I called it. Yesterday, in my article discussing T-Mobile's new pricing options, I wrote "T-Mobile is shaking things up, as usual, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the other carriers revise and revamp their offerings in response." Sure enough, Sprint has answered the call and not only met T-Mobile's pricing, it undercut the "uncarrier" in an almost desperate bid to be your next carrier.
Sprint will now charge just $1 per month to give you a brand new iPhone 6s. You still have to turn in your iPhone 6, in good shape. T-Mobile's plan is similar but costs $5 per month, which at the time (only yesterday!) seemed quite generous. If you want to "go big" it won't cost too much. Sprint will offer the iPhone 6s Plus for just $5 per month. Higher memory configurations of the iPhone 6s are also value-priced at $5.77 per month for the 64 GB and $10.53 for the 128 GB with the trade in of an iPhone 6. For the 6s Plus, higher memory configurations cost $9.77 per month for the 64 GB and $14.53 for the 128 GB with an iPhone 6 trade in. Sprint will also offer a $10 per month price on iPhone 6s 16 GB or $14 permonth on iPhone 6s Plus 16 GB with the trade in of an iPhone 5s.
This is a major shot across the bow at T-Mobile, not to mention AT&T and Verizon, who have yet to respond to T-Mobile. In a related note, I discussed the situation with Brian Burke of SellYourMac.com. As more carriers (including Apple) move their customers to a leasing model, where they pay a small monthly fee but have to turn in their old device, it puts a damper on the trade-in companies like SellYourMac. Burke believes that customers may be enticed by these short-term incentives but once the contract is up, the user may realize they own nothing and probably could have gotten a better value by selling the device to a firm like his. Just like leasing a car, do your homework before signing up for a 12- or even 24-month commitment where you might have nothing at the end. Even worse, you might be obligated to repair a broken iPhone so you can return it to the carrier.
