AT&T increase iPhone early upgrade pricing?

Our sister site, Android Central has received a document showing that from April 3, AT&T will be increasing the early pricing for iPhone. There is no mention specifically of AT&T in the document however Android Central know their stuff and identified it via the abbreviations and wording used.

Looking at the screenshot, the price to get an early upgrade to any of the current iPhones will increase by $50. That means you’re looking at $299 for the 8GB iPhone 3GS, $449 for the 16GB iPhone 4 and $549 for the 32GB iPhone 4.

Any price increase is hard to swallow but if you take into account other smartphone’s such as Android and Windows Phone will be hit by $150 increases, it makes it a little easier!

Does this change anyone's upgrad

[Android Central]

UK editor at iMore, mobile technology lover and air conditioning design engineer.

31 Comments

Wow, that is a bit hard to take. I mean they up the pricing of ETF by $175 the they want to increase the upgrade fee for iPhone $50 and other smart phone $150. Seems that AT&T has done the impossible, figure a way to get blood from a stone. Will I upgrade, my Iphone yes, my BB, that is a real question.
I just looked into it, and my wife can upgrade her ATT phone for the following 2-year contract price.
i4 - 16GB Refurb - $79
i4 - 32GB Refurb - $199
i4 - 16GB - $199
i4 - 32GB - $299
I have the i4 and she has the 3GS. She has been able to upgrade since January and I can upgrade in November.
I just looked into it, and my wife can upgrade her ATT phone for the following 2-year contract price.
i4 – 16GB Refurb – $79
i4 – 32GB Refurb – $199
i4 – 16GB – $199
i4 – 32GB – $299
I have the i4 and she has the 3GS. She has been able to upgrade since January and I can upgrade in November.
My early upgrade shows the higher prices. If you go to apple it shows the old early upgrade prices.
In some cases it's cheaper to break your contract and buy another line! Ridiculous...
Weirdly, the text in the image says "excludes iPhones".
Excludes iPhones for no commitment pricing. The new price change are for early 2yr upgrades
Ah, forehead slap. Thanks!
expect a whole lot more crap like this after the tmobile deal goes through.
The image says that this is for "1 Year Commitment" prices. I wonder if it's the same for the "2 Year Commitment" like I've always done in the past?
Never upgrade early. Why spend so much more when a year later you can get better for less money?
Why are you even here?
Perhaps freiteez , when you sell your existing iphone for 500 dollars and early upgrade at 199 its worth it?
Ive done it 3 years in a row. Id say its working out ok.
Lmao
This is awesome, since I was looking for a way to ditch 50 more dollars into AT&T.
It's how they're paying for last years iPhone early-upgrade discount, which is probably when they planned this years price increase ;)
You would think they would want it to be more attractive (not less) to upgrade so they can lock you into another 2-year contract. At these prices, I'm seriously considering going the no-commitment price route. Yes, you have to bite the approximately $600 bullet for year 1, but then in the subsequent years if you can sell your used device for $400 then you are basically paying the $200 fully eligible price each year and not having to deal with all of this this with the added bonus of being able to come and go as you please.
The devil is showing it's ask. Buy and destroy all places they can get reasonable plans and raise all prices, a good evil plan.
iPhone coming to NetTalk in July.
$299 for 3GS. $399 for i4.
No commitment.
Only 16GB option of either.
No word on i5 as it has not been discussed.
Not sure I follow... I buy out of my contact by selling my current iPhone then get a new one. I typically end up even if not pocketing cash each year.
Lets see Android do that.
@JD. That's what I do. O just buy ny phones off Craigslist and sell my previous ones. Recently sold my old 3G and 3GS on CL for $510 together. Bought a perfect iPhone 4 for $250 about 4 months ago off CL. Go figure. All my iPhones came from CL. I have never been under contract with any iPhone. I just sell them take the money add a few bucks if I need to.
B@stards couldn't wait until after I got my white iPhone 4.....!
Maybe that's why they did it. In anticipation of the people getting white ones. Money grab, basically. Geez they are as bad if not worse than micro$oft.
I've always gotten new contract price upgrading every June, July since AT&T has allowed it. I've had all 4 iPhones.
Screw it. I'm sitting and watching till June. I expect att to steal my unlimited data plan once 4g rolls out and that's really all that keeps me from going to vzw.
The way it's looking, I'll be a duel core, 4.3" HD screen, 4g droid user on vzw this summer
Of course, by this summer Verizon will have done away with its "limited time" unlimited data plan, and you'll be handing them your money hand over fist and moaning about how they're no different from AT&T. Face it, AT&T and Verizon copy each other in everything they do, they did it when I worked for 'em, and they'll continue to do so in the future. It's the best darn racket there is, and it's perfectly legal!
Won't they have a grandfather clause? Currently VZW is offering LTE unlimited for the same price as AT&T's 3G...without the cap.
@Tim, since the iphone isn't LTE, and Verizon really hasn't even rolled out a usable LTE service except for data cards... How is that relevant
I think it's an indication of iPhone 5 coming. They know that people will upgrade and they are trying to get more bang for their buck here. If they did it when iPhone 5 is announced WWDC 11 we hope then that would be pretty crapy. So why not implement it now.
is this 1 year or 2 year pricing seems better off to go to vzw where the phones are 16gb 199 and 32gb 299
Awesome things here. I am very happy to look your post. Thanks a lot and I'm looking forward to contact you. Will you please drop me a e-mail?

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