The iPhone hasn’t changed much over the years, and for good reason – it’s simple and elegant in its own way, and that’s what appeals to consumers.  But its minimalistic design doesn’t come with a minimal price tag.  iPhones are quite expensive, and the main reason older versions of the iPhone are still in demand is because they offer a solid product at a lower price. But even after you buy a new iPhone, cheap or pricy, there’s still the service fees associated with data plans, voice plans and the looming threat of overage charges.

And this is why Walmart and Straight Talk’s new iPhone offering makes the iPhone more interesting.  Walmart offers the iPhone with a two-year contract from either AT&T, Verizon or Sprint.  Upfront, a 16GB iPhone 5 would cost $649 and the iPhone 4 for $449. But now, Walmart is offering Straight Talk’s unlimited plan for only $45 without being tied down to any contract.  The plan covers unlimited voice, messaging and data plan and they will help set your account up so you’d be able to keep your number from your previous carrier.

According to 9to5Mac’s assessment, because Straight Talk rides on AT&T’s network, they offer a pretty decent service.  Except for the fact that if you heavily rely on the iPhone’s visual voicemail, you’d be pretty disappointed with the plan because it doesn’t support this feature.

But what does this cheap new plan really mean for consumers?

Easy on the pocket

Who wouldn’t want something that offers unlimited voice, messaging and data plan for only $45?  If there’s anything cheaper that offers the same quality of service, I’m pretty sure consumers would jump on that boat in a blink of an eye.  Be wary of your data usage, however.  It’s no unlimited, as voice is.  For the $45 price point, your data is capped at 2GB a month.  With more on the topic is Contributing Editor John Cassaretto:

An alternative

Though it doesn’t support all of Apple’s features, like the visual voicemail, there’s always a work around.  You can use YouMail to pacify for your visual voicemail hunger.  Besides, traditional voicemail is still functional, so it’s not really a big deal that visual voicemail is absent from the StraightTalk offering.

Freedom

When you want an iPhone, you’ll be tied down to one of the three top carriers in the US with a two year contract, or you need to pay for the device at full price to be to take it home.  But with Walmart and Straight Talk’s offering, you won’t be tied down with a two-year contract from any carrier, plus you won’t have to spend as much just to get an unlimited plan.