Why am I getting the new instead of upgrade price for iPhone 4?

[badlydrawnboy]

I'm pre-ordering an iPhone 4 right now. I expected to get the $399 price because I'm upgrading under contract. Last year I bought a 3GS and that renewed my contract for another 2 years. But when I went to the Apple store to place the order, it told me the price would be $199. That's fantastic, of course, and means I'll get the 32 GB for $299 instead of the 16 GB I was planning to get for $399. But I just want to make sure this is legit before I go forward. Don't want to end up paying $499 for the 32 GB.

 

[mloffa]

Same situation for me. It's most likely because your phone bill is high each month.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

Sounds good to me! Now if I can just place that order... Apple's site is SLOW right now.

 

[coasterswim]

Does it say $199 AFTER you enter your account info? It says $199 to everyone on the early stages.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

Yes.

I can't place an order now. I keep getting "there was an error processing your request. Please try again later."

 

[leesweet]

Store appears to be doing better now... after three hours, I finally got my cart back and checked out using iTunes ID.

As for the pricing, virtually everyone with upgrade availability in second half of 2010 is eligible for 'new line' pricing (199/299 US).

 

[badlydrawnboy]

Not for me! I've been kicked out 7-8 times now.

 

[rogersmj]

I still can't figure out the logic. I bought our 3GS's in July 09, just a few weeks after they launched. AT&T says we'll only be eligible for the $199 price in March 2011.

Meanwhile, a coworker bought his 3GS within a week of me, also last July 09, and he was able to preorder an iPhone 4 for $199.

Not fair. What gives?