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AT&T Offering Early iPhone Upgrades to Potential iPhone 5 Buyers

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AT&T customers that want to buy the iPhone 5 on release date, but are locked into contracts can take advantage of an iPhone early upgrade deal that could cut the off contract price by several hundred dollars for select customers.

When we logged in to check the upgrade status for several lines with an iPhone 4S, we saw an offer to take advantage of an early iPhone discount.

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This is AT&T’s way of keeping customers that want to upgrade faster than every two years happy, while still making money on the phone purchase. Not every user will see the early iPhone discount, but users who do can plan to upgrade tot he iPhone 5 in September at less than retail pricing.

iPhone 5 Early Upgrade Deal 1

AT&T offers an iPhone 5 early upgrade deal to customers.

The deal is basically a $250 fee on top of the current two-year promotional pricing. Apple did not announce the iPhone pricing in the press invitation sent today, but we expect iPhone 5 prices will remain the same.

iPhone 5 early upgrade deals page

Soon to be an iPhone 5 deal.

If the iPhone 5 price starts at $199, many AT&T customers can buy the iPhone 5 on release date for the discounted prices below.

  • iPhone 5 16GB – $449
  • iPhone 5 32GB – $549
  • iPhone 5 64GB – $649

That’s a discount of $200 of the regular off contract pricing that many iPhone upgraders on Verizon and Sprint will face. This may sound obscenely expensive to users who are used to paying $199 for a new iPhone, but it’s a deal compared to the $649 off contract price for a 16GB iPhone 4S

This deal is especially appealing because it is available to users who purchased the iPhone 4S last year, even with upgrade renewal dates in the middle of 2013.

The deal isn’t just limited to iPhone owners, so users who are thinking of switching from Android to the iPhone 5 should log into their AT&T account online to check for the deal.

The early iPhone discount requires a new two-year contract, while the full contract pricing will not extend any current contracts. Users who can’t borrow a family member’s upgrade should check on this option.

AT&T offered the early upgrade option to all prospective iPhone 4 buyers in 2010, and offered a similar upgrade to many users when the iPhone 4S launched in 2011.

Apple sent out invites to the iPhone 5 announcement today, and we expect a September 21st iPhone 5 release date. The iPhone 5 is rumored to feature a larger 4-inch display, new design and faster 4G LTE connectivity.

Catch up on the latest iPhone 5 Rumors.

13 Comments

13 Comments

  1. Ryan

    09/04/2012 at 2:48 pm

    Isn’t this a standard policy once you are so many months into your contract? I don’t think this is anything new and they have always offered this…

  2. Steven Cyrway

    09/05/2012 at 8:39 am

    Yes it is, also for what’s its worth it may be cheaper to just cancel your contract depending on how far you are in. It only cost me 195+tax to end my contract, saving me around $50 versus the “early discount”. Also you’ll pay less tax on the final cost of the product.

    • Jeremy

      09/14/2012 at 4:44 am

      Yeah, but if you are grandfathered in with unlimited data, you wouldn’t want to cancel, as you would lose your unlimited data.

  3. Barbara

    09/06/2012 at 9:11 pm

    Will the iPhone 5 have better reception? I have the iPhone 4. In fact, AT&T replaced my original iPhone 4 because it dropped calls all over Covington, LA, but the replacement is no better. I purchased four iPhone 4 phones in June, 2010, and would like to upgrade them all to iPhone 5s but I don’t know whether to stay with AT&T or switch to Verizon.

  4. Fred

    09/10/2012 at 4:48 am

    Well, I’ve been trying this steps many times, unfortunately could never get my iPhone unlocked.

    Then I saw a friend of mine likes a link of iPhone IMEI Unlock service on Facebook and I get it unlocked within 8 hours upon payment.

    Yeay, that was amazin service rather than wasting time on AT&T unlock request.

    Simply type “unlock at&t imei senseiphone” and you will find the site!

  5. Sam

    09/14/2012 at 4:58 am

    Hardly a deal…

  6. Matt

    09/14/2012 at 6:09 am

    AT&T always had this, this isn’t new. What they used to do was offer the full discount price every year for the new iPhone. They have changed that and now you have to wait 2 years for the full discount. Not worth it, and in the end will probably hurt both AT&T as many people may just wait till next year. This eliminates sales on new iPhone 5 purchases and the activation of used iPhone 4 that were sold by the people who upgraded to 5. I will be skipping this model and just wait for the next instead of wasting an additional $200+.

  7. Bill Blumpkin

    09/17/2012 at 6:41 am

    I expect that the iPhone 5 will provide me with better service in areas I get no service in. Is this correct?

  8. Chad Wilken

    09/18/2012 at 4:39 am

    This is not a deal. It is cheaper to buy out the contract and then upgrade.

  9. elias

    09/18/2012 at 7:02 pm

    I have upgraded every year at 200 for the latest iPhone, but this year AT&T is not doing it. A stupid gesture from AT&T. Now, I’d rather sell my phone and pay the difference to get the new iPhone 5 unlocked through Apple (and not AT&T) so they don’t get the benefit of whatever profit margin they get and be out of contract within a year. The hell with AT&T that keeps changing to the worse and keeps adding more restrictions and ripping off customers.

  10. Roberta Ikemi

    09/21/2012 at 10:23 pm

    I’ve also upgraded every year at the discounted upgrade price of around $200 to $300. However, the glib attitude by AT&T and even Apple store personnel make me want to keep my 4s, dump AT&T, and use T-Mobile or some other carrier. AT&T has made customer loyalty into an absolute joke.

  11. Stackify (@Stackify)

    09/23/2012 at 6:20 pm

    You would think it couldn’t be more than the current cost to cancel a contract

  12. jay

    09/26/2012 at 7:37 pm

    I had done a pre order at the discounted price then out of no where ATT changed my upgrade date so when i pick up the phone i have to pay full retail price even tho im due for an early upgrade. they screw you over.

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