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Iphone upgrade policy on ATT or Verizon?

A

aquablue

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 14, 2010
73
0
I'm interested in buying an iphone, but I don't want to buy the 4s and have the 5 come out in a few months. I'm hoping for a larger screen iphone.

I'm currently without a phone. If I buy a new contract from verizon or att, and I buy a temporary cheap android smartphone, will I be able to upgrade the phone to the new iphone when it comes out right away? Or will I have to wait nearly 2 years to do so due to upgrade policy? What should I do, should I just get a temporary pay per go phone and wait for the iphone 5, or should I get a contract now with the temporary phone?

Thanks.
Aq
 
lordofthereef

lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,720
Boston, MA
ANY phone you get, if you get it for the subsidized pricing, will lock you into that two year contract. You could pay full price for a cheap Android device and then still be eligible for the upgrade, however.
 
A

aquablue

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 14, 2010
73
0
All I want to know is, once you are in a contract with a new phone with ATT or Verizon, how long do you have to wait before being eligible to upgrade?
 
lordofthereef

lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,720
Boston, MA
aquablue said:
All I want to know is, once you are in a contract with a new phone with ATT or Verizon, how long do you have to wait before being eligible to upgrade?
Click to expand...

20 months, for a full upgrade. 12 months for a partial. I define partial as you can get $200 retail off of a handset after 12 months. (partial applies for ATT for usre, not sure on VZW)
 
A

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,363
549
Not sure and you may have to go to a few AT&T corp stores to find an agent willing to do this.

But you can go month to month on a post paid AT&T plan and save your subsidized upgrade.

It's a pain sometimes and some people over on Howard forums have "lost their upgrade" doing this bring your own phone to AT&T post paid on month to month and had to wait 11 months for another upgrade.

Why don't you just ride out your current contract? Or use straight talk prepaid or some other prepaid until the new iPhone comes out? Seems to be a much better solution.
 
labman

labman

macrumors 604
Jun 9, 2009
7,786
2
Mich near Detroit
you are talking roughly 6 months no carrier is going to give you a upgrade in that time period. you are looking at iphone 6 for a upgrade on either carrier. my advice buy it now then sell it when the new one comes out you should get $400 or close to it. then add another 2-300 and you have iphone 5 with no contract you can even buy it factory unlocked. look at ebay and Craigslist in your area to see if you will get more for Verizon or AT&T phone imo the latter will get more.
 
Willyb26

Willyb26

macrumors member
Nov 1, 2011
36
0
labman said:
you are talking roughly 6 months no carrier is going to give you a upgrade in that time period. you are looking at iphone 6 for a upgrade on either carrier. my advice buy it now then sell it when the new one comes out you should get $400 or close to it. then add another 2-300 and you have iphone 5 with no contract you can even buy it factory unlocked. look at ebay and Craigslist in your area to see if you will get more for Verizon or AT&T phone imo the latter will get more.
Click to expand...

+1 for Craigslist, I've scored many a deal on there. If you decide to go that route, and you buy a used Verizon cell phone, make sure you meet at a version store to activate it right away. NEVER ever buy a phone (one that you want to use on the network) that has a BAD ESN. If your only using it as an iPod then you can get ones with a bad ESN very cheap. I hope that helped!
 
A

aquablue

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 14, 2010
73
0
Ok, so If i buy a used iphone 4s for either ATT or Verizon, I have to get a service from them as there is no way to swap SIM cards, correct?

So, what happens after I get it? Do I need to get a new contract with ATT/VZ to use the phone with a 4G data plan or can I do pay-per-use?

Oh, and silly question, but the att iphones don't allow you to open the SIM slots, right?
 
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