iPhone 5 now available for pre-order with T-Mobile

By Joshua Pramis April 6, 2013

Hey, T-Mobile subscribers! Eager to get your mitts on the iPhone 5? Sure, the phone isn’t going to be available until April 12, the mobile carrier has begun taking pre-orders on the oh-so-popular smartphone.

It’s important to bear in mind that T-Mobile, a bit of an underdog among the major U.S. carriers, recently did away with mobile contracts altogether, in an attempt to draw in more customers, eager to take advantage of the coverage of a major carrier, with the flexibility to up and leave at any time.

Why is this important? Because if you really want the iPhone, you’re going to have to shell out between $580 and $780, the full price of the phones. But don’t worry, you won’t have to do it all at once. If you’re looking for a 16GB unit, you’ll only have to put down $100, and then pay $20/month for the next two years, until you pay off the phone. For the 32GB model, a down payment of $200 is required, and the 64GB phone will set you back $300 initially, both also requiring the same $20/month payment. Black and white options are available for all three variations.

And then, of course, you’ll have your monthly phone plan to pay.

We’re eager to see how well-received this will become. On the one hand, Apple fans are an extremely loyal group of people, and the idea of not being tied down by a contract is pretty appealing. On the other hand, the contracts aren’t so bad, particularly when it means paying a fraction of the cost for a phone.

Would you pay full price for an iPhone, just to escape the clutches of a contract?

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