The Price of the iPhone 5 on T-Mobile's Un-leashed Plan Just Went Up $50

Angela Colley, dealnews contributor

T-Mobile has long frustrated customers by carrying every other brand of smartphone but the iPhone. That is until the carrier brought aboard the iPhone 5 last month, at a discount to boot. Back then, new customers could buy the iPhone 5 for $579.99 if paid for in full upfront, or with a $99.99 down payment and $20 payments over the course of 24 months.

Then last week – a mere 31 days after starting iPhone sales – T-Mobile surprised customers by dropping the iPhone 5 discount altogether, thereby raising the price for a 16GB iPhone 5 to $629.99 if paid in full, or a $149.99 upfront deposit and $20 monthly payments for 24 months. Customers looking at larger capacity iPhones won't be getting a discount either. For the 32GB iPhone 5, the price increased to a full payment of $729.99, or a $249.99 down payment with 24 months of $20 payments. For the 64GB iPhone 5, the price went up to $829.99 paid up front, or a $349.99 deposit again with 24 months of $20 payments.

Discounted iPhone 5 Price Was Only to Entice New T-Mobile Customers

While most people didn't expect the lower price to last forever, the short-lived promotion still came as a bit of a shock to most consumers, considering major wireless carriers tend to offer longer-running promotions on devices for new costumers.

But then again, T-Mobile customers may be getting accustomed to surprises. In April, T-Mobile's new "Un-leashed" contract-free phones saw the company drop the traditional two-year contract model. As such, new customers can sign up with the wireless provider and get a new phone (sometimes at a subsidized price) without having to sign a contract with T-Mobile. However, customers aren't entirely obligation-free. T-Mobile offers two smartphone payment plans: Customers can buy a new phone upfront, or they can make small monthly payments for two years after a down payment.

While two years of small payments may feel an awful lot like a contract, T-Mobile assures new customers that they are free to leave anytime – after they pay the remainder due on their phone. This setup may pose a problem for customers who have signed up for the "Un-leashed" plan, made a down payment, but in the future may not be able to afford to pay off their smartphone should T-Mobile raise its monthly prices. And such a scenario is not far-fetched: T-Mobile, or any month-by-month wireless provider, is free to change its terms at any time since there is no binding customer contract.

Still, this option does offer monthly savings over traditional contracts. Currently, T-Mobile's individual plans start at $50 a month for unlimited talk, text, and 500MB of 4G data (with unlimited, albeit slower, data after customers reach the cap). This option is cheaper than Sprint's $109.99 unlimited plan, and AT&T's unlimited minutes and texting plan with 300MB of data for $89.99, but those plans have locked-in rates and might seem less risky to new customers.

All in all, we wonder if T-Mobile's "Un-leashed" plan is really all that different from the Big Three. Or maybe it does satisfy the space between non-contract and subsidized phones. Perhaps more importantly, we want to know if any of you readers are still planning on buying the iPhone 5 through T-Mobile, despite its price increase. Sound off in the comments below.

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