Sprint today announced a new $22/month upgrade option for iPhone users allowing them to pick up a new iPhone at anytime through a plan dubbed “iPhone Forever”.
iPhone users can now opt to pay an extra $22/month on top of any individual unlimited plan or family share pack plan and when a new iPhone is eventually released, they simply bring in their old device to upgrade to the latest entry-level iPhone model. Here’s how it compares to options from the other carriers…
“We asked ourselves, ‘What could we do that would move our customers forward with the latest and greatest technology every day?’ said Marcelo Claure, Sprint CEO. “We decided: How awesome would it be if anytime customers don’t have the latest iPhone, they are eligible to upgrade, and have it be as simple as handing us your existing iPhone and picking up a new one – all included in your monthly rate.”
Sprint’s new plan seems to be reaction to recently introduced and improved offerings from T-Mobile and others, while Sprint previously had an “iPhone for Life” plan that offered yearly upgrades bundled with service plans.
Sprint is positioning the new upgrade plan as competition for similar upgrade and leasing programs available through T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. The company compared its iPhone Forever program with a $60 Unlimited plan to comparable plans with yearly upgrade options from the other guys.
Sprint’s chart above uses a special $15 promotional price for its new iPhone Forever upgrade plan, but that price is only for those that trade-in an old smartphone for a new 16GB iPhone 6 to start off. Those users will pay $15/month for the iPhone Forever perk until their next upgrade, while everyone else will get the standard $22/month price.
More info on signing up for the new plan on Sprint’s website here.
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Would NEVER even consider Sprint in my area – Coverage is so spotty and they have so oversold their bandwidth.
I’ll just continue to buy my iPhones from Apple as unlocked, carrier free purchases. YMMV
Consumerism at its best: replacing a perfectly good $700 device every single year to get a couple of extra features.
I agree. For me 3 – 4 year with one model of the iPhone is alright. I have my iPhone 4S for 3 years now (second owner, the phone is in fact 4 years old) and I’m looking forward to upgrade to iPhone 6s.
I easily sell my current year iPhone for more than $600 every year. I’ve kept track of how much my upgrades have cost me and on average its about $45 a year. I will gladly pay an extra $45 a year to make sure I have the smoothest experience with my technology. I have friends at work that subscribe to your same belief and one of them is still using a 3GS. It works, but it’s painfully slow. Not everyone who upgrades every year is a mindless consumer. Phones have become an integral part of most of our lives from making calls to adjusting the A/C in your house and most recently eliminating the need to carry credit cards. Other than your car, what technology do you depend on to work flawlessly day in and day out and that also has the biggest impact when it doesn’t. This is the reason I upgrade every year. It’s not so much just gaining “a couple of extra features” as it is maintaining a certain level of functionality.
It would be nice to see other carriers do something similar… (since some had it in the past) where at the end of 12 months you can keep paying the payments for another year, then keep the device, or trade it in and start the payment plan on a new one…. or even have it be once you’ve paid 60% of the phone’s cost you can trade it in.
Entry level model (16G)? Why would someone want that?
You can get a higher storage option with this program.