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Back in January, AT&T slashed the price of the Apple iPhone 3GS to just $49 with a two-year contract. If you’ve always wanted an iPhone but just couldn’t afford it, the $50 outdated model may have been the way to go. That is, until AT&T dropped the price of the refurbished model yesterday to just $9.
AT&T’s drop in January from $99 to $49 hit right before Verizon became a carrier option for the iPhone 4. Anytime we see a major price drop in a product, it’s good reason to believe that we’ll be seeing a new product soon. As we reported yesterday, Apple is rumored to be offering a $349 iPhone 3GS free of contract, as well as continuing to sell the iPhone 4 in addition to a new iPhone 4S, resulting in a three-tiered pricing model for Apple’s iPhone.
So what will you lose if you go with the iPhone 3GS, for just $10, over the iPhone 4, which will cost you at least $189 more? A front-facing camera, so FaceTime is out; a high-resolution retina display; the Apple A4 chip; and two hours less battery life. You’ll also be getting a 3-megapixel camera compared to a 5-megapixel version; no camera flash; and VGA video recording, as compared to HD video recording.
However, if you’re just looking for all the goodness that is an iPhone, and you don’t want to spend a lot on a device, this isn’t exactly a bad way to go.
AT&T’s refurbished phones are pre-owned and have been returned within the 30-day grace period. They’re tested before being re-sold and reset to their factory standards. There’s a 30-day trial period for refurbished devices, as well as a 90-day warranty.
http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/att-selling-refurbished-iphone-3gs-now-for-only-9-20110719/
