Carrier AT&T Next Upgrades 2015 [MERGED]

[duaneu]

Apple website directs you to AT&T website in order to do Pay to Upgrade for Next. You can do it now to get that out of the way so when pre-order time comes, you're already Next upgrade eligible.

I just got to that screen by logging in to My Account > Devices > View Upgrade Options. You don't have to actually upgrade your device right now.

Interesting, it looks like that actually works. I just chose a new phone as if I were upgrading now. It had me make that 12th NEXT payment as a separate charge. Then I just bailed out without completing the checkout for the phone. When I go check my upgrade eligibility through Apple, it says I can do a new NEXT upgrade.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[oldwren]

I can confirm this works, even on a line with business/education discounts. (For that, it takes you to the discount pricing store, but the payment for the Next installment is a separate step in checkout, and you can just cancel the upgrade after you've submitted the payment. It's a little bit confusing at first, but it does work.)

 

[Clix Pix]

The one option that doesn't give you is trading the phone back to AT&T though, which was kind of the point of NEXT in the first place.

Ah, but unless things have changed I CAN trade the phone in at the Apple store....or if I decide to sell it to someone or ship it off to Gazelle or somewhere, I can do that as well.

 

[bielen]

Just check your data usage. I have been doing prepaid, and it is the best decision I have made. $40 in my pocket every month.

I used 6-8GB per month. Are you suggesting using prepaid for my unlimited or for the two new lines?

 

[mattopotamus]

I used 6-8GB per month. Are you suggesting using prepaid for my unlimited or for the two new lines?

6-8gb is really too much data for prepaid. The big benefits are for people who use less than 5gb.

 

[yanki01]

I can confirm this works, even on a line with business/education discounts. (For that, it takes you to the discount pricing store, but the payment for the Next installment is a separate step in checkout, and you can just cancel the upgrade after you've submitted the payment. It's a little bit confusing at first, but it does work.)

i'm new to the "next" thing. upgrade in 18 months but still pay for 24 months? I don't get it.

 

[mattopotamus]

i'm new to the "next" thing. upgrade in 18 months but still pay for 24 months? I don't get it.

I believe the last part is the time it would take you to actually pay the phone off if you decided not to upgrade.

For example, next 12 you pay a higher price to be able to upgrade in 12 months time, but the 20 months is how long it would take you to pay the phone off.

doing the math it equals the same, $749

next is a payment plan to own the phone; however you have the option of turning it in and upgrading to a new phone after 12, 18, or 24 months. You do not have to upgrade and you can buy the phone and own it.

 

[Aibocyrus]

Yes that makes sense.. saw same thing when I checked mine. One payment left $47.45 for trade and 9 payments to own $427.05

Too many bad experiences previous sales, just trading in, my time more valuable than the few dollars from selling myself.

I prefer Next because it is transparent. Before when I paid the subsidy price the balance of the phone cost was wrapped up in the monthly cell fee. On two phones I had them for longer than two years and the cell fee stayed the same. Way overpaid for those phones.

This makes me so happy someone finally understands this! Lol. I work for the company and I've been trying to explain this to people trying to help them save money, but they are so use to the old way, they don't believe they are saving money on the phones.

 

[mattopotamus]

This makes me so happy someone finally understands this! Lol. I work for the company and I've been trying to explain this to people trying to help them save money, but they are so use to the old way, they don't believe they are saving money on the phones.

It is definitely better than being in the two year contact game b.c your phone rate stays at $90 or whatever even after you have fulfilled the 2 years. The only people who should still be doing contracts are people with unlimited data.

Call me crazy, but I am the type of person who would rather pay $749 at one time than pay the extra $30 on my phone bill each month. It probably is b.c the phone finance plans are actually credit lines.

 

[Aibocyrus]

To all of you upgrading via AT&T NEXT:

To utilize the Apple Store app, since it is the most reliable, to prepare for the launch here's what you'll need to do.
Go into your closest corporate AT&T. Pay the amount that needs paid in order to upgrade. There should be two options; the amount needed in order to trade in and upgrade, and the amount to own the phone.
The representative can ring you out for the amount you need to pay in order to become upgrade eligible with Trade in, WITHOUT trading your phone in today. Wait about 5 minutes after you've cashed out with the rep and then check upgrade eligibility on the Apple Store App. Should show as eligible to upgrade on NEXT.

