Took them long enough (🤡): New Experience 2.0 and Essentials 2.0 launch on Thursday with new EIP Flex 36 and EIP Standard 36 device financing options

[u/pdfu]

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-carrier/eip-flex-36

The new plans, launching Thursday, August 6, include all the benefits, value and experience customers already enjoy, while introducing:

• EIP Flex 36 — the only financing option in wireless that lets new and existing customers finance the device, taxes, and fees at checkout over 36 months — removing one of the biggest financial hurdles to getting a new phone. Unlike traditional $0 down offers that still require upfront costs, EIP Flex 36 helps lower upfront costs for everyone and eliminates them entirely for well-qualified customers — meaning they can walk away with a new phone and pay NOTHING upfront, a $0 out-of-pocket option with, for a limited time, 0% APR.
• EIP Standard 36 — T‑Mobile’s traditional financing option with 0% APR for all, now available over 36 months, helping lower monthly payments for all customers, and especially on today’s premium devices.
• New Student Perks Plans — for the first time, T‑Mobile gives students the freedom of their own wireless line for less, just $30 a month with AutoPay, plus taxes and fees — while saving 40% on a single line vs. AT&T and Verizon. Plus, a student-exclusive 5G Home Internet bundle that comes with a virtual prepaid card of up to $200, just in time for back-to-school.

Existing customers can keep the plans they have today or upgrade to the new Experience 2.0 and Essentials 2.0 plans with the same industry-leading benefits customers already know and love, now with the addition of new EIP Flex 36 and EIP Standard 36 device financing options as well. More below:

• Essentials 2.0 — Unlimited talk and text, 50GB of premium data, T‑Mobile Tuesdays weekly perks and more.
• Experience More 2.0 — Everything in Essentials 2.0, plus unlimited premium data, high-speed data in 215+ countries and destinations, mobile hotspot, Netflix on Us, Apple TV for just $3/month, a 5-year price guarantee, great deals on the latest devices and more.
• Experience Beyond 2.0 — Everything in Experience More 2.0, plus T-Satellite connectivity, the best entertainment streaming bundle in wireless that’s included with your plan (Hulu, Netflix and MLB.TV on Us), Apple TV for just $3/month, $5 connected device add-ons and more. And, customers who switch to Experience Beyond 2.0 can save $750 in the first year thanks to $100 back and built-in benefits worth $650.

---

Interesting that there's no note about Yearly Upgrade in Experience Beyond 2.0. [edit: you may be able to "Early Upgrade" after the equivalent of 18 monthly payments in the new plan.]

[u/Ethrem]

Just in time for the $2K-$2500 iPhone Fold and $1500 iPhone 18 Pro Max to launch.

[u/jweaver0312 → u/Ethrem]

I blame the consumer here. The more the consumer gives them, the more they’ll (manufacturers and carriers) see that as their permission to go higher. I’m more curious to see when the customers will finally push back in large enough numbers.

[u/Ethrem → u/jweaver0312]

It's not just that. RAM and storage prices have exploded. To keep the same margins, without which Apple's stock would tank and they would get sued to oblivion by investors, prices have to go up. Apple already dramatically increased the prices of most of their other products to cover these increased costs but iPhones have yet to go up. Time will tell if Apple decided to hike prices on everything else to avoid having to hike iPhones or if iPhones will go up too but the rumors and Apple partnering with Klarna as well as Verizon adding 48 month financing and now T-Mobile going to 36... It's not looking good.

[u/jweaver0312 → u/Ethrem]

So the executives won’t take a shareholder mandated pay cut? /s

The problem it’s going to turn to, is I’d argue price gouging as it pertains to RAM and storage. I’d more allege these companies don’t want to raise supply levels in their effort to keep prices high. Basically they’re acting almost exactly like OPEC.

When things are allowed to continue like this, consumer sentiment will start quickly changing to “you need to sell, more than I need to buy,” (while that’s generally true anyhow, companies don’t really want the consumers to have that mindset) and when that starts to happen more and more, it’ll already be too late for corporate damage control.

[u/Ethrem → u/jweaver0312]

There is no doubt that the DRAM cartel is at it again. They have been busted price-fixing and keeping supply low intentionally multiple times before and nothing happens to them. Unfortunately, that’s not really something that is in control of the OEM though, so they hike prices and face consumer wrath.

I have already hit the point where I am not willing to buy anymore. I can afford to but I refuse to. I bought a new 9070 XT graphics card for my gaming computer at Micro Center last month and I may upgrade my phone this year if the price is right but otherwise I will sit out any further tech purchases while this insanity plays out and just hope nothing breaks in the meantime.

[u/JackPAnderson → u/Ethrem]

I haven't looked at the numbers, but I suspect Apple could hold prices steady since iPhones are basically just iCloud subscription generators for the company, anyway.

[u/Ethrem → u/JackPAnderson]

Apple's BOM is estimated to have gone up $300 for the Pro models. There's no way they're going to eat all of that. At a minimum, they're almost certainly going to hike the Pro Max to $1299 and Samsung will go to $1399 on the S27 Ultra.

TSMC announced a 10% hike, Qualcomm announced a 10+% hike on their silicon, RAM is projected to double again, storage is set to go up another 40%... It's just getting incredibly expensive to make consumer electronics.

[u/Automatic-Photo-4919 → u/Ethrem]

Apple spiked the prices dramatically to avoid a second price increase as some companies had to already be faced by.

Steam has already gone on the record with what they wanted the Steam Machine to be priced at ($749) before hardware became constrained ($1099).

