Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

T-Mobile Announces 'Jump' Phone Upgrade Program

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
66,297
35,331



At an event in Manhattan today, T-Mobile USA announced a new phone upgrade program called "Jump," which is designed to allow subscribers to upgrade their phones at regular intervals.

tmobile.jpg

With Jump, customers will pay the same subsidized amount that a new customer pays, without the need to wait to qualify for an upgrade. Jump requires T-Mobile customers to pay a $10 monthly fee for the service and trade-in old devices, but it offers up to two phone upgrades per year after a six month waiting period. T-Mobile CEO John Legere spoke to AllThingsD about the new program:
"This is one of those things that annoys customers so much," CEO John Legere said in an interview ahead of a New York press event. Legere said that the company wanted to address this issue when it first did away with two-year contracts back in March, but needed a little more time to work out the details.
Click to expand...
This is a significant policy change that sets T-Mobile apart from other carriers, which often require contracts to expire before upgrade pricing on a new device is available. Both Verizon and AT&T, for example, have recently implemented policies that only allow customers to upgrade after 24 months have passed.

T-Mobile's policy change comes three months after it announced both the iPhone 5 and its "Uncarrier" policies, which allow customers to purchase a phone without a monthly contract. Instead, T-Mobile requires a down payment of $150 along with a $20 monthly device fee for the iPhone 5.

At today's event, T-Mobile also announced that it plans to create a new family plan for customers without enough credit to quality for traditional phone contracts and plans to expand its LTE network in the near future.

T-Mobile has published a series of ads on the new Jump feature, with the slogan "Upgrade when you want, not when you're told."


Article Link: T-Mobile Announces 'Jump' Phone Upgrade Program
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/10/t-mobile-announces-jump-phone-upgrade-program/
Both Verizon and AT&T, for example, have recently implemented policies that only allow customers to upgrade after 24 months have passed
Click to expand...

^ AT&T did this too? Anyone got a link to that story? Did MacRumors cover it?
 
Last edited:
Does this mean you can pay the $10 monthly if you buy a phone that is close to a new phone release date, THEN when the new phone comes out, upgrade and then drop the $10 monthly?

seems good, i suppose , if you are a super regular upgraded...i am not, still on iphonr 4
 
So... You're paying $10 a month and you have to give up your old device?

If you want the latest iPhone, on top of the cost of the phone, you're paying $120 a year extra and losing out on the $$$ from selling you're old phone.

Pretty crap deal.
 
Seems like a waste of money unless you're prone to breaking phones. You can sell your old iPhone for a lot and make up the difference. Shoot, my 4S sold for $480 cash when the 5 came out. I probably could've gotten more too.
 
Not sure if AT&T does this, but with Verizon, while you do sign a 2 year contract, you are able to upgrade within 6 months of your contract expiring. So really you are only locked in for 18 months. I don't see the need to continuously update your device unless you just have to have the best thing that's out. Which is fine, just would rather save that money to spend on something else.

My personal preference. To each their own of course!
 
Sky Blue said:
So... You're paying $10 a month and you have to give up your old device?

If you want the latest iPhone, on top of the cost of the phone, you're paying $120 a year extra and losing out on the $$$ from selling you're old phone.

Pretty crap deal.
Click to expand...

Really? If you're planning on upgrading every year that means you're going to pay completely out of pocket for every other phone, right? I'm honestly not sure how this works, since I was under the impression T-mobile really didn't subsidise devices anymore.

----------
Paragonal17 said:
Not sure if AT&T does this, but with Verizon, while you do sign a 2 year contract, you are able to upgrade within 6 months of your contract expiring. So really you are only locked in for 18 months. I don't see the need to continuously update your device unless you just have to have the best thing that's out. Which is fine, just would rather save that money to spend on something else.

My personal preference. To each their own of course!
Click to expand...

Not anymore. Verizon changed their terms a while ago to the full 24 months.
 
Paragonal17 said:
Not sure if AT&T does this, but with Verizon, while you do sign a 2 year contract, you are able to upgrade within 6 months of your contract expiring. So really you are only locked in for 18 months. I don't see the need to continuously update your device unless you just have to have the best thing that's out. Which is fine, just would rather save that money to spend on something else.

My personal preference. To each their own of course!
Click to expand...