When you receive your new phone, the box should come with a shipping label. You will be responsible to take the phone to the post office and ship it back within 14 days of receiving your new iPhone.


I hope this all made sense and helps some of you out! Any questions I'm more than happy to answer. Just DM me! =]

 

[Aibocyrus]

I believe the last part is the time it would take you to actually pay the phone off if you decided not to upgrade.

For example, next 12 you pay a higher price to be able to upgrade in 12 months time, but the 20 months is how long it would take you to pay the phone off.

doing the math it equals the same, $749

next is a payment plan to own the phone; however you have the option of turning it in and upgrading to a new phone after 12, 18, or 24 months. You do not have to upgrade and you can buy the phone and own it.

In addition, when you trade in your phone at 12, 18, or 24 months, you do not need to pay the remaining balance. The remainder of your payments will be wiped out with the trade in of your phone in good physical and working condition. I also recommend getting the carrier insurance when being on NEXT.

 

[jpcarro]

It is definitely better than being in the two year contact game b.c your phone rate stays at $90 or whatever even after you have fulfilled the 2 years.

This isn't the case for all plans. On my family share plan, when one of the phones ends it's contract, the subsidy cost comes off the the plan for that phone. Most people would benefit from Next, but not us on our current family share plan. We've done the math front and back and contracts still work out better for us. The amount of money saved over 2 years isn't significant and we may eventually switch to Next as it's more flexible.

 

[rui no onna]

6-8gb is really too much data for prepaid. The big benefits are for people who use less than 5gb.

I think Cricket 10GB costs $55/mo for one line with auto-pay. At one point, they even had a promotion for 20GB for $60. Cricket also has discounts if you have multiple lines. Alas, no official hotspot support. If not for the iPad, I'd actually consider going Cricket for the family.

 

[yanki01]

In addition, when you trade in your phone at 12, 18, or 24 months, you do not need to pay the remaining balance. The remainder of your payments will be wiped out with the trade in of your phone in good physical and working condition. I also recommend getting the carrier insurance when being on NEXT.

and you still get a monthly discount from att for using next? if I wanted to keep my phone, just pay out the remaining months?

 

[mattopotamus]

I think Cricket 10GB costs $55/mo for one line with auto-pay. At one point, they even had a promotion for 20GB for $60. Cricket also has discounts if you have multiple lines. Alas, no official hotspot support. If not for the iPad, I'd actually consider going Cricket for the family.

I may actually go cricket. I have ATT prepaid now, but I use around 2gb a month. 2.5gb is $35 with cricket, which uses ATT towers, after the auto pay discount

That is crazy to think about. Just 1 year ago I was paying $100 for my phone bill...to be paying $35 would be nuts.

 

[Aibocyrus]

and you still get a monthly discount from att for using next? if I wanted to keep my phone, just pay out the remaining months?

Yup. You'll finish out the full 20, 24, or 30 months and then when it's paid off your bill will drop down! You can also pay off the installments early so your bill will go down sooner.

 

[yanki01]

Yup. You'll finish out the full 20, 24, or 30 months and then when it's paid off your bill will drop down! You can also pay off the installments early so your bill will go down sooner.

currently on a 2yr contracts paying an extra $40/month. sounds like a no brainer going with next or pay the phone completely outright.

 

[DeftwillP]

Yup. You'll finish out the full 20, 24, or 30 months and then when it's paid off your bill will drop down! You can also pay off the installments early so your bill will go down sooner.

But just for clarification, you can only pay what's due that month or the entire remaining balance right? I can't opt to pay $100 extra each month?

 

[whtrbt7]

To all of you upgrading via AT&T NEXT:

To utilize the Apple Store app, since it is the most reliable, to prepare for the launch here's what you'll need to do.
Go into your closest corporate AT&T. Pay the amount that needs paid in order to upgrade. There should be two options; the amount needed in order to trade in and upgrade, and the amount to own the phone.
The representative can ring you out for the amount you need to pay in order to become upgrade eligible with Trade in, WITHOUT trading your phone in today. Wait about 5 minutes after you've cashed out with the rep and then check upgrade eligibility on the Apple Store App. Should show as eligible to upgrade on NEXT.

