Following up on T-Mobile’s decision to lease the iPhone 6s for $5 a month and Sprint’s move to undercut that deal at just $1 a month, Verizon announced a plan today to let iPhone owners upgrade to a newer model every year.
Verizon’s plan isn’t a lease like those from competitors. The company still expecting subscribers to pay off their phone over the course of 2 years if they choose not to upgrade in one year. Essentially the plan seems to function like a two-year contract, but with an added clause allowing you to re-up annually if you want the latest iPhone.
iPhone 6s buyers who pre-ordered the device already will get this deal automatically, as will anyone who signs up for Verizon and agrees to pay for their phone over a two-year period.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
So thats 31.25 a month for 64GB 6s. And I can upgrade after paying 375 off which is 12 months. That’s kinda dope and less than Apple’s plan.
Until you realize the Apple Program includes AppleCare+. So to spec it similarly, you’re paying VZW $375 for the phone over 12 months, plus $129 for AppleCare+, totaling $504. With The Apple Program, its $439 for the same device over the same time, and you aren’t locked into a carrier at all.
That’s very true but Verizon still covers a device for a year. Don’t get me wrong, AppleCare is awesome but I don’t think I would need (hopefully). And I personally wouldn’t change carriers.
Except, you can also get a refund on your unused portion of AppleCare+. So, if you timed it right you could get a refund of $65 bringing the total down to… $439 for the Verizon plan. Apple’s plan isn’t necessarily better, just different. Although, if I were to pay the same amount for either of these plans, I would definitely go with the Apple one.
Also, Apple’s plan is more expensive because they are offering Unlocked iPhones.
But does not include Apple’s Apple Care protection so not cheaper. Different.
And you do not need to “switch” carriers to get Apple’s plan. You pick the carrier. The iPhone is financed at 0% separately with Apple’s partner. And ANYONE that has ever dealt with carrier for “warranty” coverage, would never do so a second time, unless missing some marbles.
I think his point is that he’s picking Verizon regardless. I’m the same way. Being able to choose my carrier means absolutely nothing to me. In my area and for my use, nobody beats Verizon’s network so I wouldn’t switch carriers for anything. Kinda sucks now that I paid full price for my 6S Plus this year so that I’d be able to do a “normal” upgrade to the iPhone 7 next year. Oh well. It’s just money, right?
Apples iPhone upgrade plan includes apple care plus which is why its a few dollars more. Personally id rather deal with apple then a carrier for a replacement iPhone.
So it’s the same as the existing Verizon payment plan (Phone cost / 24), they’re just guaranteeing that they will buy back your old phone after 12 months for the remainder of the contract, which is easy since an iPhone should easily be worth 50% of its value after 12 months.
Except that the first year your iphone is under warranty – you dont need apple care (unless you are prone to dropping your phone and breaking your screen) Are you? I haven’t dropped my phone and broken the screen ever.. knock on wood. I’ve owned 3 different iphone models so far.
Not being prone to dropping it doesn’t mean you’re immune to it. We can predict accidents. Dropping your phone one time and damaging the enclosure or getting it wet might not allow Apple to fix the unit, meaning you get to replace the thing for $299.
Actually, not exactly. It is their old Edge plan that they recently did away with.
With the current “Device Payment Program”, you can’t turn your device in after a year and get a new one, unless you buy out your remaining device payments, and then keep the phone or trade it in for credit
Right, they’re just saying that at 12 months they will take your device as trade to buy out the remaining payments.
meanwhile no discount whatsoever from AT&T… might be time to switch.
I am sure there will be one.
Where do all these fucking year old phone going to go China?
I’m perfectly happily updating every 2 years and trading in or reselling my phone for around $300 nothing exciting happens every year with upgrades for me to do it yearly and miss out on the resale value of my iPhone. I don’t like how if you trade in a 6 plus 64 GB you still have to pay $99 upfront for the 64 GBb 6s plus on T-Mobile’s new plan.
