Help to upgrade from 4S to 5

[Rtr]

I bought a 4S when they were new on AT&T, as such I'm not eligible for an upgrade right now.

If I want to sell my 4S and get a 5 how much will a 5 (64gb black) cost (assuming prices stay the same) and what will it do to my AT&T contract? Or is it better to switch to Verizon?

How can I accomplish this while not being without a phone for more than a day or two (I don't currently have another phone to use).

 

[batting1000]

Buy the new device, sell the 4S.

 

[Rtr]

At current prices a new unlocked is $849, presumably after the iPhone 5 is actually out I won't be able to get the $500 Amazon is currently offering for it, so this would cost me more than $349.

Is there any way to reduce this cost?

 

[RedCroissant]

At current prices a new unlocked is $849, presumably after the iPhone 5 is actually out I won't be able to get the $500 Amazon is currently offering for it, so this would cost me more than $349.

Is there any way to reduce this cost?

Yes, wait until you are eligible for an upgrade/finish out the contract and get your 4S unlocked first. Then sell your unlocked 4S iPhone for more than the $500 and get the iPhone 5 unlocked from Apple. How much time do you have left on your contract anyway?

 

[CrAkD]

Yes, wait until you are eligible for an upgrade/finish out the contract and get your 4S unlocked first. Then sell your unlocked 4S iPhone for more than the $500 and get the iPhone 5 unlocked from Apple. How much time do you have left on your contract anyway?

the 4S 64gb unlocked wont be worth more then $500 next year when its elible to be unlocked.

I am in the same boat. I will most likely sell my 4S 64gb for $450 or so and the early upgrade cost of a 64gb 5 will most likely be $650 or $680 with the upgrade fee. so it will cost me about $230 to upgrade which is worth it to me. if they sell unlocked iPhone 5's on launch day ill consider paying full price. atleast its worth more next year when i sell it.

 

[RedCroissant]

the 4S 64gb unlocked wont be worth more then $500 next year when its elible to be unlocked.

I am in the same boat. I will most likely sell my 4S 64gb for $450 or so and the early upgrade cost of a 64gb 5 will most likely be $650 or $680 with the upgrade fee. so it will cost me about $230 to upgrade which is worth it to me. if they sell unlocked iPhone 5's on launch day ill consider paying full price. atleast its worth more next year when i sell it.

Even though you might be right about the estimated value, I disagree; but I will tell you why. Apple is still selling an unlocked iPhone 4 (8GB model) for $549. If a phone that was first released 2 years ago is still selling for that amount with only 8GB of storage(maybe 5 GB available for user storage), then I have no doubt that your 64GB would sell for much more than that. My guess is that you'd still be able to get more than $600 especially since someone would be saving more than $300 once you factor in the taxes and how much the person buying it saves by being able to take their unlocked iPhone to other GSM carriers instead of being locked into AT&T.

 

[CrAkD]

Even though you might be right about the estimated value, I disagree; but I will tell you why. Apple is still selling an unlocked iPhone 4 (8GB model) for $549. If a phone that was first released 2 years ago is still selling for that amount with only 8GB of storage(maybe 5 GB available for user storage), then I have no doubt that your 64GB would sell for much more than that. My guess is that you'd still be able to get more than $600 especially since someone would be saving more than $300 once you factor in the taxes and how much the person buying it saves by being able to take their unlocked iPhone to other GSM carriers instead of being locked into AT&T.

I'm talking used. if apple drops them a $100 like they did with the 4 the 4S 64gb unlocked will be $749 new. now someone else has an unlocked used one that was under contract for 2 years wouldn't you be more apt to pay apple the $200 more for a brand new one then to drop 500 on a used one? I don't think the gap here is big. it may sell for over $500 or a hair below it.

I know I'm going to try and sell my locked 4S for more then $450 especially with my Mophie juice pack plus. but ill settle for $450.

 

[RedCroissant]

I'm talking used. if apple drops them a $100 like they did with the 4 the 4S 64gb unlocked will be $749 new. now someone else has an unlocked used one that was under contract for 2 years wouldn't you be more apt to pay apple the $200 more for a brand new one then to drop 500 on a used one? I don't think the gap here is big. it may sell for over $500 or a hair below it.

I know I'm going to try and sell my locked 4S for more then $450 especially with my Mophie juice pack plus. but ill settle for $450.

I can honestly say that I would buy it from you if I could afford it. Even if Apple does end up lowering the price to $749, then it's still more than $800 after taxes. Buying from you, even if it's used, is a better value as long as your phone is in good condition.

The gap isn't big if you're going to be starting a contract with the big three with it. But I would take an unlocked one and go to T-mobile with it. That $300 I save is worth more than 6 months of service on their network as opposed to a month and a half on the over-chargers'.

 

[CrAkD]

I can honestly say that I would buy it from you if I could afford it. Even if Apple does end up lowering the price to $749, then it's still more than $800 after taxes. Buying from you, even if it's used, is a better value as long as your phone is in good condition.

The gap isn't big if you're going to be starting a contract with the big three with it. But I would take an unlocked one and go to T-mobile with it. That $300 I save is worth more than 6 months of service on their network as opposed to a month and a half on the over-chargers'.

yeah my phone is in perfect condition.

 

[Fernandez21]

you could always switch to a family plan and add a line. Get the subsided price and put you sim card in that phone. Of course it depends on how much more you'll be paying a month under the new plan.

 

[RedCroissant]

yeah my phone is in perfect condition.

Then instead for selling yours when it's still locked(which I would not pay $450 for) then wait until you get it unlocked and sell it then for more than that. I can guarantee there are more people out there like me that want to save money both on unlocked phones and service costs that make selling your older unlocked version much easier than you think.

The reason I can say this is that my experience having my iPhone subsidized has turned me off of the practice and I will only be purchasing unlocked phones from now on because of it(even if that causes me to use edge networks or prepaid services to save money afterwards).

 

[CrAkD]

Then instead for selling yours when it's still locked(which I would not pay $450 for) then wait until you get it unlocked and sell it then for more than that. I can guarantee there are more people out there like me that want to save money both on unlocked phones and service costs that make selling your older unlocked version much easier than you think.

The reason I can say this is that my experience having my iPhone subsidized has turned me off of the practice and I will only be purchasing unlocked phones from now on because of it(even if that causes me to use edge networks or prepaid services to save money afterwards).

I have owned every iphone and always sell them for about $50 more then the subsidized cost. I will be getting the 5 no matter what so the only question is how much will it cost me?