all phones with a similar hardware config are priced like this. probably because it's an easy way to make money from the few suckers who must buy the latest phone every 3 months or want "freedom" of owning a phone. and it's still a new market and margins are high. back in the 1990's Dell used to have Apple's margins. wait a few years and apple will need to find something else to sell that commands high margins
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AT&T Moves Up iPhone Upgrade Eligibility On Eve of WWDC Keynote
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all phones with a similar hardware config are priced like this. probably because it's an easy way to make money from the few suckers who must buy the latest phone every 3 months or want "freedom" of owning a phone. and it's still a new market and margins are high. back in the 1990's Dell used to have Apple's margins. wait a few years and apple will need to find something else to sell that commands high margins
I called and ran into the AT&T store and they both said that if I paid the termination fee I could immediately sign up for a new contract and the get the new customer pricing.
Don't you lose your phone number that way?
Is it really cheaper to do that than to just pay the 399/499 (is that the price)?
More specifically -- anyone who bought a 3GS *and* has only a single phone with no discounts. Family plan and/or discounts means you are paying less than $69/month.
That is only assuming you have the bottom rung plan, and that you don't have a sms package (or any other addons).
i really wish that AT&T didn't own the sole rights to the iphone. i would love to be able to use it on the Verizon network
Yep, it's cheaper. I don't care about the phone number. I just give everyone my Google Voice number and it forwards to whatever phone I have. You were right on the price.
I wonder how many people are going to buy the iPhone 4 on AT&T as soon as it's released and then be kicking themselves when Apple announces iPhone 4 on Verizon after June 29?
Mark
Mark
so what would this mean?
You can take advantage of our no commitment pricing. Additional discounts may be available on 05/23/2011
iPhone Upgrade As a valued AT&T customer, we can offer you a discounted iPhone upgrade at a higher price, along with a 2-year commitment and an $18 upgrade fee. Please proceed with the online upgrade process for pricing details. You may qualify for a full discount on a standard iPhone upgrade on 05/23/2011 *
You can take advantage of our no commitment pricing. Additional discounts may be available on 05/23/2011
iPhone Upgrade As a valued AT&T customer, we can offer you a discounted iPhone upgrade at a higher price, along with a 2-year commitment and an $18 upgrade fee. Please proceed with the online upgrade process for pricing details. You may qualify for a full discount on a standard iPhone upgrade on 05/23/2011 *
Found somewhat of an answer...
Alright, so it seems i've found the answer to one of my questions, that being how much the iPhone will cost to those who aren't eligible for an upgrade at this time. iPhone 4 will cost $499.99 via the early upgrade offer.
http://www.att.com/Common/about_us/files/iphone/pricing_fact_sheet_ip4.pdf
Alright, so it seems i've found the answer to one of my questions, that being how much the iPhone will cost to those who aren't eligible for an upgrade at this time. iPhone 4 will cost $499.99 via the early upgrade offer.
http://www.att.com/Common/about_us/files/iphone/pricing_fact_sheet_ip4.pdf
Slight problem...
I just got off of a 45 minute phone conversation with an AT&T agent, and I have the low down on the situation as of right now. Keep in mind that because the iPhone was only announced just 2 days ago, no one at AT&T or Apple really knows what is going on when it comes to somewhat complicated situations that you and I would find extremely simple.
I posted earlier on this topic about my current situation stating that my full upgrade may happen on Feb 11, 2011. The agent informed me that I could get a fully subsidized iPhone on that date for the best pricing, however my early upgrade wouldn't be available until November 20, 2010.
So as this situation sits, I could pre-order iPhone 4 for $699 fully unsubsidized, wait until November 20th to get the "early upgrade" price and get it for $499, and wait a dead awfully long time until February 20th, 2011 to get it for $299. When I asked the agent why I couldn't do an "early upgrade" for the pre-order just as I did last year for the iPhone 3GS, the agent said that in her system it pushed me back due to some stupid formality.
This formality would only happen to be that we upgraded our family plan to 1400 minutes last month, so therefor it pushed back our early upgrade 6 months.
I told the agent I could understand why this might be the case for any other phone, but on their website it claims that no matter what, if you are not eligible for an upgrade, you can still get their "special" iPhone early upgrade. This is completely different than their standard policy. But of course, AT&T didn't prepare their agents to provide information for this kind of situation.
The agent however informed me of a "team meeting" that AT&T would be having tomorrow and she would bring up my situation with her team and her manager to get to the bottom of this mess. I expect to hear back today from AT&T with an answer, I will keep you all informed of what I hear.
What is absurd with AT&T, is that even when you upgrade a plan, be it texting, data, or minutes, they stab you in the back with pushing your upgrade eligibility back 6 months. If you spend more money, you'd think they would reward you. But no, it's more fun to penalize customers and make them unhappy. What a great business strategy.
I hope it turns out that with the iPhone 4 its a special case scenario in that anyone can qualify for an early upgrade even if they aren't eligible for an upgrade. This would make customers happy, keep customers with AT&T for another 2 years, and would help Apple sell more iPhone's. This seems like the appropriate business strategy. But who knows, it's AT&T we are dealing with here.
