Usually, following a new iPhone launch the price of a previous models is discounted. This time Apple chose to eliminate the iPhone 5. Meanwhile, Virgin Mobile. has cut the price of the iPhone 4 down to $199.99, today September 15. (A total price chart follows that compares Virgin Mobile to Straight Talk, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and AT&T)
Yup, you can get iPhone 4 8GB in Black or and White for $199.99 from Virgin Mobile. That is without a contract. Remember although you can legally unlock an iPhone from Sprint, you may have trouble unlocking a Virgin Mobile iPhone 4. It's probably a good idea not to buy the iPhone 4 from Virgin Mobile for purposes of just buying a cheap iPhone.
iPhone 4 Pricing with Contract for the Big Carriers
The iPhone 4 came out in 2010 and this could be blow-out sale so get your credit card ready. The iPhone 4 is no longer available from AT&T except as a refurbished model for free with a contract. Sprint's website shows that it is still selling the iPhone 4 for free with a contract and does the Verizon Wireless. However, if you buy an iPhone 4 from them you will be stuck with a two-year contract even though you will be the phone for next to nothing upfront. Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint Network. You can not use an unlocked phone from another carrier for Virgin Mobile like you can do with Straight Talk.
As of this writing, Straight Talk was selling the iPhone 4 for $349.99, they may be discounted when they see that their closet competitor the Virgin Mobile has reduced the price. Straight Talk is Virgin Mobile's closest competitor when you figure overall cost. Straight Talk does not reveal what network it uses, many believe it is T-Mobile.
Previously, we took out our spreadsheet to determine that the absolutely cheapest deal for the iPhone 5 was Virgin Mobile. Now for at least today as long as there is stock Virgin Mobile is the best deal for the iPhone 4.
Virgin Mobile Plans Cheaper with AutoPay for iPhone 4
Virgin Mobile starts at $35 per month but customers can also receive a $5 per-month plan discount when they register and sign up for automatic monthly payments [“Auto Pay”] with a credit card, debit card or PayPal account, making the iPhone 4 available on for as low as $30 per month for 300 voice minutes unlimited text and data. The next plan up is 1200 minutes for $45 and unlimited minutes for $50 a month. The plans can be reduced by paying with Auto Pay. All Virgin Mobile smartphone plans include 2.5GB/month of high speed data.
Virgin Mobile clearly calls its unlimited data 2.5GB that is throttled afterwards.
We calculated the cost of the iPhone 4 across carriers and prepaid services with prices we found on the carrier websites on Friday September 13, the price of the actual iPhone 4 may drop at midnight September 15. We have only been notified of the Virgin Mobile price drop. We suspect that the iPhone 4 is in limited quantities and may sell out. The iPhone 4 will be updated to iOS 7 which is due out September 18. Therefore you will get the latest operation system with 2010 hardware. The only drawback is that it has a 3.5" touchscreen.
The main improvements on the iPhone 4S over the iPhone 4 are the processor, camera and radio. The new iPhone 4S has a 1430mAh battery, 10mAh more than the iPhone 4, 210mAh more than the iPhone 3GS.
Now let's look at the numbers over two years the best deal for the iPhone 4 is:
- iPhone 4 Total Pricing for 2 Years Compares, Virgin Mobile vs Straight Talk vs T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint & AT&T. Click on the chart to see larger.