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Upgrading to the iPhone 6s: AT&T Next, Verizon, T-Mobile

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The iPhone 6s release date will soon offer a chance to upgrade to a new iPhone. Whether you plan to buy the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus or a cheaper iPhone 6 — a lot of shoppers plan to buy a new iPhone in September.

Unlike earlier upgrades, many users are now on a plan like AT&T Next, T-Mobile Jump or Verizon Device Payments (formerly Verizon Edge) that allows more flexibility to upgrade. These new plans come with a decent amount of confusion about how the upgrade process works.

As you think about how you are going to pay for your iPhone 6s, here is a look at how the iPhone 6s upgrade process should work at Verizon, AT&T and AT&T.

Even though most of these carriers now offer no contract options  for service, you’re still signing a contract to pay for the device. If you are coming off a two-year contract expect a direct push to a new payment plan or at the very least a gentle nudge to a payment plan like those we are looking at here.

iPhone 6s Upgrades with AT&T Next

With AT&T Next iPhone 6s upgrades are fairly straightforward, except for the fact that your payment plans are longer than the number in the Next plan you choose.

If you chose the AT&T Next 12 payment plan when you bought the iPhone 6 last year you might think that you are ready to upgrade right out of the gate, but you actually have plenty of additional payments to make. Thankfully there is another option for users in this boat.

AT&T Next lets users Pay to Upgrade or Pay Off the phone. The amount varies based on payment options.

What to know about AT&T Next iPhone 6s upgrades.

What to know about AT&T Next iPhone 6s upgrades.

Log in to your AT&T account and check to see what your remaining payments are. In this case We can pay $42.50, which is one payment, and then trade in the iPhone 6 Plus to upgrade to the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus.

The other option is to pay $382.49 and own the phone outright. This is the remaining balance of the phone on an AT&T Next 12 contract that ends on May 12, 2016. In this case it depends what you plan to do with the phone.

Gazelle offers $361 for a flawless AT&T iPhone 6 Plus 64GB on AT&T, so it wouldn’t make sense to pay it off and trade it in, but you can likely sell it for much more to someone in person.

Verizon Edge iPhone 6s Upgrades

The Verizon Edge, now Verizon Device Payment Plan, users face a tougher set of upgrade questions. Honestly you may be best off going to a store or calling in and asking what your upgrade options are, because it depends not only on how much you owe on the device you have right now, but also on when you purchased it.

What to know about Verizon Edge, Contract and other iPhone 6s upgrades.

What to know about Verizon Edge, Contract and other iPhone 6s upgrades.

For users who signed up for a Verizon Edge plan, when it was known as Edge, the user must pay off at least 50% of the device, but in some cases it is as high as 75%. Here’s the breakdown.

  • Customers who entered into a device payment agreement prior to 5/31/15 Have paid at least 75% of the retail price of the device
  • Customers who entered into a device payment agreement prior to 6/1/14 must have paid 50% of the retail price
  • Customers who entered into an device payment agreement between 6/1/14 and 10/15/14 must have paid 60% of the full retail price

The new Verizon Device Payment Plan does not include early upgrade options, but users on a new plan can pay off their full device balance and upgrade at any time.
If you cannot remember when you signed your current agreement, or what the exact details of your plan are, it’s best to talk to someone at Verizon well ahead of iPhone 6s pre-orders or the iPhone 6s release date.

If you are on a contract at Verizon and eligible for a free upgrade this fall, Verizon will offer you a $200 credit towards a phone on a Device Payment Plan, if you keep your current smartphone plan.

T-Mobile Jump iPhone 6s Upgrades

On T-Mobile Jump users can upgrade at different paces depending which Jump plan they are on.

T-Mobile iPhone 6s upgrade details you need to know.

T-Mobile iPhone 6s upgrade details you need to know.

For users on the basic T-Mobile Jump plan there is an option to upgrade when you pay off 50% of your current device. With this option you trade in the old phone and can upgrade to a new phone with Jump.

With T-Mobile Jump on Demand plans you can switch up to three times a year simply by trading in your old smartphone. This is only eligible for high-end phones, which the iPhone qualifies for.

If you are somehow still on a contract at T-Mobile when you upgrade you will need to choose a payment plan.

iPhone 6s Release Date & Feature Video Roundup

iPhone 6s Release Date Rumors

iPhone 6s Release Date Rumors

The iPhone 6s release date is September 18th according to rumors and Apple's traditional timeline after the new iPhone announcement.

On September 9th Apple will host an event where the company shows off new iPhones and other gadgets. This date is confirmed by Apple, although the company does not mention any specific devices.

On September 11th we expect Apple will start taking iPhone 6s pre-orders, which will very likely start at 12:01 AM Pacific, or 3:01AM Eastern. These are online, but we could see in store pickup options.

The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus release dates should land on the same day, and new iPhone 6s color options should appear on all carriers at the same time as well.

Expect retailers like Best Buy and the Apple Store to open early on the iPhone 6s release date and carrier stores like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile to open early as well. 

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Ryan Bassil Yousif

    09/06/2015 at 10:46 am

    Luckily for me, I’m still on T-Mobiles original Jump program. Which means, I can upgrade every 6 months OR when 50% of my device is paid off. I guess it would be more useful if I used Android though. I wish it was easier to switch between iOS and Android, because there are many things I like about both…

  2. Jack Tillman

    09/06/2015 at 11:13 pm

    This new startup claims I can rent the newest phone for $39 a month and upgrade or cancel anytime. Sounds like a good deal to me. What do you guys think?

    https://uswytchweb.azurewebsites.net/

  3. Tina

    09/18/2015 at 7:30 pm

    So the people that are still under contract with Verizon with no end in sight are just out of luck???

  4. Kimberly Pinkerton

    10/06/2015 at 10:45 am

    Are you looking

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