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Quick question...you want to upgrade to the next iphone (8) after 12 months time.... do you have to pay tax again? or only on the first initial purchase for the iPhone 7? thanks
 
The more I think about it, the more Apple really dropped the ball on this. Part of the reason to have an upgrade program like this is to lock people even further into an Apple's ecosystem. If you have an iPhone and you're in the program, and you're 12 payments in, you can either get a new iPhone only or stay with the one you have for another year. I didn't even really love the 7 announcement but I still went with it because the upgrade program made it worthwhile. Now I'm stuck making an extra payment or two on it, and that makes me wonder why I shouldn't just stick with the 6s all the way through to the end (which I will be doing), and on top of that, why I should stick with the upgrade program at all (which I won't be doing).

And by next year when my phone is all paid off, since I'm no longer interested in the upgrade program, there's nothing making me stay with Apple or the iPhone. If some other manufacturer has come up with something more interesting, there's no penalty for me to switch over. I'm not saying that will be the case, but it's a possibility.

The only reason I went with the upgrade program over the 24 month financing is that I like the idea of having the newest iPhone each year and upgrading without the hassle of selling off my old phone. But now Apple has shown that their system has at least as much hassle, if not more. So now they've gone from me buying one phone a year, plus accessories, to one phone every two to three years (because maybe I want a year where I'm not paying financing), and I'm less locked in with them.

Of course, my circumstances aren't applicable to everyone but I think that's probably a common enough scenario that Apple should be worried about it.

Oh well, at least I'll have my headphone jack for another year or two.
 
It's a really big f$%k up on Apple's part. Not having that many Jet Black is one thing, its the new premium fancy phone style, but not having any black phones available at all? That's just not acceptable.
 
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Quick question...you want to upgrade to the next iphone (8) after 12 months time.... do you have to pay tax again? or only on the first initial purchase for the iPhone 7? thanks

You will always pay tax based off the full price of the phone when you upgrade
 
Thought about it and realized I don't need to pay off the 6s balance. I'll just sell it and use the cash to pay off half of the iPhone 7+ that I ordered. This way I'll continue to make monthly payments (interest free) on the 6s that I don't own.
 
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My husband and I made a reservation for 9/16 at 8am. We are upgrading from using the upgrade program last year. It didn't ask us for a social so I'm confused when I read some of your posts. We have our confirmation emails that just say to bring the existing phone, ids, blah blah blah.
 
I think that if the order goes through for processing then you should be good. I saw a charged immediately start pending on my credit card

That makes sense...I see the charge pending for $124 from IPHONE CITIZENSONELOAN BRIDGEPORT CT. I was worried I'd be waiting for a phone that was never coming. Thanks!!
 
You will always pay tax based off the full price of the phone when you upgrade
damnit... so once a year its ~$70-80 on top of the device payment.
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That makes sense...I see the charge pending for $124 from IPHONE CITIZENSONELOAN BRIDGEPORT CT. I was worried I'd be waiting for a phone that was never coming. Thanks!!
I just looked at my CC transactions and i have 10 from apple from citizens! I assume those pending transactions will go away soon....
 
And Apple decided to rub salt in the wound by emailing me telling me that my iPhone is eligible for an upgrade.
 
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And Apple decided to rub salt in the wound by emailing me telling me that my iPhone is eligible for an upgrade.

Got the same email, which would have been useful if they sent this before or when the Apple Store opened up as it allows quickly choosing the location, model and carrier on one page.

Three stores around me and all are sold out of the 7 Plus except for the 32 and 256 GB Rose Gold (different stores). The 7 is available. That leads me to believe the supply for the 7 Plus was very short this year. I had no problems making a reservation for the 6s plus last year.
 
It's a really big f$%k up on Apple's part. Not having that many Jet Black is one thing, its the new premium fancy phone style, but not having any black phones available at all? That's just not acceptable.

I ended up getting a silver 128 7+ because there were no blacks available right from the start. Oh well. It'll be my first white faced phone:confused:
 
damnit... so once a year its ~$70-80 on top of the device payment.
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I just looked at my CC transactions and i have 10 from apple from citizens! I assume those pending transactions will go away soon....

Another reason to abandon this ridiculous 'upgrade' program.
 
The annoying thing is that I thought this would be a great way to upgrade my phone without risking my Verizon unlimited data. And it would have been had Apple made it work.
 
That makes sense...I see the charge pending for $124 from IPHONE CITIZENSONELOAN BRIDGEPORT CT. I was worried I'd be waiting for a phone that was never coming. Thanks!!

Do you also have a refund from them for the same amount? I assume this is citizens one checking to see that you have funds available on the CC and then will be charged again when the phone ships
 
I just switched to Apple Upgrade Program (new sign-up). Now I'm wondering what I got myself into, when next year comes around and I have to fight for an appointment slot and physically go in (the nearest Apple Store is about 40 min from our house). Sounds like you have to take whatever time slot they give you, and rearrange your day around it. Is that true? Also, my wife is the primary on the AT&T account. Do we both have to go in or can I do it for both of us?

I may just cancel my order and try again through AT&T in December.
 
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Another reason to abandon this ridiculous 'upgrade' program.