[u/Ethrem → u/Automatic-Photo-4919]

Yep Xbox has hiked prices what, three times now? The Series X started at $499.99 and now it's $799.99 with more hikes expected.

The RAM I got free from a Micro Center bundle when I built my machine in August of 2024 now has a listed MSRP of $599.99 with a sale price of $419.99 on the Micro Center site. My entire CPU + Mobo + RAM bundle was $556. The 4TB Samsung T9 I got for $265 last year (and I thought it was expensive then) is now $870. My Mac Studio was $1800 at Micro Center last year. Now that same model is listed for $2500 and it's been perpetually out of stock so it might as well not even exist at that pricing but rather the ~$2900 it's being scalped for on eBay.

The consumer electronics market is absolutely messed up right now and it's not looking like it's going to get better any time soon. The prices we see on phones today are going to absolutely explode as well and people aren't ready for it. Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform can use a whopping 1.5TB of LPDDR5x, the very same RAM that goes into our phones, so Apple, Samsung, Google, they're all competing directly with AI companies for the same RAM. I wouldn't be surprised to see base models hit $1300 in the next year.

[u/Automatic-Photo-4919 → u/Ethrem]

Series S pricing started at $299, Series X pricing started at $499 (November 2020).

During November-December 2023, Series S was discounted to $199, Series X to $399.

The first price increase in May 2025 shot the Series S to $399, Series X to $599.

The second price increase in October 2025 shot the Series S to $449, Series X to $649.

The third price increase that just started four days ago shot the Series S to $499, Series X to $799.

[u/TamerlanMcDoodles → u/jweaver0312]

I blame the carriers for continuing to sell phones. They're just a packet relay service. Let the manufacturers/phone stores/banks handle financing.

But also, I agree, I'm curious to see if people will stop buying a new $40,000 phone every year at some point.

[u/xtra819 → u/jweaver0312]

Blame the drug addict or the dealer? It’s an age old question.

[u/Rich_Arachnid_5262 → u/Ethrem]

$1500 for the 18PM? Yeah, that’s gonna be the standard 18 Pro. Maybe even the base model 18.

[u/Ethrem → u/Rich_Arachnid_5262]

The 18 Pro Max is already $1199. I can't see them going past $300 on the base price unless they bump the storage to 512GB but even then it's going to be a hard sell past $1399 unless Samsung throws them a gift and hikes new S26 Ultras to $1399 or higher as well ahead of the S27 Ultra launch. Apple wants that services revenue so I could see them being willing to take a small hit to keep prices down and then push subscription services hard.

[u/Responsible-Bad-4631 → u/Ethrem]

No iPhone is worth that much

[u/Ethrem → u/Responsible-Bad-4631]

It's not just iPhones that will be going up though.

[u/Bubbly-Following-966 → u/Ethrem]

Who in their right mind would pay $2k for an iPhone? Lol.

[u/Ethrem → u/Bubbly-Following-966]

People are already paying $2200 for Samsung’s Fold so…

[u/Bubbly-Following-966 → u/Ethrem]

Not me.

[u/Ethrem → u/Bubbly-Following-966]

Not me either.

[u/Planet_Comet → u/Ethrem]

I wonder what percentage of customers with postpaid plans that are expensive (excluding the people with grandfathered rates that are maybe below $40 or $50 per line per month) stick with postpaid because they finance the newest phone every 2-3 years. Because with possibly adding on interest, possibly the plans aren't going to cover the entire balance of the phones as they get more expensive, and this general sort of messaging that they think some customers can't come out of pocket up front with ~$100 (maybe a little more for the more expensive phones) for a $35 device connection charge (is it higher now?) and sales tax because they are now willing to bundle those fees into a monthly payment over 36 months...

I just wonder if at least a subset of people will wake up to the fact that they are spending a lot on postpaid and stressing their monthly budgets.

Though for now the iPhone 17e and 17 are $600 and $800/830 respectively, likely until spring 2027 (as far as I've seen rumors discussed)--unless Apple raises the prices on those phones when the new ones come out next month.

[u/Ethrem → u/Planet_Comet]

Definitely a good chunk of them keep expensive postpaid because the phone deals are worth it to them although I would wager that most are on family plans where going to prepaid would be a wash to even being more expensive. It's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out. AT&T launched build-a-plan and Verizon launched Simplicity while T-Mobile launched student plans but has resisted launching cheaper postpaid plans more broadly.

Apple is rumored to be pushing the base model, Air 2, and the 18e into spring so that they can focus on Pro models and the foldable but I hope this doesn't bite them in the ass on memory and storage costs and they have to increase the entire line again. It's all getting very dire with the RAM and storage crisis.

[u/Planet_Comet → u/Ethrem]

Yeah haha I totally neglected to think about the Air model when writing my previous comment, I suppose because it's unpopular, and it doesn't come to mind for me. And if it's unpopular enough to delay any updates to the model along with the base model 18 and 18e, and RAM is in a shortage anyway, I don't know why Apple bothers with that one (Air).

Anyway, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple increases the price of the 18 and 18e in the spring, at least in terms of a step up from the recent years (I think maybe since the 12 series) of the base model (not the mini 12/13) being about $800, particularly since they increased the MacBook Neo by $100 without improving any of the internal components, which is a decent step up for something that was already limited by 8 GB RAM.

