Alongside the announcement of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus last year, Apple announced a new program designed at encouraging users to upgrade their device every year, as opposed to the traditional two-year cycle. At launch, the iPhone Upgrade Program was oddly only available to customers shopping in Apple Stores. Today, however, Apple has expanded the program to the online store so all customers can now take advantage of it.
Starting today, if you visit Apple’s website and go through the process of buying an iPhone, you’ll see a new option alongside the traditional carrier installment, contract, and outright purchase options. At the very top of the list is the iPhone Upgrade Program and its installment pricing. In fact, when you go through the process, the iPhone Upgrade Program is now the default choice.
For the iPhone Upgrade Program, prices start at $32.41 per month for the 16GB iPhone 6s and $36.58 per month for the 16GB iPhone 6s Plus. Prices then increase based on which storage capacity you chose.
As we found when the iPhone Upgrade Program launched last September, it doesn’t offer huge savings compared to carrier upgrade programs, but there are some advantages. The biggest one, however, is that you get AppleCare+ service protection included in the monthly price. AppleCare+ adds up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage.
If you’ve been holding out to purchase an iPhone 6s online with the iPhone Upgrade Program, you can head over to Apple’s online store now to do so. The iPhone 6s you’ll get will be ready to use with your carrier of choice, although if you’re a T-Mobile customer, you’ll still have to purchase your iPhone Upgrade Program device from an Apple store. Every month you’ll pay Apple the hardware cost, while you’ll still pay your carrier for service. Let us know in the comments if you’re in Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program and if you’ll be using it to upgrade to the iPhone 7 this September.
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US only this upgrade program?
Yes
You forgot to mention that T-Mobile activations are not eligible for the Apple Upgrade Program Online, they must still be done in-store.
The other advantage is you don’t have to come up with the upfront $199 or $299 price. The only thing they charge on Day 1 other than the monthly charge is the tax, which is about $100 or so (depending on which model you order).
Yep! Enrolled in the programmed the fact it became available! And yes I’ll certainty use it to upgrade to the next release. I can only hope there will be a Watch upgrade program to compliment this program.
I tried to enroll in-store but they refused to let me, they said I can only enroll when signing up with a carrier-contract (currently with Verizon with a fully owned phone).
I had the sales guy verify this information with his manager and he came back confirming this information. So I had to go with installment instead. This is confusing as hell!
I bought an iPhone 6S for myself and a 6S+ for my wife the day they came out. I financed them with Apple, and I also have Verizon with an out-of-contract phone. Not sure why it didn’t work for you. I’m definitely getting an iPhone 7 when they come out. It’s the main reason I went with the installment plan: to get a new phone each year. I’ve found that the iPhone gets a bit sluggish when it’s about 1.5 years old. So, I’m looking forward to not ever having performance issues on my phone again :-)
You don’t need a “contract” to sign up. You do, however, need service with one of the big four (Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile, and Sprint) in order to sign up with iUP. I suspect that’s a requirement the carriers demanded in order to be somewhat ok with iUP existing. So no, you don’t need a contract, but you do need to activate with a service on the spot.
Seriously considering doing the installment plan this fall with the iPhone 7. Seems a bit expensive at first compared to paying T-Mobile in installments, but the AppleCare+ really makes it a decent deal.