(click on image for larger size)

Here’s my favorite unofficial picture (wish I knew who created it) from yesterday’s announcement of the Apple iPhone 3G. While the iPhone 3G hardware price has been cut in half to $199, the mandatory AT&T Data Plan has actually gone up (from its current $20 monthly plan) to a total of $30 a month. With a mandatory 2-year contract, that extra $10 a month adds an extra $240 to the price tag… actually making the package $40 MORE expensive than the 1.0 version of the iPhone. Here’s how that math works out:

iPhone 1.0 = $399 | 2 Year AT&T Data Plan = $480 | $399 + $480 = $879

iPhone 3G= $199 | 2 Year AT&T Data Plan = $720 | $199 + $720 = $919

Not that ANY of this is going to keep me from getting a new 3G iPhone! I just wanted to point out that it’s still about the same price, it’s just a different way of getting that same money from the customer. But now at least the customer gets 3G and GPS!

And for those that are concerned that their iPhone 1.0 will have lost all of its value on resale (because of of the $199 3G price tag), I would argue that the 1.0 models are now more valuable than ever. Because the iPhone 3G is ONLY available for $199 with a mandatory 2 year contract and in-store activation, it means that if you choose to jailbreak your iPhone 3G you’re still stuck with a 2 year contract or an early termination fee. For a lot of people that still want to run the iPhone on a different carrier than AT&T and be able to install free apps (vs. paying for them in the App Store), the iPhone 1.0 model will remain in HIGH demand.