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So about $600.99 then? What a bargain. The $449 price is cheaper than that. (Assuming you are on AT&Ts more recent plans where they charge you $25 more for having a subsidized, on-contract phone.)

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No, it's $450.98. AT&T Next does not require down payment for a new phone, since they amortize the phone's cost over two years.

For an iPhone 5S you pay $0 up-front and 24 monthly payments of $27.09. Of course, $27.09 * 24 = $650.16, the unsubsidized phone price.

You can, of course, still buy phones on two-year contracts instead of paying monthly. In that case you'd pay $199 for an iPhone 5S, in addition to a (lower) contract hit.

The problem is with a new 2-year contract on an AT&T Family Plan you end up paying $15 - $25 more each month for the contract.

So for an iPhone 5S on a 2-year contract with a 10GB plan you pay $199 up front and then $25/mo for two years with a grand total of $799 over two years.

AT&T's new pricing structure is a mess

Yeah, I think they've done this to encourage customers to use AT&T Next instead of signing a 2-year contract. Purchasing a phone with AT&T Next, then foregoing the upgrade, is exactly the same as the old-school 2-year contract.

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