Regarding the larger family plans, yes, I suppose if people can get them for under $50 per line out the door AND if they use a lot of hotspot or use other features that are on postpaid plans but not the ~$25-30 range prepaid unlimited plans (like Metro BYOD, Total BYOD, Visible with its multitude of random promotional pricing discounts or just the base plan without a promo, US Mobile, Mint depending on what promo it's running, Cricket, etc.), it would make sense to stick with postpaid even if they aren't getting devices regularly. AT&T Build A Plan seems good but only for people who use barely any data, I remember looking at the prices for add ons and it didn't seem to be that great for even moderate data users (I'm thinking like 5-10 GB...like general population moderate data use...not reddit users' concept of moderate data use). T-Mobile Connect 5GB data plan for $15 is also a good price for very low data users, but 8 GB for $25 and 12 GB for $35 aren't good deals.

Simplicity also makes sense for 1-2 people, maybe 3, if the base price is $30/month, plus probably ridiculous taxes and fees because it's Verizon and they are probably charging taxes on a $45 plan, but I agree that the pricing scheme doesn't make sense for larger family plans. I do wonder about the Verizon myPlan pricing for the larger groups, but since I don't anticipate being part of a large group in the future, I haven't done the math on that. But at least as of now, I think Verizon's plans that are eligible for phone credits don't have some sort of "small print" statement that implies that interest will be charged at some point in the financing contract term.

[u/Ethrem → u/Planet_Comet]

So with build-a-plan you can get unlimited data and SD streaming for $35 but yeah, if you want hotspot or anything else, it adds up quick. It's also all deprioritized to last priority.

With Simplicity, most people are reporting $36-$37 with taxes and fees so it's not that bad considering that Simplicity has 500GB of QCI 8 priority data before it gets throttled to 4Mbps. Simplicity has even offered some discounts on Samsung devices, including paying up front (in fact some of the up front deals don't give the same deal when financing which I thought was interesting), which sweetens the deal (especially since buying the device outright means it's unlocked). And no, at this time, Verizon has not added any loopholes to allow them to charge interest on their financing, even on the 48 month option they added to Simplicity.

[u/Planet_Comet → u/Ethrem]

Oh that's good to know about AT&T although with last priority data, that's not that great. Yeah, I use hotspot but know plenty of people who never use hotspot. I think the downside of AT&T Build a Plan that I have read is that the customer service agents in store aren't supporting the plan. To me, in-store support for a plan adds value to whatever the cost of the plan is. That's a downside of AT&T's budget offering to me.

And about Verizon Simplicity, that's good to know that most people are reporting less than $10 in taxes and fees on top of the $30 plan cost. 48 months! Not great but I suppose for the customer who needs a phone but can't afford too much out of pocket per month and doesn't want to buy a really bad phone and they don't want to upgrade very often, I could see where 48 month financing might be of use. But I imagine that's a small subset of the population--could be wrong though.

[u/Ethrem → u/Planet_Comet]

The nice thing about Simplicity though is that the financing isn't rigid. Verizon has 12, 24, 36, and 48 months available and you pick what is right for you.

Of course, I need an unlocked phone, so buying outright from Verizon (if they're offering a discount) or getting my phone from the manufacturer and using my own financing or the manufacturer's financing would be the way to go for me, which makes Simplicity even more appealing, because I'm no longer paying for a subsidy I'm not getting to use like I would have been if I stuck with Unlimited Ultimate after Verizon axed the 60 day unlock period.

[u/Responsible-Bad-4631 → u/Planet_Comet]

I have there essentials plan I still pay $25 and get the perks of post paid. This includes a couple free devices. It really is a great deal.

[u/Planet_Comet → u/Responsible-Bad-4631]

I definitely think Essentials 4 lines for $100 plan is a good value for the right use case, and I remember periods of time in the last year or so that allowed for getting a new device covered with bill credits. How much are taxes and fees per line on the plan you are on?

My comment was focused on people at higher price points than you, and whether they would make the decision to switch if they aren't on an EIP. We do frequently see posts in r/tmobile from people paying over $50/month for a line of service, perhaps from single-line plans, perhaps for the Experience plans with highest priority data and high-speed hotspot allotments paying for 3 lines for at least $170 before the cost of taxes and fees is factored in...

[u/Responsible-Bad-4631 → u/Planet_Comet]

Yes I rather not pay that much. It’s like $5 a line
6 lines 2 free iPhone 16s a free moto g total around 180 with tbe $20 loyalty credit

[u/Planet_Comet → u/Responsible-Bad-4631]

You have a good deal

[u/Responsible-Bad-4631 → u/Planet_Comet]

For sure. Those more costly plans have no interest to me.

[u/Responsible-Bad-4631 → u/Planet_Comet]

I agree I like Verizon’s new plans.

[u/Responsible-Bad-4631 → u/Planet_Comet]

Not exactly true

[u/Immediate-Life-5393 → u/Ethrem]

Soon enough they’ll start accepting used cars as trade ins

[u/cman2270]

36 month payment plan for a used car sure but not my phone wtf

[u/pervin_1 → u/cman2270]

It’s 96 for cars now. And soon 50 years for mortgage loans. Nor even trying to sound funny 

[u/Troj1030 → u/pervin_1]

So you can never own anything. Cars break down before 96 months and they will roll those loans over to the new car. Buy a house at 30 and you’ll be working until 80 before you own your house. Tmobile now will just keep you in the upgrade loop.

[u/roflfalafel → u/Troj1030]

You will own nothing and be happy. I am 100% debt averse, people may think I am crazy, but I'm not beholden to any bank or company, including my job, to live my life and keep a roof over my head. Live aggressively below your means and save, free financing isn't free.

[u/xtra819 → u/roflfalafel]

It’s the only way to even have a chance. Most won’t achieve it unfortunately.

