
Want an iPhone 3G S? Already have an iPhone 3G? Be prepared to pay $700  - jasonlbaptiste
http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/08/want-an-iphone-3g-s-already-have-an-iphone-3g-be-prepared-to-pay-700-to-upgrade/
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dotpavan
"upgrade eligible" is the keyword.. for gen1 iphone users, the prices, as per
the att/iphone website, calculated on the basis of my contract specs was the
same as advertised, i.e., 99/199/299

edit: chk price eligibility here- <https://buyiphone.apple.com/>

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SamAtt
Thanks for the link. Sadly it's not working right now.

I guess if AT&T and "not being able to connect" weren't synonymous in my head
already it's my own fault for being surprised.

Update: Finally got through and I take back all the bad things I said about
AT&T. I got the $299 pricing for the 32Gb and I bought my 1gen iPhone on Sept.
5, 2007 (I know the exact date because it was the date they dropped the price
and I ran out and picked one up that day)

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mdasen
This is the way that it is with every phone on the market. If you aren't ~22
months into your contract, you can't upgrade devices at the subsidized price.
Likewise, if you aren't upgrade eligible on Sprint, the Palm Pre is going to
cost you $550 ($50 more than the iPhone 8GB unsubsidized).

It might be crappy, but this is the way that subsidized devices work. You have
to wait nearly two years before you can upgrade or you have to pay the
unsubsidized price.

~~~
SamAtt
Apparently it's not (though I concede it often is like that). From the linked
article...

UPDATE So this is what AT&T tells us:

An iPhone 3G customer in most cases can early upgrade at $399 [16GB] or $499
[32GB].

You’ll note that that’s still several hundred dollars more than what Joe Smoe
would have to pay, right off the street, if he doesn’t already have an AT&T
account.

~~~
tptacek
No, Joe Shmoe is "paying" more than $299 for the phone; he's just paying over
the long haul, with a new contract commitment to AT&T. AT&T already has your
contract commitment. You have nothing to offer them but cash.

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tdavis
It has always enraged and perplexed me that instead of a _better_ deal,
returning customers get the _worst possible_ deal when it comes to wireless
service. I get it: you sell the phone cheaper to get people roped into
contracts that they have to cancel for more than the adjusted cost. But why
screw over existing customers? That doesn't really seem like a sane way to
keep one's business.

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keltex
Your best bet is to sell your 16GB 3G on ebay (maybe for $300? I sold mine for
$450 2 months ago). Eat the $175 cancellation fee and switch to a no contract
carrier for a few weeks. Then You can re-up with AT & T for a 32GB 3GS for
$300. Your net cost... $175 plus tax on the $300.

~~~
ryanwaggoner
Hardly seems worth the hassle. Plus, they're offering me the upgrade to 32GB
3GS (from 3G I've been on less than 1 yr) for $499, so seems like it'd be
better just to sell the old phone for our theoretical $300 and pay the $200
difference.

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tptacek
Seems weird to get upset at AT&T about this. It's Apple that's being dishonest
about the prices. The super low iPhone prices are subsidized. If AT&T already
subsidized a phone for you, isn't it hard to argue that they owe you another
one?

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beefman
My wife has a 2G and I have a 3G. She is eligible for the $200 16GB 3GS, my
cost is $400.

If she gets a 3GS, what is the cost if we then switch phones?

We're on the family plan.

~~~
pjhyett
You can't just swap SIM cards? I was thinking about doing the same thing.

~~~
beefman
Hmm... <http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=713873>

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Tichy
I can't believe tech affine bloggers can be this clueless.

Hint: there is no such thing as a free lunch.

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quizbiz
What are the data plans like? Does anyone know if you must buy a plan with the
$99 iPhone?

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jws
Data plans are $30/mo for unmetered use, limited only by how much network AT&T
deploys. It varies from mind bogglingly fast to completely unusable for even
trivial functions.

I don't know if you can opt out of the data plan, but I expect there are
things that will break if you do, like visual voice mail.

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TweedHeads
Techcrunch spreading FUD?

Color me surprised...

Why not focus on the good stuff?

Why it always have to be downplaying everything cool about what they don't
like, or get paid to do so?

Tethering not good enough?

The much asked for Copy/Paste ok with them?

Fuck, iPhone is sooooo expensive you better get a zune phone, whenever that
piece of crap is available.

