Apple iPhone 5s discounted on Virgin Mobile

Various U.S. wireless carriers and retailers have been providing different types of discounts and incentives to get people to purchase the new Apple iPhone 5s and the Apple iPhone 5c. Now Virgin Mobile is stepping it up a notch with the cheapest deal I've seen on an unsubsidized phone.

Virgin Mobile has discounted the iPhone 5c to $359.99, while the iPhone 5s will cost $459.99 (both prices are for the 16GB base models). This is the lowest unsubsidized price I can recall seeing on Apple's latest phones. As a point of comparison, an unlocked 16 GB iPhone 5c purchased directly from Apple will cost you $549 while an unlocked 16 GB iPhone 5s costs $649.

Virgin Mobile is a prepaid wireless carrier that is owned by Sprint, and the devices they sell are accordingly locked to Sprint's CDMA network. The company offers what it calls "Beyond Talk" plans with unlimited messaging and 2.5 GB of 4G data starting at $35 per month.

You can find Virgin Mobile's products on store shelves at big box retailers like Best Buy, but the deals on iPhones appear to be web exclusives.

Do these low prices of Virgin Mobile's iPhones and their monthly rates make you consider switching? Or is Sprint's network still too spotty in your area? Let me know what you think in the comments.


source - iMore