T-Mobile has just announced a new monthly phone plan called Magenta Max, which the company said was designed for the 5G era. According to this press release, T-Mobile claims that Magenta Max ‘is the first and only 5G smartphone plan for consumers that you can not slow down, based on how much data you use.’ This makes it sound as if the carrier is engaged in so-called deprioritization, where your speed is subject to delay after exceeding a certain amount of data in a billing cycle.
“T-Mobile has the highest capacity available 5G network – a network that is so powerful that it can begin to unleash the power of 5G to deliver unlimited premium data,” the company said. Magenta Max promises ‘unlimited 4K UHD’ video streaming compared to DVD quality (or at best 1080p), which offers plenty of unlimited plans. T-Mobile is also expanding its “Netflix on Us” business to single-line customers.
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Magenta Max takes the place of the previous Magenta Plus plan and will be available from 24 February. It contains 40 GB of high-speed fixed data, plus the usual T-Mobile benefits like free Wi-Fi in flight from Gogo, extensive international coverage and Scam Shield protection.
T-Mobile says the price is “$ 57 per line per month for three lines with auto payment and monthly taxes and fees included.” For a limited time, it dropped to $ 47 per line per month for three lines. I asked what the Max plan would cost for single line customers.
Many of these have a “too good to be true” sound, and I’m also on the lookout for asterisks or limits that T-Mobile does not seem to be talking about.
In addition to Magenta Max, T-Mobile is also making changes to its core Magenta plan. It raises the monthly depreciation ceiling to 100 GB from the 50 GB it currently offers. Customers are also getting more fast internet data: it is now 5 GB compared to 3 GB previously.