That's kind of true. But it depends on what you mean by "little-to-nothing out of pocket" costs. I have a iphone 5 32gb and most are going for $400-430 range on ebay. After fees the net take is well under $400 and non-contract 32gb 5(s) is $749.
Nope. No point. iPhone 5 is great as it is, and the 5S isn't enough of an upgrade to warrant the hassle of selling and buying the 5S, and incurring the price difference (IMHO).
I'm going from the 5 > 5S because my mother is kind enough to let me use her upgrade....
Here's my sitch:
I'm on a family plan still because its cheaper than my wife and I splitting to our own plan (which wouldn't save either of our families any money theirs). I'm the mobile device junkie in my family. I'm also the oldest and only kid who works - both my brothers are in college/law school and my sister is still in HS - so I have money to drop on devices.
On our family plan we have 5 phone lines and 2 iPad lines. One of those iPad lines is mine, while the other is my mom's so effectively we have 7 upgradable lines. My siblings all use theirs every two years, so those 3 are off limits to me.
My wife is on a plan with her mom and grandmother - both of whom are perfectly content with their devices (a 4S and 5) and couldn't care less about upgrading.....really they only do it when we present the opportunity.
This is how my 2013 has gone as far as smartphones....
(1) Began the year with an iPhone 5 I got at launch on my mom's iPad line. (My phone line's upgrade was used to get the 4S in Feb 2012....was sorta a forced thing as my 4 died and I figured I'd just use the upgrade).
(2) Bought a Nexus 4 in February - my first Android device. My job requires a cell so I was, at the time, carrying two iPhones around. Figured I would switch my personal device to an Android since I was required to have an iPhone for work.
(3) Used an early upgrade on my phone line in May to purchase an HTC One (sold my Nexus 4).
(4) Used my mother-in-law's upgrade in August to purchase a GS4 (sold my HTC One - made $250).
(5) Recently sold my iPhone 5 in preparation of the 5S (will make $225 after purchasing 5S).
My plan is to use my mom's upgrade on the 5S, and sometime down the line, use an early upgrade from my iPad line to purchase a 5C for $350. I'll also keep tabs on the Nexus 5 and will likely pick one up when it's released so essentially I'll have:
Galaxy S4 (main personal phone)
Nexus 5 (backup Android)
iPhone 5S (main work phone)
iPhone 5C (backup iPhone)
Unfortunately, this sets me up to be without an upgrade until early 2015, but I can deal with that. If the 6 is mind-blowing I'll have devices to sell to offset the cost of buying it outright.
Isn't family great![]()
This is my stance. I'm a tech junkie but I can't justify the work.
I currently have AT&T an an iPhone 5.
The apple store app is saying on October 24th 2013 I can save $200.
Anyone know is this set in stone. I want the 5s but would hate to have to wait for October 24th.
AT&T provides several benefits and options for replacing your wireless device:
Source
- Upgrade to the best selection of devices every 24 months. Two-year service agreement required.
- Get a new device every year with an AT&T Next installment plan.
- Purchase a device at full retail price any time.
- Transfer upgrade eligibility from one line on your account to another provided it's within the same device category.
- Qualify for an early upgrade offer after 6 months of activation or upgrade and receive a partial discount off of the full retail price with a 2-year service agreement.
Mine said October 22nd 2013 when I looked on Apple. I called AT&T and talked them into letting me get my partial discount early. After doing some research on their website, they have not updated their upgrade options:
I told them about this and they were happy to adjust my eligibly date to allow me to get the partial discount on September 20, 2013, however, I can only get it at an AT&T store as it will not be in Apple's system which is fine by me. He escalated the issue through his supervisor to get the website fixed so I'm not sure how long this will state the old policy, so YMMV.
I was talking with an AT&T rep phone call got dropped.
Just curious, is this something were they make a note of it on their systems. So on the 20th when they look up your information, lets say at the AT&T store, they will see you are eligible for an early upgrade on September 20th rather than October 22nd?
Also on a side note concerning AT&T do I have this correct:
I bought my iPhone 5 on October 23rd 2012. And signed a 2 year contract.
My options:
Pay like $35.00 a month for the next program. Will be able to buy latest iPhone at the base price. No contract. Locked to AT&T? Unlocked?
On the 20th of September get an iPhone 5s buying it outright at $849.00. My current contract which I am a year into keeps going. iPhone 5s unlocked.
Wait till October 24th (or September 20th if I can get AT&T to allow it) as per apple store app and early upgrade eligibility. Pay $649.00. Sign new 2 year contract.
The way I look at it for me. I either save $200.00 now with early upgrade, but pay down the road ala iPhone 6, because I sign a new 2 year contract.
Or I pay the extra $200 now and leave my contract alone but save on upgrade for iPhone 6.
But I don't know 1. Will early upgrade(a year into the contract) still be available when the iPhone 6 comes out?
2. Would I save more than $200 for an iPhone 6 if my 2 year contract completely expired?
I did this last year. You purchase the iPhone, subsidized, on the new line, but you activate it on your existing line. You need to have another phone to use on the new line. I didn't have an old phone to use, so I bought a cheap prepaid phone and used that. The rep at the AT&T store did it all for me on release day...it was painless and gives me an available subsidized upgrade each year. It's worth $10/month to me because I like to have the latest version of the iPhone. The AT&T rep told me that they do this "upgrade swap" all the time...
Its idiotic to upgrade if you have the 5. When ios7 comes out you pretty much have the 5S without the fingerprint scanner and some minor camera features. If you have the 4 or 4s yes its worth it
I'm thinking of upgrading my 4S to the 5, although up til now, Canadian contracts have been 3 years for the same subsidies. That recently changed by our government, but I still have 1.75 years left on my contract and have had the phone for 1.5 years (early renewal). The new contracts are 2 years though.
I wonder if I can convince my provider to shorten the contract or something...
Buying the 5 unlocked used makes good sense for me versus the 5S or 5C.
It has been less than a year for me but using a early upgrade to get 5S trading my 5 in at 350 getting the 64gb paying 300 so I think it's worth it.
Thanks for the info on this. So do you just turn the ringer off on the prepaid phone and store it in the drawer? LOL
Well I just got off the phone with AT&T and mentioned I wanted to add a line (which would be a family plan) and she pretty much knew exactly what I wanted to do and said Yes they can transfer upgrades between these 2 lines.
My questions is now what is best way for me to do this since I don't currently have a cheat 3G capable phone to activate. Go buy a contract free Cheap phone at BestBuy or ebay? Do those Go Phones work in this instance?![]()
Do you mean you're trading it into the Apple Store?