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ATT Moved up Iphone updates!

I can upgrade my launch day 4s for the full discount on 01/13/13 or be completely contract free on 04/13/13. But then I'm on O2 in the UK. I'll also probably only have to pay £89-£99 for my new iPhone.

All of your contracts suck tbh you seem to get screwed left right and centre. I pay less for my phone less per month and MUCH MUCH less for data ok so I only get 1GB but I can tether etc within that and if needed buy more at 1GB/£10. Most on here I think are paying more than £60 a month
 
saleemyas3 said:
By the time the new iPhone comes out, I will have 3 months left on my contract, so it'll be cheaper for me to pay the ETF and switch rather than pay the $250 early upgrade fee. You think they would bump it up 3 months?
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they may, but if you pay the ETF they make you wait like 90 days before resigning up as a new customer.
 
Sorry..ur not eligible for the full subsidized pricing. Ur are only eligible for the "early upgrade" which is the subsidized price + $250 + $36. It's still cheaper then buying outright, but if ur gonna go for it, id spend the extra $ and just buy it for the full cost. Then you'll have no problems next year.

I am eligible and it says "as a valued customer we can offer you an upgrade with a new 2-year commitment and a $35 upgrade fee".
 
sulpfiction said:
Sorry..ur not eligible for the full subsidized pricing. Ur are only eligible for the "early upgrade" which is the subsidized price + $250 + $36. It's still cheaper then buying outright, but if ur gonna go for it, id spend the extra $ and just buy it for the full cost. Then you'll have no problems next year.

I am eligible and it says "as a valued customer we can offer you an upgrade with a new 2-year commitment and a $35 upgrade fee".
Click to expand...

I agree it ends up only being like a $150 difference between the subsidized price and the full retail price b.c the activation fee, and then next year you could snag the $199 price tag
 
b166er said:
With ATT I have an unlimited plan. It's throttled (more or less capped) at 3GB...vs the VZW alternative, I'd save money with VZW. Plus their 4G is better in my area,
Click to expand...

If you want to compare 4G services, then the cap on AT&T is 5 GB not 3 GB.
 
I also bought mine on launch day. Here is what mine says.

You may select equipment at our full retail pricing. An upgrade may be available on 05/08/2013.

Does this mean 199.00 if that is the price of the new phone, plus 250.00 and 36.00?

Thanks, Jerry
 
Lyons00 said:
I also bought mine on launch day. Here is what mine says.

You may select equipment at our full retail pricing. An upgrade may be available on 05/08/2013.

Does this mean 199.00 if that is the price of the new phone, plus 250.00 and 36.00?

Thanks, Jerry
Click to expand...
No, the "full retail" price of the entry level phone is/has been $649. They aren't giving you any discount whatsoever. So u have to buy it outright, which is neccessarily bad if you have the cash.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
Again, the statement "As a valued AT&T customer, you may qualify for discounted equipment pricing with a new two-year commitment" is meaningless and doesn't really tell you your upgrade options. You need to go to the at&t website and click on upgrade eligibility to view your options.

Your options may be either:

1) You're eligible for a discounted iPhone upgrade at a reduced discount, along with a 2-year service commitment. You may qualify for a full discount on an iPhone upgrade on XX/XX/XXXX (future date).

or

2) You're eligible for an upgrade at a discounted price (meaning the full discount).

In the past, it used to be that the primary line was eligible for an upgrade at the full discount every 12 months provided that your monthly bill was at least $100 for that line (easy to accomplish with family plans). Now, they've eliminated that and everybody has to wait the full 18 months (unless at&t does a last minute change on or before September 12th).
Click to expand...

Since I got my last phone in January of 2011, it's been over 18 months so I should be good for a full upgrade (meaning I would avoid the $250 fee on top of the iPhone cost?)
 
sulpfiction said:
No, the "full retail" price of the entry level phone is/has been $649. They aren't giving you any discount whatsoever. So u have to buy it outright, which is neccessarily bad if you have the cash.
Click to expand...

Just called AT&T and they didn't even budge, what so ever. I'll try again in a few days and see what happens.
 
Peter. said:
Since I got my last phone in January of 2011, it's been over 18 months so I should be good for a full upgrade (meaning I would avoid the $250 fee on top of the iPhone cost?)
Click to expand...

Correct.

I'm just saying you can't rely on the statement "You qualify for an upgrade with a new 2-year commitment" to mean a certain thing, because it could refer to a partial discount or a full discount. However, if you know you're over 18 months since you last upgraded, it's safe to assume you'll get the full discount.
 
Last edited:
they moved the upgrade date of one of my lines from december to now... no dice on the main line yet but that was already upgraded to a 4s around launch
 
I went to the AT&T site and logged into my account. I didn't see anything on the main site. I went under 'my AT&T' then to 'Wireless' then under 'Account changes'>'Upgrade Phone' then to the right of my phone there's a link that says 'Upgrade Eligibility' and that's where it says 'You're eligible for an upgrade at a discounted price.'

My Mom's line is older and says the same thing.

