How can I trade up to the next iPhone if I'm on AT&T Next?
At Apple’s event on Wednesday, Sept. 9, Cupertino is widely expected to release the next generation of the iPhone, dubbed the “iPhone 6s.” If you bought an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus and got on the AT&T Next train, how can you get your hands on this latest handset? This is the first year that you would be able to jump from the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus to a newer handset under the installment plan scenario, so we’ve mapped out what you need to do if you want to make that happen.
AT&T’s Next 12 planThe Next 12 plan is deigned for a smooth upgrade after a year of monthly installment payments. AT&T makes this easy, as long as you’ve made your twelfth payment and trade in your current device. If you haven’t made that twelfth payment yet, just do that and you’ll be good to go. AT&T’s Web portal makes it easy to get yourself eligible for an upgrade.
Let’s say you want to keep your current iPhone rather than turning it in. Just make the remaining installments to pay off the device, and it’s yours to keep even after you upgrade. For example, if you’ve made 12 monthly payments on the AT&T Next 12 plan at $32.50 per installment, you’ve already paid $390 for your 16GB iPhone 6. If you don’t want to trade in your device but still want to upgrade, you would need to pay $260 to keep the handset after you get the iPhone 6s.
What about AT&T Next 18?If you signed up for the 18-month plan instead, your options are basically the same. If you haven’t made enough payments yet to become eligible for the upgrade, AT&T will allow you to make the additional installments to qualify to get the iPhone 6s. Once again, you would need to turn in your old iPhone after you upgrade, unless you make the remaining installments to pay off the handset. In this case, assuming you made 12 installments of $27.09, you would pay $325.08 to keep the iPhone 6 after you upgrade.
Get in on the preorder actionAT&T has made it pretty easy to qualify yourself for an upgrade in advance of the next iPhone. If you want to make preordering go as smoothly as possible, you should make whatever additional installments you need to pay before Sept. 9, and you will be good to go.