That is now misinformation.
 
joelisfar said:
^ AT&T did this too? Anyone got a link to that story? Did MacRumors cover it?
Click to expand...

We didn't end up covering it (I think because AT&T announced it late at night right before WWDC), but it happened. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57...evice-upgrade-wait-time-from-20-to-24-months/

----------
BJMRamage said:
Does this mean you can pay the $10 monthly if you buy a phone that is close to a new phone release date, THEN when the new phone comes out, upgrade and then drop the $10 monthly?

seems good, i suppose , if you are a super regular upgraded...i am not, still on iphonr 4
Click to expand...

There's a six month waiting period, so you have to pay at least $60 before you would be able to upgrade to the next phone.
 
So you buy a device on a payment plan, decide hafway thru paying for it you want a newer device, upgrade on another payment plan and still pay off the old payment plan PLUS $120 extra dollars a year?

SEEMS LEGIT.
 
bearda said:
Really? If you're planning on upgrading every year that means you're going to pay completely out of pocket for every other phone, right? I'm honestly not sure how this works, since I was under the impression T-mobile really didn't subsidise devices anymore.

----------



Not anymore. Verizon changed their terms a while ago to the full 24 months.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm not clear on the conditions, but I am currently eligible for an upgrade and did a week trial of the Samsung just to try it out before deciding on waiting for the 5S. And when I did the trial, it was basically like getting a new phone. I had to pay for it and renew my contract. So my new upgrade date became 18 months from when I started the trial, but it was still a 2 year contract. The upgrade date reverted back when I ended the trial and decided not to stick with the Samsung. Got my refund, the whole 9 yards.

Might be because I've been a Verizon customer for years. But if the conditions did change, oh well!
 
Last edited:
I agree that this really makes no sense. People who upgrade every 6 or so months pay full price, say $650. After about 6 months they sell that phone for around $500 and buy a new one. They end up losing around $150 which is still cheaper than tacking on $10 a month to your plan and paying the subsidized price of $199.

I see this helping people who upgrade yearly though. They usually take a much larger hit in resell value...but it would still be close to being a wash.
 
ELMNT925 said:
So you buy a device on a payment plan, decide hafway thru paying for it you want a newer device, upgrade on another payment plan and still pay off the old payment plan PLUS $120 extra dollars a year?

SEEMS LEGIT.
Click to expand...

You no longer continue to pay for the old device, you trade it in and then pay the device fee on the new device. You're not paying two device fees at once.
 
Oh the hassles of using things that you don't actually own even though you're paying for them.
 
$50 /mo basic service

$10 /mo addon for 2GB data

$10 /mo fee for early trade in.
$20 /mo payment plan for iPhone.

It starts adding up fast.
 
Wow...T-mobile went from simplifying things to complicating them. I see they're trying to add a perceived benefit and it stands to make them money....lots of people will end up paying an extra $10 per month for the right to upgrade anytime and then never upgrade. Or they will feel compelled to upgrade even if they don't really need to which gives T-mobile another device sale. So it's good for them but I don't really see a true customer benefit except to make it easy for clueless people who always like to have the latest.
 
Interesting concept and for those who like the path of least resistance it might work out for them IF T-Mob is decent in their area and they don't travel much.

But, assuming used iPhones hold value it seems it's still less expensive to pay full boat then sell when you are ready to upgrade. Under T-Mob's plan you pay the $199 subsidized rate + another $120 if you keep it, say, until the next iPhone. You have to give them the phone back so cost of use is $319. OTOH if you bought an unlocked phone at full price $649 you could easily sell it a year later for $400, so total cost of use is $249.

So bottom line, all these carriers prices are the same. It's just a big shell game as to where they make their $ and how they pull you in. I stick with ATT b/c I have a grandfathered data plan. Otherwise I'd probably go Verizon just because the GSM side is unlocked.
 
Its not that complicated. For someone that wants the latest and greatest every 6 months, then its not that bad of a deal. Its pretty much $60 extra to jump to a new phone every 6 months. I'm still on an iPhone 4, so its not for me. For Android power users, it may be something to think about.
 
I think it would be a better deal to get a new iPhone very year (at a higher price, but not paying the $10) and resell the old model ..... last years model iPhones still get a very good price when reselling them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back