Skip to main content

T-Mobile wants to pay for half of your new iPhone every year with ‘Go5G Next’

T-Mobile announced its latest wireless plan back in April called Go5G Plus with 24-month installment terms, a 30-day money-back guarantee, pricing below Verizon/AT&T, and more. Now the Uncarrier is back with Go5G Next which includes a new phone every year with T-Mobile picking up half of the cost plus a free 5G smartphone to start.

T-Mobile announced the new plan today in a press release:

The Un-carrier is one-upping the upgrade. T-Mobile today announced Go5G Next, the only plan in wireless that guarantees customers are upgrade-ready every year and that new and existing customers always get the same great phone deals. The latest plan from T-Mobile—also available for businesses with Go5G Business Next—means that new and existing customers always have access to the latest technology to light up America’s leading 5G network.

Verizon and AT&T have both killed off 24 and 30-month device installment plans in favor of 36-month terms, which means you typically need to pay extra to upgrade your phone yearly.

With Go5G Next, not only is T-Mobile sticking with a 24-month installment term but it’s only requiring customers to pay 50% of their device off before being able to upgrade each year.

Notably, instead of having to pay the other 50% device balance off, T-Mobile is covering that for Go5G Next customers each year. Plus, the Uncarrier is offering a free 5G phone for new and current customers to get started.

Here’s how the company describes how it works:

  1. Switch to Go5G Next.
  2. Score the latest 5G phone on T-Mobile’s no-interest phone payment plan (EIP) with any eligible offer. Right now, that’s a free 5G smartphone for both new and existing customers with eligible trade-in via 24 monthly bill credits plus tax.
  3. Once you’ve paid off half your phone, you’re eligible to upgrade! In most cases, customers are upgrade-ready every single year or sooner.
  4. Simply trade in your old phone (T-Mobile pays off your remaining EIP!) and upgrade to the latest phone on a new EIP.

T-Mobile also says customers can choose to upgrade as soon as every 6 months if at least 50% of their phone is paid off.

9to5Mac’s take

While T-Mobile paying for half of your new smartphone every year sounds great, what’s happening is a packaged cost with the new plan – but it’s still a net positive.

Top comment by Atlas

Liked by 13 people

In France we have amazing plans with unlimited calls almost worldwide, 200 GB data and 10 GB of data roaming, and it costs 25$ per month. Over the course of a year that could never pay for an iPhone, even without accounting for margins.

These American plans only mean one thing : that the user is getting scammed.

View all comments

When you choose the new Go5G Next plan, it’s more expensive than the Go5G Plus plan by $10/month per line. That ends up being $120 more per year per line to get the ~$400-500 yearly credit of T-Mobile paying off half of your device – a $280-380 net value.

Another way to look at it is T-Mobile’s Go5G Next has a total monthly cost roughly equal to Verizon and AT&T while including yearly upgrades instead of getting a new phone every three years.

Go5G next will launch on August 24 – but of course, Apple fans will probably want to wait until next month for the iPhone 15 lineup to arrive.

Note: The top of T-Mobile’s chart says “Price Per Line” but it means price per 1/2/3/4 lines.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications