Virgin Mobile USA to Launch iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on October 1

Earlier this week, we noted that a number of regional carriers in the United States and Canada had begun announcing plans to begin selling the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on October 1, representing a coordinated expansion of availability for the device even as iPhone 5s supplies remain extremely tight.

One notable exception to the list of carriers launching the new iPhones on that date was Virgin Mobile, but in a pair of Tweets issued today the company has announced that it too will be part of that October 1 rollout.

virgin_mobile.iphone_5s
Virgin Mobile, a prepaid brand from Sprint, first began carrying the iPhone in June 2012 with the iPhone 4s and iPhone 4. The carrier did not begin selling the iPhone 5 until June of this year, some nine months after the handset debuted on the major U.S. carriers.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

dpace32 Avatar
137 months ago
Their plans are amazing... $30 a month for their Beyond Talk plan (http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-plans/overview/) for an iPhone user to get unlimited data, unlimited text and 300 minutes.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jschultz Avatar
137 months ago
Cannot imagine how you can possibly be so lucky. For a phone that can do nothing but only used with one specific wireless provider with a <0.1% market share, it's impossible to hit a desirable buyer with just one post.

It's not entirely out of the realm of possibility. I too have sold prepaid phones (Blackberry Curve, LG Optimus V, HTC ONE V) that are tied to prepaid.

Yes, it's a small market share, but in a city of 2.7 million people and a MSA population of 9.7 million, you definitely get bites on Craigslist.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
acctman Avatar
137 months ago
Apple still has pre-order as late as November, yet they can ship stock to Virgin and other smaller carriers? I know companies like Virgin pay up front but what about the customers that already said 'hey Apple you can take my money' via a pre-order? :confused:
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iDuel Avatar
137 months ago
Virgin Mobile's only concern is that poor people keep paying their bills on time and that new poor people use their service. I don't think current poor people that are VM customers can afford new phones.

I think we've found the elitist comment of the day. #

I think Virgin Mobile has a smart business plan; you end up saving more money in the long run compared to the other post paid services.

I'll let you in on a secret, no matter rich or poor, people will always want to save money.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macguy360 Avatar
137 months ago
Heres the deal and Sprint has confirmed it.

Sprint doesn't have enough spectrum for good LTE like Verizon and ATT.
Therefore, Sprint customers have crappy LTE speeds.

Think of spectrum like lanes on a tollway. You can buy an ez tag for ATT, Verizon or Sprint.

Sprint sells the cheapest ez tag but their tollway only has 2 lanes each direction and tons of poor people driving on it because they can't afford the more expensive ez tag.

Now think of Virgin Mobile and Boost mobile like an additional ez tag restriction forcing those customers to use only 1 lane of the 2 lane tollway.

In addition to being jampacked on that single lane, Sprint customers get priority for data throughput which essentially means someone throws a yield sign up on that tollway to allow Sprint customers to use both lanes while making boost mobile and virgin mobile customers wait (i.e. go slower)

Meanwhile ATT and Verizon customers are driving corvettes and ferraris down their 8 lane tollways with not a speed limit sign in site.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jschultz Avatar
137 months ago
I used Android on Virgin Mobile USA for a few years. great prices, but network speeds are dreadfully slow, unless you happen to be in one of their 4G covered areas.
We've got really good Sprint coverage in Chicago. My GSM iPhone 4 was a hand-me-down, so I migrated away from my HTC One V on Virgin Mobile to AT&T. Before my switch, I never had a single hiccup. My wife's still on it and gets 3G speeds at what is expected. I don't have any experience with 4G yet.


EDIT: If Virgin offered the 5S for as competitive of a price as they did for the 5 (as mentioned above) I would probably migrate back over from GoPhone to VM. This is relevant to my interests.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
General Apps Messages

Google Reveals When to Expect RCS Support on iPhone for Improved Texting With Android Users

Friday March 29, 2024 7:14 am PDT by
In November, Apple announced that the iPhone would support the cross-platform messaging standard RCS (Rich Communication Services) in the Messages app starting "later" in 2024, and Google has now revealed a more narrow timeframe. In a since-deleted section of the revamped Google Messages web page, spotted by 9to5Google, Google said that Apple would be adopting RCS on the iPhone in the "fall...
airtag new orange

Criminals in Montreal Using AirTags to Steal Vehicles

Friday March 29, 2024 12:50 pm PDT by
Thieves in Montreal, Canada have been using Apple's AirTags to facilitate vehicle theft, according to a report from Vermont news sites WCAX and NBC5 (via 9to5Mac). Police officers in Burlington, Vermont have issued a warning about AirTags for drivers who recently visited Canada. Two Burlington residents found Apple AirTags in their vehicles after returning from trips to Montreal, and these...
top stories 30mar2024

Top Stories: WWDC 2024 Announced, New iPads Delayed, and More

Saturday March 30, 2024 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's WWDC 2024 dates have been announced, giving us timing for the unveiling of the company's next round of major operating system updates and likely some other announcements. This week also saw some disappointing news on the iPad front, with update timing for the iPad Pro and iPad Air pushed back from previous rumors. We did hear some new tidbits about what might be coming in iOS 18 and...
iphone 16 cases sonny dickson 1

First iPhone 16 Cases Outline New Rear Vertical Camera Bump

Friday March 29, 2024 4:09 am PDT by
Photos of the first iPhone 16 cases have been shared online, offering another preview of the rumored new vertical rear camera arrangement on the standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. Image credit: Accessory leaker Sonny Dickson Over the last few months, Apple has been experimenting with different camera bump designs for the standard iPhone 16 models, all of which have featured a vertical ...
Apple iPhone 15 Pro spatial video capture lifestyle

$3 App Shoots Better Quality Spatial Video Than iPhone's Camera App

Friday March 29, 2024 4:48 am PDT by
A $3 third-party app can now record spatial video on iPhone 15 Pro models in a higher resolution than Apple's very own Camera app. Thanks to an update first spotted by UploadVR, Spatialify can now record spatial videos with HDR in 1080p at 60fps or in 4K at 30fps. In comparison, Apple's native Camera app is limited to recording spatial video in 1080p at 30fps. Shortly after Apple's Vision ...