The initial purchase price of the locked iphone is the smallest part of the cost. You have two options: a locked 8GB iphone and locked 16GB iphone model. The price is determined by your current status. If you are already an AT&T customer, your account is in ‘good standing’ and you’re eligible for an upgrade, the 8GB iphone model will cost $199 and the 16GB iphone edition $299. If you aren’t eligible, they’ll cost you $399 and $499 respectively. Each of those prices requires that you sign up for a two-year contract and pay an additional $18 ‘upgrade fee’, but if you’d rather pay as you go, they’ll cost $599 for 8GB iphone and $699 for 16GB iphone.

If you are new to AT&T, you’re potentially in a better position, as the pricing is far easier to understand: $199 for iphone 8GB and $299 for iphone 16GB, on a two-year postpaid contract. What is interesting to note is that with all this iPhone insurance beyond extended warranty is not available from AT&T and iPhone insurance is not proportionate with the costs of buying the iPhone. It is expected that within the next few months that iPhone insurance will gain traction and become a telling factor in protecting iPhone users from phone damage and lost, and iPhone insurance will mean more than just iPhone extended warranty

AT&T is Apple’s exclusive partner on the locked iphone, and its retail stores are the only outlet other than Apple itself through which you can buy one. When you do, you’ll be signed up to one of two locked iphone price plans: AT&T Nation, and AT&T FamilyTalk, the latter providing you with two locked iphone lines:

Both packages include bundles minutes, with Nation including 450, 900 and 1350 iphone anytime minutes in its $69.99, $89.99 and $109.99 deals. The cheapest of those options includes a further 5000 minutes for locked iphone use at night and during weekends; the other two give you an unlimited number of night and weekend locked iphone calling minutes.

These are generous limits, but AT&T recognizes some heavy locked iphone users may need more, and so sells on additional minutes at 45c, 40c and 35c on each package respectively. A fourth, ‘unlimited’ locked postpaid iphone deal, gives you as many anytime minutes as you want for $129.99 a month. All of the locked and unlocked iphone packages include visual voicemail, as many mobile-to-mobile minutes as you can eat and unlimited data use for email and web browsing.

The two-line locked iphone FamilyTalk packages split your bundled talktime between the lines on your account. These locked iphone packages range in price from $129.99 to $359.99 a month for 700 to 6000 minutes anytime talktime a month, although if you need more than 4000 minutes, you should check out the AT&T iphone ‘unlimited’ deal, which offers as many minutes as you want for $259.99; $100 cheaper than the 6000 minute package.

These locked iphone service plans are an Ensquared specialty and just one or two clicks way from the very cheapest Locked 3G GSM Iphones postpaid on AT&T contracts  

Apple Care is also the key referral source for so called iPhone insuance, but is really just a one year extended warranty with more than usual help desk support. If AT&T and Apple put their heads together is is probable that a first rate iPhone insurance plan could be conceived