I just got off of a 45 minute phone conversation with an AT&T agent, and I have the low down on the situation as of right now. Keep in mind that because the iPhone was only announced just 2 days ago, no one at AT&T or Apple really knows what is going on when it comes to somewhat complicated situations that you and I would find extremely simple.
I posted earlier on this topic about my current situation stating that my full upgrade may happen on Feb 11, 2011. The agent informed me that I could get a fully subsidized iPhone on that date for the best pricing, however my early upgrade wouldn't be available until November 20, 2010.
So as this situation sits, I could pre-order iPhone 4 for $699 fully unsubsidized, wait until November 20th to get the "early upgrade" price and get it for $499, and wait a dead awfully long time until February 20th, 2011 to get it for $299. When I asked the agent why I couldn't do an "early upgrade" for the pre-order just as I did last year for the iPhone 3GS, the agent said that in her system it pushed me back due to some stupid formality.
This formality would only happen to be that we upgraded our family plan to 1400 minutes last month, so therefor it pushed back our early upgrade 6 months.
I told the agent I could understand why this might be the case for any other phone, but on their website it claims that no matter what, if you are not eligible for an upgrade, you can still get their "special" iPhone early upgrade. This is completely different than their standard policy. But of course, AT&T didn't prepare their agents to provide information for this kind of situation.
The agent however informed me of a "team meeting" that AT&T would be having tomorrow and she would bring up my situation with her team and her manager to get to the bottom of this mess. I expect to hear back today from AT&T with an answer, I will keep you all informed of what I hear.
What is absurd with AT&T, is that even when you upgrade a plan, be it texting, data, or minutes, they stab you in the back with pushing your upgrade eligibility back 6 months. If you spend more money, you'd think they would reward you. But no, it's more fun to penalize customers and make them unhappy. What a great business strategy.
I hope it turns out that with the iPhone 4 its a special case scenario in that anyone can qualify for an early upgrade even if they aren't eligible for an upgrade. This would make customers happy, keep customers with AT&T for another 2 years, and would help Apple sell more iPhone's. This seems like the appropriate business strategy. But who knows, it's AT&T we are dealing with here.
I don't think you don't need to switch the eligibility between lines.
Attempt to pre-order from ATT or Apple on June 15, put your account info in and see what price comes up. If it's the $199 price for the 16GB, for instance, go for it.
When the phone arrives requiring activation through iTunes, put whatever phone number in that you want to be associated with the new micro-SIM, ATT will do the rest. Note that the line which was referenced to get the discounted price must maintain an iPhone data plan to fulfill the contract.
Because half of the time the people at the AT&T call center dont know what theyre talking about. People who have gone through it multiple times, veterans of the iphone upgrade, know whats REALLY going on.
True that. It seems that Apple tries to keep everything so secret that when they do announce a new phone nobody at AT&T has had any training on the new product.
I called to get some info and they all put me on hold while they looked up my question. I got different answers from different people. Heck, I can get that here!
Eligible?
When I login to my account my line isn't showing any wording regarding my upgrade, it just takes me to the list of phones. On my wife's line it shows this:
"you can take advantage of our no commitment pricing. Additional discounts may be available on 02/20/2011
As a valued AT&T customer, we can offer you a discounted iPhone upgrade at a reduced discount, along with a 2-year commitment. You may qualify for a full discount on a standard iPhone upgrade on 02/20/2011"
When I request upgrade status via text msg it gives me this "As a valued customer, we can offer you an upgrade with a new 2-yr commitment and an $18 upgrade fee."
I'm signed up for AT&T as a new customer the first day of the 3GS release in June '09 and we pay about $120/mo for our plan. Am I eligible for the $199 pricing on the 16GB? I'm not willing to shell out the $399 otherwise.
When I login to my account my line isn't showing any wording regarding my upgrade, it just takes me to the list of phones. On my wife's line it shows this:
"you can take advantage of our no commitment pricing. Additional discounts may be available on 02/20/2011
As a valued AT&T customer, we can offer you a discounted iPhone upgrade at a reduced discount, along with a 2-year commitment. You may qualify for a full discount on a standard iPhone upgrade on 02/20/2011"
When I request upgrade status via text msg it gives me this "As a valued customer, we can offer you an upgrade with a new 2-yr commitment and an $18 upgrade fee."
I'm signed up for AT&T as a new customer the first day of the 3GS release in June '09 and we pay about $120/mo for our plan. Am I eligible for the $199 pricing on the 16GB? I'm not willing to shell out the $399 otherwise.
The part I bolded in your message is the magic text. I've had two AT&T reps confirm for me that that is the EXACT message you should be getting if you are eligible for the iPhone 4 at $199 and $299 (16GB and 32GB).
If the message says anything about "discounted" in it, then the person is looking at the $399 and $499 pricing. (As in the case with your wife's iPhone account.)
Mark
All this upgrade eligibility stuff is so confusing...it's a truely overwhelming/nail biting experience for us early adopters. I figured I'd shed some light/my plan for the 15th-24th of June.