When you receive your new phone, the box should come with a shipping label. You will be responsible to take the phone to the post office and ship it back within 14 days of receiving your new iPhone.


I hope this all made sense and helps some of you out! Any questions I'm more than happy to answer. Just DM me! =]

This didn't work at all. My store couldn't do this without trading in the phone immediately and then getting a new phone immediately. Even worse when I tried to apply payments via the website, they are holding funds that are now going towards my next month bill instead of applying it to the NEXT payment. It looks like I'm dumping ATT over this because this stupidity is too insane.

 

[Aibocyrus]

This didn't work at all. My store couldn't do this without trading in the phone immediately and then getting a new phone immediately. Even worse when I tried to apply payments via the website, they are holding funds that are now going towards my next month bill instead of applying it to the NEXT payment. It looks like I'm dumping ATT over this because this stupidity is too insane.

I just did this today. They don't need to take the phone in. They mark that it's in good condition I their system and add the payment to the cart. Then they ring you out and they don't upgrade you. You'll then be eligible to upgrade.
Yea, when you make any sort of payment online, they don't have a way as of yet to apply the payment specifically to your installment plan. We are hoping to get this ability soon! So many customers want this!

 

[Aibocyrus]

But just for clarification, you can only pay what's due that month or the entire remaining balance right? I can't opt to pay $100 extra each month?

You are correct. It's kind of an all or nothing situation at this time.

 

[Aibocyrus]

and you still get a monthly discount from att for using next? if I wanted to keep my phone, just pay out the remaining months?

You will! Your bill will drop down whatever your monthly payments are

 

[duaneu]

I just did this today. They don't need to take the phone in. They mark that it's in good condition I their system and add the payment to the cart. Then they ring you out and they don't upgrade you. You'll then be eligible to upgrade.
Yea, when you make any sort of payment online, they don't have a way as of yet to apply the payment specifically to your installment plan. We are hoping to get this ability soon! So many customers want this!

There is a way to do it online. See posts #51 & 52 above. I did this last night. I was able to make the single installment payment and am now upgrade eligible.

 

[Steve.P.JobsFan]

I pre-ordered my iPhone 6 Plus last September on Next 18. I completely paid off my iPhone last month. So my upgrade path for iPhone 6s Plus is as follows:

- Wait until 3:00 AM, 18 September 2015 (presumably)
- Select iPhone 6s Plus, 128 GB, Space Grey
- Order via Next 18
- Keep iPhone 6 as it has been paid for.

However, I switched to T-Mobile. So my path is as follows:

- Wait until 3:00 AM, 18 September 2015 (presumably)
- Select iPhone 6s Plus, 128 GB, Space Grey
- Put full amount of iPhone + AppleCare + Case onto Barclaycard Visa with Apple Rewards
- Pay monthly for 18 months (like I did with Next 18 on AT&T)

Pretty much the same, only difference is I pay for it via my own CC bill instead of a carrier. The Apple Rewards Barclaycard offers 18 months no interest for purchases $999 and above. The total cost for my iPhone 6 Plus was right around $1,150.

But, I will be waiting skipping the iPhone 6s series and waiting for iPhone 7. I've never bought an s series iPhone, and the iPhone 6 is still plenty enough for most people's (myself included) needs. 🙂

That is, unless the iPhone 6s includes support for T-Mobile's 700(a) MHz spectrum. Then I will consider, as being stuck on their high-band 1900 MHz spectrum just plain sucks for building penetration. If it wasn't for Wi-Fi Calling, I'd be heavily pondering a return to AT&T (as much as I love Legere and T-Mobile...).

 

[HEK]

This makes me so happy someone finally understands this! Lol. I work for the company and I've been trying to explain this to people trying to help them save money, but they are so use to the old way, they don't believe they are saving money on the phones.

It has always been hilarious to me that people actually thought they were getting a $600 - $1000 phone for $199 or $299. The brainwashing....err advertising/marketing was so good, even after you explained it to them they would still argue the phone cost $199.