I then dialed *639# and got the text message "As a valued customer, we can offer you an upgrade with a new 2-yr commitment and an $36 upgrade fee."

So I guess I'm good to go....:)

I just really hope the design of the new iPhone doesn't disappoint like the 4S :rolleyes:
 
I need some advice guys -
I have a 4S, bought it shortly after launch, added a line to the family plan (was on virgin mobile before). I want to upgrade to the 5 as soon as it launches. I have a virgin mobile smartphone I can use till I can buy the 5.

Would it be a bad idea to start selling my phone now on craigslist? Do I need to go the ETF route? Also, if I do terminate it early, can I still keep my $25/2GB plan that's now defunct? I don't need 3GB a month, but 300mbs is too low.

If I go the upgrade route with the $250 + iPhone Price, do I need to wait till my new iPhone comes to do so?

Note: I just checked AT&T's site for my phone and it says:

As a valued AT&T customer, you're eligible for a discounted iPhone upgrade at a reduced discount, along with a 2-year service commitment. You may qualify for a full discount on an iPhone upgrade on 6/26/2013."
Click to expand...
 
brianbunge said:
They don't tell us peons anything. We didn't know about the upgrades being pushed up on the 4 until Apple announced it at the keynote that year. And the way it worked was that the contract had to end within that same year in order to be upgrade eligible at the time of launch, which was in June that year, I believe.

I love people arguing over semantics though. It's really fun! Except when they walk in and say "Customer service said I'm eligible for an early upgrade..." Then explaining what that means isn't so fun...
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Early upgrade= 250 + 199
Full upgrade= 199

That's is hardly petty semantics. If anyone is playing semantics it's AT&T. What purpose does it serve them to confuse their customers? Are we eligible for an upgrade, yes or no??
 
mattopotamus said:
I agree it ends up only being like a $150 difference between the subsidized price and the full retail price b.c the activation fee, and then next year you could snag the $199 price tag
Click to expand...

The way I look at it is if you want the newest phone every year:
Early Upgrade: Pay $199 + $250 + 36 = $485 year 1, $485 year 2, $485 year 3, etc...
Pay Full Price: Pay $199 + 36 year 1, $649 year 2, $199 + 36 year 3, $649 year 4, etc.

So with the Early Upgrade, you are paying $485 a year to have the newest. With the pay full priced every other year, you are paying $442 a year on average. This is of course for the 16GB model; just add $100 for each additional storage option.

So if you want the best every year, paying full priced every other year is the way to go. Now the question becomes, do you need the best every year? Or is this the exception? Maybe this was the exception this year due to the LTE and bigger screen. Maybe next year you will decide that the upgrades aren't worth it. So with the early upgrade strategy, you will be saving money instead.

All of this is assuming Apple (and AT&T) keeps their current pricing plans of course. If they end up changing them, then the calculations may no longer be correct.
 
mattopotamus said:
this. They are supposedly going to stop doing the $199 only upgrades unless you truly completed the 2 year contract.
Click to expand...

Well in that case, that sucks. I pay over $100 a month on my bill, so I usually get upgrades every year or year and a half. I won't be buying the early upgrade though. If they don't do that, I could see sales of the iphone 5 not being as strong as people expected. Not sure how many people will want to spend $250 more on the phone.

Yep, I can't upgrade till May 2013. I won't be buying an iPhone 5 then until then. Or I might just skip it and wait till the 6 since the new one will likely be out by the fall of 2013.
 
dave420 said:
If you want to compare 4G services, then the cap on AT&T is 5 GB not 3 GB.
Click to expand...

That's true, I did overlook that. Still for me it wouldn't make much difference. I'm going to talk to some friends with VZW around here and get a better idea of what to do. I'm heavily leaning towards dropping ATT.
 
As a valued AT&T customer, you're eligible for a discounted iPhone upgrade at a reduced discount, along with a 2-year service commitment. You may qualify for a full discount on an iPhone upgrade on 5/07/2013.

What Does This Mean??
 
HCO said:
As a valued AT&T customer, you're eligible for a discounted iPhone upgrade at a reduced discount, along with a 2-year service commitment. You may qualify for a full discount on an iPhone upgrade on 5/07/2013.

What Does This Mean??
Click to expand...

It means you add $250 to the subsidized price. "Reduced discount" is kind of confusing wording on their part. Intentional I'm sure.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
Correct.

I'm just saying you can't rely on the statement "You qualify for an early iPhone upgrade with a new 2-year commitment" to mean a certain thing, because it could refer to a partial discount or a full discount. However, if you know you're over 18 months since you last upgraded, it's safe to assume you'll get the full discount.
Click to expand...

Gotcha, thanks for your help!
 
ogs123 said:
I bought my 4S at launch and this is the text I got from AT&T:

As a valued customer, we can offer you an upgrade with a new 2-yr commitment and an $36 upgrade fee.

This is for the primary line of a family plan, though.
Click to expand...

I think if you are the primary account holder and you have 3+ lines you can upgrade in 12 months every other upgrade. I bought the 4 at release and around July last year I was eligible for an upgrade. I think that you have to wait 18 months every other year or something like that
 
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