[tony20009]

Came by this as I perused my local radio station's website.

WASHINGTON — Apple recently unveiled a new leasing option for its phones that could boil down to a better deal for consumers.
The iPhone Upgrade Program would give customers the chance to pay for unlocked iPhones in installments, with the option of turning in that phone for a new phone after a year. Customers under this plan would have to pay for Apple care plus handset insurance extended warranty program. The phones would remain unlocked, regardless of a person’s service provider.

Apple’s move follows a trend among carriers moving away from standard two-year contract. And it’s a move that puts Apple in a pretty good position, Rob Pegoraro — tech columnist for USA TODAY and Yahoo! News — tells WTOP.

For starters, those seeking the deal would have to go to their nearest Apple store.

“So, you’re in this room full of other shiny Apple gadgets, you might find yourself buying one along the way,” Pegoraro says.

Also, it pushes cellphone carriers into the background, Pegoraro says.

“The carriers are just this company you pay for connectivity and bandwidth. That’s it,” he says. “Not the place where you buy our phone. You don’t really deal with them all that much.”

“I can’t imagine the carriers like this plan so much,” Pegoraro adds.
Pegoraro says that depending on your service provider, Apple’s plan could work out to a better deal.

According to several published reports, Apple’s deal would allow customers to pay between $32.41 and $44.91 a month. Customers would trade in their old devices when new phones come out.

According to Pegoraro, to get a new iPhone each year from AT&T would come out to the same price as Apple, but you wouldn’t get handset insurance with the AT&T deal. Sprint and T-Mobile have lease options that cut costs compared to what Apple charges.

“In some cases by considerable amount, if you’re bringing a phone for trade-in, for instance,” Pegoraro says.

Verizon doesn’t offer an upgrade program, Pegoraro says.

If you find the info helpful, great. If not, oh well....just sharing. Not seeking any discussion on the matter for I'm sure we are all able to figure out whether the deal is right for us individually.

All the best.

[UncleWede]

I tried to walk into a Sprint store and upgrade my 4. They could lease or monthly-rent me one, but wouldn't match the online 2 year contract extension and new phone for $99. WTF??? Is a Sprint store not Sprint???

So, I got back online, ordered the phone, but now Sprint sent it via UPS in such a way that I HAVE to receive it at my residence, sometime from 12:15 - 4:15, (in)conveniently when I am supposed to be at work. Can't divert it, can't have them hold it at the UPS location. FRAK!!!!!!!!

[BayMoWe335]

This is old news, but it was a genius move from Apple.

Apple is trying to make iPhone into a recurring revenue stream versus a seasonal, somewhat unpredictable purchase by consumers. They are also bundling a huge margin service with the lease in Apple Care.

If buying an iPhone becomes more of a "subscription service" model, watch out. Earnings become more predictable, upgrade cycles shrink, and "upgrade fear" is mitigated. Investors are willing to pay A LOT more for a company with predictable earnings.

Carriers hate this, but they have no choice but to push Apple's product anyway. It's far away the most bought single phone and the market and they'll be bending over backwards for Apple. Apple is trying to cut them out of the loop because they can control the customer more.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

So, I got back online, ordered the phone, but now Sprint sent it via UPS in such a way that I HAVE to receive it at my residence, sometime from 12:15 - 4:15, (in)conveniently when I am supposed to be at work. Can't divert it, can't have them hold it at the UPS location. FRAK!!!!!!!!

Verizon pulled the same stupid shit. I'm on the family share plan since I never really cared much to get my own plan, I've always just paid the bill myself and my family would paypal me their portion.

Unfortunately, the phone will arrive at the rents' place on Friday...two hours away. I'm likely just going to have them ship it from there to my house on Monday at which point I will take it over to VZW to have them put me on my own plan. So stupid and inconvenient to not even be able to have it shipped to your work address.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

This is old news, but it was a genius move from Apple.

Apple is trying to make iPhone into a recurring revenue stream versus a seasonal, somewhat unpredictable purchase for consumers. They are also bundling a huge margin service with the lease in Apple Care.

