AT&T to Begin Offering Shared Data Plans in Late August
Following Verizon's move to shared data plans last month, AT&T announced its own shift scheduled for late August. The new system offers a similar setup to Verizon's, with all plans including unlimited talk and text and monthly service pricing being based simply on the total data allotment and number and type of devices being used.
With AT&T Mobile Share plans, customers start by choosing how much data they want each month, then choose up to 10 devices to attach to their shared plan, one of which must be a smartphone. Each plan includes tethering and unlimited domestic calls and texts for smartphones and basic or quick messaging phones. The larger the data bucket you choose, the less you pay per gigabyte and the less you pay for each smartphone added to the shared plan
One wrinkle for AT&T's plans is a decreasing monthly smartphone device access cost as customers step up to higher data plans. While Verizon charges a flat $40 per month per smartphone, AT&T's starts at $45 for customers using just 1 GB of data but decreases to as low as $30 for accounts with 10 GB of data or more per month. Access costs for other devices are the same between AT&T and Verizon, with feature phones requiring a flat fee of $30 per month, laptop connections $20, and tablets $10.
AT&T undercuts Verizon at the simplest level with a single smartphone on a 1 GB data plan costing $85 per month ($40 data + $45 device), compared to $90 on Verizon ($50 data + $40 device), but adding additional smartphones to that 1 GB plan is more expensive on AT&T ($45 versus $40). Verizon's and AT&T's pricing are identical at the 4 GB level, while AT&T again takes the lead on higher-level plans with more data and devices. As an example, an account with four smartphones sharing 10 GB of data would cost $240 per month on AT&T ($120 data + 4 x $30 devices) versus $260 on Verizon ($100 data + 4 x $40 devices).
AT&T is launching its new plans as of "late August", and current customers will not be required to switch to shared data, although they may do so without extending the length of their contracts. New customers will have the option of selecting from the new shared data plans or the carrier's existing individual or family plans.
Popular Stories
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below.
Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important.
Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped.
The new ...
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more.
Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1.
Release Date
Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year.
Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors.
...
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out.
Processor and Performance
Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas.
The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
Apple launched the Apple TV HD, the Siri Remote, tvOS, and their accompanying App Store a decade ago today, marking a major overhaul of the device.
The new vision for the Apple TV was unveiled on September 9, 2015 during Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco, where CEO Tim Cook introduced the device with the statement, "The future of TV is apps." The announcement represented a major...
