Verizon Announces Yearly Upgrade Program for iPhone Users

[gigapocket1]

Makes me wonder if they dropped this at the last minute to make att look bad.
But we all know att isn't going to beat Verizon or anyone else prices. At most is that they will match Verizon

 

[Flow39]

Buying the new iPhone sure is a pain in the ass this year.

Unless you buy it at full price

 

[B4U]

Can they just fix the issue where there is absolutely no internet connection when it is on a phone call when the phone had LTE before the call?
All these are just gimmicks if they have no good service...

 

[ugcop]

ATT just announced their new iPhone program.....pay cash full price for an iPhone and 12 months later you can pay full cash price for the latest one.

 

[PowerBook-G5]

Anyone want to do to a side by side chart of the various iphone purchasing/contracting/leasing/etc programs?

Not a side-by-side, but The Verge has a "flowchart" of how to buy the 6S from the different carriers.

 

[tonytiger13]

Am I missing something? What's the catch?

Let's say you purchase the iPhone 6S 16GB at $649. Over 24 months (a 2-year payoff plan) that is roughly $27 a month. With this new option, a customer would pay that for 12 months and have roughly $324.50 paid off, or half of the phone. At this point, they can either: 1) continue paying $27 for 12 more months or 2) trade-in their iPhone 6S 16GB and purchase the iPhone 7 32GB (wishful thinking) at $649 and continue paying $27 for 12 more months until the next iPhone.

Verizon gets an iPhone 6S 16GB that they will likely be able to sell for more than $324.50 to another customer.

Nothing changes in what the customer was paying for monthly, at all.

Am I missing something? I've been on airplanes all day, so my brain may not be functioning. Why wouldn't someone want to do this?

*** Except for the fact that you're paying $27 (or more for other models) for the rest of your f***ing life.***

 

[nrvna76]

How is this much different than Next? You make 12-18-24 payments and trade it in (on the 12 or 18) or buy the phone off (or paid off by 24). The buyoff issue is made very clear.

What the difference?

NEXT 12 is divided over 20 payments. So when you trade in they are only giving you %40 for the phone. With Verizon and Apple they give you %50 for the phones since they are divided over 24 months not 20.

 

[james jones212]

what's amazing to me is verizon keeps touting their better network when tmobile is just blowing them away. they're no longer #1. i hear more complaints about slow Verizon service these days from friends in nyc.

http://bit.ly/1L9BjeS

 

[tonytiger13]

Not a side-by-side, but The Verge has a "flowchart" of how to buy the 6S from the different carriers.

Thanks for this! The Verge confirmed my thoughts.

"If you already have a Verizon upgrade plan, then you'll be able to keep using it. If you don't, you're actually in luck: Verizon is launching an upgrade option specifically for iPhones — no other phone is getting this deal. All you have to do is buy a phone using Verizon's normal financing option, which offers the 64GB iPhone 6S for $31.24 per month and the 64GB iPhone 6S Plus for $35.40 per month. Pay that for a year then trade it in, and Verizon will hand you a new iPhone. At that point, you'll have paid either $374.88 for the 6S or $424.80 for the 6S Plus."​

 

[nrvna76]

Am I missing something? What's the catch?

Let's say you purchase the iPhone 6S 16GB at $649. Over 24 months (a 2-year payoff plan) that is roughly $27 a month. With this new option, a customer would pay that for 12 months and have roughly $324.50 paid off, or half of the phone. At this point, they can either: 1) continue paying $27 for 12 more months or 2) trade-in their iPhone 6S 16GB and purchase the iPhone 7 32GB (wishful thinking) at $649 and continue paying $27 for 12 more months until the next iPhone.

Verizon gets an iPhone 6S 16GB that they will likely be able to sell for more than $324.50 to another customer.

Nothing changes in what the customer was paying for monthly, at all.

Am I missing something? I've been on airplanes all day, so my brain may not be functioning. Why wouldn't someone want to do this?

*** Except for the fact that you're paying $27 (or more for other models) for the rest of your f***ing life.***

You're not missing anything.

 

[tonytiger13]

You're not missing anything.

If that's the case, why would a customer keep their iPhone 6S. It's going to keep losing value while they could've gotten the iPhone 7.

Granted, I guess doing this means you NEVER plan on selling it yourself. And you may not like the iPhone 7...

I can see why you may not want to do this...

 

[ZMacintosh]

Verizon has been saying some really stupid things lately. Another one was when they came out with their new Verizon Plans. They wanted to get the word "simple" in to mimic T-Mobile, which was probably a dumb idea in itself. But they proceeded to use such insulting phraseology and analogies they ended up calling their customers stupid!

Whoever's in charge of marketing is the one who's lost his mind!

Its really a complex thing, the pricing structure is so non sensical with Verizon. the charges fluctuate so much from bill to bill.

with these new plans its just a slap in the face, weve been on them for 16 years now. so ridiculous.

Theyre marketing/strategy firm is Pentagram, they created the new hideous logo Verizon now touts as original and creative.

 

[nrvna76]

If that's the case, why would a customer keep their iPhone 6S. It's going to keep losing value while they could've gotten the iPhone 7.

Granted, I guess doing this means you NEVER plan on selling it yourself. And you may not like the iPhone 7...

I can see why you may not want to do this...

After those two years you own it so you can sell it and then get the 7S. Slightly cheaper than these programs overall.

 

[einmusiker]

Keeping my unlimited data. Happy to pay full retail and sell for 2/3rds that. I come out ahead after some wheeling and dealing

 

[jclo]

Why is this article displaying Verizon's old logo?

On topic, I'm glad there is competition spurring, but I still don't like any of these finance plans. They just seem to become more complicated and with more asterisks. Maybe it's just me, but I don't feel comfortable with any of these new plans.

