Neil Hughes
Starting this week, early upgrade pricing for the 8GB iPhone 3GS is $299, the 16GB iPhone 4 is $449, and the 32GB iPhone 4 is $549. The pricing changes, first revealed by AndroidCentral, were confirmed Monday to AppleInsider by AT&T.
"We've updated our early upgrade and no commitment price points for smartphones and feature phones," a company spokesman said. "Only customers who are not yet upgrade eligible or who do not want to sign a contract are impacted.
"As mobile devices become more sophisticated, their cost goes up. This change reflects the increased costs, while still allowing us to offer customers the latest device before they qualify. We're happy to discuss individual account and upgrade needs one-on-one with customers."
No-commitment pricing on the iPhone 4 is $599 for the 16GB model, and $699 for 32GB of capacity.
While early upgrades for the iPhone are more expensive, the pricing for other smartphones has also changed. For customers looking to buy a smartphone other than an iPhone, AT&T's one-year commitment pricing has increased by $150 for the cost of a handset. And no-commitment pricing for all smartphones other than the iPhone has also gone up by $50.
Last year, ahead of the iPhone 4 launch, AT&T made any customer with an upgrade date before the end of 2010 eligible for upgrade pricing on Apple's latest handset. That meant that some customers were able to buy the iPhone 4 at the standard $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB subsidized pricing up to 6 months early.
While the move allowed customers to upgrade their handset early, it also came with a new two-year contract, ensuring that the carrier would "lock in" customers for the next 24 months unless they were to pay an early termination fee.
Though U.S. iPhone customers must sign a two-year contract with AT&T in order to receive the iPhone at a subsidized price, the wireless carrier frequently offers faster upgrades for its highest paying customers. Those with more services and a higher monthly bill typically are not required to wait the full two years before they become eligible.
AT&T has previously revealed that generally speaking, customers who spend more than $99-a-month per line are eligible for an upgrade between 12 and 18 months into their contract. Several factors play a part in upgrade eligibility, including length of contract and payment history.
Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
19 Comments
Even I as a kid playing Monopoly didn't cheat this much. Won't it be nice when T-Mobile raises its prices in line with AT&T HQ?
That 3GS is a huge rip off. The new customer price for that phone is like $49.00. WTF?
That 3GS is a huge rip off. The new customer price for that phone is like $49.00. WTF?
With a two-year contract and no existing contract to fulfill. Did you miss that part?
This is almost telling that I don't see them offering any early upgrades on the newest Iphone like they did last year with the 4 at the disount price of $199 or $299.
Shame I am eligible in Nov 2011 was hoping that if the newest iphone came out they would let us upgrade who are within 6 months.
NOT
This is almost telling that I don't see them offering any early upgrades on the newest Iphone like they did last year with the 4 at the disount price of $199 or $299.
Shame I am eligible in Nov 2011 was hoping that if the newest iphone came out they would let us upgrade who are within 6 months.
NOT
I suspect that they are moving to phase out the whole early upgrade is and do like Verizon does. upgrade or no upgrade and that's it. AND to make the 'upgrade' pricing no less than 22 months into the contract regardless of how much you pay a month unlike their current gig which runs between something like 12-20 months depending on your monthly plan.
And personally I am fine with that. Sort of. I still believe very strongly that the laws need to be changed so that carriers are required to make device costs a separate line item and customers pay separately. Have X as the service fee plus a minimum payment amount of say 1/numberofmonthsinthecontract up to whatever the customer wants to pay. So if the required payment is $10 but I just got my tax refund from the state and want to put that $200 towards my device I can. The ETF should be whatever that balance is regardless of whether it is $20 or $400 and when I have paid it off, I don't owe anything more than what is in the service line item (instead of now where you pay the same amount before, after and even if there is no device to repay)
I also feel that no device should be locked to a carrier outside of the confines of the core tech. No one, including Apple, should be forced to support tech they don't wish to so you can't make them make a T-Mobile 3g capable phone but if another 3g carrier on the same band set as ATT exists why shouldn't I be able to use them.
Yeah okay so it means that there would be even more issues with resellers etc but solve that issue another way. given that all stores have the right to refuse service to anyone I'm sure Apple could find a way to restrict purchases to US citizens. And maybe even a way to set up a reservation required system that would track Apple IDs and IP addresses to make sure folks weren't playing games to reserve more than a reasonable amount. Or heck, how about dropping the whole 'no activation' gig. Since only ATT can support the phone their system could also help vet legit signups by checking for multiple accounts under one SS/ID number and/or address. Probably lots of ways to handle it if they wanted to.