Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I bought my 3G on launch day and it says I can't upgrade until March 2010. My bill is about $60/mo on the family plan. Otherwise it's $175/mo total.

I'm in the same boat... I'm just waiting for my dad's line to be eligible for an upgrade on August 3rd and then I'll do the "upgrade swap."
 
I bought the 16GB 3G last year for $499 on launch day as part of a $80/mo family plan (because I had previously upgraded to a Motorola phone in December 2007, so I couldn't get the $199/$299 pricing).

When I check now, it says I'm not eligible for full upgrade pricing until 08/04/2009, but I can "get an iPhone upgrade at a higher price with a 2-yr contract" tomorrow. What does this even mean? Has my status just not been updated, or does my plan need to be over $99/mo, or am I still in the upgrade cycle for my Moto? I paid full price for an iPhone last year, why should I pay full price again? I thought anyone who was eligible in July/Aug/Sep is now eligible for upgrade tomorrow?

Does someone understand what's going on here, because obviously AT&T hasn't made it very clear...
 
Hey guys, im just curious if you think im able to get the 199/299 price.

When I check online at att.com it says my upgrade wont be till 12/29/09. But then I send the text to that number..and it says, "...full discount not available at this time,but you may qaulify on 8/6/09. We can offer you an iphone upgrade at a higher price with a 2yr commitment and 18 upgrade fee."

Sooo..does this mean I now qualify for that 199/299 price? I'm pretty sure im an early adopter(Not sure what that means). I bought the 3G August last year.

Anybody? I want to take advantage of this puppy if so lol
 
mine is still 399/499 and i got the phone july 11th, when it came out. My bill was 88 though, because of my school discount so that probably effects it.

Yes that would effect it then......since one of the requirments are you must pay 99.99 or above pre tax for your voice plan
 
I don't understand why some people get the $18 upgrade fee waived...? Ive been with AT&T for 7+ years and I still have to pay it :mad:
 
Both apple.com and the *639# text message reflect that I am now eligible for a new iPhone 3GS at the $199/$299 prices with no 18 dollar fee :)
 
Dear ________,

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail AT&T regarding the extension of
the eligibility dates to upgrade to the iPhone 3G S and why September
was chosen as the cut-off. I apologize for any frustration or confusion
this change may have caused. My name is Jacqueline Wright and I am happy to
help you with your inquiry.

I have researched your concern and find beginning Friday, June 19, 2009,
iPhone 3G customers who purchased and activated their iPhone 3G in July,
August, or September of 2008 may become immediately eligible for the
best upgrade pricing. We have been listening to our customers which is
why we have chosen to extend the upgrade eligibility for the 3G S;
unfortunately there did have to be a cut-off since this could not be
extended indefinitely. To be immediately eligible, these customers must
meet the following criteria:

* Purchased and activated iPhone 3G in July, August, or September of
2008.
* Have an average combined monthly recurring charge of at least $99 per
month (rate plan plus features), per line.
* Meet all other AT&T upgrade eligibility requirements (e.g., good
payment history, be in good standing, etc).

?
 
I think there is a bit more to the policy change here than AT&T are being forthcoming about.

When I checked my upgrade eligibility last week it said 08/05/2009. I was quite pleasantly surprised as I was expecting it to be a year later than it indicated. Then I learned of the >$99/month factoring (I pay ~$130), and that made sense of it being earlier than I thought it should be.

Along comes AT&T's new policy which, per the way it reads and the upgrade dates my account indicated, should have made me eligible for the $299 price tomorrow.

I check my upgrade date last night, still showed 08/05/2009.

I check it this morning, and now it shows 01/05/2010.

So their new policy obviously has other fine print that results in some accounts being re-evaluated and moved back instead of up.

AT&T customer service are at a loss to explain it, so I requested a full hard-copy of my entire contract T&Cs, including upgrade policy details, since I would like to understand the logic here.

No, I am not complaining about the policy terms either, just confused as to the change. And mildly ticked off that had I know it was going to be January of next year, I would have happily paid the $200 extra last week to get the phone this week (6 weeks I was happy to wait, 6 months not so much - regardless of price ... need the phone to test on).
 
This means that on 8/6 you'll be able to pay 399/499. Before that, 599/699.

Review iPhone pricing.

