Upgrade to iPhone 5 & keeping unlimited Verizon plan with

No if you buy the phone outright you do not have to sign another 2 year contract. Your 5 will be month to month, no cancellation penalties. The 4S is yours to keep free and clear if you satisfied the terms of your original 2 year agreement.

cowbellallen said:

I have 4 months left under my two year contract with Verizon. I also have an unlimited plan. Seeing as I really don't understand how cell phone companies work, I'd rally appreciate some help!

I want to upgrade to an iPhone 5 and keep my unlimited plan. I understand to do this, I need to buy the phone outright (something like $750). But do I need to wait until the 4 months of my contract are up, or can I go ahead and buy the iPhone 5 and activate it and do whatever with the iPhone 4 I currently have?

Thanks for any help, I'm a big newb to iPhone!

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To keep your unlimited plan with Verizon, you CANNOT, under any circumstances, sign a new contract. If you do, you lose the unlimited data plan and you will not be able to get it back. Period.

As for buying an iPhone 5 out of contract, yes, it will be that expensive, at least. You can do it at any time. I'm pretty sure you can't order the phone from the online Apple Store, but I could be wrong; they might require you to do it with a two year agreement. I don't know about how the Apple retail stores do it. I do know that you can do it by showing up to a Verizon retail store and buying one that way; that might be the easiest option sans headache. For how much you're paying, I'd highly recommending getting AppleCare+.