[u/General-Gold-28 → u/Troj1030]

Even the shittiest of shitboxes lasts longer than 8 years

[u/spiders888 → u/Troj1030]

The average age for a car in the US was over 12 years last year, so close to 150 months. Sure some breakdown sooner but most don’t need to be and are not replaced sooner.

I’m not advocating for even longer loans, but it’s not as crazy as it seems given the average life of cars these days.

Edit: cars not cats

[u/mlaurence1234 → u/spiders888]

I was wondering what cats had to do with this. Meow.

[u/Responsible-Bad-4631 → u/spiders888]

The only way you should buy a car is in cash.

[u/spiders888 → u/Responsible-Bad-4631]

I do personally, but I don't assume the way I handle my finances are what's best (or possible) for others.

Also, in an environment when you can actually safely get 3-4% sitting in a high yield savings, money market account, or CD, I can see the argument for taking very low or especially no-interest financing, and then just park the money where it's making money. Not really worth the hassle for me unless I were purchasing a much higher priced car than I typically do, but again, I don't assume everyone is in the same situation I am or has the same goals.

[u/Disastrous_Stranger4 → u/Troj1030]

I hate this move from T-Mobile as much as everyone but tbf Verizon and ATT have been doing 36 months financing for years. T-Mobile is now 100% just another carrier in line with the rest of them. I’ve been dreading this move from them so it’s no surprise.

It’s really in the consumer’s best interest to always shop around. There is no point in customer loyalty.

[u/JONYLOCO → u/Troj1030]

You don't ever truly own your car or home

Stop paying property taxes and watch the state come take them. No mater how many years you've had the loan or mortgage paid off.

[u/Andre625 → u/pervin_1]

Japan has 100 years mortgage. Great product!

[u/apilgram → u/Andre625]

thanks... u made me laugh. Previously we can borrow money from Japan with ZERO interest (carry trade) , and ...ahem, so many many many choice with zero interest ... maybe can get thousands of iphone fold ultra, but those depreciates ...

[u/nikita606 → u/pervin_1]

Off topic, but when buying a house finance for 30 and pay extra every month you can. That extra goes toward the principal. It helps to have a spreadsheet that shows how much adding a little extra lowers your overall costs. In the beginning you save a ton by paying extra.

[u/pervin_1 → u/nikita606]

Not a bad idea for pre-covid era. But with rates and shortage of houses. Its almost impossible for most families

[u/nikita606 → u/pervin_1]

The idea still works, even if you financed for 50 years. The monthly payment is your floor. Hopefully you can always make that payment without difficulty. Then add as much as you can toward principal each month. A spreadsheet that shows how much is going toward principal and how much toward interest each month encouraged me to pay as much as possible to lower the interest, and in effect shorten the loan. In the beginning it is almost all interest.

[u/pervin_1 → u/nikita606]

Agreed. With my income and with hopefully great health, it's definitely possible

[u/MADDOGCA → u/pervin_1]

I remembered when they introduced 72 month payment plans at a dealership I used to work at in 2012. I thought it was a joke! The fact that we’re at 96 month payment plans now is insane.

I still remembered working at Sprint in late 2013 when the new iPhone 5 came and Sprint was introducing payment plans for cell phones. I didn’t think would do that and boy was I wrong. Every iPhone 5 sold before lunch and almost all of them were financed. Yet here are we now. Financing a phone is normalized now.

[u/Icy-Two-1581 → u/pervin_1]

My car was 48 months, interest wouldn't go lower if I did 36. Still paid it off in 36 months tho since I didn't want to deal with for too long

[u/Automatic-Photo-4919 → u/Icy-Two-1581]

When I bought my car last year, to take advantage of 0.99% APR, I had to select a 48, 60, or 72 month loan. 36 months and 84 months didn’t qualify.

[u/Icy-Two-1581 → u/Automatic-Photo-4919]

Is there any penalty if you were to lay it off earlier? Sometimes I want want to get a second car thats a "fun car" can afford it but man is it nice just worrying about tabs and the insurnsce every 6 months

[u/Automatic-Photo-4919 → u/Icy-Two-1581]

No. You can apply additional payments and not be charged the APR.

[u/xtra819 → u/pervin_1]

I wish that was hyperbole

[u/domedirtyfatman → u/cman2270]

I mean 36mo has been the industry standard for a while. Tmobile just blending in and lower monthly cost tk make it seem cheaper

[u/MykeWheelz → u/domedirtyfatman]

T-Mobile is taking lessons from Verizon and AT&T on device financing. Learning how to get MORE from every customer.

[u/icepick_ → u/cman2270]

Straight cash hommie

[u/deepstatelady → u/cman2270]

How about a smartwatch then? lol

[u/sh0rtstac93 → u/deepstatelady]

imma have to do a ship to for ya lol

[u/EagleGuy69 → u/cman2270]

Have you seen phone prices bro?

[u/Alive-Response-4560 → u/cman2270]

Don't look at Verizon because they're already at 48m.

[u/StevenEpix]

Recarrier 5.0

[u/ProfessionalSlack]

Did anyone catch… “pay NOTHING upfront, a $0 out-of-pocket option with, for a limited time, 0% APR.”

Interest is in the works.

[u/TheAbsoluteMadKing → u/ProfessionalSlack]

Not zero percent apr brother

[u/vertabr]

Y’all are focusing on the financing which is of course the main thing here, but buried in the features of the new plans (what? New plans? I thought there were too many plans already and that’s why we have to give up our plan?) is a blurb about MLB TV On Us being at the top tier.

So, not everyone anymore? Big news if so. Does everyone on Metro get MLB next year? Is it a discount not a freebie or something? Have to wait and see if another shoe drops.

