ATT Next question.

[jensgt]

I am doing next for the first time with this phone. I am going to do the every 2 years plan....so I assume that plan means that 30 payments pays off my phone but after 24 I can trade my phone in and get a new phone? Its a little confusing.

Mostly though my question is what happens if the 8 comes out next year and I want it...what am I looking at financially wise to upgrade a year early?

 

[Gualwer]

30 month Installment plan with early upgrade after 24 months. So pretty much if the new iPhone 8 comes out, you would have to pay up, meaning you pay up to the amount that you need to reach in order to do an early upgrade. So let's say you've had the phone for 20 months, you need to pay the next 4 months upfront in order to upgrade to the new iPhone. OF course that means you need to give At&T your iPhone 7. The other option is to pay it off. meaning you need to pay off everything you owe for your iPhone 7. So if you've had the iPhone 7 for 20 months, you have to pay the next 10 months upfront and then you can upgrade to the new iPhone 8 AND you own your old device.

If you're planning on upgrading every year, maybe the 24 month installment would be better for you. Allowing you to upgrade every year.

 

[Atomic Walrus]

The 30/24 plan is a terrible idea if you plan to trade in. You'll have to pay 80% of the phone's retail price AND return it to AT&T, which is absolutely crazy. Only use this plan if you intend to keep the phone and/or sell it yourself on something like Swappa.

The "every year" plan only divides the price into 24 payments, but you also only need to pay 50% of the cost before you can trade it in. Still not as good as private sale value, but a bit more reasonable.

 

[jensgt]

As long as I've owned iPhones I've done every 2 year plans but maybe I should just do every year and try it.

Does it still make sense to buy apple care??

 

[Gualwer]

As long as I've owned iPhones I've done every 2 year plans but maybe I should just do every year and try it.

Does it still make sense to buy apple care??

I upgrade every year and I always get AppleCare+. You can call Apple and cancel the plan and they will give you a refund for the time you didn't use it. I did this last night and they gave me $64 back, pretty much half of what the protection plan costs, and then I used it towards the new AppleCare+ for my iPhone 7. /So yeah, to me it is worth buying, even more now that the deductible for cracked screens is lower

 

[jensgt]

I upgrade every year and I always get AppleCare+. You can call Apple and cancel the plan and they will give you a refund for the time you didn't use it. I did this last night and they gave me $64 back, pretty much half of what the protection plan costs, and then I used it towards the new AppleCare+ for my iPhone 7. /So yeah, to me it is worth buying, even more now that the deductible for cracked screens is lower

Oh great idea. Apple is a wonderful company. I did not even think of them refunding the remaining amount. Ok well I think I'm sold. My husband gives me "that look" when I suggest getting a new phone ever year but he's also a guy who likes value and I know that the every year plan is the best value.

 

[airjay75]

Next Every Year is definitely better than the regular Next IMO. It simply provides you with more flexibility, and the payments are not that much more spreading them out over 24 months instead of 30 months. Also keep in mind that, on either Next plan, you can pay off the remaining balance and keep the phone instead of trading it in. Before upgrading on Next, always compare what the pay off on the phone is vs. what trade-in services like Gazelle and Nextworth are offering - you may be able to make a little money by paying it off and than going through a separate trade-in service.