As a valued AT&T customer, AT&T can offer you an early iPhone upgrade with a new 2-yr commitment and an $18 upgrade fee. You may qualify for a standard iPhone upgrade on 12/30/2009.

* $299.00* — 8GB iPhone 3G (black)
* $399.00* — 16GB iPhone 3G S (black or white)
* $499.00* — 32GB iPhone 3G S (black or white)

This is what I got now when I went to apple.com. I don't see any 599 pricing. So what the hell is that 8/6/09 date about? F'n at&t, I tell ya.
 
i qualified and ordered 16gb white but I have yet to receive a confirmation email and it doesnt show up on my apple account. anyone else having this problem?

Same for me, I'm guessing they are getting slammed with orders so we'll just have to wait and see
 
Bizarre ... AT&T called me back and told me they had found the issue.

I changed my number (not a new line, just a simple number change) a few months back, and it caused all of my feature dates to reset.

All fixed now.
 
This is what I got now when I went to apple.com. I don't see any 599 pricing. So what the hell is that 8/6/09 date about? F'n at&t, I tell ya.

I'm confused as well. Last year when I bought my 3G, there were two price points:
- $199/299 for new contracts/people eligible for upgrade/2G owners
- $399/499 for at&t customers not eligible for upgrade

But now from what it sounds like there are three price points?? Who can clarify this?


* Have an average combined monthly recurring charge of at least $99 per
month (rate plan plus features), per line.

I honestly find this a bit ridiculous. If you're on a 3 person family plan you need to pay $300/mo. The only plan that can do that is FamilyTalk Nation Unlimited (ie, the most expensive voice plan). The next expensive family plan still wouldn't qualify even with unlimited family texting and an iPhone data plan ($199 + $9 + $29 + $29 = $270/mo = $90/line/mo).

I bought an unsubsidized iPhone 3G at launch last year. Why do I not have upgrade eligibility until August?
 
Yup, as expected, AT&T changed my upgrade date to today. It even says they will waive the upgrade fee. :D My original upgrade date was July 12, 2009.

photo1j.jpg

Q -- I did the same thing for craps and giggles. I'm a 2G owner and fully qualify. But my message said WITH the $18 upgrade fee. Apparently also customers who are over $99/mo get the fees waived.

Which is retarded. They are once again going out of their way to divide their customer base. Either make it available for everyone; or no one. Another wonderful PR debacle they have gotten themselves into. I hope this gets as much press as their lack of availability of MMS/Tethering at launch...

Glad I got mine contract free...I'm headed to T-mobile.

LOL take your ball and go home. Nice.

It's pretty simple. ATT sells you a phone at a subsidized rate w/ a contract. The idea is your contract offsets that subsidy. If you monthly bill is higher, your subsidy will be met sooner. So, it makes perfect sense to allow people who pay more per month to upgrade sooner -- they pay for their phone faster.
 
I'm confused as well. Last year when I bought my 3G, there were two price points:
- $199/299 for new contracts/people eligible for upgrade/2G owners
- $399/499 for at&t customers not eligible for upgrade

But now from what it sounds like there are three price points?? Who can clarify this?

Essentially you're buying out the second half of your subsidy. 2G owners didn't have to pay that because their phone wasn't subsidized. If you had a different ATT phone and weren't eligible to upgrade, you would have to pay the early upgrade fee to buy out your subsidy. Same with 3G owners this year, some with 3GS owners next year.

I honestly find this a bit ridiculous. If you're on a 3 person family plan you need to pay $300/mo. The only plan that can do that is FamilyTalk Nation Unlimited (ie, the most expensive voice plan). The next expensive family plan still wouldn't qualify even with unlimited family texting and an iPhone data plan ($199 + $9 + $29 + $29 = $270/mo = $90/line/mo).

I bought an unsubsidized iPhone 3G at launch last year. Why do I not have upgrade eligibility until August?

Each line qualifies for a subsidy, so each line is treated seperately. Either 12-24 months or early upgrade fee.

In iPhone terms the easy way to figure is your iPhone subsidy is $400. If you have the base individual plan, you pay that off in 18 months or so. If you have a family plan, it's going to be longer because you're paying less per line for the same minutes. If you have a higher rate plan it's going to be sooner. That dictates when you are eligible for an upgrade -- when ATT recoup its subsidy, or there abouts.
 
