T-Mobile

Just a quick reminder, the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 are now officially available from T-Mobile. New and old T-Mobile customers can now buy an iPhone from retail stores and online at T-Mobile.com. Don't forget, the iPhone 5 from T-Mobile is sold at full price at $100 down plus 24 monthly installments of $20. The $20 payments are added on top of your monthly service charges. However, there is no annual contract, and the device is $70 less than buying an unlocked model directly from Apple.

iPhones from T-Mobile are locked, meaning you will need T-Mobile to unlock the device if you decided to switch carriers. You will also be required to pay off any remaining balance for the device if you choose to stop using T-Mobile before the 24 months are over. The plus side of buying an unsubsidized phone is it allows you to upgrade your device at anytime, and you won't be locked into a two-year carrier contract.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 5 are now open at T-Mobile.com. You can purchase a shiny new iPhone 5 with no contract for $99 down and 24 payments of $20. That's $579 over two-years, and $70 less than buying an unlocked model directly from Apple.

The 24 payments of $20 will be added on top of your monthly service charges. T-Mobile's Simple Choice plans start at $50 per month for unlimited talk, text and 500MB of data. Each additional 2GB of data is $10 up to 12.5GB for $110. The T-Mobile iPhone is locked, but you can trade it in for a new device at anytime for "fair market credit". This also means you will need T-Mobile's permission if you decide to switch carriers, and will be required to payoff any remaining balance that you owe for the device.

T-Mobile did not forget about their customers already using unlocked iPhones on their network. The carrier plans to send out a minor iOS software update that will enable new features like LTE, Visual Voicemail and other "Network/Device optimizations" that are not available at this time. Anyone using an iPhone on the T-Mobile network with iOS 6.1.x or higher will receive the iOS update on April 5.

Previously T-Mobile customers could only use unlocked iPhones on the T-Mobile network, but that has all changed since T-Mobile has now become an official Apple carrier. T-Mobile customers will be able to buy the iPhone 5 (and iPhone 4 and 4S in select markets) starting on April 12. T-Mobile has also stopped subsidizing phones, meaning customers will still have to pay full price for any devices bought directly from the carrier.