Technologies

T-Mobile’s Forced Plan Migration: How That Impacts Your Next Bill and How You Can Opt Out

Expect to pay more for a new plan unless you decline.

T-Mobile is forcing users on its older unlimited plans to move to some of its latest options. The carrier confirmed to CNET that starting next week, notices will be sent to T-Mobile users on its older One, Simple Choice, Magenta and Magenta 55 Plus plans, alerting them that starting with their November bill cycles their respective plans will change and their monthly pricing will go up.

The notices will go out starting Oct. 17, and T-Mobile tells CNET that «there will be an increase of approximately $10 per line with the migration.» A spokesperson noted that those who sign up for AutoPay can save $5 per line (on up to eight lines per account).

T-Mobile recently changed its automatic payment rules to require a linked bank account or debit card as opposed to a credit card, though with the company’s troubled history of data breaches consumers may be wary of linking banking information to their accounts.

Read more: Our picks for the best phone plans

«We’re always looking for ways to give our customers more from our services so we’re moving a small number who were on older rate plans to newer plans that will deliver them enhanced features,» T-Mobile said in a statement. It wasn’t immediately clear how many people will be impacted or what a «small number» meant.

The company adds that those who don’t want to have their plan changed will be able to reverse the move, but they’ll need to call T-Mobile’s Customer Care support line to make that happen.

The carrier is giving users a period of time to call in and reverse the forced switch, but how long that period will be is unknown at this point. It’s also unknown whether customers who go back will be able to stay on their older plans for good or if a reversal simply buys a little more time before they’re again compelled to switch.

News of the plan changes first leaked on Reddit, The Mobile Report and on the Tech Life Channel on YouTube.

According to the leak on Reddit, customers on Simple Choice will be moved to either Magenta or Essentials Select, folks on Magenta or One will move to Go5G, and people on Magenta 55 Plus will be migrated to Go5G 55 Plus. Business users on Simple Choice Business will similarly be switched over to the carrier’s Business Unlimited Advanced.

The forced changes to legacy plans come more than three years after T-Mobile completed its merger with Sprint. One of the promises to get the merger approved by regulators was that the carrier wouldn’t raise rates on plans for three years. It’s since introduced a Price Lock promise to not raise rates on plans, but that guarantee largely applies only to its newer plans, from the last two years.

As part of its Price Lock page, T-Mobile does note that customers who are on «eligible plans» from before April 28, 2022, and don’t want to switch to a new T-Mobile plan will be able to have the carrier cover «your final month’s recurring service charge if we were to raise prices and you choose to leave.»

People looking to take advantage of that offer need to give the carrier notice «within 60 days.»

Technologies

Honor’s Shimmering Magic V Flip 2 Has Arrived to Outshine Samsung’s Galaxy Flip

The flip foldable, releasing in China, includes a limited edition model co-designed by Jimmy Choo.

Honor has unveiled a new flip phone in China, and the company is billing it as, «the ultimate selfie device.» The Magic V Flip 2 includes an ultra-wide portrait mode, AI photography features and a playful, sparkly design.

The Magic V Flip 2 adds another device to Honor’s increasing lineup of foldable phones. So far, it’s only releasing the Magic V Flip 2 in China, starting on Aug. 28. It will sell for RMB 5,499 or about $766 USD.

The Magic V Flip2 appears to be geared toward influencers and fashionistas — a limited edition version of the new phone is co-designed by fashion icon Jimmy Choo and is, «inspired by the subtle shimmer of crystals.» It comes in deep sea blue and has a crushed stardust design, according to Honor’s press release.

Honor is also touting the phone’s 5,500mAh battery, which it says is the largest on the market for a flip phone. The also phone features a 200-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 50 MP selfie camera. The Magic V Flip 2’s closest competition may be Samsung’s Galaxy Flip 7 FE, which is about $200 more expensive than the Magic V Flip 2.

Technologies

Silksong, Long-Awaited Hollow Knight Spinoff, Gets Release Date: Sept. 4

Announced in 2019, Team Cherry’s follow-up is coming sooner than expected, and it’s on Game Pass on Day 1.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is the follow-up, announced back in 2019, to one of the most beloved indie games of the last decade. In a special announcement video on Thursday, Australian developer Team Cherry revealed that the wait is almost over.

Silksong will be released on Sept. 4, according to the new trailer. The almost two-minute video reveals some of the new enemies and bosses in the upcoming spinoff and ends with the surprise release date.

Originally, Silksong was going to be a DLC for Hollow Knight. However, numerous delays resulted in it being pushed back again and again. Glimpses of the game would show up here and there over the years, but it was this year that it received the most attention from Nintendo as part of its Switch 2 lineup, and from Microsoft, which confirmed it would be available on Xbox Game Pass.

Hollow Knight: Silksong will be available on PC, Switch, Switch 2, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, PS4 and PS5. It will be available on Day 1 for Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

Technologies

PS5 Prices Go Up Today. Here’s How Much and Why

You can expect to pay more for a new PlayStation, thanks to «a challenging economic environment.»

Sony will increase the prices of its PlayStation 5 consoles in the US, starting today. This follows the trend of console manufacturers such as Microsoft and Nintendo raising prices for their hardware in response to tariffs.

The PlayStation-maker posted about the price change Wednesday. The jump in price is $50 more than the current price for each model.

The new prices are:

PlayStation 5: $500 to $550
PlayStation 5 Digital Edition: $450 to $500
PlayStation 5 Pro: $700 to $750

«Similar to many global businesses, we continue to navigate a challenging economic environment,» Sony said in a post about the price increase.

As of Thursday morning, retailers and Sony’s online store have yet to update the console prices. This jump in price also will likely affect recently released PS5 bundles such as the Astro Bot bundle and Fortnite Cobal bundle.

Sony says accessories have not been affected by the change and this cost hike only affects the US.

In May, Microsoft increased the price of the Xbox Series consoles and Nintendo hiked the original Switch console price and Switch 2 accessories this month.

While the companies didn’t point to the tariffs instituted by President Donald Trump as the reason for the hardware price jump, it would explain the trend in recent months.