Verizon Wireless & Apple Team Up to Deliver iPhone 4 on Verizon

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. & CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Verizon Wireless and Apple® today announced that the iPhone® 4 will be available on the Verizon Wireless network beginning on Thursday, February 10. Qualified Verizon Wireless customers will be given the exclusive opportunity to pre-order iPhone 4 online on February 3, ahead of general availability.

“We are pleased to introduce millions of wireless users to the industry leading iPhone 4 on the nation’s most reliable network”
iPhone 4 is the most innovative phone in the world, featuring Apple’s stunning Retina™ display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone resulting in super crisp text, images and video, and FaceTime®, which makes video calling a reality. iPhone 4 on Verizon Wireless will also include new Personal Hotspot capabilities allowing customers to use iPhone 4 to connect up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices.

“We are pleased to introduce millions of wireless users to the industry leading iPhone 4 on the nation’s most reliable network,” said Lowell McAdam, president and chief operating officer of Verizon. “This is an important step for the industry as two great companies join forces to give wireless customers one of the most important technological additions to the mobile landscape this century.”

“Verizon Wireless customers have told us they can’t wait to get their hands on iPhone 4, and we think they are going to love it,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer. “We have enormous respect for the company Verizon has built and the loyalty they have earned from their customers.”

iPhone 4 features a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording, Apple’s A4 chip, a 3-axis gyro and a beautiful glass and stainless steel design like no other mobile phone. iPhone 4 also comes with iOS 4, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, which includes multitasking, folders, Game Center, AirPlay® and AirPrint wireless printing. iPhone 4 customers have access to the world’s most popular App Store℠ with more than 300,000 apps available in an incredible range of 20 categories, including games, business, news, sports, health and reference.

Pricing & Availability

iPhone 4 will be available on the Verizon Wireless network beginning Thursday, February 10 for a suggested retail price of $199.99 for the 16GB model and $299.99 for the 32GB model with a new two year customer agreement. iPhone 4 will be available at more than 2,000 Verizon Wireless Communications Stores nationwide, online at www.verizonwireless.com/iphone, at Apple Retail Stores, at the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), at Apple Authorized Resellers, and by calling 1-800-2 JOIN IN.

thavoice;634070 wrote:Just as an FYI.....if Apple and Verizon have the same deal as Apple and ATT did one should not expect every Verizon place to be able to sell the IPHONE.

Until recently most places that sold ATT could not even carry the the IPHONE. It took years and years before the smaller stores, of which most places that sell cell phones are, were even allowed to sniff the Iphone for sales. Make sure you call ahead before going to a place because it could be very likely your hometown store you got your verizon phone from may not be allowed to sell it for quite some time.

sherm03;634073 wrote:It was indirect stores that were not able to carry the iPhone at AT&T. It had nothing to do with Apple, it was an AT&T choice. All corporate owned AT&T stores have had the iPhone from the very beginning.

Four reasons to not get the Verizon iPhone

Lack of simultaneous voice and data
This seemingly obvious feature will not be possible on the Verizon network. As a long time iPhone user and current AT&T customer, I can tell you that while I would love to have a chance to have the coverage that Verizon offers, the ability to put a call on speaker and browse the internet or search Google maps or perform a variety of other internet-related activities, far outweighs the occasional dropped calls that I experience on AT&T. And yes, I did say “occasional”. It seems that AT&T has gone a long way in fixing the dropped call issues and with my iPhone 4, I’m more apt to hang up a call by accident with my cheek than experience a dropped call due to the network.

ETF (Early Termination Fee)
Of course, my wife has already told me that she wants to go back to Verizon–she was a long time customer before I forced her to take an iPhone. However, if you’re an existing AT&T customer and want to jump to Verizon, you’ll have to pay the ETF (early termination fee). According to AT&T’s page on the subject, that’s going to run you $325, minus $10 for each full month of your Service Commitment that you completed. I haven’t done the math yet, but I can tell you that it’s going to cost a lot for me to move my wife and I over to Verizon, since we both have iPhone 4’s. Translation: not gonna happen.

Bugs
What do you get with the first iPhone to ship designed to work on CDMA? Bugs! Are you ready to enjoy a bug or two? I’m pretty sure there will be some CDMA-specific bugs introduced. Either some bugs related to handing off between data and voice or battery drainage. Regardless, when you ship a new product it’s buggy, unfortunately.

Speed
I’ve talked about issues with CDMA a couple of times already. I gave it its own area under Speed because I wanted to highlight that while Verizon may have a better coverage area, the speed of its data network is slower than AT&T’s. The iPhone 4 zips along on AT&T’s network, because of both the speed of the network, and the processor and memory on the iPhone. If you mess with that magical equation you get a sub-par experience. I have a feeling that early reports of the iPhone 4 on Verizon will be of a sub-par experience, especially in areas where AT&T has solid coverage.
We’ll see what Verizon and Apple have in store for us tomorrow. Here are some of the questions I’m hoping we get answers to:

• Will there be a new iPhone 4 design that fixes that “death grip” that Apple never really said was an iPhone-only issue?
• Will it get the same iOS release?
• Will Verizon offer unlimited data plans?
• Will Verizon offer simultaneous data and voice, due to a rumored CDMA network upgrade?

bases_loaded;634153 wrote:Anyone who chooses an iPhone over an android phone proves they have no idea what they are doing.

sherm03;634163 wrote:+100000000000000000

Some of the phones already out there beat the iPhone 4, but the Droid Bionic coming out for Verizon soon and the Atrix for AT&T are hands down better than any iPhone ever.

bases_loaded;634190 wrote:I compare it to people who buy Ugg boots. Im sure there are way better boots out there for the same price or cheaper, but every chick wants fucking Ugg boots. I bet most iPhone users wear Ugg boots.

Commander of Awesome;634103 wrote:Anyone have any info on the pricing structure for Verizon? I was told that Verizon doesn't have unlimited date plans, or something to that effect. I have an Iphone currently but have been waiting on renewing my contract for the iphone 4 because I wanted to wait for Verizon to get it, which I believe has better service in my area than AT&T.

Commander of Awesome;634195 wrote:Please dont turn this thread into an anti apple my phone is better than your phone thread.

bases_loaded;634210 wrote: Just stating facts. Droid phones are better.

Commander of Awesome;634213 wrote:cool opinion.

bases_loaded;634153 wrote:Anyone who chooses an iPhone over an android phone proves they have no idea what they are doing.

gport_tennis;634203 wrote:As off today Verizon has 2 data plans. One is $15 for 150 mb the other is 29.99 and is unlimited. The unlimited data plan has been there for years

Fab1b;634240 wrote:I have an Iphone 4 with AT&T and I love it. I also has the unlimited data plan when I had my 3g so I got to keep it. No complaints from this Iphone user!