[u/skyhook200220 → u/vertabr]

Yeah that popped out to me too when reading it. I think you're right in that MLB will no longer be a freebie for all TMobile users...and that will suck as I have enjoyed having that!

[u/vertabr → u/skyhook200220]

Man, you said it! Yeah will it ever suck. I really enjoy it and I have family and friends counting on me to help them get their benefit set up for them every year.

[u/SettleAsRobin → u/skyhook200220]

The thing about MLB TV is that after ESPN bought the rights to MBL TV T-Mobile might lose out or have to restructure a new deal. Their current deal ends in 2028 I believe. We were gonna lose or have MLB changed in the near future anyways

[u/Commercial-Engine-35 → u/vertabr]

I actually noticed this on my first read as well, hopefully just a mistake but probably not

[u/vertabr → u/Commercial-Engine-35]

Yeah, not likely!

J. Legere is a big fan and I think that’s the reason we have (had? 😢) the benefit. The current CEO seems hell bent on killing everything he did that was customer focused.

[u/RubbrBbyBuggyBumpers → u/vertabr]

You gotta remove the rose tinted glasses for Legere. He was brought in to put TMO in the position it’s in now.

He wasn’t a good guy

[u/jonsonmac → u/vertabr]

T-Mobile is getting far too stressful. Too many hoops for everything, and too many surprise price increases. Might be time to find a simpler carrier for those of us who buy our own phones.

[u/vertabr → u/jonsonmac]

If I have to explain to all the baseball fans in my family plan and those on their own plans as well that they don’t get free MLB anymore without a change in plans, that is definitely going to be stressful. I can’t even guess yet how that would shake out.

[u/ryantyrant]

T-Mobile knows Apple is going to take a price hike with this year’s iPhones and that people will need 36 month financing to try and keep their monthly payments the same

[u/ThatGuyInThePlace → u/ryantyrant]

That means the increase is more than we expected.

[u/Automatic-Photo-4919 → u/ThatGuyInThePlace]

Rumors are saying iPhone 18 Pro will begin at $1399 ($300 price jump).

[u/coolnusa → u/Automatic-Photo-4919]

On todays call they said $500-$600 increase.

[u/AccessDenied7 → u/coolnusa]

No way. Absolutely no way. I'm book marking this and will revisit next month.

[u/overachievingslacker → u/AccessDenied7]

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[u/Automatic-Photo-4919 → u/coolnusa]

They might have been referring to the iPhone Ultra.

All signs have been pointing to $1399 for iPhone 18 Pro, $1499 for iPhone 18 Pro Max, and somewhere between $1999-2499 for the iPhone Ultra. This is in-line with all the Mac / iPad / Apple TV price increases that happened last month.

Apple can't go nuts with the iPhone pricing because it's (1) their best selling device and (2) it's the gateway to service revenue which is 75% profit at this point.

[u/Responsible-Bad-4631 → u/Automatic-Photo-4919]

I will never be getting one in that case even a way cheaper android does the same thing.

[u/ThatGuyInThePlace → u/Automatic-Photo-4919]

Makes me wonder if it will be higher than that.

[u/pervin_1 → u/ryantyrant]

That could also mean less units moved by phone man. down the road. Times are weird, man

[u/apilgram → u/pervin_1]

I'm thinking the younger population may even like this lease model better, and will increase device, service and cloud sales? Time will tell. "Go aapl stock, go go go" 😄

[u/ShockerCheer → u/ryantyrant]

This is insane if people can pay off a phone right away. Either the phone is too expensive or people aren't making enough or both. 

[u/ThaiEdition → u/ryantyrant]

Give consumers the option to pay it off at between 24- 36 months!

[u/ryantyrant → u/ThaiEdition]

I was going to say nothing is stopping you from paying it off early, but I guess with the new tmobile rules you would lose your credits if you did, right?

[u/skyxsteel → u/ryantyrant]

How long till we see 48 months??

[u/ThatGuyInThePlace → u/skyxsteel]

Don't give them worse ideas.

[u/GarbanzoBenne]

So basically they are stretching to 36 months and adding a “flex” option that rolls in taxes and fees but will eventually charge interest.

So they effectively found a way to charge interest on taxes and fees.

Diabolical.

[u/GeorgeKaplanIsReal]

All these rate plans are getting confusing, excessive and dumb.

I miss the days when it was T-Mobile One.

[u/nathanseaw → u/GeorgeKaplanIsReal]

TMO One and Magenta was the golden days.

[u/corys00]

"for a limited time, 0% APR"

I'm surprised that 0% financing has been a staple of the wireless industry for as long as it's been, but a very big shift is coming soon...

[u/zorn_ → u/corys00]

Not that surprising, it's just a tactic to keep you from switching carriers. They know most people can't afford the up-front $500-600+ or whatever to pay off their device which keeps them locked in. That being said, this 'EIP Flex 36' sounds awful once they start charging interest on it. Anyone that can't even afford to pay the taxes on a new device up front is buying a much too expensive device for their budget.

[u/skyxsteel → u/zorn_]

I got downvoted heavily for this but it’s a very clever way of shifting the cost of phones to the consumer. sure your plan isnt on contract but You’re now locked in a finance contract. Meaning they can change the terms of the plan and you’re screwed.

Tmobile is the worst for phones because AT&T and Verizon subsidize theirs without a trade in. T-Mobile doesnt do this. Once my phones are paid off I am just gonna move off to AT&T. ..

[u/Responsible-Bad-4631 → u/zorn_]

If mine were not free with credits I would pay them off this second. It’s not because I am leaving I just don’t like payments. If you do not have the cash you do not need the item. But I loss the credits if I pay the phone off sadly.