You’re going about it the wrong way. I switched from ATT to T-Mobile in August. I had an iPhone 6 64gb, my gf had an iPhone 5S 16gb. We went to Best Buy and got two ZTE Z432 ATT GoPhone’s for $29.99 a piece, swapped in our SIM cards, and traded them into T-Mobile. To get the $15 a month deal, all you had to do was trade in a working smartphone. We sold our iPhones on Craigslist and pocketed about $800, got two brand new 6 64gb’s for $99/ea down, and getting two brand new 6S 64gb’s tomorrow for nothing out of pocket. (they are still running the $15 a month deal) Couldn’t be happier with T-Mo over ATT, the LTE speeds aren’t even close. Never saw over about 30Mbps on ATT, I regularly see 50-100Mbps on T-Mo.
where are you located if you don’t mind me asking? I’m in LA, and want to switch to T-Mobile, but Verizon data, call quality, and overall bars are pretty darn good.
@Guston I’m in NJ. The coverage here and in Philly, NYC are great. They are aggressively rolling out the band 12\700mhz spectrum also which is filling in all the little holes of LTE that were missing, and boosting the in-building performance. The 6S will be the first iPhone to support band 12 so I can’t wait to see the difference.
Projected 10M iPhones sold this round, 300M people in the U.S. to which if 50% of those people are phone buying adults, and 50% of those adults don’t want to or can’t pay for full price for a new iPhone and don’t want to pay monthly for their phones, that’s 75M people. If half of those people are Android users and don’t want an iPhone, that’s 37.5M people to clamor for those 10M phones, IF every single new iPhone buyer trades in their old iPhone. Trust me, the math shows there is a market for them right here in the U.S.. Besides, those Chinese people may have a problem using iPhones made for the USA. :o)
This is why competition is good thing
I’m not sure I’d like getting a new iPhone every year. I think it’s more fun experiencing two years worth of hardware upgrades all at once. :-) Besides, Applecare lasts 2 years and I wouldn’t buy an Apple product without it.
Is Apple Care worth $129 now? I know with my 6 plus it was cheaper replacing my screen once through Apple support then what Apple care would have been.
What does it cost to replace a 6s screen without Applecare? Over the years I’ve had my 3gs replaced twice and my 4s replaced three times. My 5s has behaved itself but iOS 7 had me calling tech support quite often. I’m not thrilled about the price increase, but I would be nervous without it.
My 6 plus was $129 the 6 $109, 6 s plus is $149 and 129 for 6s. 6s and 6 s plus is now $99 a repair with AppleCare instead of $79. So it’s $178 for a. Rosen screen including AppleCare for a 6s plus.
This is so SO darn confusing … about these upgrade, downgrade, Plans, programs, …….. For someone who buys his “stuff” and paying in full, I don’t understand this. So does one have to pay, let’s say, $31.25 a month for the 64GB PLUS the cost of their Data Plan…..???? Maybe I ought to buy the phone and pay the $700+ and get a Data Plan…………. completely at lost.
Short answer is yes. I still have an old $40/month plan with Verizon. Any phone I pay in full or through device payment, I get $25/month discount. Then the price of the phone ($35.40/month for a 128 GB 6s) with no money down and no “activation” fee. So that is the $849 full price, plus $15/month for the phone and line charges. That comes to $360 plus the phone for a grand total of $1,209
Compare that to $399 up front plus $40/month and you get $1,359, so I am saving a total of $150 this way vs a contract
To hell with th environment eh? Nobody should be changing their telephone every year. It’s illogical, selfish, and grotesquely wasteful. Products should be, and often are designed to last for many years.
I was in that category of yearly upgrading my phone since the 3gs. The 5s is where I stopped. The only thing that would’ve made me upgrade to the 6s would be if it had optical image stabilization in its camera.
Do you have to purchase insurance from a carrier in order to upgrade your phone after the 12 months? Or can I trade in a cracked/damaged phone each year and not worry about insurance. They say applecare plus is a waste if you plan on trading in your phone after a year so that makes me think it doesn’t matter and you wouldn’t need the $10/month insurance from Verizon or wherever. Correct?
Also..for Verizon, do I have to pay off the phone before upgrading or do they accept the trade in and just reset the 24 month clock?