Dave006, what's your opinion on why I still do not see my eligibility changed to today? Bought the 3G on launch day last year, it says I'm eligible 7/12/09. So what am I missing here?
I can't see what you referenced but some questions come up.

Do you still have the iPhone 3G on the line?
What did you pay on 7/12/08 and did you purchase any phones on this line after that date?
Did you recently make any changes to your account?
Did you try the text inquiry? *NEW# (*639#) on your AT&T device (we’ll send you a text with upgrade information)

Dave
 
An unsubsidized iPhone is $600/$700. Is that what you paid?

I paid the $400/$500 price because I wasn't due for an upgrade. Wasn't that the unsubsidized price for the 3G?
No, you did not pay the unsubsidized price last year, the price was announced last July 1 as being: $599 / $699 however, you could not purchase at that price until March 25 of 2009.

So you paid the "Early Upgrade" pricing of $399 / $499. This still would have reset you to a new contract and your new "Upgrade Eligible" would be based on your contract date and your MRC.

Dave
 
I'm confused as well. Last year when I bought my 3G, there were two price points:
- $199/299 for new contracts/people eligible for upgrade/2G owners
- $399/499 for at&t customers not eligible for upgrade

But now from what it sounds like there are three price points?? Who can clarify this?

I honestly find this a bit ridiculous. If you're on a 3 person family plan you need to pay $300/mo. The only plan that can do that is FamilyTalk Nation Unlimited (ie, the most expensive voice plan). The next expensive family plan still wouldn't qualify even with unlimited family texting and an iPhone data plan ($199 + $9 + $29 + $29 = $270/mo = $90/line/mo).

I bought an unsubsidized iPhone 3G at launch last year. Why do I not have upgrade eligibility until August?
No, you are missing some details. There were 3 price points announced last year but AT&T and Apple did not offer the $599 / $699 pricing until March 25, 2009.

The MRC calc is not based on your bill divided by the number of lines. Each line has a contract and each line has it's own MRC based on the rate plan for that line. So in your example only the "Primary" line could qualify for the higest MRC. FamilyTalk rate is the base on the primary line and then $9.99 on each of the add-a-lines. So you can quickly see that only the primary line is going to have a chance to be above the > $99 clip with a 2100 rate plan and the iPhone data plan for example.

Also, just as a reminder the MRC is not the only item that is used to determine your Upgrade Eligible date.

Dave
 
AFAIK, to qualify for this special thing AT&T is doing, you need to meet both of the following requirements:

1. have been an iPhone 3G "early adopter" (i.e. bought in Jul/Aug/Sep last year)
2. have a monthly bill of $99+/month


Really, well poop. I've given them too much money then, wonder if I can get a refund for annoyances such as these. :rolleyes:

Here's my past 11 months:

06/18/2009 ONE TIME DIRECT DEBIT **** ($114.98)
05/20/2009 ONE TIME DIRECT DEBIT **** ($114.68)
04/21/2009 ONE TIME DIRECT DEBIT **** ($141.34)
03/23/2009 ONE TIME DIRECT DEBIT **** ($124.46)
02/25/2009 ONE TIME DIRECT DEBIT **** ($190.64)
01/19/2009 ONE TIME DIRECT DEBIT **** ($141.76)
12/22/2008 ONE TIME DIRECT DEBIT **** ($149.15)
11/18/2008 ONE TIME DIRECT DEBIT **** ($83.46)
10/20/2008 ONE TIME DIRECT DEBIT **** ($120.21)
09/18/2008 ONE TIME DIRECT DEBIT **** ($76.90)
08/24/2008 ONE TIME DIRECT DEBIT **** ($82.67)
 
Really, well poop. I've given them too much money then, wonder if I can get a refund for annoyances such as these. :rolleyes:

Here's my past 11 months:
Sorry, again it is not your total bill. It is only the individual line's MRC based on: voice rate plan + data plan (not part of a shared plan) + select Features (AT&T gets to choose and they are publishing this info....)

Dave
 
I upgraded to the 3G on July 17th 2008 and my upgrade date is 10/04/2010. Can anyone explain this one because the AT&T rep I spoke with couldn't and said there was nothing she could do for me? I have auto pay and have no delinquency charges on my account. Not sure how I feel about having to wait 28 months to upgrade on a 24 month contract...
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.