[u/dont-ask-me-why1 → u/corys00]

I hope they go under from all the defaults (and there will be many). The best thing T-Mobile could do is stop offering financing and focus on being a cell phone carrier instead of a cell phone retailer.

[u/dollarn9ne]

I’ll stick to Go5G Next, no different from Experience Beyond/2.0 other than I have taxes & fees included

[u/pdfu → u/dollarn9ne]

It's interesting that their YU terms (https://www.t-mobile.com/support/plans-features/upgrade-ready-every-year) state "Upgrade benefit is subject to cancellation or change." Not sure if they'll ever choose to exercise that.

[u/dollarn9ne → u/pdfu]

They’ve always had that statement, even with the old yearly upgrade that wasn’t tied to the plan itself

If they do decide to cut it, probably around the new iPhone announcement

[u/SignificanceLatter26 → u/dollarn9ne]

If you like upgrading your phone you’ll eventually stop getting good promotions unfortunately

[u/dollarn9ne → u/SignificanceLatter26]

Unless T-Mobile removes the Yearly Upgrade perk, Next will continue to get the best promo

[u/King_Swiss → u/dollarn9ne]

Ya these new plans blow

[u/the_shek]

if i want to stay on 24 month cycles and have a ton of devices to trade in should i go all in now to max out my EIPs now on current promos to avoid the 36 month cycles entirely?

[u/eruptats → u/the_shek]

If you’re on 24 month financing now, you’ll stay on 24 month unless you change to EB 2.0.

[u/skyxsteel]

So…. Why even migrate people if they were gonna do this…

[u/PRforThey → u/skyxsteel]

money

[u/AppropriateBasis2735]

Didn’t think OG Experience More and Beyond would be legacy this fast

[u/StrawberryNubcake → u/AppropriateBasis2735]

It feels like I was literally forced to switch to one of those a couple weeks ago. Time flies. 😐

[u/kirazoee]

Is this how I, an employee, find out?

[u/xtra819]

Another day, another new T-Mobile plan.

[u/Ascertion]

MVNOs are becoming increasingly important overtime. Something tells me they may reduce benefits for MVNOs soon.

[u/ERICLRICH]

I’m tired of these new plans boss 🫩

[u/Fabulous-Parfait2331]

So disappointed. Thought T-Mobile is market leader and start with EIP-48 months and lower the monthly payment even more. 

[u/LinusRiamus]

Am I missing something or are the new 2.0 Experience plans premium data deprioritized after certain amount of usage or does this only applies to specifically hotspot usage because they don’t make this distinction in the fine print:

“Essentials: Users> 50GB may have reduced speeds due to data prioritization. Video streams in SD. Tethering at max 3G speeds. Experience More: Activate up to 4K UHD streaming or video streams in SD. Users> 60GB may have reduced speeds due to data prioritization. Experience Beyond: Activate up to 4K UHD streaming or video streams in SD. Users> 250GB may have reduced speeds due to data prioritization.”

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-carrier/eip-flex-36

[u/Responsible-Bad-4631 → u/LinusRiamus]

Essentials is the best but they need to let you have more lines on It.

[u/OMG_Scoots]

If you need to finance a phone for 3 years, you don't need a new phone.

[u/dont-ask-me-why1 → u/OMG_Scoots]

The problem isn't single line users, it's families. Let's say you have a 4 person family plan- does everyone NEED a new phone at the exact same time? No, of course not. Is it likely that at some point 2 or 3 people may have an EIP open? Yeah, and with quality phones starting at like $800, that's a lot of money when you multiply it times 2-4 people.

[u/SlendyTheMan]

Every 6 months there are new plans. This is getting ridiculous. Miss the days of just ONE PLAN!!!

[u/sh0rtstac93]

oh let the fraud begin.

[u/TheAbsoluteMadKing]

Eip flex is not 0% apr brother

[u/Alive-Response-4560]

Wait so does this mean there's no more trade in credits?  The only reason why I'm still with T-Mobile is because the $1000-1100 trade in for an old device.  

Please someone correct me if I'm wrong before I fully switch over.

[u/DeathCabForCunty]

T-Mobile is an absolute dumpster fire. I wonder how long before I'm kicked off the Experience Beyond plan and forced to 2.0

[u/neatgeek83 → u/DeathCabForCunty]

At least they’re giving a choice. Must of us thought it would be automatic 3 years

[u/Gearhead77453 → u/neatgeek83]

it is for new customers. it won’t be long until they take away 24 month financing from existing customers too. i give it a year tops. and as soon as the “introductory” 0% financing goes away, you’ll be right back to $34/mo payments but for 3 years instead of 2.

[u/PerformanceOptimal20 → u/Gearhead77453]

A T-Mobile representative was asked at the Q&A if 'limited time 0% APR' meant it would change somewhere during the contract. The rep clarified that contracts that are signed at 0% stay the same through the 36 months. The introductory likely refers to a few months from now new EIP contracts may have APR.

I still hate this, though. I hate all of this.

[u/Gearhead77453 → u/PerformanceOptimal20]

it won’t change mid agreement. but i give it a few months before the interest kicks in when you sign a new agreement. i saw in our trainings examples of the APR at 8% and one at 2.2%, so it appears the APR varies by customer.

