4 ms·

Is this confirmed? There wasn't a penalty on iPhone 2G -> 3G upgrades, and the keynote mentioned the $199 price was for new and qualifying customers.

Alex3917 17y ago
It's confirmed. Presumably 2G customers qualify for upgrades to the 3GS though. edit: It is now confirmed that 2G users qualify for upgrades to the 3GS at the subsidized prices.
- msluyter 17y ago
  Yep; I just did it and was charged $299 for the new 32GB phone. (I have the first generation iPhone. I guess I should also note that I bought it the first day it was available back in '07, so my original 2 year contract is near expiring. Not sure what the case would be for someone who bought a phone in, say, Dec 07.)
  - jws 17y ago
    The $299 is only half of the cost, you also get to pay an extra $360 over the 2 year contract in higher monthly fees compared to the original iPhone. I think I'll hold on to my original and hope for a new carrier in 2010. The features are great, but AT&T's call handling is not acceptable, I don't need to extend that contract.
pjhyett 17y ago
"AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB)." http://www.apple.com/iphone/buy http://www.apple.com/iphone/buy
- dschobel 17y ago
  AT&T is building up so much ill-will for their terrible network, god help them should they ever lose iphone exclusivity.
- gojomo 17y ago
  Wow. The fee to early-cancel is (at least for my iPhone 3G) only $125. So it's cheaper to cancel-and-rebuy ($125 + new-with-contract-cost) than upgrade ($400 + new-with-contract-cost). There does not appear to be a waiting period for rebuying, at least according to the rep I just spoke with. In fact, while I did not specifically ask about the 3gs, she seemed to imply the optimal path might be (1) add a new line (qualifies for new pricing); (2) cancel old line (paying the early-cancel fee).
  - Xichekolas 17y ago
    I assume if you take that path, you'd end up with a new number, which is kind of annoying.
    - gojomo 17y ago
      If the juggle is possible at all, there should be a way to keep the number, too. The local number portability rules and processes are now fairly well-established; you could even park your number at a landline or pay-as-you-go account for a short while if a direct swap was disallowed.
    - weaksauce 17y ago
      If you add the line then transfer the number to the new phone and cancel the original line it might work.
  - smokey_the_bear 17y ago
    Do you know if you'd lose access to the apps you'd purchased if you did that?
    - gojomo 17y ago
      Not sure, and the path remains a untested hypothetical. If they're really trying to charge other 3G->3GS upgrades $400, there might be additional roadblocks thrown up. I thought all purchased apps were linked to the ITunes account, rather than carrier account... so I would again expect there's a way to carry them forward, but I may be overly optimistic.

Alex3917 17y ago

It's confirmed. Presumably 2G customers qualify for upgrades to the 3GS though. edit: It is now confirmed that 2G users qualify for upgrades to the 3GS at the subsidized prices.

msluyter 17y ago
Yep; I just did it and was charged $299 for the new 32GB phone. (I have the first generation iPhone. I guess I should also note that I bought it the first day it was available back in '07, so my original 2 year contract is near expiring. Not sure what the case would be for someone who bought a phone in, say, Dec 07.)
- jws 17y ago
  The $299 is only half of the cost, you also get to pay an extra $360 over the 2 year contract in higher monthly fees compared to the original iPhone. I think I'll hold on to my original and hope for a new carrier in 2010. The features are great, but AT&T's call handling is not acceptable, I don't need to extend that contract.

pjhyett 17y ago

"AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB)." http://www.apple.com/iphone/buy http://www.apple.com/iphone/buy

dschobel 17y ago
AT&T is building up so much ill-will for their terrible network, god help them should they ever lose iphone exclusivity.
gojomo 17y ago
Wow. The fee to early-cancel is (at least for my iPhone 3G) only $125. So it's cheaper to cancel-and-rebuy ($125 + new-with-contract-cost) than upgrade ($400 + new-with-contract-cost). There does not appear to be a waiting period for rebuying, at least according to the rep I just spoke with. In fact, while I did not specifically ask about the 3gs, she seemed to imply the optimal path might be (1) add a new line (qualifies for new pricing); (2) cancel old line (paying the early-cancel fee).
- Xichekolas 17y ago
  I assume if you take that path, you'd end up with a new number, which is kind of annoying.
  - gojomo 17y ago
    If the juggle is possible at all, there should be a way to keep the number, too. The local number portability rules and processes are now fairly well-established; you could even park your number at a landline or pay-as-you-go account for a short while if a direct swap was disallowed.
  - weaksauce 17y ago
    If you add the line then transfer the number to the new phone and cancel the original line it might work.
- smokey_the_bear 17y ago
  Do you know if you'd lose access to the apps you'd purchased if you did that?
  - gojomo 17y ago
    Not sure, and the path remains a untested hypothetical. If they're really trying to charge other 3G->3GS upgrades $400, there might be additional roadblocks thrown up. I thought all purchased apps were linked to the ITunes account, rather than carrier account... so I would again expect there's a way to carry them forward, but I may be overly optimistic.