Last month, T-Mobile finally confirmed the long-rumored plans that it would start selling the iPhone itself, rather than just encourage subscribers to bring their own Apple handsets bought elsewhere. At the time, it explained that such sales would begin sometime in 2013, but really didn’t get any more specific than that. Will you be waiting until summer for a T-Mobile iPhone? Would it arrive as the leaves start changing next fall? Well, now the carrier has confirmed a general release schedule, and it turns out we won’t have quite long to wait, at all.
T-Mobile will begin iPhone sales in about three to four months. That makes it highly likely that we’ll be dealing with the iPhone 5, instead of Apple’s next-generation handset.
The carrier is also looking to that same timeframe for the elimination of subsidized phone sales, a move it also announced alongside its iPhone news last month. While that means you’ll be footing the full bill for a T-Mobile iPhone yourself, the company’s equipment installment plan can bundle monthly hardware payments into your bill, creating a net situation that isn’t that different from what we’re used to.