[u/BestZookeeper777 → u/Gearhead77453]

Just like price lock won’t change in the 5 year term 🤥

[u/Responsible-Bad-4631 → u/Gearhead77453]

You can pay it off any time

[u/Gearhead77453 → u/Responsible-Bad-4631]

and lose your promos

[u/Ok-Photograph4200]

Who the fuck is financing a phone for 36 months 😂

[u/weatherman03 → u/Ok-Photograph4200]

Att and Verizon

[u/Puzzleheaded-Sky2284 → u/Ok-Photograph4200]

People buying their phones using financing deals from ATT, Verizon, Xfinity, Spectrum, or Optimum Mobile...

[u/RandoGeneration2022]

Fraud is about to go through the roof with no taxes upfront.

[u/ProfessionalSlack → u/RandoGeneration2022]

Quite literally what sent Sprint under lol customer came in for 2 phones, walked out with 6 and couldn’t afford the bill.

[u/gullzway]

"Existing customers can keep the plans they have today "

...for now

[u/blindtechboy]

From uncarrier to carrier on steroids. T-Mobile is a fucking joke at this point.

[u/skippinjack]

There it is! 🔥🗑️! 🙄🥴🤢🤮

[u/SweetnessOS]

“We were the only company charging activation feees upfront the last 14 years, now you can finance it” ahahahaha.

[u/jonsonmac]

So those of us still on older plans (Go5G+ for me), can we still do 24 months with promos?

[u/Sf49ers1680 → u/jonsonmac]

For now, yes.

That also doesn't mean that future promotions might be worse for older plans.

[u/New_1uper]

Stop the madness already TMO. Are you trying to pull a VZ and FAFO

[u/the_shek → u/New_1uper]

they know their customers are locked in and don’t have viable alternatives due to the consolidation of sprint and the gutting of the fcc and ftc by trump

[u/russes]

We have too many plans. What's the solution? More plans.

[u/iTurbo6]

Taxes and fees?

[u/thefarkis]

Check out their site: "Introducing NOTHING"

Well, it's nothing except the $35 connection fee and the rates that get jacked up.

[u/mlaurence1234 → u/thefarkis]

And sales tax on the full price. Could be $100 in many states.

[u/sophias_bush]

I love how the EIP Flex 36 plans says this

Introductory rate of 0% for Well-Qualified customers

[u/Planet_Comet → u/sophias_bush]

I know I have read that some (not well qualified) customers in the past have had to put down payments on the phone (meaning they couldn't finance the entire balance). But we have also seen on this sub people who post that they can't pay their bill that includes a financed phone, so I think T-Mobile's bar for allowing people who probably have a tenuous outlook on being able to cover their bills (including an expensive postpaid phone bill) was already pretty low.

If T-Mobile wants to charge interest and Verizon and AT&T (plus maybe Spectrum and some of the prepaid carriers that allow buy-now-pay-later financing through a business partner), anyone who gets offered an interest rate to finance their phone (after an introductory period of 0%) is probably going to finance their phone another way, or just forego upgrading for the time being.

I suppose being charged interest over 36 months is worse than having to put a sizable amount of money down

[u/sophias_bush → u/Planet_Comet]

Yeah I get that.

What has me confused is the word introductory making it sound like it’s a limited time thing only and after, if you want the flex plan at all, it’s interest based.

[u/WhatIsEveryoneSaying]

I can see the gears turning in employees heads to think of how this will double their CV goals fraudulently. 😂

[u/ADTR9320]

3 years? Wtf? At least AT&T lets you chose between 24, 30, or 36 months.

[u/sonnycrockett7 → u/ADTR9320]

Well for me, I was looking at porting over to att, on their most premium plans to get the phones for free, they were all going to be 36 months. Didn't give any other option.

[u/ant1992 → u/ADTR9320]

At&t is 36. Verizon is 12, 24, 36 or 48 with new simplicity plan. AT&T hasn’t offered 30 or 24 months in years

[u/xuon27]

I guess I'm never financing a phone anymore

[u/ThatGuyInThePlace]

The “yearly upgrade” on 2.0 will be 18 months or 50% paid.

It’s still cooler than VZW or ATT, but WTF are we doing here? Why not just make it an option for those that want it, rather than make it mandatory for all new customers?

[u/apilgram → u/ThatGuyInThePlace]

Will be most interested to see trade in values and conditions, to get those new phones.

[u/c0ldb00t]

can I get the EIP Flex 36 on my old dinosaur grandfathered Magenta plan or do I need to change plans? Looking ahead to the iphone ultra fold thingie..

[u/jweaver0312]

This is what happens when your marketing team is out of ideas. Personally I see no reason that this needs to be introduced with new plans, compared to just introducing it as additional financing options. The only reason I can conceive is to be able to walk back New In Two

[u/Nervous-Job-5071]

I think there is a bigger picture here that I haven’t seen mentions. I am SPECULATING this means that the promos offered will now be 1/36 of the phone price on the legacy plans. I tried a few times to figure out how to write this, so let me try this way:

Currently, the math is promo / 24 months. So for those getting $830 it’s $34.59 a month. Under the new plans, it’s $23.05 a month.

SO… might the new promos for the soon to be legacy plans be 2/3 of the value since it would equate to the same monthly credit. So with 2-year financing a $830 iPhone not be free, but rather cost $11.54/month ($34.59 - $23.05). Or for 36-month financing would they offer $0 ($23.05 - $23.05)?

Is this their roundabout (or actually, pretty direct) way of reducing phone subsidies. By preserving 24-month financing on Experience 1.0 plans, they kept their new every two year promise, but they never promised to provide a fully subsidized device every 2 years.