If it becomes more of a "subscription service" model, watch out. Earnings become more predictable, upgrade cycles shrink, and "upgrade fear" is mitigated.

It also works more in favor to the individual customer since they're getting an unlocked phone and can go to whichever carrier they want since they'll never be locked into a contract.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

I tried to walk into a Sprint store and upgrade my 4. They could lease or monthly-rent me one, but wouldn't match the online 2 year contract extension and new phone for $99. WTF??? Is a Sprint store not Sprint???

So, I got back online, ordered the phone, but now Sprint sent it via UPS in such a way that I HAVE to receive it at my residence, sometime from 12:15 - 4:15, (in)conveniently when I am supposed to be at work. Can't divert it, can't have them hold it at the UPS location. FRAK!!!!!!!!

I experienced something similar at an AT&T store. I found out then that there are corporate stores and franchise stores. The franchise stores don't necessarily have the same policies as the corporate ones.

My specific need was for a SIM card replacement. The franchise store wanted to charge me $25 for one. It was free at a corporate store. Deals on devices have similarly different selling prices.

All the best.

[davis449]

Originally Posted by tony20009

I experienced something similar at an AT&T store. I found out then that there are corporate stores and franchise stores. The franchise stores don't necessarily have the same policies as the corporate ones.

My specific need was for a SIM card replacement. The franchise store wanted to charge me $25 for one. It was free at a corporate store. Deals on devices have similarly different selling prices.

All the best.

The big four are all structured this way.

[AW335TT]

Being a reseller of phones, I haven't noticed anything different happening. I receive my iPhones in their master carton straight from Apples factory.

BUT if AT&T ever tries to pull some shit and get rid of my unlimited data, I don't now what I'll do.

[AW335TT]

AT&T hates me for sure!

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by AW335TT

AT&T hates me for sure!

would you happen to know how to fuck at&t over? I regularly go over the 5 gb and I am grandfathered into the unlimited plan... shit still gets capped. Is it even still legal?

[AW335TT]

Originally Posted by ASAP

would you happen to know how to fuck at&t over? I regularly go over the 5 gb and I am grandfathered into the unlimited plan... shit still gets capped. Is it even still legal?

Gets capped? Or they slow you down?

And what kind of fking over do you have in mind? You can fk over certain employees by calling and then giving them a 1 on the survey for the question "would you recommend AT&T to your friends or family" .. That's the one question they REALLY care about.

I got a early upgrade a few years ago because I gave them a 1 and a manager called me back. Told me if I give them a 5, I can upgrade my iPhone early. It was when the iPhone 5 came out.

At the AT&T store, they paid me $99 for a broken iPhone 3GS. They offered me $0 at first because it was broken, I told them the story about the survey, they gave me the full $99, if I promised to give them a 5 on the survey.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by AW335TT

Gets capped? Or they slow you down?

And what kind of fking over do you have in mind? You can fk over certain employees by calling and then giving them a 1 on the survey for the question "would you recommend AT&T to your friends or family" .. That's the one question they REALLY care about.

I got a early upgrade a few years ago because I gave them a 1 and a manager called me back. Told me if I give them a 5, I can upgrade my iPhone early. It was when the iPhone 5 came out.

At the AT&T store, they paid me $99 for a broken iPhone 3GS. They offered me $0 at first because it was broken, I told them the story about the survey, they gave me the full $99, if I promised to give them a 5 on the survey.

I mean slow down... but to an absurdly low speed. And by fk over, I mean... expect a message from the FCC... i dunno, you probably deal with this a lot.

[AW335TT]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I mean slow down... but to an absurdly low speed. And by fk over, I mean... expect a message from the FCC... i dunno, you probably deal with this a lot.

Lol you probably should contact a lawyer if that's what you have in mind.

I actually never deal with it. I average about 50gb a month of data and my speeds are usually fine.

[sA x sKy]

Lol 50 gb is nothing. Get on my level.

[P1]

Unless you're doing 1TB of data per month roaming internationally, you're not going to impress me one bit. Bunch of amateurs in here.