Apple Offering Pre-Approval for iPhone Upgrade Program in Apple Store App

[itsjerald]

I'm considering joining the upgrade program but it won't let me. when it gets to the point where I have to enter my phone number and pin or last 4 of social it fails and doesn't give me a useful error. I'm on T-Mobile prepaid, so i'm assuming that is why... can you do the apple upgrade program if you on a prepaid account? If not, is there a way to somehow convert over to the apple upgrade program? FWIW, my current phone is an iPhone X that is unlocked and fully paid for.

Y

I'm considering joining the upgrade program but it won't let me. when it gets to the point where I have to enter my phone number and pin or last 4 of social it fails and doesn't give me a useful error. I'm on T-Mobile prepaid, so i'm assuming that is why... can you do the apple upgrade program if you on a prepaid account? If not, is there a way to somehow convert over to the apple upgrade program? FWIW, my current phone is an iPhone X that is unlocked and fully paid for.

Yes it will
Not work . You must be on postpaid . I would go to wherever your carrier is and get on a post paid plan non contract . Once done , you most likely can apply for the iphone upgrade plan via apples website

 

[travoose]

Citizens One has the worst system for tracking your iPhone details. One of my friends upgraded his wife and himself for the iPhone X. He wanted to post the 12th payment for just his plan and not his wife’s, but they couldn’t distinguish who’s plan was linked to the phones.

I think you’ll be fine for Friday morning’s preorder. I’m pretty sure Apple will take the 12th payment for your iPhone X, 1st month payment for your next iPhone X_, and taxes when you checkout.

If not, then there will be a lot of angry Day 1 iPhone X customers. It takes 24-48 hours for credit card payments to post and 24 hours for bank draft payments to post.

Thanks for the help...I hope all goes well!

 

[Detailmylifeaway]

I’m new to this whole process , if I sign up for apples iup program , can I pay the phone off early? And is the phone mine to keep at the end ?

 

[rumz]

Once you pay the phone off , is it yours to keep ? I see some people saying giving the phone back.

Yes it’s basically zero percent financing with an option to trade in mid-cycle for a new phone. If someone trades in their phone after 24 payments, they’re trading in a phone they own for whatever credit their phone might be worth.
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I’m new to this whole process , if I sign up for apples iup program , can I pay the phone off early? And is the phone mine to keep at the end ?

You should be able to pay off early—I haven’t done it so I don’t know what the process would be.
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The requirements for iUP have literally been the same since 2015 except for the annual income. In January of this year or last year is when they started asking for that.

All of that info is required whether they do a soft or hard pull. In my experience, it’s only a hard pull when it’s a totally new loan and not an upgrade.

I did a totally new loan for my partner on August 31 for an iPhone 8 and am doing a new loan for myself instead of upgrading and it should only be 1 hard pull. Apparently if it’s within 30 days they only do 1 pull.

Thanks for the heads up. I may call them but it’s not the end of the world if I wait a few weeks to order, either

 

[Explorz]

Is there any advantage of going through Apple instead of the carrier (in my case AT&T)?

I think that by going through your career you get a locked phone. With Apple you get an unlocked phone.

 

[tamaralig]

It’s a hard pull every time. Trust me. Take a look at your credit report at the end of the month and see.

No hard pull since the first original hard pull and this will make my 3rd upgrade under the program but in their terms they do say they have the right to hard pull

 

[bbednarz]

Can someone tell me why I should stick with the Apple Upgrade program? Been in it for the last two phones. I don’t love the idea of paying $800 up front for a phone but also don’t like the notion of renting. Makes me want to bail and wait for a carrier promo of buy one get one free. Other than including (and paying for) AppleCare and getting a new phone every year, what are the advantages? Buying a new phone every year and selling the old one at 30% off isn’t a horrible plan...

