year contracts by pushing its Next plans. In June of 2015, AT&T forced Apple and other third-party retailers to remove the option to purchase AT&T phones with a two-year contract, leaving customers with AT&T Next or a full-priced smartphone as their only third-party purchase options.
Update: AT&T has confirmed its plans to stop offering two-year contracts in a statement given to Re/code.
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Apple has been celebrating its upcoming 50th anniversary by hosting surprise performances and other events around the world over the past few weeks, and now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has revealed details about the company's grand finale.
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A special...
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has high expectations for Apple's first foldable iPhone.
In his Power On newsletter today, he said the foldable iPhone will be "the most significant overhaul in the iPhone's history."
"iPhone 4, iPhone 6 and iPhone X were clearly a big deal, but this is a whole new design," he said.
Like Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7, the foldable iPhone will reportedly open up like ...
iOS 26.5 is now available for developers, and while it doesn't include any new Siri capabilities, there are some major changes for the European Union, and smaller tweaks for features available worldwide.
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In the Maps app, there's a new "Suggested Places" feature that recommends locations to visit based on trending places nearby and recent searches. When Apple launches ads in ...
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In a social media post, Gurman said Apple's celebrations will conclude this week with a finale at its Apple Park headquarters for employees.
A special...
I know full-priced phones aren't cheap, but contracts are so ****ing overpriced that they need to get removed eventually.
I've stayed on 2-yr contracts because they have been cheaper for me than buying the iPhone for full-price.
The iPhone costs $650 retail (plus tax). I could always sell the iPhone for about $200 at the end of the 2 year contact. Subsidy was $450.
So doing the math, I was always breaking even after 2 years. In other words I have been getting free iPhone upgrades for the last 6 years. Coupled with Unlimited data and it was a sweet deal.
If the 2 year contracts were soo overpriced, AT&T would be making a huge profit from it and would keep them. The fact that they are getting rid of them shows that they were actually too good a value for the consumer.
I know a LOT of people that are still with AT&T on contract because they are still being grandfathered in to their unlimited data plans. I wonder if this is also going to result in the death of unlimited data.
I feel sorry for these people since they are way overpaying for their plan.
Um no. You are wrong. I am on a grandfathered unlimited plan and I recently got a message from AT&T that I could save money by switching to AT&T NEXT. When I used their comparison tool I got the following:
So for $10 more per month I can have a data cap. No thank you.