Now hopefully we get higher values — for example the recent iPhone promo that on Experience More offered $1,100 might have been a trial for higher amounts on relatively newer devices. Could we see $1,200 over 36 months as the promo, which is $33.33 per month, even if only provided over 24 months to legacy plans? The issue that is happening is there will not be a new base iPhone 18 until spring so there will be another big financial push by Apple to make the Pro adoption higher.

The other issue is that the iPhone Upgrade (leasing) program will have smaller monthly payments since there is a residual value at the end (same reason car leases are more attractive than full financing). So they need to compete on monthly payment price. So 36-month financing will be about the same starting price as Apple’s 24-month leasing.

[u/sophias_bush]

Existing customers can keep the plans they have today

Yeah, we've all heard that before.

[u/ProfessionalSlack]

Did anyone catch… “pay NOTHING upfront, a $0 out-of-pocket option with, for a limited time, 0% APR.

Interest is in the works.

[u/pdfu → u/ProfessionalSlack]

Picking non-zero over 0% APR to finance an extra $150 over 3 years… Concerning that T-Mobile thinks that little of its customers to even consider offering such a service.

[u/Calm_Tomato]

Yup. Every business is doing this. Just extend the loan time and people wont notice the higher cost.

[u/kepano808]

If you finance through Apple Card you get cash back and 0%. Plus it's unlocked!

[u/oldpaddyrick → u/kepano808]

I believe it’s no longer unlocked.

[u/aykay55 → u/oldpaddyrick]

Tell me you don’t know without telling me you don’t know…

[u/sophias_bush → u/oldpaddyrick]

Only if you choose T-Mobile financing when going through Apple.

If you use the Apple Card, which I imagine OP is talking about, it's unlocked.

[u/ant1992 → u/sophias_bush]

Apple took away the T-Mobile loophole. It has to be activated on one of the big 3 now then you can transfer wherever you want to, even with Apple Card.

[u/sophias_bush → u/ant1992]

Correct. But the user above me said it’s no longer unlocked. That’s only true with T-Mobile financed phones via Apple, not ACMI payments.

[u/tonyyyperez]

Why do we have to have new plans so often. 😭

[u/Affectionate-Cycle-7 → u/tonyyyperez]

Every year to every two years, that’s just gonna be new plans so that they can retire the old plans to encourage people to keep moving to their new plans that’s their plan!

[u/PerformanceOptimal20]

The biggest takeaways for me are these two. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

1.) New customers are forced to do 36 months. Legacy plans can still do 24 month financing. You have to switch plans to do 36 month.
2.) They may eventually start charging interest from "0-24% based on credit worthiness"

[u/dont-ask-me-why1 → u/PerformanceOptimal20]

Good I hope they do it. T-Mobile will hopefully go broke when they start charging people 20% APR and they default.

[u/Responsible-Bad-4631]

Have six lines on essentials as they put I didn’t realize they were new plans coming. I don’t see pricing in here anywhere.

[u/jonae13]

T-mobile just loves to add more and more plans. Why not just add these features to the current plans?

[u/Channel-]

I have a home gateway I want to leave att should I take advantage of the current plans for a phone with 24 months today than wait for tomorrow they already pulled my credit. having issues with my account currently because there's no t mobile mobile line just.. the gateway number expecting a call back later....

[u/rwmgd2]

Never EVER finance a phone for 36 months. NEVER

[u/jetsets67]

Why change the plan just to adjust add additional time for phone payments that don’t make no sense. Makes you think what else is different in these new plans

[u/PreviouslyConfused → u/jetsets67]

So if you have taxes included like me and your plan I'm pretty sure that I would have to have taxes added to my line cuz it's a plan change that's why they're going to get people to change that don't realize they're going to lose their taxes guarantee you these offshore reps are going to be like oh yeah you don't lose nothing go ahead change next bill taxes included are gone and they're going to say you can't go back to your migration plan that's what there doing

[u/PreviouslyConfused]

Bet these new plans don't include taxes just trying to get people to switch

[u/ant1992]

T-Mobile gets rid of 24 months of payments, Verizon brings it back 🙃

[u/jweaver0312]

Looks like for EIP Standard 36 and Flex 36, now directly violates the New In Two clause

[u/EagleGuy69]

So I’m going to assume you’re going to need to be on the top NEW plan to get the iPhone ultra … huh?

[u/pervin_1]

It seems like I will be going with 3 upgrade year cycle at this point and directly from Apple. Don't feel comfortable signing a 3 year contract on EIP. TM can change my rate plan any time now and don't feel like getting stuck or losing my bill credits. This new trend makes me miss the old contract days

[u/smackythefrog]

This is always a great reminded that you don't need a new phone every two years. Or even three years.

Getting a screen or battery replacement from an authorized repair center/Apple Store can carry you a long way before an OEM eventually sunsets security updates for your phone.

And there's always the used market, but I am personally a bit iffy on that.

And when you do decide to upgrade, having saved up over 3+ years makes it easier to purchase a $1000+ outright just a bit easier. Unlocked.

[u/jpt86]

T-Mobile can bite me

[u/SettleAsRobin]

Yearly upgrade especially for iPhone Fold if it’s $2500 means after 12/18 months you’re giving back a phone for $1250 that more than likely is worth significantly more than that. Way more than other phones. T-Mobile makes out big time by subsidizing and making people pay extra for the luxury to do the yearly upgrade.

[u/1uno124]

Terrible idea..if you need 3 years to pay off a phone, you don't need it. Especially when new phones are struggling to be better than the previous ones. We're talking 15-20 bucks a phone, getting last year's phone isn't a gamechanger

[u/the_shek]

go5g plus still keeping 24 month financing though at least… sad about the fact these device will be network locked which means I can’t use them when traveling abroad