Aren't the carrier deals essentially renting the phone also? The phone gets paid off through the phone bill each month I think, could be wrong. The issue I have with reselling the phone is that I have to worry about babying it all year to get good value back. I just want to be able to use the phone without worry about scratching it. This will be my first upgrade through the program. It is nice knowing that all I need to pay right now is the first month and taxes, so roughly $150. Dropping in the neighborhood of $1300 for the base Xs in one payment is a tougher pill to swallow than the $50/month.

On a completely separate note... I wish Apple would stop this middle of the night pre-ordering nonsense. Start the pre-orders at 9pm pacific time so the rest of the country isn't awake well into the middle of the night. Makes no sense to me.

 

[urbanslaughter1997]

"When selecting 'View Pricing' on the iPhone XS . . . there's a banner option to 'Get Ready' for the iPhone XS pre-order." How come I'm not seeing this banner? I live in the US, bought this phone as part of the IUP, but on my phone and my iPad, I simply don't see this banner anywhere. Can anyone help me out? Thanks.

 

[c1phers]

I think its only a hard pull when you first join, then its a "soft" pull for each renew

Edit:


Just called citizens one.... They said it all depends on factors (good standing, no late payments etc)

I applied for the upgrade this AM and they told me it was NOT a hard pull for this year

This, it really depends on circumstances and its different from everyone. I just finished an upgrade cycle (phone paid off) so I had to start a new IUP and it was a hard pull on ONE of the credit bureaus, it's my only one on there so no big deal. I have friends that joined as well and it was a soft pull for them. Alternatively I know people in the program right now and it was a hard pull while others it was a soft pull. Everyone's payments were on time.

 

[jayartz]

The part that bothers me most is that the mechanics of the program don't work the way they should.

It is promoted as:

The easiest way to upgrade to the latest iPhone.

• Get a new iPhone every year

But it doesn't work that way in reality. If you upgraded to the latest iPhone last year (the iPhone X) you had to pay 13 payments for the previous phone (assuming you had iPhone 7S). To some extent that was reasonable, as you had the phone for an additional month.

This year, you have to pay an early upgrade fee (of one month), so AGAIN you are paying more for the latest phone.

I understand that technically those are the terms of the deal, but it feels wrong.

 

[macduke]

[

my score is 820 so not sure what to say.

Well then say it doesn't matter, because it clearly doesn't then, lol. Unless you really think that is why we have a 10 point disparity. The reason mine isn't higher is because I put nearly everything on a rewards credit card which I pay off each month, making my average credit balance seem a little higher than it actually is. And maybe also because I have a mortgage that is only two years old. But at 810 I could get just about anything I want anywhere and qualify for the lowest rates on mortgages. Honestly I feel like anything over 750 is pretty much golden. Don't worry about scores so much and just do what is easiest for you. I only do iUP because of the convenience (and the fact that I can invest the money I would have spent with a 0% loan). I realize a lot of people get into trouble with credit and aren't responsible but you don't sound like that guy so there's only upside unless you upgrade your phone every three years.

 

[MacStevestr]

Anyone know what the correct procedure is for paying an extra payment to upgrade? Do you have to do it through the loan place or will it happen during the order process?

I called CitizenOne today and they said it should ask you through the checkout process to make the payment. If you call CO they are saying it may be 2-3 days before your account is credited, so I'm going to wait and try tonight.
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A single hard pull has a very small effect on your credit score and adding more data points such as paying off the IUP loan each year and on time each month, will probably increase your score in the long run.

Unless you are actively seeking a mortgage this is indeed anal lol.

I don't think IUP reports to the credit report unless you miss payments. I don't think I have seen it on mine in the past.
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I did the pre approval. Anyone know if you can change colors if, you happened to change your mind ahead of Friday morning?

I seem to recall seeing you can make changes at order time because the order is not finalized until you submit it - better have quick fingers though.

 

[Black107]

Anyone else getting "We're Sorry. We can't find your account information with Verizon. Please verify your Wireless Number and try again." when going through the carrier verification step? My phone number and pin are most certainly correct.