[alexg0]

AT&T has consistently let it's best customers upgrade to new iPhone releases without enforcing the contract -- charging subsidized prices to upgrade to newer iPhone models. Will Sprint and Verizon done the same, or is switching to Sprint now will commit one to sit out next iPhone?

[tptacek]

Wait what? I've been AT&T since the original iPhone and AT&T has never let me upgrade, despite the massive amount of money I spent on my mobile plan.

[alexg0]

Really, they let me upgrade from 3G to 3GS to 4. And I waited to get 3G few month after it originally came out.

See this article on from 2009: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10266781-37.html

update: Based on my recollection, with 3G and 3GS, AT&T only asked for 1 year contract, not two. When new iPhone was released, sometime in June or July, anybody with contact renewal through October was marked as elegible to sign new contract, and received contract pricing on the newly released model if iPhone.

[gwright]

More information please. What does 'let me upgrade' mean?

You can always upgrade it is just a matter of how much of a subsidy you want. Near the end of your contract you'll get the full subsidy on the new phone. One month into your contract you won't get any subsidy on the new phone.

There seems to be some people here who think there is a super secret way to purchased phones at subsidized prices without fulfilling (or nearly fulfilling) the contract on their previous subsidized phone. I don't think so. TANSTAFAAL

[gwright]

This doesn't make sense. When you near the end of your 2-year contract AT&T will subsidize your purchase of your next phone (e.g. the $199, $299, $399 price points for the 4S announced today).

If you aren't near the end of your 2-year contract then you are basically still paying off the purchase of your original phone and so AT&T (and other carriers) aren't going to give you the subsidy to purchase a new phone although they might pro-rate it.

How has your experience been different?

[tptacek]

Yes, when I'm near the end of my contract, AT&T is happy to offer me subsidized iPhone pricing. But they haven't offered me any breaks earlier than that.

[gwright]

You seem to think that someone else got a break that you didn't get but then you describe a situation that sounds exactly like what everyone else has experienced.

I'm not sure why you have an expectation that any carrier would subsidize a new phone before you've effectively paid them for the previous phone. Obviously there is room to haggle on the margins of the contract but the entire business model of subsidized phones and 2-year contracts is designed around the idea that the 2-year contract is there to pay off the initial equipment subsidy. TANSTAAFL

[tptacek]

Read upthread.

I have no expectations about subsidized pricing. I am not price sensitive. Someone said something, I expressed surprise. That's all.

[gwright]

OK. Looks like the original comment that you replied to was vague on details. I'm guessing when you dig down into them, there was no actual deal.