Can someone please help me understand the whole subsidy thing. I pay $85 a month for my ATT bill. Every 2 years i upgrade my iphone and i always pay the same monthly bill. If i decide to upgrade or pay the full price of the phone this year wouldnt i pay the same amount a month like i have been doing on my grandfathered plan?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone 6 Release Pre-Order Upgrades this Year
- Thread starter Wicked1
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It's not clear if you have to stick with AT&T for 60 days post purchase to get it unlocked or if prior tenure satisfies the requirement. Unless you have a particular need to leave AT&T I'm not sure it matters though whether you buy locked and then unlock or buy unlocked. Here's AT&T's policy:
https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/
What part is unclear to you? On the older style plans, a portion of the monthly charge goes towards paying for the phone. It's embedded in the cost of services so (a) you don't know the actual subsidy amount and (b) you still pay it whether you upgrade or don't.
This is fine if you always upgrade at the earliest opportunity for a full subsidy upgrade. Not everyone does this; some people are happy with the same phone for three years. Or sometimes someone upgrades every two years but the phone goes to another person on the plan as a hand-me-down.
With the newer plans the carriers are beginning to decouple cell/data service from device costs. This is a big win for those who don't always upgrade every line on their account. Not necessarily a big win for those where the older style plans are the better deal. Everyone should examine their own usage patterns and future expectations then model the options to decide which is best for them. As usual there's no single one-size-fits-all choice that's best for everyone.
I will add however that the "deal" on the new AT&T plans is really for family plan subscribers and less so for individuals. I've not looked closely but suspect the best deal for individuals is really to go prepaid and not even bother with a postpaid account until you're doing two or three lines.
I have very patiently held on to my iphone 5 two years now. Looking forward to a 5 incher. If not I will just keep the version 5. But you are right. Demand for the new phone will likely be a lot.
For the past couple of years, if you buy full price ATT iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S, they came unlocked.
I don't know what the big deal is.
ATT will probably "locked" NEXT installment iPhones 6 until they are fully paid off. But if it's a full purchase or paid off, the iphone will be unlocked or ATT will unlock it officially for you since you aren't under contract.
Nope. You mention unlimited data so you must be on one of the older plans. You'll pay the same monthly charge whether or not you upgrade your phone. Your bill never goes down.
And thats exactly why many people don't like subsidy-included plans -- if they have no desire to upgrade after two years, you're just handing extra money to the cell carrier with nothing in return. I'd prefer to pay for the phone and the cell service completely seperately, but at least with the monthly service discount on the new plans AT&T is getting closer to that goal.
I've not shopped prepaid plans lately but I know there are unlimited data plans out there. The other key is looking at your real actual data use and expectations for future usage. Might make sense, might not make sense. You'll need to research.
Thanks I get it now, i am actually loving my plan since its an older plan. I wonder if att can ever take me out of that plan.
New unlocked iPhones are seldom available when first introduced. It is a marketing thing.
Can they? Sure, any time they want. See below.
The better question is "Will they?" and that's a bit more muddy. So far AT&T has been fairly good about grandfathering old plans and services. I've been with them 2005 or so and only once has being on an old plan been an issue; I had to pay an extra $50 for a phone upgrade at one point because deepest discount was only available to those on current plans. They apparently backed off or something as I never saw that again.
If AT&T should decide to do something like that, or follow Verizon's lead on the "no subsidized upgrade if you have unlimited data" thing, then it's simply a matter modelling the costs of the options. Pay the costs to stay with (potentially capped) "unlimited" or switch to a metered data plan.
That's what I did with the new mobile share plans and the discounts; extrapolated my family's usage and plan costs for either staying with current plan or switching over. Since most lines do not upgrade frequently and our data usage is fairly light, it was worthwhile to switch over. The same won't necessarily be true for other people.
(AT&T can basically do what they want; but you have the right to go elsewhere if you don't like the change)
From http://www.att.com/shop/en/legalter...tomerAgreement#whatHappensIfMyServIsCancelled
It's conceivable that this will change, at least for AT&T, given Next. One of the things they are pushing is buying the phone outright.New unlocked iPhones are seldom available when first introduced. It is a marketing thing.
I'm investigating Next too.
Looks enticing, but
What is with the "lease" concept?
What is with turning in the old phone when upgrading?
Looks enticing, but
What is with the "lease" concept?
What is with turning in the old phone when upgrading?
If you don't want to "lease," don't turn in the phone and upgrade at 12 or 18 months. Keep making payments to 20 or 28 months and the phone is yours.
Correction: There are 26 payments on the Next 18 program, not 28.
IMHO many media outlets unnecessarily trashed the Next program without thinking it through. It really isn't a lease; it's more of a financing program with a option to forgive the remaining balance if traded in.
You don't have to trade in your phone if you don't want to. Enjoy the 0% interest financing and pay off the phone early if you like. It's you're to keep unless you choose to trade it in.
Want to upgrade but not trade in the phone? Simple. Just pay it off in full and sell it yourself. Only caveat is you might actually have to plan ahead if AT&T turns out unable to handle providing immediate eligibility upon paying off a Next phone.
Anything could be conceivable.
I think that anyone who pay full price at an AT&T store or Apple should walk out with an unlocked phone.I just doubt that will happen at introduction.
Maybe AT&T will annoy a lot of the people they got to switch the Next by pitching the ability to pay full price and get a lower monthly service cost. I doubt it, but they might.Anything could be conceivable.
I just doubt that will happen at introduction.
Time will tell and we got a half year or so to find out.
I am looking forward to a larger 6