When the Magenta Network launched the iPhone 5 last month, customers could purchase it for a $100 down payment, with 24 monthly payments of $20 to cover the full cost of the device. However, T-Mobile has now ended that introductory offer, and has raised the down payment to $150, with the same monthly payments.
Ah T-Mobile, I knew your introductory pricing of $99 down payment wasn’t going to last. As of today, T-Mobile will ask well-qualified customers to drop $149 as their down payment instead of $99 as has been the case since the April 12th launch. I don’t recall anyone or anywhere telling me the $99 price was only good for one month, but in hindsight I should have seen the writing on the wall.
The 32GB and 64GB iPhone 5 models have also seen a $50 price increase. Purchasing a 16GB iPhone 5 via T-Mobile’s plan is still slightly cheaper than buying an unlocked iPhone from Apple, which is $650, with no monthly payment option.
T-Mobile will continue to accept trade-ins of current iPhones to shrink the required down payment. The company has sold more than 500,000 iPhones in less than a month after launch.
