Price for iPhone 6. AT&T Next vs. 2 year contract?

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@shuttergirl wrote:

@I can buy an iphone 6 Plus 64gb for $399.  If I buy it through AT&T Next @ 42.50/mo for 20 months, it will cost me $850.  Why would anyone buy through AT&T Next??

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Because when you sign that 2 year contract to buy the phone,  AT&T is paying Apple $450 for you to get the phone at a discount, and in turn you are paying AT&T a higher service rate for your phone than if you have a Mobile Share plan without a contract.  For some people, paying $850 for a phone is cheaper than paying AT&T $399 for the phone, and an extra $600 in service fees.  If you go to an Apple Store and purchase an IPhone 6 Plus 64GB without a contract, they will charge you $849.99 for that phone.  That is what AT&T is charging you when you purchase using NEXT, because you are not signing a service contract.

If you have a Mobile Share plan with 10GB data or higher, AT&T gives you a $25/month discount for each smartphone on your plan that doesn't have a service contract.  That means you can pay AT&T $999.99 ($399.99 for the phone and $600 extra for the service) when you sign a contract, or you can pay them $849.99 for the phone(and no extra for the service). Now if you are still on an AT&T grandfathered Family Plan, or Individual Plan, there is no discount for not being on contract, so you just pay AT&T more for the service all the time, even when you are not under a contract. 

Which is the better choice for you is something that only you can decide, but you may want to look at the total cost, not just the cost for the phone.

Learn more about the benefits of choosing AT&T Next to purchase or upgrade a smartphone with a Mobile Share Value plan at: Understanding the benefits of AT&T Next.

The main reason people do it is so they can upgrade early at no charge or with a full discount.  If you are on the 20 month plan, you can get an upgrade in 12 months, and don't have to pay for the remaining months.  With the 2 year contract, it's cheaper in what you pay for the phone, but you can't get the full upgrade until the 24 months is over.

Based on the costs for NEXT vs Contract Fees in buying it with discount the option that seems to give the most freedom is buying it directly from Apple without having to deal with ATT at all.  There seems to be no reason to purchase the phone from ATT.

Yes but you must remember that if you go for 12 or 18 months Next, you do have to turn in your old phone....its like you are leasing the phone.  Its will never be yours.  For the savvy type, I would rather sale mine on Ebay just fine!!  Even if you opted for Next then turn around and pay for the full price, you will loose that 24 month contract at $199.  If you sign up for it again since Next is not contractual then you will start your upgrade begining 24 months from that date.  So I wouldn't recommend it if you are fairly close that that 24 months date. No need to start over again unless you are impatien type and just gotta have it now!!

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@phissith wrote:

Yes but you must remember that if you go for 12 or 18 months Next, you do have to turn in your old phone....its like you are leasing the phone.  Its will never be yours.  For the savvy type, I would rather sale mine on Ebay just fine!!  Even if you opted for Next then turn around and pay for the full price, you will loose that 24 month contract at $199.  If you sign up for it again since Next is not contractual then you will start your upgrade begining 24 months from that date.  So I wouldn't recommend it if you are fairly close that that 24 months date. No need to start over again unless you are impatien type and just gotta have it now!!

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This statement is not entirely true.  If you choose a NEXT agreement to purchase a phone, the phone is yours to keep (and sell on eBay if you choose) once you have paid the full agreement off.  If you chose to upgrade and want to keep your old phone, you just need to pay off the full balance on the NEXT agreement, and the phone is yours.  If you choose a NEXT 12 agreement, after you make 20 payments, the phone is yours and you stop making payments on it then.  If you choose the NEXT 18 agreement, after 24 payments, the phone is yours and you stop making payments on it.  In all of those situations, the phone is yours, to do with as you please.

The only time a NEXT agreement is like a lease is if you choose to "trade it in" to get an upgrade.  On the NEXT 12 agreement, after you have paid the 12 installments (or paid more than 2 monthly installments and paid the remaining of the fisr 12 installments as a lump-sum) you can trade in your phone and get a new one which will close out the NEXT agreement on the phone you are trading in.  So if you are paying $30/month for your NEXT 12 agreement and you want to trade in your phone after 12 payments, then you are in essense selling the phone to AT&T for $240 ($30 * 8 months) and paying off the balance on teh NEXT agreement with that money.  If you think you can sell it for more on eBay, you are free to pay them that $240 and keep the phone and sell it yourself.  With AT&T NEXT, you have a much easier time as you don't have to worry about problems with the buyer, or with them cancelling the payment, AT&T takes all of those worries out of the picture.  For some the smaller trade-in value is worth the removal of all those hassles, but that might not be fore you.  Luckily you have the choice with NEXT, you can trade it in if you wat, or you can pay for it and keep it if you want...

Does anyone know how I can just order the iPhone 6 - 128GB phone, and pay full price? I go into the ATT store and they say the best thing to do in go online, I go online and the only option is new 2yr contract or the next plan, I call ATT and they say you can only buy the phone at full price at Apple or Best Buy. I go online at both and they only offer the 2 options ATT does online, then I walk in the Apple store and they as they can only sell what is in the store. Seems ridiculous! Just venting! May just switch to Verizon...