So Verizon finally revealed that they are going to release their version of the Apple iPhone on their network! So I was skeptical before with all the rumors floating around, but now that they announced it, it’s no longer a rumor. What does it mean to you? How much will it cost? Who can upgrade? When will it be available? Well, let’s find out!
From what it looks like, it is still the iPhone 4 that can run on Verizon’s CDMA (EV-DO) network, so I believe it is still 3G not LTE (4G), like a lot of people, were predicting. So, yes it probably will be slower than the iPhone’s on AT&T’s network, but I think it will be a little bit more reliable, don’t you think so? Well, we will just have to wait and see on that one. This means, that people using iPhones on AT&T’s network can now still brag about the network speeds (in some cases) but that’s about it. We just have to see what will happen to AT&T as a result of this.
Cost-wise, it looks like they adopted the same pricing model for the device as it was on AT&T — $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB (with a 2-year contract of course). We still don’t know if there will be special data plans just for the iPhone so that’s another area that is a little vague at the moment. We will find out soon enough I guess.
Little bad news for those new Droid users (including me) who just upgraded their lines, sorry we will just have to wait for our contracts to expire to upgrade. If you want to sign-up to get a chance to pre-order the iPhone 4, fill out the form on Verizon’s website (no guarantees). Good luck with that.
The iPhone will officially go on sale on February 10th, 2011 but the pre-order date is February 3rd, 2011.
What can we expect? Well, I have a feeling there will again be long lines, also some crazy people paying full retail (unsubsidized) prices for the iPhone and out-of-stock signs going up shortly after the iPhone goes on sale on Feb 10th. What do you think? Will you get the iPhone? If so, are you eligible to upgrade or will you pay full retail? Do you think the network will get as unreliable as AT&T’s after they got the iPhone? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.