The plan that I am currently on is a family plan with four phones. 3 iPhones and 1 Blackberry Bold. I am somehow the primary on the account, even though I didn't open the account nor is it in my name. I am eligible for the upgrade because my bill is $246.00 a month and the others only cost $30. Basically, the breakdown shows me paying for shared minutes and unlimited texts and theirs paying data plans. Funny enough, the person with the Blackberry (whom moronically swapped from an iPhone 3GS in March of this year, signed a new 2-year contract, and now wants the iPhone 4) is eligible for the $399/$499 price point. This is odd because he JUST signed a new contact, he should be getting it for full price I would think. One of the lines we have isn't in use and the contract is up in July, we plan on shutting it down. Our third line isn't eligible for any upgrades, they bought their 3GS in September last year with a new 2-year contract. Next week, I plan on opening a new line on my companies AT&T iPhone account and getting a new phone number obviously with the subsidized price point. In which case someone on my account is able to take MY upgrade. Now, last year when the 3GS came out, we were in the same position, so here is what I did. When pre-orders began, I immediately ordered a 16GB 3GS from Apple online for $199. BUT! it did not arrive on launch day when it should have...so of course I freaked and thought, "well if my phone hasn't arrived, it obviously has not been activated under my line, if the Apple store has phones (which they did) I'll go try my chances at picking one up and just see what happens." Sure enough, they checked my eligibility in store, I was good to go. Walked out of there with a 32GB 3GS for $299. So when my 16GB eventually arrived, I gave it to my brother, he turned it on, and it deactivated my line right away....we just swapped the SIM's and everything was fine. I am going to try this again this year...whether it'll work, I don't know, I'm prepared for the worst. I would suggest trying this maybe if you're up for it...especially if you're on a family plan. I agree that it's crazy WHY they wouldn't just sell iPhone's to anyone who currently has one for $199/$299...because for every 10 people that are willing to pay full price for their iPhones, there are 100 people excited and willing to pay $199 for the phone. I know they have to make their money somehow, but we all know that AT&T and Apple are still making a killing at the $199/$299 range. Sorry for this being so confusing, but I wanted to share my ideas because just like everyone else, I am constantly thinking about June 24th and how it'll go down!
The plan that I am currently on is a family plan with four phones. 3 iPhones and 1 Blackberry Bold. I am somehow the primary on the account, even though I didn't open the account nor is it in my name. I am eligible for the upgrade because my bill is $246.00 a month and the others only cost $30. Basically, the breakdown shows me paying for shared minutes and unlimited texts and theirs paying data plans. Funny enough, the person with the Blackberry (whom moronically swapped from an iPhone 3GS in March of this year, signed a new 2-year contract, and now wants the iPhone 4) is eligible for the $399/$499 price point. This is odd because he JUST signed a new contact, he should be getting it for full price I would think. One of the lines we have isn't in use and the contract is up in July, we plan on shutting it down. Our third line isn't eligible for any upgrades, they bought their 3GS in September last year with a new 2-year contract. Next week, I plan on opening a new line on my companies AT&T iPhone account and getting a new phone number obviously with the subsidized price point. In which case someone on my account is able to take MY upgrade. Now, last year when the 3GS came out, we were in the same position, so here is what I did. When pre-orders began, I immediately ordered a 16GB 3GS from Apple online for $199. BUT! it did not arrive on launch day when it should have...so of course I freaked and thought, "well if my phone hasn't arrived, it obviously has not been activated under my line, if the Apple store has phones (which they did) I'll go try my chances at picking one up and just see what happens." Sure enough, they checked my eligibility in store, I was good to go. Walked out of there with a 32GB 3GS for $299. So when my 16GB eventually arrived, I gave it to my brother, he turned it on, and it deactivated my line right away....we just swapped the SIM's and everything was fine. I am going to try this again this year...whether it'll work, I don't know, I'm prepared for the worst. I would suggest trying this maybe if you're up for it...especially if you're on a family plan. I agree that it's crazy WHY they wouldn't just sell iPhone's to anyone who currently has one for $199/$299...because for every 10 people that are willing to pay full price for their iPhones, there are 100 people excited and willing to pay $199 for the phone. I know they have to make their money somehow, but we all know that AT&T and Apple are still making a killing at the $199/$299 range. Sorry for this being so confusing, but I wanted to share my ideas because just like everyone else, I am constantly thinking about June 24th and how it'll go down!
My eligibility date for reduced pricing is Feb 2011. I will save $200.
If AT&T were to allow me to upgrade early, they would be 'losing' $200 right now, but they would be able to increase my ETF to $325 from $175, an increase of $150.
They would also essentially lock me in to 9 more months of service at roughly $115 a month = about $1,000.
With the possibility of having another carrier out by that time, AT&T should be trying to get every person with an iPhone buying one of these and extending those contracts with the higher ETF.
If AT&T were to allow me to upgrade early, they would be 'losing' $200 right now, but they would be able to increase my ETF to $325 from $175, an increase of $150.
They would also essentially lock me in to 9 more months of service at roughly $115 a month = about $1,000.
With the possibility of having another carrier out by that time, AT&T should be trying to get every person with an iPhone buying one of these and extending those contracts with the higher ETF.