I'll just stick to paying in full and not worrying about all this jazz.

Because I forgot Verizon had a new one. Swapped it in. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[inhalexhale1]

Their current "early upgrade" plan (which used to be called Edge) requires you to pay off the full price of the phone before upgrading. When Edge first came out, it was 50% required...then they upped it to 60%, then 70%, and 100% in May.

True, but you don't have to trade the phone in after paying it off.

 

[XTheLancerX]

So. When are they getting Wi-Fi calling? We are approaching the end of 2015, and I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Verizon plans to add that feature by the end of 2015. Still no word yet. Things like this make me want to go away from Verizon.

Most Verizon subscribers are already brainwashed into thinking their network is flawless, why wouldn't they also get brainwashed into paying more?

I'm on Verizon, and I totally agree. No, I'm not brainwashed, but I have to be on Verizon in my area or I have bad coverage. And trust me, I've scoured the coverage maps, it just is hard to be on a different carrier around here. However, so many people are brainwashed. It's so bad. My friend was appalled the other day when I glorified T-Mobile. He had no idea about their music freedom, wifi calling, etc deals and he was pleasantly surprised, but still, the conversation ended like "T-Mobile is still awful" on his side.

Is Verizon ever going to get Wi-Fi calling? I thought they said it's coming in 2015 but it still hasn't been spoken about and now we are approaching the final months of 2015.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Am I missing something? I've been on airplanes all day, so my brain may not be functioning. Why wouldn't someone want to do this?

*** Except for the fact that you're paying $27 (or more for other models) for the rest of your f***ing life. ***

You're gonna be paying a monthly bill for service for the rest of your life... so why not a device payment too and get a new phone each year?

Sure... you can pay off your phone and not have that $27 portion of your bill anymore... but you're still paying the $60+ or whatever for service. So you're not really gonna notice much difference.

I guess it depends on how long you plan to keep your phone. By the time you finish paying it off... it's now a 2 year old phone. I think most people would be ready for an upgrade anyway... and would just roll into a new device payment.

US carriers are (finally) making a clear separation between the service payment and the device payment.

You're gonna have a service payment for the rest of your life regardless. If you're the type of person who wants a new phone often... you'll have that payment too.

 

[knemonic]

I couldn't find it in any of the articles out there, you still get the monthly discount of $15/$20 for being on the device payment plan?

 

[acctman]

Most Verizon subscribers are already brainwashed into thinking their network is flawless, why wouldn't they also get brainwashed into paying more?

actually Verizon has the best US LTE coverage and speeds. It is pretty damn good, its work the extra dollars if you want coverage where ever you go.

 

[Carmenia83]

Its all marketing nonsense. The simple fact with all of these plans is that you're getting no-interest financing on the full price of the phone in exchange for a lower price on the service plan. If you want to upgrade every year, you're always going to make more money by paying off the balance of the phone and selling it on eBay. If you're too lazy to do the work for a little extra coin, turn it in and take a new phone.

I'm in the process of switching from At&t to Verizon right now. Verizon's new plans are finally cheap enough that I'm paying exactly what I was paying at At&t, but with marginally better coverage in my area. The kicker was the $200 per phone / $100 per line promo they have going on. I'm getting $600 for trading in an iPhone 5 and a 5c and porting the lines over. You can't beat that deal. My iPhone 6 is unlocked and will be going to the third line on the new Verizon account.

 

[BeyondtheTech]

actually Verizon has the best US LTE coverage and speeds. It is pretty damn good, its work the extra dollars if you want coverage where ever you go.

"Extra dollars" is an understatement.

I'm a family of five, and Verizon currently has a shared 18GB family plan promotion for $100, plus $20 per month per smartphone. That's basically comes out to $200 per month for wireless service alone, not including any data overages. Everyone would share a data allotment of 18GB per month.

T-Mobile has a "10GB for all" family plan, with $100 for the first two lines, and $20 per additional smartphone. For the same family of five, that comes out to $160 per month for wireless service. Each smartphone would get their own allotment of 10GB per month, and any unused data gets rolled over, not to mention each smartphone starts out with 10GB of Data Stash. That's a cumulative 50GB per month, versus a paltry 18GB on Verizon, and it's $40 per month cheaper (and that doesn't include the discounts people are getting on their device leases with JUMP! on Demand).

If the 700MHz Band 12 proves to be nearly as strong as Verizon's building penetration, Verizon has a lot less to defend their overpriced services.

 

[IPPlanMan]

Can they just fix the issue where there is absolutely no internet connection when it is on a phone call when the phone had LTE before the call?
All these are just gimmicks if they have no good service...

Enable Advanced Calling which is VoLTE.

 

[palmfox]

A few years ago, I started my own plan. After I had full-filled my contract with AT&T on all 4 of my lines, I had AT&T unlock all our phones. I bought 1 phone at full price. MY wife got my 1 year old phone. My father-in-law got her two year old phone, and my mother in law got his 3 year old phone. All unlocked. Now my wife and I trade out getting the new phone, and we give the slightly older phone to the in-laws. The best part is, since they are all unlocked, I can go with whatever carrier has the best plan. Right now Cricket Wireless has 5 phones for $100.00 taxes included. (unlimited minutes, and unlimited text and 2.5 gb data per line). So 4 phones plus an iPad for $100.00 total price. Had T-Mobile, but switched to save $34.00 per month, and better coverage... Break out of the new phone rat race!

 

[tylerdw89]

I couldn't find it in any of the articles out there, you still get the monthly discount of $15/$20 for being on the device payment plan?

Yes. The only time you don't get the discount is if you got the device at a discounted price (2 year contract). This is from Verizon's website.