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Mayank18

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 1, 2016
13
12
I am so far buying an AT&T iPhone at a subsidized price of $199 with 2 year contract.

I am hearing that this scheme has been discontinued by AT&T. Is that right? Pl. let me know, if you happen to know. Thanks.
 

boltjames

macrumors 601
May 2, 2010
4,876
2,852
I am so far buying an AT&T iPhone at a subsidized price of $199 with 2 year contract.

I am hearing that this scheme has been discontinued by AT&T. Is that right? Pl. let me know, if you happen to know. Thanks.

AT&T got rid of the contracts and the subsidies.

You'll need to compare the ATT Next programs and see which one is right for you. You'll wind up paying more over the two years, you won't recoup your money on selling your old iPhone any more, but the one benefit is that there is no money down. Just sign some papers and walk out of the store.

BJ
 

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,376
570
AT&T got rid of the contracts and the subsidies.

You'll need to compare the ATT Next programs and see which one is right for you. You'll wind up paying more over the two years, you won't recoup your money on selling your old iPhone any more, but the one benefit is that there is no money down. Just sign some papers and walk out of the store.

BJ
It def more expensive for those of us with grandfathered a la carte 9.99 add a line plans (family talk 550/700/1400 minutes plans with rollover).

Cause we get FAN discounts not only on the voice portion but also on the data portion as well.

So my FAN discount me 24% on the voice plus the 24% on the $35 unlimited data.
 

willmtaylor

macrumors G4
Oct 31, 2009
10,314
8,198
Here(-ish)
I am so far buying an AT&T iPhone at a subsidized price of $199 with 2 year contract.

I am hearing that this scheme has been discontinued by AT&T. Is that right? Pl. let me know, if you happen to know. Thanks.
Correct. AT&T no longer offers subsidized pricing. You have two choices:
  1. Full retail price
  2. Add monthly payments onto the price of your plan (essentially, interest-free financing)
 

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,376
570
Correct. AT&T no longer offers subsidized pricing. You have two choices:
  1. Full retail price
  2. Add monthly payments onto the price of your plan (essentially, interest-free financing)
Full retail plus PRICE FULL TAXES.

Except a few parts of the country like California. Most of us paid $199/299 for iPhone plus sales taxes only on that $199/299.

So now gotta pay 6-8% sales taxes on the $650-750 full msrp price PLUS the $15 att next "activation fee"
 
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ray737

macrumors 6502
Sep 11, 2014
424
183
I am so far buying an AT&T iPhone at a subsidized price of $199 with 2 year contract.

I am hearing that this scheme has been discontinued by AT&T. Is that right? Pl. let me know, if you happen to know. Thanks.
No more contracts. Just spoke to them for an hour!!! An hour wasted of my life. I have the grandfathered unlimited data plan. They told me they can't match T-Mobile deal but they can give me 2 months of passport access for travel as I am off to Europe next month.

I will be u clocking my phone next month and switching to T-Mobile unlimited data plan. Will be nice to have data and text international at no additional cost.
 

willmtaylor

macrumors G4
Oct 31, 2009
10,314
8,198
Here(-ish)
No more contracts. Just spoke to them for an hour!!! An hour wasted of my life. I have the grandfathered unlimited data plan. They told me they can't match T-Mobile deal but they can give me 2 months of passport access for travel as I am off to Europe next month.

I will be u clocking my phone next month and switching to T-Mobile unlimited data plan. Will be nice to have data and text international at no additional cost.
As long as you have TMO cvoverage where you work & play.
 

RyCan3

macrumors 6502a
Jun 13, 2010
632
492
No more contracts. Just spoke to them for an hour!!! An hour wasted of my life. I have the grandfathered unlimited data plan. They told me they can't match T-Mobile deal but they can give me 2 months of passport access for travel as I am off to Europe next month.

I will be u clocking my phone next month and switching to T-Mobile unlimited data plan. Will be nice to have data and text international at no additional cost.
Why don't you just do the Next program and keep your unlimited data?
 