Any financing plan whether it be the upgrade program or financing with your carrier will make you pay the tax on the full price of the phone. The only real advantage of the upgrade program that I see is getting Apple care plus included in the price rather than paying full price upon purchasing the phone
[doublepost=1473409494][/doublepost]I am a current member of the program but decided to re enroll rather than use the upgrade option. I will use the money I get from selling this phone to pay off the remaining 12 months. Just seemed like a better option to me
 
I didn't enroll in that program because to me it wasn't saying I was guaranteed an automatic upgrade annually. I still assumed I'd have to go through the same motions I went through tonight. I also didn't think the UP folks had priority over ordering. It seems this was a correct assumption. Sucks for folks who thought differently. I can almost see how Apple misleads people into thinking that every launch of a new phone is fairly secured if the customer wants it.

damnit... so once a year its ~$70-80 on top of the device payment.
[doublepost=1473408086][/doublepost]
I just looked at my CC transactions and i have 10 from apple from citizens! I assume those pending transactions will go away soon....
Why would it not be that way? Even with subsidized phones we paid tax outright on the cost of the phone each time we got a new phone.


Thought about it and realized I don't need to pay off the 6s balance. I'll just sell it and use the cash to pay off half of the iPhone 7+ that I ordered. This way I'll continue to make monthly payments (interest free) on the 6s that I don't own.
That makes little sense. Why not pay off the phone you don't own with the money you got from the sale of said phone? Or are you paying interest on your new 7+?
 
I just switched to Apple Upgrade Program (new sign-up). Now I'm wondering what I got myself into, when next year comes around and I have to fight for an appointment slot and physically go in (the nearest Apple Store is about 40 min from our house). Sounds like you have to take whatever time slot they give you, and rearrange your day around it. Is that true? Also, my wife is the primary on the AT&T account. Do we both have to go in or can I do it for both of us?

I may just cancel my order and try again through AT&T in December.

You can normally pick a day and time, similar to Genius Bar appointments. Launch day pre-appointment orders are only for that day. So for example it was only possible to reserve appointments for this launch for the 16th. Appointments on the 17th and later can't be reserved till the 17th.

Basically don't expect to be able to get next year's phone any time near launch day next year.
 
I am a current member of the program but decided to re enroll rather than use the upgrade option. I will use the money I get from selling this phone to pay off the remaining 12 months. Just seemed like a better option to me

Just remember you are effectively paying for an extra year of AppleCare+ that you aren't using if you do that. I think you might be able to get a refund for that year from Apple though.

Also you'll have to sell the phone for at least 50% of what it cost last year to break even (not including the $65 extra for AppleCare+).
 
Ridiculous. 7+ must have been hella low on supply. I could still reserve a 7 if I wanted, but I'm not gonna give in.

Like others, I'm gonna be stuck making payments on a phone I'm trying to switch out. Then upgrade month gonna be pushed back for next year. Program not as easy as Apple claimed it was...
 
I finally managed to get into AT&T and do a Next upgrade there. Seems like those on corporate FAN accounts weren't permitted in until 4 AM CST. I tried after that and got in fine. I was able to preorder two jet black 128's, one 4.7 and one Plus, both shipping mid October, which was better than Apple's shipping date for the Plus, quoted two hours ago.

So I will cancel the Apple orders through their Upgrade Program tomorrow. Unfortunately that program doesn't fit with my desire to upgrade on release date (or reasonably soon thereafter) without having to go to the store.
 
Ridiculous. 7+ must have been hella low on supply. I could still reserve a 7 if I wanted, but I'm not gonna give in.

Like others, I'm gonna be stuck making payments on a phone I'm trying to switch out. Then upgrade month gonna be pushed back for next year. Program not as easy as Apple claimed it was...
I'm still confused on this, do you mean because the phone doesn't ship until October, that you will end up paying an extra month for the device payment? The iPhone upgrade program is interest free, so you aren't paying more than you would at full price.
 
It's a shame you can't use this program with T-Mobile on apple's website. Why they make you go to a store.......
 
I just switched to Apple Upgrade Program (new sign-up). Now I'm wondering what I got myself into, when next year comes around and I have to fight for an appointment slot and physically go in (the nearest Apple Store is about 40 min from our house). Sounds like you have to take whatever time slot they give you, and rearrange your day around it. Is that true? Also, my wife is the primary on the AT&T account. Do we both have to go in or can I do it for both of us?

I may just cancel my order and try again through AT&T in December.
I just signed up also (but att next12). 400 down payment and 20$ a month. I plan on paying off the phone next august in time for the new launch. That way i can actually pre order it and have it shipped like normal. Ill sell the phone and make a profit instead of turning it in to ATT
 
I'm on the Upgrade Program. I went to order a Black 7 128gb. My local ( Monterey, CA.) store was greyed out, but since I was going to San Francisco on the 16th, I was able to reserve a spot in store at Union Square for late afternoon. This was around 1:20 am Pacific time.

On a lark, at 5:45 am I went to Apple.com and went through the process to buy outright the same phone.
I now have an appointment at 8-8:30 am at my local Monterey Apple Store.

When I get there I might say "Oh, I'm on the Upgrade Plan" and see what happens.
 
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