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touchmanic

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 28, 2007
44
0
Does anyone have any info as to whether 4S users (who bought phone as soon as it came out) will be eligible for the iPhone 5?
 
Does anyone have any info as to whether 4S users (who bought phone as soon as it came out) will be eligible for the iPhone 5?

Nope. You'll have to wait 20 months after you bought the 4S to get the full upgrade. If you cant wait you have to pay like $200 extra + whatever the iphone costs with a 2 year contract.
 
Thanks to the helpful ones. To the unhelpful ones, long may you fester in a perpetual state of upgrade limbo.
 
You'll have to wait until the announcement. In the past AT&T has moved up our upgrade dates, but that was when AT&T had exclusivity and apple made a deal with them. Who knows if that will be the case this year.
 
If you have a 2 year contract, you will need to finish it.

iPhone 4S - Oct 2011

So that would be Oct 2013.

Wrong.

Contract is for 24 months, but you can upgrade with a new contract pricing every 20 months. (For AT&T)

It's how they get you to renew your contract before it expires and you actually have an option to think about switching.
 
For the 103rd time, when you sign a two year contract you must have the phone for two years, in fact the companies are so nice they let you wait only 20 months.

So NO you cannot get the phone because you signed a TWO YEAR contract.

Do you know how long two years are? When did you get your last phone? One year ago? Well that sucks you have to wait another year.

It astounds me how people just dont understand this.

If you want to avoid you can pay an early termination fee of about $250 and then pay $200 for the subsidized phone. After that you again have to wait two more years or pay another early termination fee..
 
You'll have to wait until the announcement. In the past AT&T has moved up our upgrade dates, but that was when AT&T had exclusivity and apple made a deal with them. Who knows if that will be the case this year.

Yea when I bought my 4s att moved my upgrade eligibility up, I was still way out and didn't expect to get a full discount.

If Att gives me the early upgrade again with no catches (other than the contract extension) I'll probably pick up the 5 if there is more features than just a longer screen, and new headphones.
 
Paying the early termination fee and buying the new phone with full subsidy will cost you less than paying full price.

So that is already better. My friend told a manager at AT&T that he could either move up his upgrade and let him buy the iPhone 4S or he would pay the early termination fee and go to verizon. The manager moved up his upgrade. This wont work all the time I am sure, but its worth a try.
 
Just check your eligibility. You may be eligible as the 20-month wait is not set in stone (to the horror of all the by-the-book types on here). My wife and have 4S's and we are eligible now for an upgrade. Whether this is an AT&T screw-up is open to speculation.
 
Does anyone have any info as to whether 4S users (who bought phone as soon as it came out) will be eligible for the iPhone 5?

I bought a 4S on launch day and so far with AT&T I see no sign of early eligibility for an upgrade on my account.
 
I bought the 4S at launch. My upgrade status on AT&T's website states "Early iPhone Discount", meaning essentially that I can upgrade if I want, but I'll pay an extra $250 on top of the fully subsidized price. Honestly, I didn't expect anything better.
 
maybe many people are willing to buy iphone 4s, because it's cheap now. however, we have to wait for a long time about iphone 5.:(
 
Upgrade eligibility has no bearing on me. To use well worn Apple Slogan...

"This Changes Everything"

Using the same design three years running is blatant profit taking.

My Apple Stock Portfolio Thanks You...

But despite my 20+ yr loyalty, I'm not about to buy the upcoming iPhone.
 
Does anyone have any info as to whether 4S users (who bought phone as soon as it came out) will be eligible for the iPhone 5?

Of course you will be eligible--anyone can get the new phone.

Now the price you're going to pay, that's a whole different story...;)
 
For the 103rd time, when you sign a two year contract you must have the phone for two years, in fact the companies are so nice they let you wait only 20 months.

So NO you cannot get the phone because you signed a TWO YEAR contract.

Do you know how long two years are? When did you get your last phone? One year ago? Well that sucks you have to wait another year.

It astounds me how people just dont understand this.

If you want to avoid you can pay an early termination fee of about $250 and then pay $200 for the subsidized phone. After that you again have to wait two more years or pay another early termination fee..
Paying the early termination fee and buying the new phone with full subsidy will cost you less than paying full price.

So that is already better. My friend told a manager at AT&T that he could either move up his upgrade and let him buy the iPhone 4S or he would pay the early termination fee and go to verizon. The manager moved up his upgrade. This wont work all the time I am sure, but its worth a try.

This only works when changing carriers. To get "New customer" pricing you have to have not had service with the carrier for some amount of time, usually varying from 30-90 days, sometimes as much as 120-160.

That being said, AT&T and Verizon both currently have higher ETFs. AT&T currently has an ETF policy of:
$325 minus $10 for each full month
of completed Service Commitment
Verizon is the same deal, only it starts at $350 instead of $325.

So....if you bought the 4s in October 2011, you'd have about 11 months off, so $110 off the $325 or $350 starting price. That means a minimum ETF of $225 for AT&T and $240 for Verizon.

If you upgraded later, like say January, you'd only have about 8 months done, so you're looking at $245 for AT&T or $270 for Verizon. Plus the $199 for the new phone on a new carrier, plus tax on the original $649 price (in LA 8.25%) and you're looking at 245+199+53=497. More if you go for something above the starting model. That also doesn't take into account the plan increase you would most likely incur when setting up new service on another carrier. It's been determined that $70 is the lowest on Verizon. I do have a friend who has been grandfathered for some time on AT&T and pays $55 for his iPhone, meaning $15 more per month. After 1 year that's another $180 paid on top of the $497 ETF/new phone.
 
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Well, Im Verizon and I bought a 4s in Dec 2011. My account says Im eligible Dec 2012. I plan on upgrading to the 5 then.
It says nothing about, "You are eligible Dec 2012, but not for iPhone"

But even with the $175 ETF, and $199 for phone, its better than $800.
Plus Id happily do it to get my wife off the basic phones. She hates it. She loves my 4s, so why not. I plan to ditch the Unlimited to go shared anyway
Ill save $10/month and stop getting throttled
 
You could always add a line to your account. If you already have a family plan, it's only $10 more a month. If you have a single line, it would be $15 more a month coming from the cheapest single plan to cheapest family plan.
 
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