Either an exclusivity window with other carriers has passed or Apple needed some time to figure out how to sell and activate devices with Uncarrier service, but the wait is over – you can now waltz inside an Apple Store and safely buy and activate an iPhone on T-Mobile’s prepaid service.
To sweeten the deal, Apple and T-Mobile are treating customers who buy an iPhone with a prepaid T-Mobile plan to a cool $50 discount, for a limited time. Moreover, folks buying an iPhone with T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plan will receive a $50 iTunes gift card…
“Customers can now purchase and activate an iPhone with T-Mobile service in more than 250 Apple stores across the nation,” reads T-Mobile’s press release.
To claim your $50 discount, you must activate your iPhone in-store. The offer is limited to a single device per customer and is only valid with activation of $50 (1GB LTE data) or $70 (5GB LTE data) worth of service.
In another media release, the Deutsche Telekom-owned carrier has confirmed that iPhones and iPads with T-Mobile service are now available at Costco.
@JohnLegere All iPhone/iPads were off and you still have iPhone 5 card and no 5s/5c promo cards. pic.twitter.com/iNGLCskqB2
— Joseph♛ (@CalCruze) June 26, 2014
As reported yesterday, Costco will offer T-Mobile variants of the entry-level iPhone 5s with sixteen gigabytes of storage in silver or space gray, as well as the 16GB iPad mini with Retina display in silver and the 16GB iPad Air in space gray, with home delivery of the iPad Air straight to your door.
T-Mobile separates full device cost (unsubsidized) from service plans. The carrier doesn’t require you to sign annual contracts, it won’t slap you with overage fees and there are no hidden device costs.
In related news, T-Moible has confirmed that data traffic from the Speedtest benchmarking app no longer counts against your data allowances, reports FierceWireless, adding that the carrier whitelisted other speed test providers as well.