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ray737

macrumors 6502
Sep 11, 2014
424
183
As long as you have TMO cvoverage where you work & play.
I sure do. I have been comparing my company iPad which has T-Mobile LTE and coverage is outstanding in NYC and major cities I go to. Hell my LTE in my condo is 5 bars with T-Mobile vs 2 bars with AT&T
 

ray737

macrumors 6502
Sep 11, 2014
424
183
Why don't you just do the Next program and keep your unlimited data?
I will pay full price if I decide to upgrade. The issue with AT&T is that with the grandfathered plan you don't get unlimited data texts international. That's important to me. You get way more bang for your buck with T-Mobile and I will still have unlimited data with T-Mobile. No more looking for wifi signal as I'm walking around in Europe.
 

comptr

macrumors 68000
Oct 25, 2007
1,925
488
Arizona
Only current Verizon and Sprint customers still have 2 year contracts. I would call AT&T and see if a newer plan is bett r for you. Newer plans have device subsidies, that go towards the next payment.
 

mtneer

macrumors 68040
Sep 15, 2012
3,183
2,715
Does AT&T still charge an "upgrade fee" if I buy my own phone, full price in the general retail market, and pop in my current SIM?
 

RyCan3

macrumors 6502a
Jun 13, 2010
632
492
I will pay full price if I decide to upgrade. The issue with AT&T is that with the grandfathered plan you don't get unlimited data texts international. That's important to me. You get way more bang for your buck with T-Mobile and I will still have unlimited data with T-Mobile. No more looking for wifi signal as I'm walking around in Europe.
Ah gotcha! I was worried that if I did the Next plan with my unlimited data, I would lose it but I called and they told me no.
 

frozencarbonite

macrumors 6502
Aug 3, 2006
408
137
So what happens if you want to do Apple's Upgrade program instead of AT&T Next? Is that possible to do and stay with your current AT&T plan? I am grandfathered in to unlimited data with AT&T and can't lose that. But I like the idea of Apples Upgrade program better than AT&T. I also have a FAN discount that I don't want to lose.

This is going to be tricky and complicated.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,740
Does AT&T still charge an "upgrade fee" if I buy my own phone, full price in the general retail market, and pop in my current SIM?
I believe they have an "activation" fee, not sure if its applied to your own phone or those procured via the NEXT program.
 

ibookg409

Suspended
Apr 20, 2016
613
7,556
Portsmouth, NH
It def more expensive for those of us with grandfathered a la carte 9.99 add a line plans (family talk 550/700/1400 minutes plans with rollover).

Cause we get FAN discounts not only on the voice portion but also on the data portion as well.

So my FAN discount me 24% on the voice plus the 24% on the $35 unlimited data.
What company? I get 22% with Fedex.
 

mtneer

macrumors 68040
Sep 15, 2012
3,183
2,715
I believe they have an "activation" fee, not sure if its applied to your own phone or those procured via the NEXT program.

Sigh... another thing to watch out for in the bill. I've always had the upgrade fee waived in the past by calling/ pestering them until they caved. No reason to pay an "activation" fee if I am purchasing the phone, popping in the SIM myself - AT&T did nothing!
 

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,376
570
I believe they have an "activation" fee, not sure if its applied to your own phone or those procured via the NEXT program.
Yup. Pretty soon that att next activation fee will go up.

It's all a scam. Pure profit with these fees. Att next was "zero" fees. Now $15. Nothing to stop them from going to $20/30 activation fee.

Same way they raised the "line access" fee from $15 to $20.

The carriers WANT us to be paying $200/month (with ZERO SUBSIDY). (Family plan based on 4 lines)

They knew consumers were balking at paying $300/month (with subsidy) family plan of 4. Psychologically consumers $300 a month is way too much.

Like the cable industry hit a nerve once it hit $150/month for "triple play phone/internet/tv with no premium channels).

There is only so much the consumer will take
 

imlynxy

macrumors 65816
Mar 8, 2012
1,430
626
Thanks to UMASS, MIT, Harvard graduate and former At&t employee for "changing the industry". I always thank him when I buy a full price iPhone. I also thank him for changing my 2-year contract into 2-year financial obligation with a credit history hard pull *


* Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental
 
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Mayank18

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 1, 2016
13
12
Thank you all for the feedback.

I am planning to change to T-mobile unlimited plan as well now, since I get very good coverage where I live in California. If AT&T cannot give subsidized phone, then I think I am out of AT&T.
 
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