AT&T Confirms No-Commitment Pricing
It looks like the rumors were true, at least pretty close to true. AT&T has confirmed through a statement to the Associated Press that they will be offering commitment-free iPhones beginning March 26th. The catch is that the phones must still be activated through AT&T and must include the regular $30 per month data plan.
As rumored, the 8GB iPhone will cost $599 while the 16GB will cost $699. The benefit of purchasing these new commitment-free devices would be the fact that you won't have to sign a new two-year contract, simply using your iPhone month-to-month. AT&T will also be allowing customers to activate the devices from home instead of at the physical store.
The tech-savvy users out there will be quick to point out that you could just purchase the iPhone through AT&T at the subsidized price, wait a month to avoid having to return the phone, and then just cancel your plan while paying the $175 early termination fee to get the iPhone at a slightly cheaper price. Either way, you would still have to unlock the device to move it to a different carrier.
Will any of you commitment-phobes be enticed by AT&T's new pricing, or does the fact that you have to activate the phone with AT&T kill the deal?